1 I have been inquired of by those who asked not, I have been found by those who sought Me not, I have said, `Behold Me, behold Me,' Unto a nation not calling in My name.
2 I have spread out My hands all the day Unto an apostate people, Who are going in the way not good after their own thoughts.
3 The people who are provoking Me to anger, To My face continually, Sacrificing in gardens, and making perfume on the bricks:
4 Who are dwelling among sepulchres, And lodge in reserved places, Who are eating flesh of the sow, And a piece of abominable things -- their vessels.
5 Who are saying, `Keep to thyself, come not nigh to me, For I have declared thee unholy.' These `are' a smoke in Mine anger, A fire burning all the day.
6 Lo, it is written before Me: `I am not silent, but have recompensed; And I have recompensed into their bosom,
7 Your iniquities, and the iniquities of your fathers together, said Jehovah, Who have made perfume on the mountains, And on the heights have reproached Me, And I have measured their former work into their bosom.'
8 Thus said Jehovah: As the new wine is found in the cluster, And one hath said, `Destroy it not for a blessing `is' in it,' So I do for My servants' sake, not to destroy the whole.
9 And I have brought out from Jacob a seed, And from Judah a possessor of My mount, And possess it do My chosen ones, And My servants do dwell there.
10 And Sharon hath been for the habitation of a flock, And the valley of Achor for the lying down of a herd, For My people who have sought Me.
11 And ye `are' those forsaking Jehovah, Who are forgetting My holy mountain, Who are setting in array for Gad a table, And who are filling for Meni a mixture.
12 And I have numbered you for the sword, And all of you for slaughter bow down, Because I called, and ye have not answered, I have spoken, and ye have not hearkened, And ye do the evil thing in Mine eyes, And on that which I desired not -- fixed.
13 Therefore, thus said the Lord Jehovah: Lo, My servants do eat, and ye do hunger, Lo, My servants do drink, and ye do thirst, Lo, My servants rejoice, and ye are ashamed,
14 Lo, My servants sing from joy of heart, And ye cry from pain of heart, And from breaking of spirit ye do howl.
15 And ye have left your name For an oath for My chosen ones, And the Lord Jehovah hath put thee to death, And to His servants He giveth another name.
16 So that he who is blessing himself in the earth, Doth bless himself In the God of faithfulness, And he who is swearing in the earth, Doth swear by the God of faithfulness, Because the former distresses have been forgotten, And because they have been hid from Mine eyes.
17 For, lo, I am creating new heavens, and a new earth, And the former things are not remembered, Nor do they ascend on the heart.
18 But joy ye, and rejoice for ever, that I `am' Creator, For, lo, I am creating Jerusalem a rejoicing, And her people a joy.
19 And I have rejoiced in Jerusalem, And have joyed in My people, And not heard in her any more Is the voice of weeping, and the voice of crying.
20 There is not thence any more a suckling of days, And an aged man who doth not complete his days, For the youth a hundred years old dieth, And the sinner, a hundred years old, is lightly esteemed.
21 And they have built houses, and inhabited, And planted vineyards, and eaten their fruit.
22 They do not build, and another inhabit, They do not plant, and another eat, For as the days of a tree `are' the days of My people, And the work of their hands wear out do My chosen ones.
23 They labour not for a vain thing, Nor do they bring forth for trouble, For the seed of the blessed of Jehovah `are' they, And their offspring with them.
24 And it hath come to pass, They do not yet call, and I answer, They are yet speaking, and I hear.
25 Wolf and lamb do feed as one, And a lion as an ox eateth straw, As to the serpent -- dust `is' its food, They do no evil, nor destroy, In all My holy mountain, said Jehovah!
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Isaiah 65
Commentary on Isaiah 65 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 65
We are now drawing towards the conclusion of this evangelical prophecy, the last two chapters of which direct us to look as far forward as the new heavens and the new earth, the new world which the gospel dispensation should bring in, and the separation that should by it be made between the precious and the vile. "For judgment' (says Christ) "have I come into this world.' And why should it seem absurd that the prophet here should speak of that to which all the prophets bore witness? 1 Pt. 1:10, 11. The rejection of the Jews, and the calling in of the Gentiles, are often mentioned in the New Testament as that which was foreseen and foretold by the prophets, Acts 10:43; 13:40; Rom. 16:26. In this chapter we have,
But these things are here prophesied of under the type and figure of the difference God would make between some and others of the Jews after their return out of captivity, between those that feared God and those that did not, with reproofs of the sins then found among them and promises of the blessings then in reserve for them.
Isa 65:1-7
The apostle Paul (an expositor we may depend upon) has given us the true sense of these verses, and told us what was the event they pointed at and were fulfilled in, namely, the calling in of the Gentiles and the rejection of the Jews, by the preaching of the gospel, Rom. 10:20, 21. And he observes that herein Esaias is very bold, not only in foretelling a thing so improbable ever to be brought about, but in foretelling it to the Jews, who would take it as a gross affront to their nation, and therein Moses's words would be made good (Deu. 32:21), I will provoke you to jealousy by those that are no people.
Isa 65:8-10
This is expounded by St. Paul, Rom. 11:1-5, where, when, upon occasion of the rejection of the Jews, it is asked, Hath God then cast away his people? he answers, No; for at this time there is a remnant according to the election of grace. This prophecy has reference to that distinguished remnant. When that hypocritical nation is to be destroyed God will separate and secure to himself some from among them; some of the Jews shall be brought to embrace the Christian faith, shall be added to the church, and so be saved. And our Saviour has told us that for the sake of these elect the days of the destruction of the Jews should be shortened, and a stop put to the desolation, which otherwise would have proceeded to such a degree that no flesh should be saved, Mt. 24:22. Now,
Isa 65:11-16
Here the different states of the godly and wicked, of the Jews that believed and of those that still persisted in unbelief, are set the one over-against the other, as life and death, good and evil, the blessing and the curse.
Isa 65:17-25
If these promises were in part fulfilled when the Jews, after their return out of captivity, were settled in peace in their own land and brought as it were into a new world, yet they were to have their full accomplishment in the gospel church, militant first and at length triumphant. The Jerusalem that is from above is free and is the mother of us all. In the graces and comforts which believers have in and from Christ we are to look for this new heaven and new earth. It is in the gospel that old things have passed away and all things have become new, and by it that those who are in Christ are new creatures, 2 Co. 5:17. It was a mighty and happy change that was described v. 16, that the former troubles were forgotten; but here it rises much higher: even the former world shall be forgotten and shall no more come into mind. Those that were converted to the Christian faith were so transported with the comforts of it that all the comforts they were before acquainted with became as nothing to them; not only their foregoing griefs, but their foregoing joys, were lost and swallowed up in this. The glorified saints will therefore have forgotten this world, because they will be entirely taken up with the other: For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth. See how inexhaustible the divine power is; the same God that created one heaven and earth can create another. See how entire the happiness of the saints is; it shall be all of a piece; with the new heavens God will create them (if they have occasion for it to make them happy) a new earth too. The world is yours if you be Christ's, 1 Co. 3:22. When God is reconciled to us, which gives us a new heaven, the creatures too are reconciled to us, which gives us a new earth. The future glory of the saints will be so entirely different from what they ever knew before that it may well be called new heavens and a new earth, 2 Pt. 3:13. Behold, I make all things new, Rev. 21:5.