Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 66:1
Thus saith the LORD, The heaven [is] my throne, and the earth [is] my footstool: where [is] the house that ye build unto me? and where [is] the place of my rest?
1, 2. Jehovah, who fills and has created heaven and earth, “dwelleth not in temples made with hands.” Comp. the citation in Act 7:48 ff., also 1Ki 8:27; Jer 23:24.
The heaven is my throne ] Psa 11:4; Psa 103:19.
the earth is my footstool ] Hence the Temple itself (or the ark) is spoken of as Jehovah’s footstool; Lam 2:1; Psa 99:5; Psa 132:7; 1Ch 28:2.
where is the house &c. ] Render: what manner of house will ye build unto me? and what manner of place is my resting place (Psa 132:8; Psa 132:14)?
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The heaven is my throne – (See the notes at Isa 57:15). Here he is represented as having his seat or throne there. He speaks as a king. heaven is the place where he holds his court; from where he dispenses his commands; and from where he surveys all his works (compare 2Ch 6:18; Mat 5:34). The idea here is, that as God dwelt in the vast and distant heavens, no house that could be built on earth could be magnificent enough to be his abode.
The earth is my footstool – A footstool is that which is placed under the feet when we sit. The idea here is, that God was so glorious that even the earth itself could be regarded only as his footstool. It is probable that the Saviour had this passage in his eye in his declaration in the sermon on the mount, Swear not at all; neither by heaven, for it is Gods throne; nor by the earth, for it is his footstool Mat 5:34-35.
Where is the house that ye build unto me? – What house can you build that will be an appropriate dwelling for him who fills heaven and earth? The same idea, substantially, was expressed by Solomon when he dedicated the temple: But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, the heaven, and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded! 1Ki 8:27. Substantially the same thought is found in the address of Paul at Athens: God, that made the world, and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands Act 17:24.
And where is the place of my rest? – It has already been intimated (in the analysis) that this refers probably to the time subsequent to the captivity. Lowth supposes that it refers to the time of the rebuilding of the temple by Herod. So also Vitringa understands it, and supposes that it refers to the pride and self-confidence of those who then imagined that they were rearing a structure that was worthy of being a dwelling-place of Yahweh. Grotius supposes that it refers to the time of the Maccabees, and that it was designed to give consolation to the pious of those times when they were about to witness the profanation of the temple by Antiochus, and the cessation of the sacrifices for three years and a half. God therefore shows, says he, that there was no reason why they should be offended in this thing. The most acceptable temple to him was a pious mind; and from that the value of all sacrifices was to be estimated. Abarbanel supposes that it refers to the times of redemption.
His words are these: I greatly wonder at the words of the learned interpreting this prophecy, when they say that the prophet in this accuses the people of his own time on account of sacrifices offered with impure hands, for lo! all these prophecies which the prophet utters in the end of his book have respect to future redemption. See Vitringa. That it refers to some future time when the temple should be rebuilt seems to me to be evident. But what precise period it refers to – whether to times not far succeeding the captivity, or to the times of the Maccabees, or to the time of the rebuilding of the temple by Herod, it is difficult to find any data by which we can determine. From the whole strain of the prophecy, and particularly from Isa 66:3-5, it seems probable that it refers to the time when the temple which Herod had reared was finishing; when the nation was full of pride, self-righteousness, and hypocrisy; and when all sacrifices were about to be superseded by the one great sacrifice which the Messiah was to make for the sins of the world. At that time, God says that the spirit which would be evinced by the nation would be abominable in his sight; and to offer sacrifice then, and with the spirit which they would manifest, would be as offensive as murder or the sacrifice of a dog (see the notes at Isa 66:3).
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Isa 66:1-2
Thus saith the Lord, The heaven is My throne
The eternal blessedness of the true Israel; the doom of the apostates
This chapter continues the antithesis that runs through chap.
65., carrying it onward to its eschatological issues. The connection of ideas is frequently extremely difficult to trace, and no two cities are agreed as to where the different sections begin and end. (Prof. J. Skinner, D. D.)
Temple building
Hitzig thinks (and with him Knobel, Hendewerk) that the author here begins quite abruptly to oppose the purpose of building a temple to Jehovah; the builders are those who meditated remaining behind in Chaldea, and wished also to have a temple, as the Jews in Egypt, at a later time, built one in Leontopolis. (F. Delitzsch, D. D.)
The offerings of the impenitent offensive to God
The address, directed to the entire body ready to return, says without distinction that Jehovah, the Creator of heaven and earth, needs no house made by mens hands; then in the entire body distinguishes between the penitent and those alienated from God, rejects all worship and offering at the hand of the latter, and threatens them with just retribution. (F. Delitzsch, D. D.)
The inward and spiritual preferred by God to the outward and material
[These great words] are a declaration, spoken probably in view of the approaching restoration of the temple (which, in itself, the prophet entirely approves, Isa 44:28, and expects, Isa 56:7; Isa 55:7; Isa 62:9),reminding the Jews of the truth which a visible temple might readily lead them to forget, that no earthly habitation could be really adequate to Jehovahs majesty, and that Jehovahs regard was not to be won by the magnificence of a material temple, but by humility and the devotion of the heart. How needful the warning was history shows. Jeremiah (Jer 7:1-15) argues at length against those who pointed, with a proud sense of assurance, to the massive pile of buildings that crowned the height of Zion, heedless of the moral duties which loyalty to the King, whose residence it was, implied. And at a yet more critical moment in their history, attachment to the temple, as such, was one of the causes which incapacitated the Jews from appropriating the more spiritual teaching of Christ: the charge brought against Stephen (Act 6:13-14)is that he ceased not to speak words against this holy place and the law; and, the argument of Stephens defence (Act 7:1-60.) is just to show that in the past Gods favour had not been limited to the period during which the temple of Zion existed. Here, then, the prophet seizes the occasion to insist upon the necessity of a spiritual service, passing on (verses 3-5) to denounce, in particular, certain superstitious usages which had apparently, at the time, infected the worship of Jehovah. (Prof. S. R. Driver, D. D.)
The inwardness of religion
1. The tendency to make religion consist in external actions, apart from the inward dispositions which should accompany them, is very common. The reason for this is discovered from the fact that outward actions are easier than inward. It is easier, for instance, to become outwardly poor than to become poor in spirit; easier to adore with the body than to worship with the soul. The tendency is observable in all dispensations. For instance, whatever other differences there may have been between the sacrifices of Cain and Abel, we are expressly told that it was by faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice (Heb 11:4). The outward act was linked with the right inward disposition. So, again, in the time of the Levitical Law, the tendency often manifested itself to put ceremonial above moral obligations (Psa 1:1-6.). And Isaiah, in his first chapter (verses 11-18), shows how an outward service, without the putting away of evil, is an abomination to God. In the same way our Lord condemned the Pharisees Mat 15:8).
2. This closing prophecy of Isaiah seems to contain a warning against formalism. It is not that the outward is unimportant, for this would be to run from one extreme to the other, but that the outward will not avail. The return of Israel from captivity will be followed by the building of a new temple, as the event has shown; and the warning of the text is twofold–one, to remind the Israelites that Jehovah had no need of a temple; the other, to impress them with a truth they were very apt to forget, that religion must be a matter of the heart.
I. A REVELATION OF GOD. Heaven is My throne, and the earth is My footstool.
1. These words, or the substance of them, are again and again repeated in Holy Scripture (1Ki 8:27; Mat 5:34; Act 7:49). Repetitions in the Bible show the importance of a truth, or our difficulty in remembering it.
2. What is the truth? That God is incomprehensible. He is everywhere and cannot be localized (Jer 23:24). There is nowhere where Cods power and essence and presence do not reach. He knows no limit of space or time, of knowledge or love.
II. THE REFERENCE TO THE EXTERNAL TEMPLE. Where is the house that ye build unto Me?
1. These words are not intended to deter Israel from building a material temple when they had returned to their own land. The prophet would be contradicting himself (Isa 56:5-7; Isa 60:7); and he would be running counter to the solemn injunctions of other prophets, such as Haggai and Zechariah, who were in part raised up by God to further the work of building the temple. What the words are intended to rebuke is the falseness of the ideas that God requires a temple, and that His presence can be restricted to its walls. God does not need a temple, but we do. In heaven there will be no necessity for any temple (Rev 21:22), where the glory of God and of the Lamb floods with its radiance the whole place.
2. Here the church, with its sacred objects and associations, appeals to us and excites our devotion; here in the sacred place there is a distinct promise to prayer; here God acts upon us, and we upon God, through prescribed ordinances; here He promises to be present in some especial manner; here we act upon one another, and kindle fervour, and therefore must not forsake the assembling of ourselves together in the house of Heb 10:25).
III. BUT THE TEXT ALLUDES TO THE INTERNAL TEMPLE–THE DISPOSITIONS OF THE SOUL OF THE WORSHIPPER, WHICH ATTRACT THE FAVOUR OF GOD. To this man will I look,. . . who is poor,. . . contrite, and who trembleth at My word.
1. Poor, not merely outwardly, but poor in spirit (Psa 138:6). The man who at all realizes the Divine majesty will have a sense of his own nothingness.
2. Of a contrite spirit. A perception of the Divine holiness brings self-humiliation by force of contrast (Job 42:6).
3. Trembleth at My word. Fear is ever an element of the spirit of worship. A sense of the Divine justice and judgments fills the soul with awe in approaching God. The Word or revelation of God is received, not in the spirit of criticism, but with reverence and godly fear.
IV. LESSONS.
1. The remembrance of the all-pervading presence of God should be a deterrent from evil, and an incentive to good.
2. The obligation of regularity in attendance at Divine worship ought to be insisted upon, both as a recognition of God and our relations with Him, and for the sake of the subjective effects on human character.
3. But outward worship is of no avail without inward. There are tests, in the text, of the presence of the spirit of worship–lowliness, contrition, and awe, as products of the realization of Gods presence and perfections. (The Thinker.)
Gods elevation and condescension
1. The subject of remark–God Himself. Thus saith the Lord, The heaven is My throne, the earth is My footstool. The attention is turned simply to God–His grandeur, His magnificence, His immensity, His omnipresence. He abides in heaven, He puts the earth under His feet.
2. The manner in which the remark about God is conducted, is that of a kind of contrast betwixt Him and men. Where is the house that ye build unto Me, and where is the place of My rest? God is unlike man. He challenges any comparison. The heaven, even the heaven of heavens, cannot contain Him. Ancient kings aimed often to Impress their subjects with an idea of their magnificence, and surrounded themselves with a solemn and salutary awe, by rearing palaces of the most imposing splendour and magnificence. They wished to overawe the multitude. On this ground, God Himself, seems to have ordered the unequalled grandeur of the ancient temple. But in doing it, He took care that its dazzling beauty and stateliness should only be an aid, a stepping-stone, to assist the imagination in its upward reach towards the grandeur of God. In the prayer of the dedication, Solomons devotion soars infinitely above the temple.
Here, the majesty of God, and the littleness of man, stand side by side. After mentioning the earth and the heaven, God says, All these things hath My hand made.
3. But yet, lest dread should too much terrify the worshipper, or a high and just idea of Gods infinite majesty lead the humble into the error of supposing that such an august Being would not regard such an insignificant creature as man, he adds, To this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at My word. A turn of thought well worthy of our admiration. A contrite sinner has nothing to fear from God. His very majesty need not terrify him. Indeed, His majesty constitutes the very ground for his encouragement. It can condescend. Just as much does the King of kings and Lord of lords glorify Himself, when He consoles, by the whisperings of His Spirit, the poorest and most unworthy sinner that ever felt the pangs of a bruised heart, as when He thunders in the heavens as the most High, and gives His voice, hail-stones and coals of fire. With this idea, sinners should-approach Him and meditate His grandeur. (I. S. Spencer, D. D.)
The magnificence of God
I. THE STYLE OF THE TEXT. God speaks of Himself. The heaven is My throne, the earth is My footstool. This style of religious address is especially common in the Scriptures (Psa 137:1-9.; Job 11:7-8; Job 26:6-14; Isa 40:1-31.). These passages all speak of God in a style which we cannot attempt to analyze. Their aim appears to be twofold.
1. To lead us to make the idea of God Himself the leading idea in religion.
2. To have this idea, which we are to entertain about God, an idea of the utmost grandeur, of the most amazing magnificence, and solemn sublimity.
II. THE DESIGN IN VIEW CANNOT EASILY BE MISTAKEN. They would give us just ideas of God. The impression they aim to make is simply this, that God is incomparably and inconceivably above us–an infinite and awful mystery!
III. THE NECESSITY OF THIS MAY EXIST OH DIFFERENT GROUNDS.
1. Our littleness. In the nature of the case, there can be no comparison betwixt man and God. All is contrast–an infinite contrast.
2. Our sinfulness. Sin never exists aside from the minds losing a just impression of the Deity; and wherever it exists, there is a tendency to cleave to low and unworthy ideas of Him.
3. Our materiality, the connection of our minds with material and gross bodies. This connection renders it difficult for us to soar beyond matter. We are in danger of introducing the imperfections of our existence into our religion, even into our ideas of God. Consequently, when God speaks to us of Himself, He speaks in a manner designed to guard us from error. He says to us, The heaven is ,My throne, and the earth is My footstool. Where is the house ye build unto Me? We are limited to the world. We cannot get foothold anywhere else. We are circumscribed within very narrow limits. But God asks, Where is the place of My rest? He would elevate our conceptions of Him beyond matter, out of the reach of its bounds.
4. The nature of God. Man is only a creature. He owes his existence to a cause without him. That cause still rules him. That cause allows him to know but little, and often drops the veil of an impenetrable darkness before his eyes just at the point, the very point, where he is most desirous to look further, and it drops the veil there, in order to do him the twofold office of convincing him of the grandeur of God and his own littleness, and of compelling him, under the influence of those convictions, to turn back to a light which concerns him more than the darkness beyond the veil can, to a light where are wrapped up the duties and interests of his immortal soul. God would repress his curiosity, and make him use his conscience. Therefore, He makes darkness preach to him.
IV. APPLICATION.
1. Let us be admonished to approach the study of religion with a solemnity of mind which belongs to it. It is the study of God. The voice comes from the burning bush, Draw not nigh hither, put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the ground whereon thou standest is holy ground. How unlike all other subjects is religion! How differently we should approach it!
2. This mode in which God teaches us–this grandeur and magnificence which belong to Him–ought to remove a very common difficulty from our minds, and prepare us to receive in faith, those deep and dark doctrines, whose mystery is so apt to stagger us. What can we expect?
3. Since God is so vast a being, how deep should be our humility!
4. How deep should be our homage.!
5. The greatness of God should gauge the depth of our repentance. Our sin is against Him.
6. The greatness of God should invite our faith. If God be for us, who can be against us?
7. The magnificence of God should be a motive to our service. He is able to turn our smallest services to an infinite account.
8. The greatness of God ought to encourage the timid. Because He is great, His regard reaches to every one of your annoyances. Your enemies cannot hurt you.
9. The grandeur of God ought to rebuke our reliance upon creatures. (I. S. Spencer, D. D.)
What God does not, and what He does, regard
I. WHAT THE LORD DOES NOT REGARD. He speaks quite slightingly of this great building. But is it not said elsewhere that the Lord loved the courts of Zion? Did He not expressly tell King Solomon when his temple was completed, Mine eyes and Mine heart shall be on it perpetually? He did; but in what sense are we to understand those words? Not that He delighted in the grandeur of the house, but in as much of spiritual worship as was rendered there. The temple itself was no otherwise well pleasing to Him than as it was raised in obedience to His orders, and as it served, in its fashion and its furniture, for an example and a shadow of heavenly things; but the Lord loved the gates of Zion because the prayers of Zion were presented there. He points out to us two things–His throne, and His footstool! and then He leaves it to ourselves to say whether any building man can raise to Him can be considerable in His eyes.
II. Hear from the Lords own lips THE DESCRIPTION OF THE MAN WHO DRAWS HIS EYE. To this man, etc.
1. The sort of character described.
(1) He is poor–humble towards God. He is humble, too, towards his fellow-creatures; carrying himself meekly towards all men, and in lowliness of mind, esteeming others better than himself. He is slow to wrath–patient under provocation–anxious not to be overcome of evil but rather to overcome evil with good.
(2) Another quality which marks the man to whom the Lord looks is contrition.
(3) He trembleth at My word. But what kind of trembling is meant? Felix trembled at Gods word; and many a wicked man from his days to the present has trembled at it also. And yet it has been but a momentary pang–a sudden fright that has come over them, but which they have soonlaughed off again. Now it is certainly not this sort of trembling which the Lord regards. The man who trembleth at Gods word is one who entertains a deep and abiding reverence for every word which hath proceeded from Gods lips.
2. What does the Lord mean when He saith, To this man will I look? He evidently means, To this man will I look with an eye of notice and regard. The Lords favourable look, be it remembered, is quite another thing from mans; there is help, and comfort, and support conveyed by it Isa 57:15). The Lord but looked on Gideon, and Gideon, weak before, was wonderfully strengthened (Jdg 6:14). (A. Roberts, M. A.)
Gods greater glory
Here are described two phases of the Divine greatness, one material, and the other moral; the superiority of the latter being clearly implied.
I. THE MATERIAL GREATNESS OF GOD. Thus saith the Lord, The heaven is My throne, and the earth is My footstool. Here God represents Himself as a mighty potentate, leaving us to infer the measure of His kingly glory and the extent of His dominion from these two things–His throne and His footstool. Thus the glory of the whole is indicated by the glory of the part.
1. The throne. We must note carefully the full extent and purport of the figure, The heaven is My throne. It is not that the heaven is the place of His throne, but that the heaven is itself the throne. The conception, bold as it is, strikingly agrees with another figure used by inspiration to set forth the transcendent majesty of God, Behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain Thee. The figure is a bold one. The human imagination, daring as its flights often are, could never have conceived it. It is purely a Divine conception, and the text is careful to say so, Thus saith the Lord.
2. His footstool. The earth. We know very little of the heaven. We know a great deal about the earth. Men have taken its dimensions, explored its resources, and discovered its glories. Yet this magnificent object is but His footstool. The footstool is the humblest article of furniture in the household; so needless is it deemed that thousands of houses dispense with it altogether. Others easily convert the thing nearest to hand into a footstool, as occasion may require. Nevertheless, some have expended no little skill and expense upon the construction even of footstools. There is preserved as a relic in Windsor Castle such an article, once belonging to the renowned Hindoo prince, Tippoo Sahib. It is in the form of a bears head, carved in ivory, with a tongue of gold, teeth of crystal, and its eyes a pair of rubies. This article is adjudged worth 10,000. It is after all but a footstool. If Tippoo Sahibs footstool were so magnificent, what must have been the splendour of his throne! Yet, were all the thrones of the world collected together into one vast pile, they would form but a heap of rubbish as compared with Gods footstool.
II. THE TEXT PRESENTS US WITH ANOTHER PHASE OF HIS GLORY–THE MORAL, WHICH IS ALSO HIS GREATER GLORY. But to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at My word. What a contrast we have presented to us here. God, the Mighty Potentate, from the height of His heavenly throne, looking down with yearning, compassionate regard upon such objects as are here described, the very dust of His footstool. There is a moral grandeur in this far transcending the power of language to describe. In order to appreciate fully the beauty and glory of this act, we must notice particularly the characters which are its special objects. They are described as those who are poor and are of a contrite spirit, and that tremble at His word. These several expressions do not describe one and the same condition. They indicate three distinct and progressive stages of spiritual experience.
1. Destitution. Poor. It is not physical poverty that is meant, for the wealthiest, those who abound most in worldly possessions, are equally with the most destitute in the condition here indicated by the term poor. It describes a spiritual condition–the spiritual poverty into which all men are reduced through sin–the wretched, the miserable, the oppressed of sin and guilt–the poor in the sense of being without hope, destitute of true peace and happiness.
2. The second stage indicated is one of conviction–the misery becoming a felt fact. And of a contrite spirit. In these words we have indicated that condition of the mind when the all-crushing fact of its poverty and wretchedness has come home with overwhelming conviction.
3. The third stage is one of hope. Trembleth at My word. God, out of the infinite depth of His compassion, hath spoken to this poor, wretched, sin-convicted creature, and the word spoken is a word of hope. The trembling at the word does not mean regarding it with fear, terror, or dismay, but solemnly, feelingly, and trustingly. It is the trembling of gratitude and of an awakened hope–an exquisite thrill of gratitude piercing the whole soul, causing it to vibrate with responsive joy to the message of hope. This wonderful condescension of God in relation to sinful men is His greater glory, it redounds to His honour far more than His conversion of the heavens into His throne and of the earth into His footstool. (A. J. Parry.)
Worship and ritual
The desire for Divine communion has ever been strong in man. This desire was originated by God Himself. If not from God, whence could it come? We have no right to suppose it to be self-originated. That finite man should conceive an infinite Deity is an incredible supposition, for, to use the words of Pascal, the infinite God is infinitely inconceivable. The manner in which God has thus revealed Himself in response to the passionate desire which He originated in man is a study fraught with a singular interest. He made Himself known to our first parents in Edens garden, and in our first Scriptures we have several examples recorded of revelations made by Him after the banishment to the fathers of our race. By tradition these revelations were spread throughout the earth, and so we find the earliest religious faiths of our world abounding in sublime truths. But He specially revealed Himself to a chosen people. Israel lived under the very shadow of Jehovah, for God dwelt in that temple ann specially manifested His presence in it. But that presence did not restrain the people from rebellion. When not open followers of the idolatries of the surrounding nations, they left worship for ritual and forsook God for observances, and so made that temple to be at once their glory and their shame. It was at such time as this that the words of our text were uttered. Thus are we taught that Divine worship is not material, but spiritual, and that the habitation of God is not the building, but the soul.
I. THE NATURE OF THE BEING WHOM WE WORSHIP. Our text brings before as His omnipresence. He is in heaven, and He is on earth. We have a revelation also of the Divine omnipotence. Not only is He in heaven, not only is He on earth, but He has a throne. Of course the one includes the other. If He be the omnipresent One, He is also the omnipotent One. That which is Infinite must be Absolute. We, however, distinguish, so as to obtain clearer conceptions. We are in danger of supposing that amidst all this vastness we can be but of little consequence. But mind is greater than matter, and such ideas immediately vanish when we remember that the vastest material substance can never outweigh a holy thought, a feeling of devotion, a thrill of love. The man who can tell the motions of the stars is greater than the stars. And thus looking at the question, what shall we say of that man in whom God dwells? He who lives in a palace is greater than the palace, no matter how gorgeous it may be; and in the presence of a holy man the whole material creation is dwarfed into nothingness.
II. THE NATURE OF THAT WORSHIP WHICH THIS GREAT GOD REQUIRES. It must be something more than outward. Of all ceremonialism the Jewish was the most gorgeous. It was also of Divine appointing. The temple was built according to Divine plan and under Divine direction. The services were divinely commanded. The priests belonged to a Divinely set apart; tribe. Tokens of the Divine presence were given. But although this ceremonial was thus gorgeous, and of Divine appointment, yet God rejected it so soon as it lost its spiritual significance. All true religion begins in poverty of spirit. There must be a sense of natural defect and a consciousness of our own inability either to atone for the past or to deliver in the future. And with this poverty of spirit there must be contriteness. The heart needs to be broken before it can be bound up. (Allan Rees.)
A transcendent existence and a transcendent doctrine
I. AN EXISTENCE THAT STANDS IN CONTRAST WITH ALL THAT IS CREATED.
1. Here is an omnipresent Existence. One whose throne is heaven, whose footstool is earth, and to whom all places are alike. One who fills heaven and earth, not merely with His influence, but with His actual presence, as much at all times in one point of space as in another. The incommensurable One, not only everywhere, as the pantheists teach, as a substance, but everywhere as a Personality, free, conscious, active. All created existences are limited by the laws of space, and those that occupy the largest space are mere specks in immensity. Concerning the stupendous fact of Gods Omnipresence, observe–
(1) This fact is agreeable to reason. The denial of it would involve a contradiction. It enters into our very conception of God. A limited God would in truth be no God.
(2) This fact is essential to worship. It is essential to the spirit of worship. Worship implies mystery. It is essential to constancy of worship. True worship is not an occasional or specific service confined to times and places, it is an abiding attitude of the soul. God is a Spirit, etc.
(3) This fact is promotive of holiness. Let men realize the constant presence of God, and how strongly will they feel restraint from sin and stimulation to virtue and holiness.
(4) This fact is assurative of retribution. Who can hide himself from the Lord?
(5) This fact is illustrative of heaven. There is nothing local or formal in the worship of heaven. I saw no temple in heaven, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. He is felt to be everywhere, and He is worshipped everywhere.
2. Here is a creative Existence. For all those things hath Mine hand made, etc. Because He made all, He owns all. Creatorship implies Eternity, Sovereignty, Almightiness, and Proprietorship.
II. A DOCTRINE THAT TRANSCENDS HUMAN DISCOVERY. To this man will I look, etc. The doctrine is this,–that this Infinite Being, who is everywhere, who created the universe and owns it, feels a profound interest in the individual man whose soul is in a humble, contrite, and reverent state. Could reason ever have discovered such a truth as this? Never. Although this doctrine transcends reason it does not contradict it. (Homilist.)
Living temples for the living God
I. GODS REJECTION OF ALL MATERIAL TEMPLES. There was a time when it could be said that there was a house of God on earth. That was a time of symbols, when as yet the Church of God was in her childhood. She was being taught her A B C, reading her picture-book, for she could not as yet read the Word of God, as it were in letters. She had need to have pictures put before her, patterns of the heavenly things. Even then, the enlightened amongst the Jews knew well that God did not dwell between curtains, and that it was not possible that He could be encompassed in the most holy place within the veil It was only a symbol of His presence. But the time of symbols is now passed altogether. In that moment when the Saviour bowed His head, and said It is finished! the veil of the temple was rent in twain, so that the mysteries were laid open. So, one reason why God saith He dwelleth not in temples made with hands, is, because He would have us know that the symbolical worship is ended and the reign of the spiritual worship inaugurated at this day (Joh 4:21; Joh 4:23). But our text gives,from Gods own mouth, reasons why there can be no house at the present time in which God can dwell; and, indeed, there never was any house of the kind in reality–only in symbol For, say now, where is the place to build God a house? In heaven? It is only His throne, not His house! On earth? What, on His footstool? Will ye put it where He shall put His foot upon it and crush it? Fly through infinite space, and ye shall not find in any place that God is not there. Time cannot contain Him, though it range along its millenniums! Space cannot hold Him, for He that made all things greater than all the things that He has made. Yea, all the things that are do not encompass Him. But then, the Lord seems to put it,–What kind of a house (supposing we had a site on which to erect it) would we build God? Sons of men of what material would ye make a dwelling-place for the Eternal and the Pure? Would ye build of alabaster? The heavens are not clean in His sight, and He charged His angels with folly! Would ye build of gold? Behold, the streets of His metropolitan city are paved therewith, not indeed the dusky gold of earth, but transparent gold, like unto clear glass. And what were gold to Deity? Find diamonds, as massive as the stones whereof Solomon built his house on Zion, and then lay on rubies and jaspers – pile up a house, all of which shall be most precious. What were that to Him? God is a Spirit. He disdaineth your materialism. And yet men think, forsooth, when they have put up their Gothic or their Grecian structures, This is Gods house. And then the Lord shows that the earth and the heavens themselves, which may be compared to a temple, are the works of His hand. How often I have felt as if I were compassed with the solemn grandeur of a temple, in the midst of the pine forest, or on the heathery hill, or out at night with the bright stars looking down through the deep heavens, or listening to the thunder, peal on peal, or gazing at the lightning as it lit up the sky! Then one feels as if he were in the temple of God! Afar out on the blue sea, where the ship is rocking up and clown on the waves foam–then it seems as if you were somewhere near to God–amidst the sublimities of nature. But what then? All these objects of nature He has made, and they are not a house for Him.
II. GODS CHOICE OF SPIRITUAL TEMPLES. To this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at My word.
III. THOSE THAT ARE OF THIS CHARACTER SECURE A GREAT BLESSING. God says He will look to them. That means several things.
1. Consideration.
2. Approbation.
3. Acceptance.
4. Affection.
5. Benediction. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The greatness and condescension of God
That is an excellent answer which was given by a poor man to a sceptic who attempted to ridicule his faith. The scoffer said, Pray, sir, is your God a great God or a little God? The poor man replied, Sir, my God is so great that the heaven of heavens cannot contain Him; and yet He condescends to be so little, that He dwells in broken and contrite hearts. Oh, the greatness of God, and the condescension of God! (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
CHAPTER LXVI
This chapter treats of the same subject with the foregoing.
God, by his prophet, tells the Jews, who valued themselves much
on their temple and pompous worship, that the Most High
dwelleth not in temples made with hands; and that no outward
rites of worship, while the worshippers are idolatrous and
impure, can please him who looketh at the heart, 1-3. This leads to a threatening of vengeance for their guilt,
alluding to their making void the law of God by their
abominable traditions, their rejection of Christ, persecution
of his followers, and consequent destruction by the Romans. But
as the Jewish ritual and people shadow forth the system of
Christianity and its professors; so, in the prophetical
writings, the idolatries of the Jews are frequently put for the
idolatries afterwards practiced by those bearing the Christian
name. Consequently, if we would have the plenitude of meaning
in this section of prophecy, which the very content requires,
we must look through the type into the antitype, viz., the very
gross idolatries practised by the members of Antichrist, the
pompous heap of human intentions and traditions with which they
have encumbered the Christian system, their most dreadful
persecution of Christ’s spiritual and true worshippers, and the
awful judgments which shall overtake them in the great and
terrible day of the Lord, 4-6. The mighty and sudden increase of the Church of Jesus Christ at
the period of Antichrist’s fall represented by the very strong
figure of Sion being delivered of a man-child before the time
of her travail, the meaning of which symbol the prophet
immediately subjoins in a series of interrogations for the sake
of greater force and emphasis, 7-9. Wonderful prosperity and unspeakable blessedness of the world
when the posterity of Jacob, with the fulness of the Gentiles,
shall be assembled to Messiah’s standard, 10-14. All the wicked of the earth shall be gathered together to the
battle of that great day of God Almighty, and the slain of
Jehovah shall be many, 15-18. Manner of the future restoration of the Israelites from their
several dispersions throughout the habitable globe, 19-21. Perpetuity of this new economy of grace to the house of Israel,
22. Righteousness shall be universally diffused in the earth; and
the memory of those who have transgressed against the Lord
shall be had in continual abhorrence, 23, 24. Thus this great prophet, after tracing the principal events of
time, seems at length to have terminated his views in eternity,
where all revolutions cease, where the blessedness of the
righteous shall be unchangeable as the new heavens, and the
misery of the wicked as the fire that shall not be quenched.
NOTES ON CHAP. LXVI
This chapter is a continuation of the subject of the foregoing. The Jews valued themselves much upon their temple, and the pompous system of services performed in it, which they supposed were to be of perpetual duration; and they assumed great confidence and merit to themselves for their strict observance of all the externals of their religion. And at the very time when the judgments denounced in verses 6 and 12 of the preceding chapter Isa 65:6; Isa 65:12 were hanging over their heads, they were rebuilding, by Herod’s munificence, the temple in a most magnificent manner. God admonishes them, that “the Most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands;” and that a mere external worship, how diligently soever attended, when accompanied with wicked and idolatrous practices in the worshippers, would never be accepted by him. This their hypocrisy is set forth in strong colours, which brings the prophet again to the subject of the former chapter; and he pursues it in a different manner, with more express declaration of the new economy, and of the flourishing state of the Church under it. The increase of the Church is to be sudden and astonishing. They that escape of the Jews, that is, that become converts to the Christian faith, are to be employed in the Divine mission to the Gentiles, and are to act as priests in presenting the Gentiles as an offering to God; see Ro 15:16. And both, now collected into one body, shall be witnesses of the final perdition of the obstinate and irreclaimable.
These two chapters manifestly relate to the calling of the Gentiles, the establishment of the Christian dispensation, and the reprobation of the apostate Jews, and their destruction executed by the Romans. – L.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The heaven is my throne; the heaven, that is, the highest heavens, are the place where I most manifest my power and glory, and show myself in my majesty. Psa 11:4; 103:19; Mat 5:34. Hence we are taught to pray, Our Father which art in heaven. And
the earth is my footstool, or a place wherein I set my feet, Mat 5:35.
Where is the house that ye build unto me? can there be a house builded that will contain me, who can encompass the heavens and the earth with a house? Where is the place of my rest? or, where is the place wherein I can be said to rest in a proper sense? The ark is indeed Gods footstool, and the
place of his
rest, in a figurative sense, because there God manifested himself, though in degrees much beneath the manifestations of himself in heaven; but properly, God hath no certain place of rest.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
1. heaven . . . throne . . . whereis . . . house . . . ye buildThe same sentiment is expressed,as a precautionary proviso for the majesty of God in deigning to ownany earthly temple as His, as if He could be circumscribed by space(1Ki 8:27) in inaugurating thetemple of stone; next, as to the temple of the Holy Ghost (Act 7:48;Act 7:49); lastly here, as to”the tabernacle of God with men” (Isa 2:2;Isa 2:3; Eze 43:4;Eze 43:7; Rev 21:3).
whererather, “whatis this house that ye are building, &c.what place is this forMy rest?” [VITRINGA].
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Thus saith the Lord, the heaven is my throne,…. The third heaven, the heaven of heavens, where angels and glorified saints are, and some in bodies, as Enoch and Elijah, and where now Christ is in human nature; this is the seat of the divine Majesty, where he in a most illustrious manner displays his glory; and therefore we are to look upwards to God in heaven, and direct all our devotion to him there, and not imagine that he dwells in temples made with hands; or is confined to any place, and much less to any on earth, as the temple at Jerusalem, the Jews boasted of, and trusted in; and which were the unworthy notions they had of God in the times of Christ and his disciples; to confute which these words are here said, and for this purpose are quoted and applied by Stephen, Ac 7:48.
[See comments on Ac 7:48],
[See comments on Ac 7:49],
[See comments on Ac 7:50]:
and the earth is my footstool: on which he treads, is below him, subject to him, and at his dispose; and therefore is not limited to any part of it, or included in any place in it; though he for a while condescended to make the cherubim his throne, and the ark his footstool, in the most holy place in the temple; which were all figurative of other and better things, and so no more used:
where is the house that ye build unto me? what house can be built for such an immense Being? and how needless as well as fruitless is it to attempt it? where can a place be found to build one in, since the heaven is his throne, and the earth his footstool? and therefore, if any place, it must be some that is without them both, and that can hold both; but what space can be conceived of that can contain such a throne and footstool, and much less him that sits thereon? see 1Ki 8:27:
and where is the place of my rest? for God to take up his rest and residence in, as a man does in his house? no such place can be found for him, nor does he need any; indeed the temple was built for an house of rest for the ark of the Lord, which before was moved from place to place; but then this was merely typical of the church, which God has chosen for his rest, and where he will dwell, as well as of heaven, the resting place of his people with him to all eternity; no place on earth is either his rest or theirs.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Although the note on which this prophecy opens is a different one from any that has yet been struck, there are many points in which it coincides with the preceding prophecy. For not only is Isa 65:12 repeated here in Isa 66:4, but the sharp line of demarcation drawn in chapter 65, between the servants of Jehovah and the worldly majority of the nation with reference to the approaching return to the Holy Land, is continued here. As the idea of their return is associated immediately with that of the erection of a new temple, there is nothing at all to surprise us, after what we have read in Isa 65:8., in the fact that Jehovah expresses His abhorrence at the thought of having a temple built by the Israel of the captivity, as the majority then were, and does so in such words as those which follow in Isa 66:1-4: “Thus saith Jehovah: The heaven is my throne, and the earth my footstool. What kind of house is it that ye would build me, and what kind of place for my rest? My hand hath made all these things; then all these thing arose, saith Jehovah; and at such persons do I look, at the miserable and broken-hearted, and him that trembleth at my word. He that slaughtereth the ox is the slayer of a man; he that sacrificeth the sheep is a strangler of dogs; he that offereth a meat-offering, it is swine’s blood; he that causeth incense to rise up in smoke, blesseth idols. As they have chosen their ways, and their soul cheriseth pleasure in their abominations; so will I choose their ill-treatments, and bring their terrors upon them, because I called and no one replied, I spake and they did not hear, and they did evil in mine eyes, and chose that in which I took no pleasure.” Hitzig is of opinion that the author has broken off here, and proceeds quite unexpectedly to denounce the intention to build a temple for Jehovah. Those who wish to build he imagines to be those who have made up their minds to stay behind in Chaldea, and who, whilst their brethren who have returned to their native land are preparing to build a temple there, want to have one of their own, just as the Jews in Egypt built one for themselves in Leontopolis. Without some such supposition as this, Hitzig thinks it altogether impossible to discover the thread which connects the different vv. together. This view is at any rate better than that of Umbreit, who imagines that the prophet places us here “on the loftiest spiritual height of the Christian development.” “In the new Jerusalem,” he says, “there will be no temple seen, nor any sacrifice; Jehovah forbids these in the strongest terms, regarding them as equivalent to mortal sins.” But the prophet, if this were his meaning, would involve himself in self-contradiction, inasmuch as, according to Isa 56:1-12 and 60, there will be a temple in the new Jerusalem with perpetual sacrifice, which this prophecy also presupposes in Isa 66:20. (cf., Isa 66:6); and secondly, he would contradict other prophets, such as Ezekiel and Zechariah, and the spirit of the Old Testament generally, in which the statement, that whoever slaughters a sacrificial animal in the new Jerusalem will be as bad as a murderer, has no parallel, and is in fact absolutely impossible. According to Hitzig’s view, on the other hand, v. 3 a affirms, that the worship which they would be bound to perform in their projected temple would be an abomination to Jehovah, however thoroughly it might be made to conform to the Mosaic ritual. But there is nothing in the text to sustain the idea, that there is any intention here to condemn the building of a temple to Jehovah in Chaldaea, nor is such an explanation by any means necessary to make the text clear. The condemnation on the part of Jehovah has reference to the temple, which the returning exiles intend to build in Jerusalem. The prophecy is addressed to the entire body now ready to return, and says to the whole without exception, that Jehovah, the Creator of heaven and earth, does not stand in need of any house erected by human hands, and then proceeds to separate the penitent from those that are at enmity against God, rejects in the most scornful manner all offerings in the form of worship on the part of the latter, and threatens them with divine retribution, having dropped in Isa 66:3-4 the form of address to the entire body. Just as in the Psalm of Asaph (Ps 50) Jehovah refuses animal and other material offerings as such, because the whole of the animal world, the earth and the fulness thereof, are His possession, so here He addresses this question to the entire body of the exiles: What kind of house is there that ye could build, that would be worthy of me, and what kind of place that would be worthy of being assigned to me as a resting-place? On m aqom m e nuchath , locus qui sit requies mea (apposition instead of genitive connection). He needs no temple; for heaven is His throne, and the earth His footstool. He is the Being who filleth all, the Creator, and therefore the possessor, of the universe; and if men think to do Him a service by building Him a temple, and forget His infinite majesty in their concern for their own contemptible fabric, He wants to temple at all. “All these” refer, as if pointing with the finger, to the world of visible objects that surround us. (from , existere , fieri ) is used in the same sense as the which followed the creative . In this His exaltation He is not concerned about a temple; but His gracious look is fixed upon the man who is as follows ( zeh pointing forwards as in Isa 58:6), viz., upon the mourner, the man of broken heart, who is filled with reverential awe at the word of His revelation.
We may see from Psa 51:9 what the link of connection is between Isa 66:2 and Isa 66:3. So far as the mass of the exiles were concerned, who had not been humbled by their sufferings, and whom the preaching of the prophet could not bring to reflection, He did not want any temple or sacrifice from them. The sacrificial acts, to which such detestable predicates are here applied, are such as end with the merely external act, whilst the inward feelings of the person presenting the sacrifice are altogether opposed to the idea of both the animal sacrifice and the meat-offering, more especially to that desire for salvation which was symbolized in all the sacrifices; in other words, they are sacrificial acts regarded as , the lifeless works of men spiritually dead. The articles of hasshor and hasseh are used as generic with reference to sacrificial animals. The slaughter of an ox was like the slaying ( m akkeh construct with tzere) of a man (for the association of ideas, see Gen 49:6); the sacrifice ( zobheach like shachat is sometimes applied to slaughtering for the purpose of eating; here, however, it refers to an animal prepared for Jehovah) of a sheep like the strangling of a dog, that unclean animal (for the association of ideas, see Job 30:1); the offerer up ( m e oleh ) of a meat-offering (like one who offered up) swine’s blood, i.e., as if he was offering up the blood of this most unclean animal upon the altar; he who offered incense as an ‘ azkarah (see at Isa 1:13) like one who blessed ‘ aven , i.e., godlessness, used here as in 1Sa 15:23, and also in Hosea in the change of the name of Bethel into Beth ‘Aven, for idolatry, or rather in a concrete sense for the worthless idols themselves, all of which, according to Isa 41:29, are nothing but ‘ aven . Rosenmller, Gesenius, Hitzig, Stier, and even Jerome, have all correctly rendered it in this way, “as if he blessed an idol” ( quasi qui benedicat idolo ); and Vitringa, “ cultum exhibens vano numini ” (offering worship to a vain god). Such explanations as that of Luther, on the other hand, viz., “as if he praised that which was wrong,” are opposed to the antithesis, and also to the presumption of a concrete object to (blessing); whilst that of Knobel, “praising vainly” ( ‘ aven being taken as an acc. Adv.), yields too tame an antithesis, and is at variance with the usage of the language. In this condemnation of the ritual acts of worship, the closing prophecy of the book of Isaiah coincides with the first (Isa 1:11-15). But that it is not sacrifices in themselves that are rejected, but the sacrifices of those whose hearts are divided between Jehovah and idols, and who refuse to offer to Him the sacrifice that is dearest to Him (Psa 51:19, cf., Psa 50:23), is evident from the correlative double-sentence that follows in Isa 66:3 and Isa 66:4, which is divided into two masoretic verses, as the only means of securing symmetry. Gam … gam , which means in other cases, “both … and also,” or in negative sentences “neither … nor,” means here, as in Jer 51:12, “as assuredly the one as the other,” in other words, “as … so.” They have chosen their own ways, which are far away from those of Jehovah, and their soul has taken pleasure, not in the worship of Jehovah, but in all kinds of heathen abominations ( shiqqutsehem , as in many other places, after Deu 29:16); therefore Jehovah wants no temple built by them or with their co-operation, nor any restoration of sacrificial worship at their hands. But according to the law of retribution, He chooses thaalulehem , vexationes eorum (lxx : see at Isa 3:4), with the suffix of the object: fates that will use them ill, and brings their terrors upon them, i.e., such a condition of life as will inspire them with terror ( m e guroth , as in Psa 34:5).
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| The Vanity of Mere Ritual Obedience. | B. C. 706. |
1 Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest? 2 For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word. 3 He that killeth an ox is as if he slew a man; he that sacrificeth a lamb, as if he cut off a dog’s neck; he that offereth an oblation, as if he offered swine’s blood; he that burneth incense, as if he blessed an idol. Yea, they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delighteth in their abominations. 4 I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears upon them; because when I called, none did answer; when I spake, they did not hear: but they did evil before mine eyes, and chose that in which I delighted not.
Here, I. The temple is slighted in comparison with a gracious soul, Isa 66:1; Isa 66:2. The Jews in the prophet’s time, and afterwards in Christ’s time, gloried much in the temple and promised themselves great things from it; to humble them therefore, and to shake their vain confidence, both the prophets and Christ foretold the ruin of the temple, that God would leave it and then it would soon be desolate. After it was destroyed by the Chaldeans it soon recovered itself and the ceremonial services were revived with it; but by the Romans it was made a perpetual desolation, and the ceremonial law was abolished with it. That the world might be prepared for this, they were often told, as here, of what little account the temple was with God. 1. That he did not need it. Heaven is the throne of his glory and government; there he sits, infinitely exalted in the highest dignity and dominion, above all blessing and praise. The earth is his footstool, on which he stands, over-ruling all the affairs of it according to his will. If God has so bright a throne, so large a footstool, where then is the house they can build unto God, that can be the residence of his glory, or where is the place of his rest? What satisfaction can the Eternal Mind take in a house made with men’s hands? What occasion has he, as we have, for a house to repose himself in, who faints not neither is weary, who neither slumbers nor sleeps? Or, if he had occasion, he would not tell us (Ps. l. 12), for all these things hath his hand made, heaven and all its courts, earth and all its borders, and all the hosts of both. All these things have been, have had their beginning, by the power of God, who was happy from eternity before they were, and therefore could not be benefited by them. All these things are (so some read it); they still continue, upheld by the same power that made them; so that our goodness extends not to him. If he required a house for himself to dwell in, he would have made one himself when he made the world; and, if he had made one, it would have continued to this day, as other creatures do, according to his ordinance; so that he had no need of a temple made with hands. 2. That he would not heed it as he would a humble, penitent, gracious heart. He has a heaven and earth of his own making, and a temple of man’s making; but he overlooks them all, that he may look with favour to him that is poor in spirit, humble and serious, self-abasing and self-denying, whose heart is truly contrite for sin, penitent for it, and in pain to get it pardoned, and who trembles at God’s word, not as Felix did, with a transient qualm that was over when the sermon was done, but with an habitual awe of God’s majesty and purity and an habitual dread of his justice and wrath. Such a heart is a living temple for God; he dwells there, and it is the place of his rest; it is like heaven and earth, his throne and his footstool.
II. Sacrifices are slighted when they come from ungracious hands. The sacrifice of the wicked is not only unacceptable, but it is an abomination to the Lord (Prov. xv. 8); this is largely shown here, Isa 66:3; Isa 66:4. Observe, 1. How detestable their sacrifices were to God. The carnal Jews, after their return out of captivity, though they relapsed not to idolatry, grew very careless and loose in the service of God; they brought the torn, and the lame, and the sick for sacrifice (Mal 1:8; Mal 1:13), and this made their services abominable to God; they had no regard to their sacrifices, and therefore how could they think God would have any regard to them? The unbelieving Jews, after the gospel was preached and in it notice given of the offering up of the great sacrifice, which put an end to all the ceremonial services, continued to offer sacrifices, as if the law of Moses had been still in force and could make the comers thereunto perfect: this was an abomination. He that kills an ox for his own table is welcome to do it; but he that now kills it, that thus kills it, for God’s altar, is as if he slew a man; it is as great an offence to God as murder itself; he that does it does in effect set aside Christ’s sacrifice, treads under foot the blood of the covenant, and makes himself accessory to the guilt of the body and blood of the Lord, setting up what Christ died to abolish. He that sacrifices a lamb, if it be a corrupt thing, and not the male in his flock, the best he has, if he think to put God off with any thing, he affronts him, instead of pleasing him; it is as if he cut off a dog’s neck, a creature in the eye of the law so vile that, whereas an ass might be redeemed, the price of a dog was never to be brought into the treasury, Deut. xxiii. 18. He that offers an oblation, a meat offering or drink-offering, is as if he thought to make atonement with swine’s blood, a creature that must not be eaten nor touched, the broth of it was abominable (ch. lxv. 4), much more the blood of it. He that burns incense to God, and so puts contempt upon the incense of Christ’s intercession, is as if he blessed an idol; it was as great an affront to God as if they had paid their devotions to a false god. Hypocrisy and profaneness are as provoking as idolatry. 2. What their wickedness was which made their sacrifices thus detestable. It was because they had chosen their own ways, the ways of their own wicked hearts, and not only their hands did but their souls delighted in their abominations. They were vicious and immoral in their conversations, chose the way of sin rather than the way of God’s commandments, and took pleasure in that which was provoking to God; this made their sacrifices so offensive to God, ch. i. 11-15. Those that pretend to honour God by a profession of religion, and yet live wicked lives, put an affront upon him, as if he were the patron of sin. And that which was an aggravation of their wickedness was that they persisted in it, notwithstanding the frequent calls given them to repent and reform; they turned a deaf ear to all the warnings of divine justice and all the offers of divine grace: When I called, none did answer, as before, ch. lxv. 12. And the same follows here that did there: They did evil before my eyes. Being deaf to what he said, they cared not what he saw, but chose that in which they knew he delighted not. How could those expect to please him in their devotions who took no care to please him in their conversations, but, on the contrary, designed to provoke him? 3. The doom passed upon them for this. Theychose their own ways, therefore, says God, I also will choose their delusions. They have made their choice (as Mr. Gataker paraphrases it), and now I will make mine; they have taken what course they pleased with me, and I will take what course I please with them. I will choose their illusions, or mockeries (so some); as they have mocked God and dishonoured him by their wickedness, so God will give them up to their enemies, to be trampled upon and insulted by them. Or they shall be deceived by those vain confidences with which they have deceived themselves. God will make their sin their punishment; they shall be beaten with their own rod and hurried into ruin by their own delusions. God will bring their fears upon them, that is, will bring upon them that which shall be a great terror to them, or that which they themselves have been afraid of and thought to escape by sinful shifts. Unbelieving hearts, and unpurified unpacified consciences, need no more to make them miserable than to have their own fears brought upon them.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
ISAIAH – CHAPTER 66
ZION RENEWED AND JUDGMENT EXECUTED
This final chapter appears to be broad in scope – reviewing the principles so forcefully enunciated throughout, previewing both the first and second advents of Messiah, the judgments connected with the assumption of His kingly role and the establishment of His glorious reign of righteousness over all the earth. Though some things in this chapter, as in others before, are a bit difficult to comprehend, the prophet has effectively set forth the greatness of the coming King and Kingdom – urging upon all men the wisdom of bowing before Him with humble hearts and loving adoration.
Vs. 1-4: A DIVINE PROTEST
1. How utterly ridiculous do men make themselves in attempting to force the infinite and sovereign Lord of heaven and earth into a shabby mold of finite human concepts! (vs. 1)
a. Heaven is His throne; the earth His footstool, (1Ki 8:27; Psa 139:7-16; Jer 23:23-24; Mat 5:34-35; Act 7:48-50).
b. Since the “heaven of heavens” cannot contain the omnipresent God, it is surely presumptuous insanity for rebel sinners to imagine themselves building a house for His dwelling! (2Sa 7:5-7)
c. Magnificent, beautiful and impressive as was Herod’s temple (of which the Jews were so proud), God would not be pleased to make it His dwelling, and it would soon be destroyed! (Mat 24:1-2; comp. Joh 2:20).
2. The Creator of heaven, earth and all things therein (40:26), will be pleased, however, to dwell with anyone whose heart is humble and contrite toward Him, (vs. 2; Isa 57:15; Psa 34:18; Psa 147:3; Luk 18:13-14); and who “trembleth at His word”, (Psa 119:120; Psa 119:161; Mat 5:3; Luk 6:20).
3. But, the proffered worship of those who choose their own way -whose hearts are not bowed before Him – is ABOMINABLE! (Psa 51:15-17); He views them as nothing more than a “sacrificial cult”! (vs. 3).
a. An ox offered by such a person is as abominable as if he. presented a human sacrifice!
b. Nor is his offering of a sheep more acceptable than the offering of a dog, whose neck has been broken!
c. Whoever so presents a meal offering (though he may be very meticulous to present it exactly according to the prescribed pattern), might as well offer the blood of a SOW!
d. And whoever, with a stubborn, willful and rebellious heart, presents an offering of frankincense before the Lord, will be regarded as if he blessed an idol!
e. Where there is no whole-hearted love and reverence for the Lord; wherever one’s heart is not bowed in humble awe and adoration before the majesty of His throne, ANY WORSHIP OR SERVICE OFFERED TO HIM is regarded as AN ABOMINABLE SIN!! (Joh 4:20-24; Php_3:3).
1) Under Satanic deception and delusion, man has always been able to corrupt God’s revelation and ordinances.
2) So today, religious exercises which men see as beautiful, impressive, and spiritual, are most often ABOMINABLE TO GOD -being contrary to His word, and appealing to the flesh; they do not glorify Him!
4. As a result of their willfullness, God will mock such rebels in the hour of their distress – bringing upon them the things they have most feared.
a. Have they not refused to answer His call? (Mat 11:28-30)
b. Have they not refused to heed His voice? (Luk 19:14)
c. Have they not delighted themselves in that which was evil in God’s sight?
d. Should they, then, be surprised when He disregards their cries? (Pro 1:24-33)
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
1. This saith Jehovah. This discourse is different from the preceding one; for here the Prophet exclaims against the Jews, who, puffed up with vain confidence in the sacrifices and the temple, indulged freely in their pleasures, and flattered themselves in their sins under this pretense. He shews that this confidence is not only foolish and groundless, but diabolical and accursed; for they grossly mock God who endeavor to serve and appease him by outward ceremonies. Accordingly, he reproaches them with endeavoring to frame an idol in place of God, when they shut him up in the temple. Next, he speaks of the renovation of the Church, and of the extension of it throughout the whole world.
Heaven is my throne. His aim being to shake off the self-complancency of the pretended or hypocritical worshippers of God, he begins with his nature. By assigning “heaven” for his habitation, he means that the majesty of God fills all things, and is everywhere diffused; and that he is so far from being shut up in the temple, that he is not shut up or confined within any place whatever. The Scripture often teaches that God is in heaven; not that he is shut up in it, but in order that we may raise our minds above the world, and may not entertain any low, or carnal, or earthly conceptions of him; for the mere sight of heaven ought to carry us higher, and transport us into admiration. And yet, in innumerable passages, he protests that he is with us, that his power is everywhere diffused, in order that we may not imagine that he is shut up in heaven.
It may be thought that this is beyond all controversy, and was at that time acknowledged by all; for who did not know that heaven and earth are filled by the majesty of God? They might therefore object that there is no man who wishes to thrust God out of heaven, and that the Prophet has no good reason for waxing wroth and breaking out into such violent invective. And undoubtedly they rejected with great haughtiness this doctrine of the Prophet, and were highly irritated and enraged, as if great injury had been done to them. But it is easy to reply that, when men endeavor to appease God according to their own fancy, they frame an idol that is altogether contrary to his majesty, Relying on their useless ceremonies, they thought that they had performed their duty well when they went frequently to the temple, and offered in it prayers and sacrifices. The Prophet shews that the majesty of God must not be measured by this standard, and that all that they bring forward, unaccompanied by purity of heart, are absolute trifles; for since it is evident from his dwelling-place being in heaven that the nature of God is spiritual, if the worship do not correspond to that nature, it is undoubtedly wicked and corrupted.
Where is that house which ye will build for me? Under the word house or temple he includes all the ceremonies in which they thought that the worship of God consisted; and because they measured God and his worship by the temple as a standard, the Prophet shews that it is unworthy of God’s majesty to view his presence as confined to a visible and frail building. He does not argue merely about God’s essence, but at the same time discourses concerning his true worship, which he shews to be spiritual, in order that it may correspond to the nature of God, who “is a Spirit.” (Joh 4:24.) And if men diligently considered what is the nature of God, they would not contrive foreign and new modes of worship for him, or measure him by themselves. (217) This common and often expressed sentiment is more weighty and energetic than if the Prophet had brought forward something new; for he shews that they are so stupid and dull as to be ignorant of that which was well known to the merest idiot, and that they resemble dumb beasts in imagining that God dwells and reposes in the temple. He therefore asks contemptuously, “Where is that house?” For it was absurd to think either that God dwells on the earth, or that he is concealed and shut up in a prison. Besides, the temple was built on a small mountain, and could not contain the glory of God within its limited dimensions.
And where is this place of my rest? And yet the Lord had said of the temple, “This is my rest for ever; here will I dwell, for I have chosen it,.” (Psa 132:14.) In another passage it was said, “Enter, O Lord, into thy rest.” (2Ch 6:41.) Besides, we have seen, in a former part of this book, that “the Lord’s rest shall be glorious in it.” (Isa 11:10.) Finally, this was the ordinary designation of the temple, and yet the Prophet now finds fault with it. I reply, the temple is called God’s rest, because he gave the token of his presence in the temple; for he had chosen it as the place where men should call upon him, and from which he would give a display of his strength and power. But he did not command it to be built in order that men might conceive of his majesty according to their own fancy, (218) but rather that, reminded by the outward signs of God’s presence, they might raise their minds higher and rise to heaven, and acknowledge that God is greater and more excellent than the whole world. Yet, as the minds of men are prone to superstition, the Jews converted into obstacles to themselves those things which were intended to be aids; and when they ought to have risen by faith to heaven, they believed that God was bound to them, and worshipped him only in a careless, manner, or rather made sport of worshipping him at their own pleasure.
This passage is very appropriately quoted by Stephen, (Act 7:49,) and is indirectly accommodated by Paul to the sense which we have now stated; for they shew that those persons are grievously deceived and far astray who bring to God carnal ceremonies, as if pure worship and religion consisted of them, or who wickedly and profanely disfigure his worship by statues and images. Stephen addresses the Jews, who, being attached to the figures of the Law, disregarded true godliness; while Paul, speaking to the Gentiles, affirms that “God dwelleth not in temples made with hands.” (Act 17:24.)
(217) “ Et ne mesureroyent sa grandeur infinie a leur petitesse.” “And would not measure his infinite greatness by their littleness.”
(218) “ Afin que les hommes creussent de sa majeste tout ce que bon leur sembleroit.” “In order that men might believe concerning his majesty whatever they thought fit.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
THE OBJECTS OF THE DIVINE FAVOUR
Isa. 66:1-2. Thus saith the LORD, the heaven is My throne, &c.
In opposition to their formality, &c., a great truth is here asserted; viz.: That the special object of Jehovahs gracious regard is the contrite and lowly spirit, who, with reverence and godly fear, offereth to Him sincere spiritual worship. This truth is unfolded in a threefold aspectI. BY WAY OF REPROOF.
1. The pernicious notion that merely ritual and external service is acceptable to God is denounced and condemned. The reproof of the text is equally applicable to all that is unspiritual in religion at the present dayall heartless formality and Pharisaic ritualism.
2. Self-righteous pride is here rebuked and condemned. The Jews prided themselves in their splendid temple and their gorgeous ritualism. II. BY WAY OF INSTRUCTION. I. The text implies that the God of nature is likewise the God of grace and salvation. There are some who profess to worship the God of nature, but who ignore and deny the God of redemption in Christ. They are one and the same.
2. The human soul, in its sinful and degraded state, is an object of greater interest and value in the sight of God than all the material universe.
3. Gods gracious and approving regard is connected with a specific state of mind on the part of man. III. BY WAY OF CONSOLATION. Consolation to a man of a poor and contrite spirit.
1. God looks upon the contrite spirit
(1) To heal its anguish.
(2) To enrich and exalt him.
(3) To comfort and protect him.
(4) In approbation of their worship. Pomp and pageantry he spurns, &c.
(5) To dwell with him for ever. Let the ungodly remember that God looketh upon them also, but not with pleasure and approbation.E. Roberts: The Penny Pulpit, New Series, No. 787.
I. MANS LOOK (Mic. 7:7). Man needs help. Where is he to look?
1. Personal. Whatever it may cost, whoever else will not, I will.
2. Relianceunto. In weakness, confusion, difficulty.
3. Objectthe Lord. He is able, willing, has promised to help.
II. GODS LOOK.
1. God has promised to look, i.e., after. I will. His look is one of power, and it means help and protection.
2. Objectpoor, needy. Him that hath no helper applies both to temporal and spiritual concerns of Gods people.
3. Contrite, repentant (Isa. 57:15).
4. One who has reverence for Gods Word. Tries to keep it; fears to break it. Let us look to God, and God will look to us.John R. Taft, M.A.: The Study and Homiletic Monthly, 1879, p. 163.
I. The character of those who are the peculiar objects of the Divine regard. II. Gods regard to such characters. To turn away the face is expressive of disgust, disdain, &c.; to look is to approve, to care, to bless. The text expresses Divine approval, care, blessing. Conclusion:
1. How different the characters whom God esteems to those the world delights in!
2. What admirable condescension in God (Psa. 8:3-5).
3. What encouragement to, the penitent (1 John 1).
4. What a source of terror to hypocrites, pharisees, &c.R. Watson: Sermons and Outlines), pp. 285288.
I. Gods grandeur. II. Self-sufficiency. III. All-sufficiency. IV. Condescension.
Isa. 66:3. Formal worship. I. Its features. II. Offensiveness to God. III. Utter worthlessness (pp. 625627).
Isa. 66:4. I. The offence. Impenitenceaggravated transgressions, wilful contempt. II. The punishment. Delusion, fear, ruin.J. Lyth, D.D. (See outlines on Isa. 57:15.)
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
F. EPILOGUE, CHAPTER 66
1. BURIAL OF OLD ZION
TEXT: Isa. 66:1-6
1
Thus saith Jehovah, Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: what manner of house will ye build unto me? and what place shall be my rest?
2
For all these things hath my hand made, and so all these things came to be, saith Jehovah: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and that trembleth at my word.
3
He that killeth an ox is as he that slayeth a man; he that sacrificeth a lamb, as he that breaketh a dogs neck; he that offereth an oblation, as he that offereth swines blood; he that burneth frankincense, as he that blesseth an idol. Yea, they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delighteth in their abominations:
4
I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears upon them; because when I called, none did answer; when I spake, they did not hear; but they did that which was evil in mine eyes, and chose that wherein I delighted not.
5
Hear the word of Jehovah, ye that tremble at his word: Your brethren that hate you, that cast you out for my names sake, have said, Let Jehovah be glorified, that we may see your joy; but it is they that shall be put to shame.
6
A voice of tumult from the city, a voice from the temple, a voice of Jehovah that rendereth recompense to his enemies.
QUERIES
a.
What is the point of stressing the omnipotence of Jehovah?
b.
How is one who kills an ox like one who slays a man?
c.
How could those who cast others out say, Let Jehovah be glorified?
PARAPHRASE
What arrogance you disobedient ones manifest by thinking I will have anything to do with that building you call My Temple. The wickedness and hypocrisy you are practicing there are abominations to Me. I Am Omnipotent and Absolutely Holy; I am not like the provincial gods of the idolatrous heathen which have to have earthly houses to live in. Neither will I allow My name to be profaned by having it associated with your blasphemies. I created the whole universe; I am omnipresent and I desire an atmosphere of humility where I am worshipped. I dwell in people of afflicted and contrite heartsthose who respect and obey My word. But people like you, arrogant, haughty, rebellious and blasphemousyour hypocritical animal sacrifices are as abominable to Me as if you had made human sacrifices or offered an unclean sacrifice like a dog; your wicked attitudes make your attempts at ceremonial purification as repugnant as if you had offered swines blood for your cleansing; your burning of incense is as ungodly as if you were worshiping an idol. This is so because you are arrogantly and blatantly doing these things when you know they are against My will. You are not making innocent mistakes; you are doing these abominations because you like them and want to mock Me. You worship the stars because you fear famine and pestilence; you worship pagan idols because you want to trust in the pagan nations of those idols; now I am going to use those very things you fear as a judgment upon you and prove to you that they are delusions. This is the alternative you have left Me, you rebellious people. When I spoke to you through My messengers, you refused to listen and obey. You deliberately did what I told you would profane My name and anger Me. Now, hear Me those of you who do respect and wish to obey My word: Those of this nation who claim to be your brothers but really hate you and make you outcasts of this society and mock you, saying, We have cast you out, but of course, you are Jehovahs so why dont you praise his name and rejoice now!let Me tell you, says the Lord, it is these arrogant mockers who will be soon put to shame. Very soon now there will be the clash, clatter and din of warfare heard from inside the walls of this very cityyea, even from within the temple you hold so dear shall come the noise of judgment. That noise will be the voice of Jehovah rendering His vengeance upon those who have deliberately declared war upon Him.
COMMENTS
Isa. 66:1-3 ABOMINABLE: Chapter 66 contains a three-part summarization of the whole book of Isaiah. First there is capsulation of the abomination of Isaiahs contemporaries and the coming judgment (Isa. 66:1-6); second, the birth of new Israel (messianic agechurch) (Isa. 66:7-14); third, the proclamation of redemption to the whole world (Isa. 66:15-24). These are the three major theses of the prophet and thus chapter 66 forms an appropriate epilogue.
These verses are not condemnations of houses of worship as such, nor were they intended to abrogate animal sacrifices for Isaiahs contemporaries. The prophet is condemning the arrogant hypocrisy of those who thought an earthly temple guaranteed the presence of Jehovah in their midst regardless of the wickedness of their motives and actions. Many of the Jews fell into the dangerous self-induced delusion that as long as their temple stood Jehovah must confine Himself there so their nation would never be without His presence and protection. This delusion is a consequence of spiritual immaturity and this-worldly-mindedness about the worship of God. Most of the Jewish rulers and religious leaders of Jesus day trusted in their earthly temple, human priesthood and animal sacrifices but not in the Invisible God who made them. It is a common failure of human nature to demand that which can be handled, touched and tasted (cf. Col. 2:20-23; 2Co. 4:16 to 2Co. 5:5, etc.). When the Pharisees of Jesus day wanted to make an oath by the highest thing they could think of, they made it on the temple or the gold of the temple (cf. Mat. 23:16-21). When Jesus predicted the desolation of the city and the temple (Mat. 23:37-39), His own disciples could not believe it, so He gave an extended lesson to them about the destruction of Jerusalem (Mat. 24:1-35) at the hands of the Romans. The fundamental issue of the entire book of Hebrews in the N.T. is that of weaning Hebrew Christians away from the powerful temptation to return to Judaism (abrogated by the new covenant) which appealed to the fleshly desire for a religion that centered in an earthly temple, touchable sacrifices, visible high-priesthood and religious hierarchy. Stephen, the martyr, condemned his Jewish brethren for not accepting the fact that Jesus was the fulfillment of all the temple stood for (Act. 7:44-53). The Jews were not alone in thinking the Creator could be reduced to human level and confined to earthly shrines. Paul reminded the idolaters of Athens that such ideas were illogical (cf. Act. 17:24-28). Young aptly says, Those who would build a house influenced by such conceptions were seeking to render the infinite finite, the eternal temporal, and the Creator a mere creature.
Jehovah does dwell in a spiritual temple composed of people (cf. Eph. 2:11-22; 2Pe. 2:5) of afflicted and contrite hearts. The Hebrew word anah is translated poor but means literally, afflicted. It is from a root word that may also be translated answer. The idea is that God dwells in people who are poor in spirit or afflicted in the soul enough to answer God when He calls. Gods presence dwells in a people who are humble and penitent, whether they have a church building or not. But the most elaborate building and the best well-organized religious system will never enjoy the presence of God if haughty, arrogant, independent and rebellious worshipers gather there. True worship of God is done in spirit and truth (Joh. 4:19-26) and where God is worshiped is secondary to that! When truth and righteousness are renounced for the sake of places, things and human traditions, it is an abomination before the Lord!
Rituals and ceremonies are means to an end; they are vehicles of human expressions of faith and willing obedience to a PersonGod. When the rituals and ceremonies become the objects of our hope, they become idols! God Himself is the object of our hope; biblical commandments concerning acts of obedience or rituals or worship are revealed as acceptable ways men may express their faith in Him. There are two ways men turn biblically revealed rituals into abominations before the Lord: (a) make the rituals the object of their hope, or; (b) refuse to observe the ritual as the Lord commands it in His Word. The people of Isaiahs day were guilty of both. They were making their ability to keep the rituals the object of their hope which is trusting in self-righteousness, and they were also arrogantly mixing the practices of pagan idolatry with the worship of Jehovah. Sacrifices to God, no matter how often or how affluent, without the proper spirit and contrary to revealed truth are unacceptable to God (cf. Isa. 1:10-20; Eze. 8:5-18; Eze. 14:1-11; 1Sa. 15:17-23; Isa. 57:1-13; Mic. 3:11; Mat. 5:23-24; Mat. 6:1-18; etc.). Observance of rituals contrary to biblical specifications and without humility toward the God who commanded them makes them abominations to God. A man may kill an ox and bring it to the temple for a sacrifice, but with an improper attitude toward God he may as well have offered a human sacrificeboth are equally abominable to God! Do men really realize how serious it is to observe religious ritual in an improper frame of mind and heart?! To give an offering or do any act of worship without a contrite heart is an affront to the Lord and as insulting as offering swines blood! Such impersonal, rebellious, impenitent behavior exposes the real focus of the heart of a manthe ritual itselfand that is in fact, idolatry! Even people of the new covenant must be on guard against this tendency. Ananias and Sapphira fellnot in the amount given or not given to the Lord, but in the attitude they had in their heart (cf. Act. 5:1 ff). Simon, the converted magician, fellnot in what he sought but the purpose for which he sought it (cf. Act. 8:9-13). Even the Corinthian church made the Lords Supper an abomination before the Lord by the attitude of divisiveness in which they participated in it (cf. 1 Corinthians 10-11). The church at Laodicea was an abomination to Christnot because she was affluent but because of her attitude toward her affluency.
Men will err and sin. Those who worship God will never be able to do so perfectly. The Lord will forgive those errors when men worship Him penitently, honestly and trembling at His Word. But when men deliberately choose their own ways against those God has plainly revealed, and when they delight in doing what they know is contrary to His revealed will, He will not forgive.
Isa. 66:4-6 ABANDONED: What choice do men leave the Righteous and Just God when they delight in their abominations? The only choice God has is to leave them to their choice! God chooses their delusions as the instruments of their judgment. When God called and called, none were poor (anah) enough in spirit to answer. When God spake, none obeyed (shama). They plainly told God they did not want to hear from Him (cf. Isa. 30:9-11; Mic. 2:6-11, etc.). They obstinately chose their own way against Gods (cf. Jer. 6:16-18; Jer. 8:4-7, etc.). So the Lord let them have what they chose! The Lord abandoned them to their sins (cf. Eze. 11:21-25; Eze. 39:23-24, etc.). They are given up to suffer in their own bodies the due penalties of their errors (cf. Rom. 1:27). Judah trusted in human schemes and human allies to keep her safe and prosperous, but her human allies betrayed her and turned on her. Judahs idol gods could not provide anything for her because they were only pieces of wood and stone. Judahs social injustices and political chicanery on the international scene eventually caused her captivity. But it-was Jehovah who was exercising His sovereign rule in righteousness over the universe that was the real cause of it. God exercises His sovereign rule through secondary agents both in men and natural means (cf. Isa. 10:5-19; Jer. 27:1-11; Amo. 4:6-11; Hab. 1:5-6; Dan. 8:1 ff; Rev. 6:1-17; Rev. 8:1 to Rev. 9:21; Rev. 17:15-18, etc.).
In verse five, the Lord addresses Himself to those few people who were listening to the teaching of Isaiah (cf. Isa. 8:16 ff) and being persecuted for their faithfulness. The majority of the people hated the righteous remnant. Gods righteous minority will alway be persecuted by the wicked majority because their righteousness acts as a catalyst of judgment in their midst (cf. Joh. 3:18-21; Joh. 9:35-40; Joh. 15:18-27, etc.). The righteous minority of Isaiahs day had been cast out which probably means the haughty, self-righteous majority had ostracized them socially, religiously economically and politically. The poor and humble in spirit and those obedient to the Word of God were oppressed and exploited. The rich and powerful wicked mock them as they oppress them, saying, Since you are so anxious to praise the name of Jehovah and call on Him for help, we will give you plenty of opportunity to call on Him by casting you out. Such perverse haughtiness in a people who had all the advantages of the miraculous deliverance of God from enemies centuries past and who had the Law of God delivered by angels through Moses, is shocking! It is blasphemous! But such mockery of Gods saints in the midst of their persecutions will continue so long as this present order exists. All who live a godly life in this world will suffer persecution (2Ti. 3:12). But Gods vindication of His saints will be doneif not in this world, in the next!
As for those of Isaiahs day who were persecuting the righteous, they would themselves be cast out and suffer shame and humiliation for their disobedience to God in the Babylonian captivity. But Isaiah is looking past his own time by many centuries and hears the noise of warfare that comes from Jerusalem, the city that the wicked majority believed would never fall (Mic. 3:11; Jer. 6:13-14; Jer. 8:11; Jer. 26:7-11; Jer. 28:1-17). Isaiahs prediction of Jerusalems judgment refers to her fall at the hands of Rome (70 A.D.) as will be seen from the following text.
QUIZ
1.
What did the majority of Isaiahs contemporaries think about Gods presence in Jerusalem and the temple?
2.
Are these verses intended to condemn building houses of worship?
3.
Where does Jehovah dwell in the new covenant age?
4.
Just how serious is it to worship with a haughty attitude?
5.
How does chapter 66 form an epilogue to the whole book of Isaiah?
6.
What is being poor and of a contrite spirit?
7.
Did the people of Isaiahs day and later really think their city and temple would never fall?
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
LXVI.
(1) The heaven is my throne . . .We are left to conjecture the historical starting-point of this utterance of a Divine truth. Was the prophet condemning in advance the restoration of the temple on the return from Babylon, or, as some critics have supposed, the intention of some of the exiles to build a temple in the land of their captivity, as others did afterwards at Leontopolis in Egypt? Was he anticipating the vision of the Apocalypse, that in the new Jerusalem there was to be no temple (Rev. 21:22)? Neither of these views is satisfactory, Isa. 56:7; Isa. 60:7, and the writings of Ezekiel, Haggai, Zechariah, all pre-supposing the existence of a new temple. It seems better to see in the words the utterance, in its strongest form, of the truth that God dwelleth, not in temples made with hands, that utterance being compatible, as in the case of Solomon himself (2Ch. 6:18), of our Lord (Joh. 2:16-17; Joh. 4:21-23), of St. Stephen, who quoted this passage (Act. 7:48-50), with the profoundest reverence for the visible sanctuary. Cheyne quotes a striking parallel from an Egyptian hymn to the Nile of the fourteenth century B.C., in which we find the writer saying of God, His abode is not known . . . there is no building that can contain Him. (Records of the Past, iv. 109.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
1. Heaven is my throne earth is my footstool This is a restatement of doctrines made familiar at the dedication of the first temple, (see 1 Chronicles 6,) and often elsewhere repeated, as well as everywhere implied in Holy Scripture. See Stephen’s speech, Acts vii, especially. God’s empire is the universe; the indefinite expanse above is his throne, or the scene in which his sovereignty is in exercise; and the earth is his footstool, (Act 7:49,) or the scene extended so as to take in the panorama of the scheme of redemption. Being thus everywhere present, how is he to be located in a man-made temple? How weak such a mistake regarding the divine Being! The occasion of the words in this verse appears to have been the prophet’s far-seeing view of the Jews’ worldly pride in the newly repaired and gorgeously ornamented temple under Herod the Great, at Christ’s advent. The temple of Christ’s body was to be the one only temple of sole and solid interest to the world, an effective and enduring shrine before which a world of lost men should bow in worship and supplication for mercy. This is such a place which God seeks for his rest.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The Exceeding Greatness of God ( Isa 66:1-2 a).
Isa 66:1-2
‘Thus says Yahweh,
“The heaven is my throne,
And the earth is my footstool,
What manner of house will you build for me?
And what place will be my rest?
For all these things has my hand made,
And so all these things came to be, says Yahweh.”
As he approaches the climax of the book Isaiah makes clear the basis on which all that he has said must be judged and interpreted. All must be interpreted in the light of one great fact, that Yahweh is not limited to an earthly Mount Zion, nor to an earthly dwellingplace. Heaven is His throne, earth is His footstool, He is over all, He spans all, He is the Creator of all. He rules the heavens, the earth is subject to Him. Thus no house can be built that can contain Him, there is no house that can be sufficient for Him to find rest in. For everything has been made by His hand, and that is how they came to be. Thus He is too great to be limited to a tiny house in one part of His creation, even the temple on Mount Zion.
For ideas similar to this compare 1Ki 8:12-29, where, however, Yahweh condescended to dwell in some limited way in that earthly temple. What was said there He would hear in His heavenly temple. For, as we have stressed earlier, Mount Zion and its temple is seen as being like a bridge between earth and heaven, on the earthward side physically limited, but spiritually reaching up to God, as Isa 2:2-4 makes clear.
So Isaiah wants all to recognise that the concept of Zion as Yahweh’s Dwellingplace is not to be seen as putting any limits on Him. His dwelling in Zion is as the One Who is above all things. And His people in Zion will enjoy the same.
Ezekiel 40 onwards emphasised the same thing when he pointed out that the true heavenly temple was not in Jerusalem, but could be approached through the altar that had been established there, and, once it was built, through the Mount Zion temple also. But the heavenly temple itself was in a holy portion on a high mountain apart, some distance from Jerusalem and unapproachable by man, because while Yahweh had come back to earth to welcome His people again, and He wanted them to know that He was near, never again was He to be seen as simply in the temple in Jerusalem. He was near and yet far because He was holy. There is great stress in Ezekiel’s whole description of the Temple on His holiness.
Isa 66:2 b
Those Who Are Welcome At His Feet ( Isa 66:2 Isa 66:2
“But to this man will I look,
Even to him who is poor and of a contrite spirit (‘lamed in spirit’),
And who trembles at my word.”
But in His greatness God does have some on whom He will fix His eyes in love, those who are of a poor and contrite spirit, those who recognise their nothingness and the true state of their own spirits as lamed and limping, and who tremble at His word, because they recognise Him for what He is, the high and lofty One Who inhabits the everlasting (Isa 57:15). And because they worship Him, they want to serve Him, weak though they are. Isaiah understood this for he too had seen himself like this when he had seen the revelation of God in the earthly temple (chapter 6), and had humbly and tremblingly responded in offering himself for service. Note that the singular is used to stress God’s interest in each individual one.
So in all the vastness of the universe these are the ones to whom God pays attention, the humble, the poor, the spiritually limping, the spiritually lame. Compare Isa 61:1 and Isa 35:6. He looks to those who hear His word and His instruction and fear Him and respond to His word. For the fear of Yahweh is the beginning of wisdom and to depart from evil is understanding (Job 28:28 compare Psa 111:10).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
THE COMING OF THE NEW HEAVENS AND THE NEW EARTH ( Isa 65:13 to Isa 66:24 ).
The final vision of Isaiah centres on the fact that there will be a new heaven and a new earth. Old things will pass away and all things will become new, just as he has constantly promised.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Isa 66:1 Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest?
Isa 66:1
[93] Julius Peter Oyet, I Visited Heaven (Kampala, Uganda: Bezalel Design Studio, 1997), 82.
Isa 66:8 Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? or shall a nation be born at once? for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children.
Isa 66:8
Isa 66:8 “for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children” Word Study on “travailed” Strong says the Hebrew word “travail” ( ) (H2342) literally means, “to twist, to whirl, to dance, to writhe in pain (especially of parturition) or fear.”
Scripture References Note a similar verse:
Gal 4:19, “My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you,”
Isa 66:8 Comments – Kenneth Hagin says that the prophecy of Isa 66:8 has a 2-fold application, the natural and the spiritual (or supernatural). Isaiah is prophesying that Israel will be reborn as a nation in the natural, which happened in 1948. Israel will also be reborn in the spiritual as “Zion” (Heb 12:18-23). The church today dwells there. Also dwelling in this “Zion” is God, the spirits of men and Jesus. [94]
[94] Kenneth Hagin, The Art of Intercession (Tulsa, Oklahoma: Faith Library Publications, c1980, 1984), 51-52.
Heb 12:18-23, “For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest, And the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which voice they that heard intreated that the word should not be spoken to them any more: (For they could not endure that which was commanded, And if so much as a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned, or thrust through with a dart: And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake:) But ye are come unto mount Sion , and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, To the general assembly and church of the firstborn , which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,”
Isa 66:23 And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the LORD.
Isa 66:23
Isa 66:24 And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcases of the men that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh.
Isa 66:24
Comments – I believe that the Scriptures use this word to describe the appearance of those who are burning in the flames of hell. Mary Baxter’s description of those people in Hell comes close to the meaning of “carcasses” because although they are alive, they look like corpses:
“We had not walked far when Jesus stopped in front of another cell. As we looked in, a light came on. (Jesus made the light.) I stood and looked at a soul that I knew was in great torment! It was another woman, and she was a blue-gray color. Her flesh was dead, and the parts that had decayed were falling off the bones. Her bones were all burned to a deep black, and she had on bits and pieces of ragged clothes. Worms were crawling out of her flesh and bones. A dirty odor filled the cell.” [95]
[95] Mary K. Baxter, A Divine Revelation of Hell (Springdale, Pennsylvania: Whitaker House, 1993), 89-90.
Isa 66:24 Word Study on “worm” Strong says the Hebrew word “worm” “towla” ( ) (H8438) means, “a worm, a maggot,” or “scarlet crimson.” The Enhanced Strong says it is used 43 times in the Old Testament, being translated “scarlet 34, worm 8, crimson 1.”
Isa 66:24 Comments – In the earthly Jerusalem, which is a type and figure of the heavenly Jerusalem, there was the Valley of Hinnon, where all of the rubbish was placed. From this Hebrew name comes the Greek word “gehenna,” which is translated in the New Testament as “Hell”.
If you ever live in an underdeveloped nation, these small rubbish piles are created in every village, wherever people live in a community. In the evenings, the daily rubbish piles are burned. In a large city like Jerusalem, this pile of rubbish would be burned and this fire would never go out. It would burn until the next morning, when it was rekindled by more rubbish. This place was always abhorring, always smelling, always burning, and full of worms. Thus, it became a symbol of hell in the New Testament.
When Alexander Mackay, the first missionary to Uganda, East Africa, helped the Buganda king stop a plague of disease, he asked the king to stop throwing dead corpses into a nearby swamp. Instead, the people were asked to bury their dead.
“As the summer came on the plague grew worse, and many deaths occurred. The king applied to Mackay for medicines; but as he did not understand the disease, Mackay refused to treat it. But he was persuaded that it sprang chiefly from their filthy habits, and from the swamps round about, where the bodies of people who were slaughtered daily were thrown after being chopped in pieces.” [96]
[96] C. T. Wilson, Alexander Mackay: Missionary Hero of Uganda (London: The Sunday School Union, 1893), 80.
Scripture Reference John describes a similar scene in his revelation of Jesus Christ:
Rev 14:10, “The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:”
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
Israel’s Redemption – The chapters that follow the prophecy of Christ’s sufferings in Isa 53:1-12 tell the children of God to rejoice; for Christ has given them the victory over sin, death and the grave. However, these chapters speak of Christ’s redemption from the perspective of the nation of Israel rather than from the perspective of the Gentiles; for the book of Isaiah contains prophecies of the future destiny of Israel. Later in redemptive history, the Church will be grafted into these prophecies as members of the Kingdom of Heaven.
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
The Abominations of a Dead Worship and The Birth of the New Church
v. 1. Thus saith the Lord, The heaven is My throne, and the earth is My footstool, v. 2. For all those things hath Mine hand made, v. 3. He that killeth an ox, v. 4. I also will choose their delusions, v. 5. Hear the word of the Lord, ye that tremble at His Word, v. 6. A voice of noise from the city, v. 7. Before she, v. 8. Who hath heard such a thing? Who hath seen such things? v. 9. Shall I bring to the birth and not cause to bring forth?
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
SECTION XII.FINAL THREATENINGS AND PROMISES (Isa 66:1-24.).
EXPOSITION
Isa 66:1-4
THE UNGODLY EXILES REBUKED. Israel, being about to return from the Captivity, had the design of rebuilding the temple and re-establishing the temple worship. God rebukes this design in persons devoid of any spirit of holiness, and warns them that mere formal outward worship is an abomination to him (Isa 66:1-3). In Isa 66:4 he threatens them with punishment.
Isa 66:1
Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool (comp. Psa 11:4; Psa 103:19). The Hebrews, while they earnestly desired to have a material emblem of the presence of God in their midst, were deeply impressed with the feeling that no temple could be worthy of him, or other than most unworthy. “Will God,” said Solomon, “indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and heavens of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded?” (1Ki 8:27). And again, “Who is able to build him an house, seeing the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain him? Who am I then, that I should build him an house, save only to burn sacrifice before trim?” (2Ch 2:6). Thus Isaiah’s note of warning was no novelty, and might rind responsive echoes in the hearts of many. Where is the house that ye build unto me? rather, what manner of house is it that ye would build to me, add what manner of place for my rest? God needs no “house;” and they cannot build him a house that could be in any way worthy of him. They, moreover, are unworthy to build him any house, which is the real ground of the refusal. There was no refusal, when the better part of the exiles, having returned, took the building in hand (see Ezr 3:8-13; Ezr 6:14, Ezr 6:15; Hag 1:8-14; Zec 1:16; Zec 4:9, etc.).
Isa 66:2
All these thingsi.e. heaven and earth hath mine hand made; i.e. have I, Jehovah, brought into existence. How, then, can I need that men should build me a house? All these things have been, saith the Lord. The sentence seems incomplete. Mr. Cheyne supplies, “I spoke.” The sentence will then run, “I spoke, and all these things crone into being, saith Jehovah;” i.e. heaven and earth, and all things that are therein, came into being at my word (comp. Gen 1:1; Gen 2:1). But to this man will I look; i.e. though I have made all things and all men, I will not equally regard all. Him only will I respect who is of a poor and contrite spirit, etc. (comp. Isa 57:15).
Isa 66:3
He that killeth an ox is as if he slew a man; literally, is a manslayer. The full meaning seems to be, “He that, not being of a poor and contrite spirit, would offer me an ox in sacrifice, is as little pleasing to me as a murderer.” Sacrifice, without the true spirit of sacrifice, is an abomination (comp. Isa 1:11, “To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the Lord,” etc.). There, however, the sacrifices are actually offered; here they are hypothetical. The ungodly exiles design to offer sacrifice to God in his temple, when they have rebuilt it (Isa 66:1). God rejects their offerings by anticipation. As if he out off a dog’s neck; i.e.“ would no more please me by the sacrifice than if he were to make an offering of the unclean dog.” (On the uncleanness of the dog, see Deu 23:18.) He that offereth an oblation; or, a meat offering (see Le Isa 2:1-15). He that burneth incense. With his meat offering, as directed in Le Isa 2:1, Isa 2:2. Such a one is no better than he that blesseth (i.e. worships) an idol. It may be suspected that the ritual acts selected for comparison with those of the Levitical law are practices to which the exiles were given (comp. Isa 65:3, Isa 65:4). Yea, they have chosen, etc.; rather, as they haw chosen. The clause stands over against the first clause of Isa 2:4, “As they (gam hemmah) have chosen their ways, so I (gam ani) have chosen their delusions.”
Isa 66:4
Their delusions; or, their childish follies (LXX; ). As God sends on some men “strong delusion that they should believe a lie” (2Th 2:11), so on others he sends a spirit of childish folly, which makes their conduct silly and headstrong. Persons whose characters are of this stamp are especially liable to vain and groundless “fears.” When I called, none did answer (comp. Isa 65:12, and see the comment on that passage).
Isa 66:5-14
THE GODLY EXILES ENCOURAGED. The scoffs which have long greeted those who believed God’s promises and expected the restoration of Zion, will be put to shame. The silence in which Zion has lain will be broken; she will be once more a city “full of stirs, a tumultuous city” (Isa 22:2). Suddenly, without any pains of travail, she will bring forth; and her offspring will be “a nation born at once” (Isa 66:8). The godly exiles are called upon to rejoice at the prospect (Isa 66:10), and promised peace and comfort in the restored city (Isa 66:11-14).
Isa 66:5
Hear ye that tremble. The godly are addressedthose that have a reverent fear of God’s word (comp. Isa 66:2, ad fin.; and see also Ezr 9:4; Ezr 10:3). Your brethren that cast you out; rather. that put you away (Cheyne), or thrust you from them (Delitzsch). The verb used came in later times to designate formal excommunication; but here it points merely to a practical renunciation of fellowship. Said, Let the Lord be glorified: but he shall appear to your joy; rather, said, Let Jehovah glorify himself, that ice may see your joy; i.e. “said sarcastically, May the prophecies be fulfilled, and God humble Babylon, and release Israel, and restore her, that we may witness your rejoicing. We should gladly see all this; but we do not in the least expect it.” And they shall be ashamed; rather, but as for them (i.e. those who so speak) they shall be ashamed. The event shall shame them.
Isa 66:6
A voice of noise from the city from the temple. The “city” and “temple” are suddenly in existencethey have sprung into being. The prophet sees Jerusalem rebuilt, restored, and hears sounds go forth from itpartly, perhaps, the sounds of ordinary city life; but amid these, there is a voice of the Lord, rendering recompense to his enemies. The Jewish state, restored by Zerubbabel, did, after a time, bring under subjection several of its ancient adversaries.
Isa 66:7, Isa 66:8
Before she travailed, etc. Without any long delay, without any labour pains, Zion will bring forth a man-childa whole nation, which wilt be born at once, and not grow up by slow degrees. The occupation of Jerusalem by the great body of the returned exiles (Ezr 2:1; Ezr 3:1) is intended. Such a second birth of a nation was strange, and without precedent (comp. Isa 42:9; Isa 43:19). Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? rather, can a land be brought forth in one day? It is not only a people, but a country, that is born anew; not only the Jews, but Judaea.
Isa 66:9
Shall I bring to the birth, etc.? i.e. “Should I arrange all the preliminary circumstances for the restoration of my people, and stop there?” (Cheyne). Nay, should I, having done so much, interpose at the last moment, to shut the womb? Without such interposition, matters have progressed so far, that the result must come.
Isa 66:10
Rejoice ye with Jerusalem all ye that love her. The call to rejoicing is general. Restored Jerusalem is to be hailed with joy “by all who love her,” whether her own children or foreigners. To both she will be a blessing (Isa 66:11-13).
Isa 66:11
That ye may suck. Restored Jerusalem will be as a mother to all who love her, to all who have mourned for her when she lay as it were dead (1Sa 15:35; 2Sa 14:2). She will have “milk” to give to all”the sincere milk of the Word” (1Pe 2:2)and from her both Jew and Gentile will “suck out no small advantage” (Psa 73:10). She will also impart to them from the abundance of her glory.
Isa 66:12
I will extend peace to her like a river; literally, I will direct peace to her, like a river. The waters of streams are in the East directed hither and thither by the agriculturist. God would have given his people “peace, as a river,” long previously, had they permitted him (Isa 48:18). And the glory of the Gentiles (comp. Isa 60:5, Isa 60:11; Isa 61:6, etc.). Like a flowing stream; literally, as an overflowing torrent. There is perhaps a contrast intended between the former and the latter times. In the former times Assyria had swept over Israel like an overwhelming flood to destroy her (Isa 8:7, Isa 8:8); now the glory of the whole Gentile world should similarly overflow and overwhelm, but only to enrich and exalt. Ye shall be borne upon her sides (see the comment on Isa 9:4). It is Jerusalem, and not the Gentile world (Delitzsch, Cheyne), that will thus care for and caress her children. The continuance of the metaphor from Isa 66:11 is marked by the repetition of the verb, “ye shall suck.”
Isa 66:13
As one; literally, as a man. Israel is now looked upon as grown up, and receiving comfort from God himself in Jerusalem.
Isa 66:14
Your bones shall flourish like an herb (comp. Isa 58:11). In the time of calamity, Israel’s “bones” have been “consumed” (Psa 31:10), and “waxed old” (Psa 32:3), and “burned with heat” (Job 30:30). Now they shall enjoy a time of refreshing from the Lord. New life shall enter them, and health and growth shall follow. The nation shall be rejuvenated, and “flourish” in more than its pristine strength. The hand of the Lord shall be known; or recognized, both in this merciful treatment of his servants, and also in the indignation with which he will visit his enemies. This last clause conveniently introduces the following “theophany” (Isa 66:15-18).
Isa 66:15-18
THE VENGEANCE WHICH GOD WILL TAKE ON HIS ENEMIES. A signal outpouring of God’s vengeance upon his enemies precedes the settlement of the Church in its final glorious condition, both in Isaiah and in the Revelation of St. John (see ch. 34; 35, and Revelation 19-21.). The wicked have to be removed before the righteous can be established in peace. Here the agencies employed against the wicked are “fire” and “sword”fire pointing (as Delitzsch remarks) to destructive occurrences of nature, and the sword to destructive occurrences of history. God himself is represented as guiding and directing both agencies, to the punishment of the ungodly and the relief of those who trust in him.
Isa 66:15
Behold, the Lord will come with fire. “Fire” is a usual accompaniment of a “theophany.” God descended on Sinai “in fire” (Exo 19:18), and led the Israelites through the wilderness by the pillar of the cloud and of fire (Exo 13:21, Exo 13:22), and filled the tabernacle with a glory as of fire (Exo 40:34), and “answered David from heaven by fire upon the altar of burnt offering” (1Ch 21:26), and in the same way answered Solomon (2Ch 7:1) and Elijah (1Ki 18:38). Isaiah almost always describes a theophany as a “coming with fire” (see Isa 10:16-18; Isa 27:4; Isa 29:6; Isa 30:27, Isa 30:30; Isa 33:12, Isa 33:14, etc.). The agency of fire in the judgment that will overtake the wicked simultaneously with Christ’s second coming, appears in 2Th 1:8; 2Pe 3:7-10. With his chariots (comp. Psa 68:17; Hab 3:8). “Chariots,” in the plural, may be regarded as symbolizing the “hosts” of natural and supernatural forces that God has at his command (Cheyne). Like a whirlwind. The whirring of the wheels of chariots, their noise, the swiftness of their pace, and the destruction that they cause, make this simile most appropriate. To render his anger; or, to expend his angerto vent it.
Isa 66:16
By fire and by his sword (see the introductory paragraph). The “sword of Jehovah” is spoken of also in Isa 27:1 and Isa 34:5, Isa 34:6 (comp. Rev 19:15, Rev 19:21). Will the Lord plead with all flesh; rather, will the Lord judge all flesh (comp. Jer 25:31, where the same phrase occurs).
Isa 66:17
They that sanctify themselves in the gardens (comp. Isa 1:29; Isa 65:3; and see the comment on the latter passage). Behind one tree in the midst; literally, behind one in the midst. It seems quite impossible that “one” can mean “one tree,” when no tree has been mentioned, and gardens do not necessarily contain trees. The marginal rendering, “one after another,” is also impossible. The “one in the midst” must have been either a hierophant who directed the ceremonies (Gesenius, Hitzig, Knobel, Delitzsch), or an image of a deity (Scaliger, Voss, Grotius, Lagarde, Cheyne). In the latter case, we must suppose that the worshippers had a scruple about mentioning the deity’s name, and were accustomed to call him “one,” or “a certain one” (comp. Herod; 2.171). Isaiah adopts their usage. Eating swine’s flesh (comp. Isa 65:4). And the abomination. The word is used generically of all the “abominable things” forbidden to be eaten in Le Isa 11:4 -30, as the camel, the coney, the hare, the eagle, the vulture, the ferret, the chameleon, the lizard, etc. The mouse. Probably the jerboa (see Le 11:20).
Isa 66:18
For I know their works. There is no verb in the Hebrew text, from which something has evidently fallen out. Mr. Cheyne supplies, “I will punish;” Gratz, “I have seen.” “I know” is supported by the Targums, the Syriac Version, several manuscripts of the Septuagint, and the authorities of Saadiya, Vitringa, and Gesenius. And their thoughts; i.e. I know, not only their works, but even the thoughts from which the works proceeded. It shall some; i.e. “the time shall come.” (For the full phrase, see Jer 51:33; Eze 7:7, Eze 7:12.) All nations and tongues. This expression has been corn-pared with Daniel’s “kindreds and nations and languages” (Dan 3:4, Dan 3:7, Dan 3:29; Dan 4:1; Dan 5:19, etc.), and has been regarded as a sign of late authorship. But “nations’ and “tongues” are coupled together in Scripture as early as Genesis (Gen 10:5, Gen 10:20). They shall come, and see my glory; i.e. “see the glory that I shall get me upon my enemies” (verses 15-17).
Isa 66:19-24
THE FINAL CONDITION OF THE CHURCH OF THE REDEEMED ON EARTH. When the enemies of God have been consumed, there shall go out from the Church missionaries, who shall convert the distant Gentiles, and unite them, and the Jews who dwell among them, into a single body of worshippers, which shall inhabit the new Jerusalem on equal terms, and join continually in a common worship of Jehovah. The awful destruction of the wicked, and their eternal sufferings, shall at the same time be held in remembrance.
Isa 66:19
.I will set a sign among them. Dr. Kay suggests that the “sign” is the resurrection of our Lord, or possibly a miraculous manifestation of Christ which is to precede his coming in judgment. Mr. Cheyne, less venturesome, finds in the prophet’s words merely a suggestion of “some mysterious event, which he leaves his awestruck readers to imagine.” Those that escape of them. Not, surely, those of God’s enemies that survive the slaughter, but “the remnant” of Jews, that are not among God’s enemies, and so “escape.” These shall be sent (as missionaries) to the distant nations; not literally to those enumerated, but to such as at the end of the world occupy a position which the nations mentioned occupied on Isaiah’s horizon. Of these nations, Tarshish (Tartessus) was at the furthest limit westward, Pul and Lud, or rather Phut and Lud, at the furthest limit southward, Tubal and Javan at the furthest limit northward, Pul, which occurs nowhere else in Scripture as a geographic name, is almost certainly a wrong reading for Phut, which occurs in Gen 10:6, and also three times (Jer 46:9; Eze 27:10; Eze 30:5) in connection with Lud. Phut designates an African nation, probably the Nubians, whom the Egyptians called Pet, and who were noted as bowmen. Wetstein’s conjecture of “Pun” (Punici, ‘Phoenicians ‘), commended by Mr. Cheyne, is quite unsupported and highly improbable. Lud. It is tempting to connect “Lud” with the Lydians, who were certainly known as “Lndi“ to the Assyrians of the time of Asshur-bani-pal. But the other scriptural notices of “Lud” (Jer 46:9; Eze 27:10; Eze 30:5), which uniformly connect it with Phut, point rather to an African people. See also Gen 10:13, where the Ludim are a subdivision of the Egyptians. That draw the bow (comp. Jer 46:9). To Tubal, and Javan. Tubal stands, no doubt, for the Tibareni, a people of the Asiatic highland west of the Upper Euphrates, called Tuplai or Tabali by the Assyrians. They would occupy Isaiah’s northern and north-western horizon, in company with Javan, or the Ionians (), who were among the chief people of Asia Minor. Javan, Tubal, and Mesheeh (, Muskai) are joined in Gen 10:2 and Eze 27:13. The isles afar off; i.e. the shores and islands of the Mediterranean.
Isa 66:20
They shall bring all your brethren for an offering unto the Lord. When the distant Gentiles have been converted, they shall bring to Christ the Jews of the dispersion, who dwell with them in the remote parts of the earth (comp. Zep 3:10). Upon horses. The “new Jerusalem” being localized, the converts from the distant regions are represented as journeying from their own lands to the “holy mountain,” and bringing the Jewish exiles with them by various methods of conveyanceupon horses, mules, and dromedaries, in chariots, and finally in palanquins or litters. “Litters” were used by the great men among the Egyptians from a very early date. They were also employed by the Persians (Herod; 3.146) and by the later Romans. As the children of Israel bring an offering; rather, bring the meat offering. The existence of the temple, and the continuance of the Levitical rites at the time of the delivery of this prophecy, are clearly implied.
Isa 66:21
And I will also take of them for priests and for Levites; literally, and I will also take of them unto the priests and unto the Levites; i.e. I will add to the existing body of priests and Levites, who are pro-sumably Jews, fresh members from the newly converted Gentiles. The existence of a sacerdotal order, with distinctions of ranks, in the Church of the redeemed, is implied, and the gracious declaration is made that the privilege of furnishing members to both ranks of the order shall be conferred upon the Gentile proselytes.
Isa 66:22
.As the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain. The “new heavens and the new earth,” once created, continue for ever (comp. Rev 21:1-27; Rev 22:1-5). So shall your seed and your name remain. This statement is usually taken to be a promise of some special pre-eminence to the Jew over the Gentile in the final kingdom of the redeemed. But St. Paul speaks of all such privileges as already abolished in his day (Col 3:11); and, if the priesthood is to be common to both Gentile and Jew, the principle of equality would seem to be conceded. Perhaps no more is here meant than that, as the “new heaven and new earth” will always remain, so there will always remain a seed of true believers to worship God in them.
Isa 66:23
From one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another. Not that “new moons” and “sabbaths” will continue to be observed, for “new moons” have already lapsed, and “sabbaths” too will lapse when life is one perpetual sabbath passed in the worship of God. The phrase, used by the prophet is intended to express absolute continuance without an interval. Shall all flesh come to worship before me (comp. Psa 65:2). The prophet still uses habitual modes of expression, though speaking of a time and circumstances to which they are no longer appropriate. “The literal meaning,” as Dr. Pusey says, “was physically impossible.” “All flesh,” in all regions of the “new earth,” could not worship in one spot, “and so it was plain that Isaiah spoke of a worship other than that at any given place”of a worship such as that whereof our Lord spoke to the Samaritan woman, “Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father” (Joh 4:21).
Isa 66:24
And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcases, etc. Here is more imagery, which it is impossible to understand literally. The carcases could not remain always to be looked at, nor while they remained could the sight of them be otherwise than loathsome to God’s redeemed saints. Again, they could not be at the same time burnt with fire and eaten by worms. “The prophet, by the very mode of description adopted by him, precludes the possibility of our conceiving of the thing set forth as realized in any material form in this present state. He is speaking of the future state, but in figures drawn from the present world” (Delitzsch). Does he mean more than thisthat the redeemed shall have in their thoughts, at any rate from time to time, the fact that, while they have by God’s great mercy been saved and brought into His kingdom, there are those who have not been saved, but lie for ever under the awful sentence of God’s wrath? This is a knowledge which the redeemed must have, and which may well produce a salutary effect on them, intensifying their gratitude and maintaining in them a spirit of reverent fear. Their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched. It cannot be by chance that the evangelical prophet concludes his glorious prophecy with this terrible note of warning. Either he was divinely directed thus to terminate his teaching, or he felt the need that there was of his emphasizing all the many warnings dispersed throughout his “book” by a final, never-to-be-forgotten picture. The undying worm and the quenchless fireimages introduced by himbecame appropriated thenceforth to the final condition of impenitent sinners (Jud. 16:17; Ecclesiasticus 7:17), and were even adopted by our Lord himself in the same connection (Mar 9:1-50.). The incongruity of the two images shows that they are not to be understood literally; but both alike imply everlasting continuance, and are incompatible with either of the two modern heresies of universalism or annihilationism. They shall be an abhorring unto all flesh (comp. Dan 12:2, where the word deraon is rendered “contempt”). The Jewish rabbis regarded it as anomalous that any portion of Scripture should conclude with words of ill omen. When, therefore, this chapter was read in the synagogue, or the last of Ecclesiastes, or Lamentations, or Malachi, they directed that after the reading of the last verse, the last verse but one should he repeated, to correct the sad impression that would otherwise have been left upon the mind. But Isaiah thought it salutary to leave this sad impression (comp. Isa 48:22; Isa 57:21).
HOMILETICS
Isa 66:1
God to be worshipped in buildings, though no building can be worthy of him.
Of a surety, God “dwelleth not in temples made with hands” (Act 7:48) in any such sense as to be accessible in such places exclusively. There is truth, as well as grandeur, in the words
”My altars are the mountains, and the ocean,
Earth, air, sea, all that springs from the Great Whole,
Who hath produced, and will receive, the soul.”
And it is always to be borne in mind that we are in his presence everywhere; that he may be worshipped everywhere; that “the heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain him” (2Ch 2:6); that he inhabits all space, as he inhabits all eternity (Isa 57:15). But, in condescension to the infirmity of human nature, he has been pleased in all ages that men should build him “houses” and has condescended, in a certain sense, to localize himself therein. At Sinai he gave exact and most elaborate commands for the construction of the tabernacle and its appurtenances (Exodus 25-30.) To David he communicated by his Spirit “the pattern” of the first temple” of the porch, and of the houses thereof, and of the treasuries thereof, and of the upper chambers thereof, and of the inner parlours thereof, and of the place of the mercy-seat, and of the courts of the house of the Lord, and of all the chambers round about, and of the treasuries of the house of God, and of the treasuries of the dedicated things” (1Ch 28:11, 1Ch 28:12). On the return from the captivity he required the Israelites to “go up into the mountain, and bring the wood, and build the house,” and declared that he would “take pleasure in it and be glorified” (Hag 1:8). Under Christianity the first church was the “upper room” where “all continued with one accord with prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren” (Act 1:13, Act 1:14). Churches are human, not Divine, necessities; but God has been pleased to give them his sanction, as needed by man. Without them worship would decay, if not disappear; for men cannot live in the rare atmosphere of mere spiritualism.
Isa 66:10-14
The blessedness of the restored Church.
The restored Church is to Isaiah the Church that will endure from the return of the captives to the end of the world. The later Jewish period and the entire Christian period are with him blended into one, and present themselves to him as constituting a single phase of the Church’s life. Here he speaks to encourage the exiles, and dwells especially, though not exclusively, on the immediate blessings.
I. THE CHURCH WILL TEACH HER CHILDREN SOUND DOCTRINE. This is the special object of the existence of a Church, which claims to have a revealed “deposit” committed to it by God, and has, as the first end and aim of its being, to communicate this revelation to all who come within the sphere of its teaching. Doctrine is the milk on which the Church nourishes her children, and the restored Church will teach a doctrine which may well “satisfy” and which will be full of “consolation” (verse 11).
II. THE CHURCH WILL BE GLORIOUS, AND WILL IMPART TO HER CHILDREN OF HER GLORY. Though the Church is frequently, if not even continually, oppressed and downtrodden by the world, yet a glory attaches to her, whereof no persecution, no contempt, no contumely, can altogether deprive her. She is, whatever the world may think or say, “the holy Catholic Church,” with Christ as her Founder, with Christ as her Lord and Master, with Christ as her King, the oldest and most venerable society in the Western world at any rate, and one in which membership cannot but ever be a high honour.
III. THE CHURCH WILL ENJOY, BY GOD‘S BLESSING, MUCH OUTWARD AND INWARD PEACE. Peace was our Lord’s legacy to his Church: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give unto you” (Joh 14:27); and notwithstanding the facts of external persecutions, and internal quarrels and schisms, which occupy so large a space in Church histories, and so large a share in the thoughts of most Christians, it is nevertheless true that, on the whole, peace has flowed over the Church “like a river,” and has flowed into the hearts of the bulk of her true members like an abounding stream. “There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked” (Isa 57:21); but in the soul of the true Christian is a “peace that passeth all understanding,” that wells up continually as from an inexhaustible fountain, and spreads around him an atmosphere of happiness.
IV. THE CHURCH WILL DERIVE HONOUR FROM THE COMING IN OF THE GENTILES. Further and further, as time goes on, does the light of Christianity shine, and more and more are the dark places of the earth illuminated. Long since did the Gentiles begin to come to the Church’s light, and “kings to the brightness of her rising” (Isa 60:3). But the process is not yet complete. Not a year passes but the gospel is carried into some new region by faithful and true missionaries, and the Lord adds to the Church fresh souls whom he wills to be saved. The incoming of the Gentiles does not now bring her wealth or worldly honor; but it is yet more for the true honour of the Church than it was when she converted the court and camp and people of the Caesars. For now her efforts bring her no worldly gain. She has to go out into the highways and hedgesthe wild lauds of savage tribes or the yet wilder courts and allies of great townsand to bring in the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind, the downtrodden, and the ignorant, and the criminal, and the houseless; to civilize and train them, and frequently to feed them and clothe them; thus following the commands of her blessed Master, and preparing for herself the high honour of hearing one day the glorious words, “Well done, good and faithful servant: enter thou into the joy of thy Lord”
V. THE CHURCH WILL DERIVE CONTINUAL COMFORT FROM HER LORD. “I will not leave you comfortless,” said the blessed Jesus; “I will come to you” (Joh 14:18). In all their difficulties, in all their troubles, Christ comforts his peoplecomforts them with his Word of truth, comforts them with his gracious promises, comforts them with his presence in their hearts and souls. He comes to them, and makes his abode with them, and is a continual inward sustaining power, raising them above the cares and troubles and vexations of the world, inspiring in their hearts love and joy and peace.
Isa 66:15-17
The purging of the earth by the destruction of the wicked.
The kingdom of Christ cannot be fully set up in all its blessedness until the earth is prepared for its reception; and the main preparation required is the elimination from it of those wicked persons who, while they remain, must always constitute a disturbing element, inimical to the earth’s peace and a hindrance to the Church’s happiness. The teaching of Scripture is that, before the Church is finally established in the blissful position which it is intended to occupy, the removal of this element will have taken place. Partly by wars and tumults, by their swords being turned against each other, but still more completely by some miraculous outpouring of God’s wrath, typified under the figure of fire, the wicked will be cleared out from all parts of the earth’s surface, and only the godly will remain. The description of the day of vengeance is given, with the greatest fulness, in the Revelation of St. John (Joh 19:11-21), where, however, it is difficult to determine how much is imagery, how much literal description. “I saw heaven opened,” says the beloved apostle, “and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True [comp. Isa 3:14], and in righteousness does he judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God [comp. Isa 63:1-6]. And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King of kings, and Lord of lords. And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God; that ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great. And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army. And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, these both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.”
Isa 66:22-24
Eternal suffering and eternal glory.
Holy Scripture sets before us,. as Moses set before the people of Israel in the wilderness, a tremendous alternative”life and death;” one the eternal foil and counterpart of the other, with the exhortation a thousand times repeated in a thousand different forms”Choose life” (Deu 30:19). Man’s desire is to separate what God has inseparably connected, and to retain “everlasting life,” “eternal glory,” “endless bliss,” but to get rid altogether of their counterparts”eternal suffering,” “everlasting contempt,” “endless death.” But man cannot alter the system of God’s universe, nor, could he do so, is it to be supposed that he would find himself able to improve it. Deep down in the nature of things lies the eternal antagonism between good and evilan antagonism which would seem to be necessary to the very existence of good in created beings; and the teaching of Scripture clearly is that this antagonism continues for ever. Of the nature of the eternal glory and the eternal suffering reserved for souls in the world to come, it is impossible for us in this life to have anything more than a dim and faint conception. But some points may be laid down negatively.
I. THE PAINS AND JOYS ARE NOT, NECESSARILY, IN ANY SENSE MATERIAL. For
(1) they exist in the intermediate state (Luk 16:23-25), where men have no bodies, the resurrection not having as yet taken place; and
(2) they are described by contradictory material images, which would certainly not have been the case had the descriptions been intended literally.
II. THE PAINS AND JOYS ARE OF VARIOUS DEGREES OF INTENSITY. For
(1) we hear of “few stripes” and “many stripes,” of rule over “five cities” and over “ten cities” (Luk 12:47, Luk 12:48; Luk 19:17, Luk 19:19); and
(2) we are told that the rewards and punishments shall be apportioned exactly according to men’s deserts, and men’s deserts vary infinitely by infinitesimal degrees.
III. THE MAIN PUNISHMENT OF MANY MAY NOT CONSIST IN POSITIVE PAIN AT ALL. Mediaeval divines spoke of many souls in the place of punishment as suffering only the paena damni, or “sense of loss” inseparable from being shut out from God’s presence, from the presence of the holy angels, and from that of the spirits of just men made perfect. This is quite possible, and in no way contradictory to the statements of Scripture.
IV. THERE MAY NOT IMPROBABLY BE AN AMELIORATION IN THE CONDITION OF SOME OF THE SUFFERERS. It cannot but be the case that the sufferers may bear their punishment with different degrees of patience, of obduracy, or of rebellion. As the determinedly rebellious would deserve, and may receive, an augmentation of punishment, so the more submissive and patient may conceivably have their burdens lightened. The very act of submission lightens the weight of a suffering, and a merciful God might be expected to show his approval of the submission by some positive alleviation of the pain.
These are thoughts which may tend to mitigate the horror wherewith some persons regard the entire doctrine of eternal punishment, and prevent them from viewing it as incompatible with God’s essential attribute of mercy. At the same time, it must be granted that the whole subject is mysterious, and awful in the extremeso mysterious and so awful that the greatest caution is needed lest we dogmatize upon it beyond the teaching of Scripture. Here, if anywhere, the warning of the preacher applies, “Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter anything before God: for God is in heaven, and thou on earth: therefore let thy words be few” (Ecc 5:2).
HOMILIES BY E. JOHNSON
Isa 66:5
Spiritual and unspiritual worship.
I. THE ORACLE OF JEHOVAH. “The heavens are my throne.” What majestic poetry in that word! How sacred, then, the heaven! How profane, if once we rightly think of the force of what we say, to use the adjuration, “By heaven”! So Jesus teaches (Mat 5:34; Mat 23:22). It is natural to “look up” when we think of God; and then to “look down” on the “things of earth,” which is but his footstool. “What manner of house would ye build for me?” The Infinite cannot be defined; God may not be localized. All forms may represent him; none can adequately set him forth. “His abode is not known; no shrine is found with painted figures; there is no building that can contain him”. Herodotus says that the Persians impute folly to those who raise statues and temples and altars to the gods, “because they do not think the gods to be of human nature, as do the Greeks” (1:131; cf. Act 17:24). But why should God despise the beautiful temple? Is anything more beautiful or true than the work of art? To disparage art we have to give way to dark superstition. Everything that proceeds from the mind God has made, he must delight init is his work. But, above all, he delights in the humble, throbbing, trembling human soul. “The most acceptable temple is a pious mind.” The allusions which follow are to some of the darkest features of heathen worshipthe animal sacrifice, and the animal worshipa form of religion hardly intelligible to ourselves, but once widely diffused in ancient times, and prevailing still in some parts of the world. According to the religion of Jehovah, man is made in the image of God, and in the or reason of man must be found the true reflection of him. To worship an animal must be to lower the intelligent and spiritual tone of religion. And some consciousness of this we must believe to have been dimly present in such worshippers’ minds.
II. THE DENUNCIATION OF JEHOVAH. False worship is rooted in the depraved will. They have “chosen their own ways;” they “have pleasure in their abominations.” For religion is either stagnant or progressive. The soul rests in sloth upon custom, upon the clear and apprehensible object, or it strives and strains after the higher and yet higher and invisible goodnot to be found in the creature, but only in the Creator. God will exercise retribution upon such idolaters, sending on them calamity and terror. “The man who places all his confidence, hope, and comfort in his estate, his friend, or greatness, so that upon the failure of any of these his heart sinks, and he utterly desponds as to all enjoyment or apprehension of any good or felicity to be. enjoyed by man, does as really deify his estate, his friend, or his greatness, as if in direct terms he should say to each of them, ‘Thou art my god,’ and should rear an altar or temple to them, and worship before them in the humblest adoration. Nay, it is much more; since God looks upon himself as treated more like a deity by being loved, confided in, and depended upon, than if a man should throng his temple with a whole hetacomb, sacrifice thousands of rams, and pour ten thousand rivers of oil upon his altars” (South).
III. WORDS TO THE FAITHFUL. “Men who tremble at his Word.” It is another way of describing those of humble and contrite heart. They are hated by their brethren; they have suffered in the cause of true religion. They are exposed to tauntsWhere is their God? Let Jehovah show himself glorious! Nevertheless, his fiat has gone forth, “They shall be ashamed.” Shame and pain are the inseparable effects of sin; the “wages assigned to it by the laws of Heaven:” the rightful inheritance of the sinner. Nor is there anything which the nature of man does so abhor as these. They are destructive of all our enjoyments. They touch both soul and bodyshame being the torment of the one, and pain of the other. “The mind of man can have no taste or relish of any pleasure in the world while it is oppressed and overwhelmed by shame. Nothing does so intolerably affect the soul as infamy; it drinks up and consumes the quickness, gaiety, and activity of the spirit; it dejects the countenance made by God to look upwards; so that this noble creature, the masterpiece of the creation, dares not much as lift up either his head or his thoughts, but it is a vexation to him even to look upon others, and yet a greater to be looked upon by them” (South).J.
Isa 66:6-9
The enemies of Jehovah and his people.
I. HE IS HEARD FROM HIS TEMPLE. With “a sound of uproar, a sound from the temple.” He is issuing forth to render their deserts to his foes. “He will render to every man according to his deserts” is a great leading word in religion. God must be feared as well as lovednay, cannot be truly loved unless feared. From that same seat whence go forth the sweet sounds of reconciliation, the sound of the gospel’s silver trumpet, go forth the thunders of the God who appears to execute judgment upon human guilt. He is a “consuming Fire.” His wrath may be “kindled;” we need to beware “lest he be angry.” He is an awful God of whom, nevertheless, it may be said, “This awful God is ours.”
II. THE RESTORATION OF ISRAEL. With great energy the thought is put before us that Israel in these last days has sprung into new birth and life. The gift of male children was especially dear to the Israelitish heart. Now there is to be a great and sudden increase of Zion’s children. “This refers, probably,” says Barnes, “to the sudden increase of the Church when the Messiah came, and to the great revivals of religion which attended the preaching of the gospel. Three thousand were converted on a single day (Act 2:1-47.), and the gospel was speedily propagated over the known world.” Something unlike the usual course of nature and of human affairs is hinted. Slow is the growth of vegetation, slow the growth of human institutions. Here an event as startling as the breaking forth of the tree out of the seed in a single day is contemplated; “a nation born at once!” In fact, Christianity is such a wonder. A plant out of a dry ground, mysterious in its origin, despised in its professors, humble in its early associations, yet speedily, almost suddenly, overshading the lands with its branches, and yielding fruit and healing for the nations. “The expansiveness of Zion is such that nought but Omnipotence will be able to check it; and as Omnipotence has no motive for checking it, Zion has nothing to fear in heaven or earth” (Cheyne).J.
Isa 66:10-14
Sympathy with the Church’s joy.
I. SYMPATHY SHOULD BE FELT WITH THE PROSPERITY OF THE CHURCH. Zion stands for the Church of the ages; in her weal is wrapped up the weal of the world. If we love humanity, we love the institution created for the good and salvation of humanity. Every revival of religion at home, every fresh conquest in the fields of heathendom, affords fresh occasion of such joy. “Those who have no true joy when souls are born into the kingdom of God; when he pours down his Spirit, and in a revival of religion produces changes as sudden and transforming as if the earth were suddenly to pass from the desolation of winter to the verdure and bloom of summer; or when the gospel makes sudden and rapid advances in the heathen world,have no true evidence that they love God or his cause. They have no religion. Such scenes are fitted to excite the highest joy and praise. They awaken deep interest in the bosoms of angels, and of God the Saviour, and they who love that God and Saviour will rejoice at such scenes, and mingle their joys and thanksgivings with those of the converted and saved” (Barnes).
II. THE IDEAL OF THE CHURCH. She is like a mother, and the blessings she imparts are like mother’s milk (cf. Isa 49:23; Isa 60:16). “They who sympathize with her shall be nourished by the same truth and comforted with the same sources of consolation.” She is a mother full of tenderness, even of caressing, towards her children; full also of sweetest power to comfort. Such is in every age the true ideal of the Church. All that is rich and sweet, deep and tender, should be associated with her; and in her the hearts of weary men should find full expansion and rest. Peace is also strongly associated with the Church; and that in the comprehensive sense in which the prophet uses the wordfor all manner of prosperity (Isa 9:6, Isa 9:7; Isa 26:12; Isa 32:17; Isa 45:7; Isa 46:1-13 :16; Isa 52:7; Isa 54:13; Isa 55:12; Isa 57:19). The image seems to be that of a broad majestic river, like the Nile, overflowing its banks, and producing prosperity on every hand. Another image is that of the bones, dried up like the branches of a withered tree, now full of sap and vigour (Isa 58:11; Pro 3:8; Pro 15:20; Pro 16:24). It is true religion which causes the family, the home, the ecclesiastical institution, the state, to flourish. Religion stimulates all that it touchesmorality, art, political life; and decay of patriotism and of morals may be traced to the languor of religious life.J.
Isa 66:15-24
The manifestation of Jehovah.
I. IT IS A MANIFESTATION IN FIRE. Very common is the representation of this coming by or in the element of fire. Its associations are of judgment, vengeancedevouring fire (Psa 50:3). So it is associated with the pestilence (Hab 2:5). It consumes God’s enemies (Psa 97:3). Nor can we deny that such representations do in part enter into Christianity (2Th 1:8; Heb 10:27; 2Pe 3:7; cf. also Psa 18:8; Isa 29:6; Isa 30:30). The whirlwind is poetically congruent with the fire: a swift and sudden descent is thought of (Psa 104:3 : Jer 4:13). The image of the charioteer is full of warlike energy (cf. Hab 3:8), and the furious and fiery anger of his advance points to the same conception; and the slain will fall before him in multitudes. Do these figures strike us as inconsistent with the Christian conception of Godthe “Father of Jesus, God of love”? How are we to reconcile them? If there is a Providence in the violent revolutions of the nations; if “the wrath of man praises him;” if no terrible war but becomes the means of a purification:then these figures may be taken as the poetic representation of a great truth. We can hardly conceive deep-rooted evils giving way except to some violent agency of change.
II. THE DENUNCIATION OF IDOLATRY. This is the great evil, in all its forms, which draws down God’s fulminations. Men are seen undergoing purifications preparatory to initiation into heathen mysteries, probably of some licentious god or goddess. Unclean things have been indulged in, contrary to the Law of Moses. We may, perhaps, take the general description of idolatry and of idolaters as pointing to the enemies of God, who are destined to be consumed by his vengeance. These enemies are to be gathered togetherin some valley, perhaps (Joe 3:2); and the glory of his judicial splendour will be unveiled to them. The section closes with vague adumbrations of coming judgments.
III. VISIONS OF FUTURE WORSHIP. Amid all that is obscure in the imagery, we may discover some great leading thoughts.
1. There is the universal effulgence of Jehovah’s glory, which is to shine among distant lands, and those that have not hitherto heard of his Name. And this is equivalent to the spread of one religion throughout the earth.
2. There is to be unity of worship. Jerusalem and the sacred hill of Zion are to form the great centre. From all quarters, and by different modes of conveyance, the dispersed ones are to come thronging thither. There will be a renewed consecration of the chosen people to its God; they will be like the sacred meal offering.
3. Exclusiveness will be broken down. The strict Levitical system, it seems, will give way; and Gentile converts as well as Jews will be admitted to share in the sacred ministry of the temple. For the Jewish priestly system was only for a time, was provisional; and the people were one day to be, as a whole, “priests of Jehovah” (Isa 61:6).
4. The permanence of true religion. The seed and the name of the people shall stand, even so the new heavens and the new earth. No more of the old order changing and giving place to the new, the successive efforts of men after frivolity in religion being successively defeated; but at last fixity and rest.
5. Simplicity of true religion. “The old forms of religion have been reduced to the utmost; new moons and sabbaths alone remain.” For the multitude of times and seasons and of ceremonies is burdensome to flesh and blood, and they tend to obscure the spirituality of true religion. We are reminded of the first chapter, where it is said that” Jehovah cannot away with them.”
6. Universality of true religion. We take the language as poetical, symbolic, to be understood in the ideal and inward sense. Where is the true seat of worship? Not on Mount Gerizim, nor even on Mount Zion (Joh 4:21). The spirit of man is the true temple. And who, in best and most loving moments of worship, does not feel that the heart of humanity beats with one pulse, is stirred by one faith, is secretly gathering around one spiritual centre? Let us cease with this verse, which we are told the Jewish readers repeated to correct the sad impression of the last.J.
Isa 66:13
Tender condition.
“As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you.” These are the analogies of truth that reach the heart through the life-experience when mere intellectual disquisition is vain.
I. THE MOTHER–IDEAL CREATES THE CONSCIOUSNESS OF TENDERNESS. God is the great Mother as well as the great Father of all flesh. Therefore Christ, who came to reveal the Father, was perfect humanity. In taking, as the Divine Son of the Father, our flesh, he revealed in “humanity” not only perfect manhood, but perfect womanhood too.
II. THE MOTHER–IDEAL REVEALS WHAT TRUE COMFORT MEANS.
1. Sympathy with our frailties and mistakes.
2. Succour at supreme self-cost.
3. Hopefulness even to the last.W.M.S.
HOMILIES BY W. CLARKSON
Isa 66:1, Isa 66:2
(Vide homily on Isa 57:15, Isa 57:16.)C.
Isa 66:3, Isa 66:4
The rebuke of unrighteousness.
We have
I. FOUR OFFENCES SPECIALLY HATEFUL TO THE HOLY ONE.
1. Insincerity. These worshippers who brought their bullocks, their lambs, their prescribed oblations, were as guilty in the judgment of God as if they brought to his altar that which was an abomination in his sight. Their guilt lay in their insincerity; their heart was far from God when their feet were nigh his house.
2. Heedlessness. When God calls and we pay no heed to his voice, we commit an aggravated offence against him.
3. Wilfulness. The “choosing of our own ways,” instead of submitting to the Divine will, is a perpetual disobedience, a sustained disloyalty.
4. Arrogance. “Doing evil before mine eyes,” though conscious of the presence and the observation of God.
II. GOD‘S GRAVE REBUKE OF THIS UNRIGHTEOUSNESS.
1. He will make the fears of the guilty to be fulfilledwill “bring their fears upon them.” The apprehensions of guilt may safely be taken as prophecies of evil. Sin is at least as mischievous as it seems to the sinner. If men who are living in obdurate rebellion against God have impressions or intimations of evil consequences, they may be sure that ruin is on the road, and will before long confront them.
2. He will visit with unexpected sorrow. “I will choose their delusions [calamities].” Not that God ever arbitrarily punishes his children, but that he does often bring down upon the guilty sorrows and calamities which they did not apprehendfrom which, indeed, they imagined themselves to be secure. No man can possibly foresee where a sinful course will lead him, and in what it will land him.C.
Isa 66:13
God our Comforter.
It is the province of the teacher to instruct, of the father to direct, of the elder brother to lead, and of the mother to console. She is the comforter of the troubled heart. God, as revealed in Jesus Christ, is to us all of these in one. Like as a mother comforts her children, he comforts us.
I. AS TENDERLY AS SHE. In a way so gracious and considerate that one who had received much of his healing ministry could write
“Oh, ’tis a blessed thing for me
To need thy tenderness!”
II. AS UNFAILINGLY AS SHE. No child feels that the number of times he (or she) has come before us is any reason for doubting the welcome that ha will receive if he comes again. There is an inexhaustible supply of sympathy in that pitying heart.
III. AS EFFECTUALLY AS SHE. The true mother knows in what way to comfort, whether in silence, or by speech, or by action. God, who knows our hearts as even a parent does not, will adapt his comforts to our natures and our necessities.C.
Isa 66:16
The slain of the Lord.
While it is doubtful as to what special juncture the prophet refers when he says that” the slain of the Lord shall be many,” it is painfully and practically certain that at all times these slain ones are many. For
I. THE VICTIMS OF SIN ARE THE SLAIN OF THE LORD. The laws which work the penalty they suffer are God’s laws. It is under his administration that pain, weakness, impotence, trouble, sorrow, death, slay guilty souls. These are his sword, and they do his work, his “strange work,” but yet his.
II. THEIR NUMBER IS TERRIBLY LARGE. Who shall count the number of those that have fallen, or of those that are falling now? In every city, town, village, hamlet, men are to be found who, through their folly, or their vice, or their crime, or their ungodliness, are suffering pitifully from the sword of Divine retribution.
III. WE MAY BRING THEM INTO THE PRESENCE OF THE DIVINE HEALER. Many of the slain survive. Our mission is to bring these to that merciful and mighty One who can and will “make them whole.”C.
Isa 66:19-23
A vision of the future.
From these verses, which present us with a glowing vision of future triumph and blessedness, we learn
I. THAT GOD MAY CALL US TO UNWELCOME BUT EXCELLENT SERVICE. The Jews could not have anticipated, nor would they have desired, such a disposition of themselves, and such a use of their powers as is indicated in the nineteenth verse. It was strange to their thought, alien to their sympathy. Yet it was a most admirable service, with which they might well be contented. Thus God often blesses us now with opportunities we do not court, hut which prove to be excellent and admirable indeed. Possibly he may deal with us in a way very similar to that before us. As the persecution of the early disciples resulted in their going everywhere, away from home and friends, preaching the gospel (Act 8:8), so some providential ordering which is unpleasant at the time, removing us from scenes that are inviting or from persons that are dear to us, may place us in conditions of great usefulness and blessing.
II. THAT GOD INVITES US ALL TO A NOBLE VICTORY. There had been bitter hatred and bloody strife between Jew and Gentile; each had sought to triumph over the other on the battle-field; each longed to have his feet on the other’s neck. The peaceful picture of the text (Isa 66:20) supplies a beautiful and blessed substitute. One is to bring the other, in friendly and honourable conveyance, and to present him in holy sacrifice to God. Not to wreak vengeance; not to obtain civil supremacy; but to bring to God’s house and to introduce to his service, is to gain the true victory over our brother.
III. THAT GOD IS EFFECTING A WONDROUS AND LASTING RENOVATION. He is creating new heavens and a new earth which will endure (Isa 66:22 and Isa 65:17). He will make all things new. This kingdom of sin and folly which has so long prevailed shall disappear, and in its place shall be seen a kingdom of “righteousness, peace, and joy;” a far greater change, more wonderful, more difficult of accomplishment, more to be desired, than the displacement of the material elements and the substitution of others in their place. This new kingdom is one which will be essentially Divine.
1. It will be of God. He “will make it.”
2. It will be characterized by reverence for him, and one of its main features will be regular and universal worship (Isa 66:23). It will be durable as the strongest of his handiworks. It “shall remain.”
IV. THAT GOD WILL RECEIVE THOSE FURTHEST AWAY TO NEAREST INTERCOURSE WITH HIMSELF. Of the Gentiles themselves God would take “for priests and for Levites” (Isa 66:21). This was a startling promise, and never was literally fulfilled. But it finds a glorious fulfilment in the kingdom of Christ. Now we (Gentiles) who were afar off are brought nigh. We worship and serve in the sanctuary; we sit down at “the table of the Lord;” we have freest and fullest access to God; every harrier in the way of perfect intercourse has disappeared; we are admitted to the royal presence, and “stand before the King;” nay, we ourselves are “kings and priests unto God.” That which once seemed hopelessly impossible has become a constant privilege under Jesus Christ.C.
HOMILIES BY W. CLARKSON
Isa 66:1, Isa 66:2
The place of God’s rest.
This passage should be associated with that second temple which was raised by the returned captives from Babylon, at the direction of Ezra and Nehemiah, and under the inspirations of the prophets Isaiah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. A subtle peril lies in building any house for God. That peril lay in the building of the first house. It still lies in the erection of every new house. It is the danger of thereby limiting and materializing our idea of God. If, in our thought, God actually comes to dwell in any earthly temple, we limit the infinite; we lose that wide, sublime, spiritual, unnameable glory that properly belongs to the Deity. We are in danger of making him take a place among the idol-gods who are attached to a certain mountain, or stream, or wind, or country, or shrine. To this peril the people were exposed who watched the second temple arise from amidst the ruins of the first. Though cured of their idolatries by their sufferings in Babylon, they yet might fail to retain those nobler thoughts of God which were the treasure of their race. Therefore Isaiah pleads with them as in this text.
I. GOD REVEALING HIMSELF. By the aid of outward, sensible figures God discloses his spiritual nature, his moral attributes, his character. “The heaven is my throne, the earth is my footstool.” We are bidden to look for help towards realizing God from the great, the solemnizing things of nature. All creation with which we have to do was made to serve the moral and spiritual culture of God’s reasoning and free creatures. Everywhere around us things are full of God. They are pictures, illustrations, words, suggestions, of the Divine. The great, the majestic, the oppressive, is around us. The noonday sky, with its serene height of blue; the midnight sky, with its myriad worlds crowding the infinite depths; mountains rising to pierce the clouds, or hanging in frowning precipice; the great floods of water rolling in their ceaseless tides:all compel us to say, “How marvellous are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy greatness.” One instance, illustrating the figure “Heaven is my throne,” may be given. A star in the far depths attracted the attention of an observer. it seemed to be a single star, but to his educated eye it resolved itself into two stars. Those two proved to be each a star, centre of a planetary system like our own. Those two stars, which seemed but one, were really distant from each other five hundred times the distance separating our earth and the sun. Who of us can conceive such sublime spaces as are thus unfolded? What must he be who walketh among the shining lights, whose throne rises higher than these stars, whose canopy is gemmed with myriad suns! And if the telescope can put such meaning into the figure of the heavens, the microscope puts equal meaning into the figure of the earth. God needs this whole earth for a” footstool.” This great earth, with its giant trees, and inaccessible mountains, and unfathomable waters, and millionfold forms of life, cannot hold God; it is but a resting-place for his foot.
II. GOD APPEALING TO MAN TO FIND HIM REST. “Where is the place of my rest?’ We should not have dared to represent God as seeking rest. The marvel of his condescension is, that he does need his creatures, and even seeks his rest in them. If God were only the embodiment of wisdom, greatness, and power, then his rest might be found in some of the everlasting hills. But every being seeks rest according to his spiritual nature, his character. The infinitely pure One can only seek rest in goodness. The infinitely condescending One seeks rest in humility. The infinitely loving One seeks rest in love. The eternal Father finds his satisfaction in his sons and his daughters.
III. MAN VAINLY OFFERING GOD REST IN THINGS. The first shrine for human worship was the open firmament of heaven. It was the only worthy one. The only befitting walls were the distant horizon and the eternal hills; the only suitable roof was the illimitable sky. Yet, from the first of human sin, this temple has proved too vast, too glorious, for man to use. So he has planted groves to circle God to a space; and consecrated mountain-peaks to fix God to a point; and built temples and churches to narrow the Infinite to human grasp. Too often man has offered his temples as an act of sacrifice. He has given them to God in the vain hope that, satisfied with them, God would cease to ask for higher and holier things. We, indeed, in these days, flood no altars with the blood of sacrifices, yet do we not think to offer God rest in the beauty of our churches and the charm of our services? Are we not, even under this spiritual dispensation, offering God things instead of persons? And yet even we men cannot be satisfied with things; then how can we expect our God to be? Our hearts cannot rest in the artistic fittings of our dwellings, the creations of genius, or the associations of culture. We want love; we must have persons. Lord Lytton expresses our deepest feeling thus
“O near ones, dear ones! you in whose right hands
Our own rests calm; whose faithful hearts all day
Wide open wait till back from distant lands,
Thought, the tired traveller, wends his homeward way!
“Helpmates and hearthmates, gladdeners of gone years,
Tender companions of our serious days,
Who colour with your kisses, smiles, and tears,
Life’s warm web woven over wonted ways.
“Oh, shut the world out from the heart ye cheer!
Though small the circle of your smiles may be,
The world is distant, and your smiles are near,
This makes you more than all the world to me.”
We are “the figures of the true:” shadows in our feeling of the feeling of God. He, too, puts aside all the things we offer him, be they temple, or gold, or work, and persuasively pleads thus with us, “My son, give me thy heart.” We may give him our things, if we have given him ourselves. Things dead cannot please him. Things alive with holy love, quickened by the humble, contrite, thankful heart, may find for him the rest he seeks. We may give him our buildings when they are alive with the spirit of consecration, our services when they are filled with the spirit of reverential worship, our works when they are animated with gratitude and devotion. Of the living temple he will say, “This is my rest for ever: here will I dwell; for I have desired it. I will abundantly bless her provision: I will satisfy her poor with bread.”
IV. MAN SUCCESSFULLY OFFERING GOD REST IN HIMSELFIN THE POOR AND CONTRITE HEART. The one thing towards which we must think God is ever moving, ever working, by creation, by gracious providences, by the mission of his Son, is to sway the heart of man towards himself, and constrain him voluntarily to say, “This God is our God for ever and ever.” But it is only the man of poor and contrite spirit who will ever thus turn to God, and give himself over to him. Bruised and broken, in the sense of our ingratitude and sin, penitent and contrite alone, shall we ever be found willing to turn our faces towards our Father. We can give God nothing. We can bring him just our consciously unfaithful and sinful selves. A man can come, unreservedly exposing his whole heart to the eye of God. He can say, “Slay me, O God, if thou wilt; I deserve it. I am miserable, but leave me not sinful thus. Put me to shame; I am shameful. Behold! I hide nothing. Thou art Light; expose my darkness. I will not palliate. I am worse than I know. Show me all that I am. I cannot heal myself. If I must die, I will die in thy light.” “In this lies the simplicity of faith. He has trusted himself to the Judge of all the earth; he has abandoned all self-justification; his heart is broken, and is ready to welcome mercy undeserved. Guilelessness (the contrite, humble heart) is the whole secret of Divine peace.”R.T.
Isa 66:12
Peace like a river.
“Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river.” The prophet used the image of a river by intention, and in contrast with the figure of the sea. In ancient times, and Eastern lands, the sea was a terrible thing; so the prophet figures the wicked as like the “troubled sea, whose waters cast up mire and dirt.” The sea is restless, is storm-test, is a devourer. In ancient times there seemed to be no music in her ripple, her wave-swell, or the bass of her ceaseless moan. We feel quite differently, because for us the sea is almost conquered. It is a servant whom we may employ, and not a vague mysterious god whose trident we must fear. The state of mind and heart, the conditions of relation and circumstances, for those who know the redemption of God in Christ Jesus, will not go into any figures taken from the sea. Their peace is like a river. How does a river differ from a sea? We note that their peace is like a river; it is
I. SUPPLIED FROM EXHAUSTLESS FOUNTAINS. The peace and joy of the worldly and the wicked can only be likened to the “crackling of thorns under a pot,” very noisy, very short-lived. At the back of the good man’s peace is the” God of all peace;” and “when he speaks peace, who shall make trouble?” Christ’s peace is given to us. “My peace I give unto you.” It
II. FLOWS ON THROUGH A WHOLE LIFE. You cannot stop the rivers. Dam them up a little while, and they are sure to gather, and flood the land until they can find the stream again and flow on. So the cares and sorrows of life may seem to stop the good man’s peace. But it cannot be; over and under and round the Divine waters will flow, find their way back to their channel, and flow on again. It
III. REFRESHES AND BLESSES ALL THE LAND THROUGH WHICH IT FLOWS. The bordering fields are rich with grass and. flowers; the trees drink up its moisture, and hold out great leaf-clad branches, and the “little hills rejoice on every side.” So the good man, the man of peace, the peace-lover, and the peace-maker, sweetens, soothes, sanctifies, all the society in which he takes his place. He makes a reviving, delightful atmosphere wherever he may be. We rejoice in him, even as thirsty lands rejoice in the sweet pure river, that day and night flows on unceasingly, past bank and brae.R.T.
Isa 66:14
The Lord’s indignation; or, the Divine goodness and severity.
“The hand of the Lord shall be known towards his servants, and his indignation toward his enemies.” Here two sides of the Divine nature are declared, which we find it difficult to conceive as harmonious in one person. It is not only true that God is gracious toward his people, and angry with the wicked; it is also true that in dealing with his people he is both gracious and severe.
I. IN THE GOD OF REVELATION WE FIND BOTH MERCY AND INDIGNATION. Nature blends rains and storms, sunshine and hurricanes, spring breath and volcanoes. The revelation to the Jews provides illustration.
1. See the early traditions of the world preserved by the JewsEdenthe FloodSodom.
2. See the story of the great Patriarchs of Jacob, of the Israelites in the wilderness.
3. See the records of the Jews as a nation. Raised to heaven with privileges, crushed into the deep with judgments.
4. See the condition of the Jewish nation, as now scattered over the earth. Every scattered, landless, homeless Jew, against whom the world’s byword is east, is set forth before men to plead with them and say, “Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God.”
5. See the last revelation made to men in Christ Jesus.
(1) Note how the Messiah was described beforehand in prophecy (Isa 63:3, Isa 63:4).
(2) Note the exclamations of those who saw the babe Messiah.
(3) Note the outbursts of righteous indignation during the ministry of Christ.
(4) Note some sentences used in his public teaching (Mat 25:1-46.). The following words were characteristic of Christ’s teachings: “everlasting punishment;” “destruction:” “death;” “fire;” “worm that never dies;” “gnashing of teeth;” “thirst;” “torment;” “outer darkness.”
(5) Note the apostolic doctrine of Christ. In it there is a place for the “wrath of the Lamb.”
II. IN THE GOD OF OUR APPREHENSION WE FIND BOTH MERCY AND INDIGNATION.
1. Give the testimony of man’s reason. It recognizes that the good man will be sure to blaze into indignation at wrong-doing.
2. Give the testimony of man‘s fear. What is man afraid of if he has no notion of God as able to, and bound to, punish transgressors? Men do not tremble before a God who is all mercy. We fear the God of indignations, who can cast body and soul into hell. How wicked it is for any of us to go on in sin, presuming upon God’s mercifulness! What sinners have to do with is God‘s indignation.R.T.
Isa 66:17
Vain attempts to sanctify self.
“They that sanctify themselves. shall be consumed together.” The prophetic allusion is to those who attempted secure themselves by “fearing the Lord, and serving other gods.” They wanted to secure all possible Israelite privileges, yet wanted to sanctify themselves by means of the heathen rites which were the fashion of their times. “Such a blending of incompatible elements was eminently characteristic of the reign of Manasseh.” The things specially noticed are wilful throwings off of all the restraints of the Mosaic Law. These mistaken ones dared to indulge in swine’s flesh, and eat even other unclean foods. Van Lennep has a curious note on eating the mouse. “The mouse is extremely common in Western Asia, and the Mosaic prohibition of its flesh continues to be generally observed. We have reason to believe that those who have tasted the flesh of the mouse acquire as great a relish for it as the Frenchman does for his frog diet, or the German for sauerkraut. We once had a servant from one of the Greek islands who was addicted to this habit, and could be induced to relinquish it neither by expostulation nor by ridicule.” Swine are always spoken of in both the Old and New Testaments with horror and disgust, especially for their close association with pagan rites.
I. ATTEMPTS TO SANCTIFY SELF. Explain the forms such work has taken in old times, and is taking now. There is a proper sanctifying of self, which goes with due dependence on God’s sanctifying, and is our “working out our own salvation with fear and trembling;” but what is reproved here is trying to sanctify one’s self in one’s own strength, in one’s own way, and for one’s own ends.
II. THE VANITY OF ATTEMPTS TO SANCTIFY SELF. We cannot. It is running after a “Will-o’-the-wisp.” It is hurrying to drink of the “mirage.” Solomon tried to satisfy, if we may not say to sanctify, himself, and ended with a wail, “Vanity of vanities; all is vanity!”
III. THE DEGRADATION OF ATTEMPTS TO SANCTIFY SELF. We are sure to come down from trying high things to trying low ones. We come at last to making much of some tree, or eating swine’s flesh, or abominable mice, or counting beads, or grovelling among stones, or drinking of so-called “holy wells.” And there is no hope in God for any of us until we are wholly willing to give up all these attempts, and just take God’s way of sanctifying us, which is at once the only way, and the best way.R.T.
Isa 66:23
The universal worship.
“From one sabbath to another, shall an flesh come to worship before me, saith the Lord.”
I. IN MEETING TOGETHER FOR PUBLIC WORSHIP WE FOLLOW THE NATURAL IMPULSE OF OUR OWN HEARTS, AS WELL AS OBEY THE COMMANDMENTS OF OUR GOD. To look up and pray is one of the most original and essential impulses of humanity, one of the commonest characteristics of the race. Prayer is properly associated with the whole circle of our relations with God. As spirits we are God’s children, and God’s erring, wilful children; we must find expression for our conscious need of spiritual blessings. Our bodies are the Divine creation, the care of Divine Providence, and out of the sense of the relation of our bodily life to God we are impelled to pray for temporal blessings. We are set in close associations one with another, as families; and as those having similar preferences and convictions; out of such relations come our united family and sanctuary worship. There are even larger associations into which we enter as fellow-citizens, fellow-countrymen, fellow-men. Our welfare in all these relationships directly depends on him who is Lord of natural laws, Lord of storms, Lord of pestilences, Lord of harvests, Lord of sunshine, Lord of the wrath of men, and Lord of their wealth. So far as we feel this aright we shall be impelled to say to every fellow-creature, made in the image of God, and made for God even as we are, “O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.” We have not to seek for reasons that may prove persuasions to worship. What men have to seek for is excuse for their neglect of the universal worship. It is not sufficiently recognized that God deals with us collectively here on earth. We have no reason for assuming that there are separate churches in heaven; or organized families; or towns with local interests; or nations with national interests and national characteristics. These are all earthly conditions; and in these conditions is laid the basis for collective prayer, for public and united worship. The man that refuses to unite in public worship is breaking away from the claims of his common humanity; refusing to recognize the conditions under which God has placed him; and withholding the sympathy which his fellow-creatures have a right to demand from him. Further, it may be shown that in meeting for public or universal worship, we do but follow the indications that have been given us of the Divine will. In Jewish history great importance attached to large national gatherings for acts of worship. From the time of the great meeting between the Mounts Ebal and Gerizim down to the times of Messiah, there were three great religious meetings of the people every year, besides occasional special gatherings. The Jewish service included praise and prayer, in which the whole people might unite. The best men, such as David, turned from the joys of private devotion to the yet higher joys of God’s house and worship. Our Lord set the example of private prayer, but the evangelists are careful to remind us that “he went, as he was wont, into the synagogue on the sabbath day.” And the apostles urge the early Christians “not to forsake the assembling of themselves together.”
II. IN NEGLECTING PUBLIC WORSHIP WE HAVE TO DELUDE OURSELVES BY MAKING VERY UNWORTHY EXCUSES. TO put our reasons out into the light, to get them fairly expressed, is to make us feel ashamed of them. Some incline to say, “Your worship is not intended for us; it is meant only for those whom you call specially Christians, and we do not call ourselves by that name.” Our worshipping arrangements have certainly been made on this principle; but the worship of God is for men, all men, everywhere. Whether men agree with our ideas or not, let them come and worship the God that made them, clothes them, feeds them, cares for them, loves them, and would save them from their sins. Perhaps most of those who stay away from worship do so in sheer heedlessness; they yield to the indifference which settles down on men who are simply living to self and sin. The real evil is that sinful man is indisposed to worship; the only shrine be cares for is the shrine of ease and self-indulgence. We must try to make God more real to men, and so get the persuasion of his love as the constraint, urging men to offer to him their “gold, frankincense, and myrrh.” We must try to make the services of our sanctuaries more suitable for the expression of the universal dependence and the universal praise. Christian worship should be the best possible medium for lifting up the hearts of men, as men, unto God; the best utterance of the universal sense of the Divine Creator-hood. It should be man’s acknowledgment of God, our God, the one God, the holy God, the redeeming God. It is “he that hath made us, and not we ourselves.” It is he that “redeemeth our life from destruction.” It is even he “that sent his Son into the world, that we might live through him.” “Let us kneels” let us all kneel together, “before the Lord our Maker.”R.T.
Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary
Isa 66:1-2. Thus saith the Lord, &c. God here makes use of a sublime discourse, suitable to his Majesty, to reach the genuine sense whereof we must consider it as directed to the hypocrites, who supposed the care of the temple and sacrifice to be the principal and most acceptable part of worship in the sight of God. The words may be thus paraphrased: “Why, ye hypocrites, do ye build and adorn my temple upon earth with so much labour? If I regarded a visible temple as the place of manifesting my glory, I have one of the highest excellence and splendor in the heavens, which I have prepared for my glory and for the use of the celestial hosts. In which view the whole earth, and whatever is made of earth and terrestrial matter, (as is every temple, however splendid) ought to be considered as my footstool.” (See chap. Isa 57:15.) Further, “whatever is your boast, from building me a house, all this is vain; for my hand hath formed all these things, and they have all existed by my power and will; so that you can confer upon God nothing but what is his own.” See Psa 50:12. Though therefore God, for the reasons of his providence toward his church, permitted, for he did not command, David or Solomon to build him a material temple; yet he would not have it esteemed as his true house, or seem on this account to be indebted to the builders. He only, according to his wisdom, was willing to indulge the Israelites, that in the time of the infancy of the church, they might substitute a figurative in the room of the true house of the Lord. The discourse rises; “Nay,” saith the Lord, “not even the celestial house is acceptable to me: I have another, more noble, pure, and agreeable to my nature, the true place of my rest; namely, men formed and prepared by grace to receive the influx of the Divine Spirit;” which is thus expressed, To this man will I look, to him who is poor and contrite in spirit, and who trembleth at my word. See ch. Isa 57:15. Mat 5:3. Psa 138:6. Vitringa is of opinion, that this discourse is directed to the hypocrites, who, despising the Gospel of the Son of God, after they had made the temple a den of thieves, were yet zealous to repair and adorn that temple: they did not consider that, a new oeconomy being established, no earthly and material temple could be acceptable to the God whose throne was in heaven, and who every where found the place of his rest in the humble and contrite heart.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
5. THE NEW LIFE IN ITS INWARD RELATIONS
Isa 66:1-3 a.
1Thus saith the Lord,
The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool:
1 Where is the house that ye build unto me?
And 2 where is the place of my rest?
2For all those things hath mine hand made,
And all those things 3have been, saith the Lord:
But to this man will I look,
Even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit,
And trembleth at my word.
3aHe that killeth an ox is as if he slew a man;
He that sacrificeth a 4lamb, as if he cut off a dogs neck;
He that offereth an oblation, as if he offered swines blood;
He that 5burneth incense, as if he blessed an idol.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
1. The Prophet continues to describe the condition of things which is to be expected in the time of the end when there will be a new heaven and a new earth. Here he has respect more to the inward life, as in Isa 65:17 sqq. he had depicted the renovation of the life of nature. What he here declares is to be regarded only as a measure to help us to estimate what will take place. The question, it is true, What house will ye build me, and what shall be the place of my rest? appears primarily to have practical application to those returning home from Exile, while it looks as if this question interdicted them from building a temple in Jerusalem. But this cannot possibly have been the design of the Prophet. For that the Lord desired for that time the erection of a temple is proved most clearly by such places as Isa 44:28; Isa 56:7; Isa 60:7; Ezr 1:2-4; Haggai 1, 2 This, then, must be the meaning of the words, that the external temple is at all times a thing of minor importance, and that hereafter, in the time of the new heaven and the new earth, the external temple will exist no longer (Isa 66:1). For all that the Lord has made belongs to Him. If He needed a house, the whole vast world would be at His command. But He does not dwell in temples built by human hands. In the hearts of the afflicted, contrite and obedient He will make His spiritual dwelling (Isa 66:2). And as He needs no temple, so He needs no external ceremonial worship. In the time when all things will be new, every act of the old, external, ceremonial worship must rather be regarded as an offence against the spirit of the new aeon (Isa 66:3 a).
2. Thus saith the Lordan idol.
Isa 66:1-3 a. The Prophet begins by setting forth the infinite greatness and majesty of God by means of a figure used elsewhere in holy Scripture. For we read that the heaven is Gods throne also in Psa 11:4; Psa 103:19; Mat 5:34; Mat 23:22. That the earth is his footstool is directly stated only here and Mat 5:35, which latter place is based on the one before us. But the thought is indirectly contained in those places where the holy mountain or the temple is named the footstool of God: Psa 99:5, comp. Psa 66:9; Psa 132:7; Lam 2:1; 1Ch 28:2. With this view of the greatness and majesty of God the idea of an earthly habitation for God stands in contradiction, if God is conceived as a local god like the heathen divinities, and the temple is a space that encloses Him. This is a view from which even the Israelites (comp., e.g., the prophet Jonah) could not get free. Even the Christian martyr Stephen had to protest against this vain imagination (Act 7:48 sqq.), and in doing so he appeals to our place (comp. Act 17:24 sq.). But the idea of a temple did not contradict Gods infinity, when the temple was regarded as a place in which God was present only partially and repraesentativo modo, with a shining forth of His glory. The Rabbis call this effulgence of the absolute glory the Shekinah, and appeal to passages such as Exo 25:21 sq.; Lev 16:2; Lev 26:11 sqq.; Num 7:89; 1Sa 4:4, etc. Solomon, too, was fully conscious that the heaven and heaven of heavens could not contain God, much less a house built on the earth (1Ki 8:27). He therefore did not think of building a place for the Deity which should enclose Him in His totality. Our Prophet, in asking the question, What house will ye build? has manifestly the returning exiles before his mind, 6 and while he rejects an external temple and temple-worship, he has in view the remotest end of the time of salvation, the time of the new heaven and new earth, when, according to Rev 21:22, there shall be no temple. The form of a question is intentionally chosen in the sentence . For it makes known that the Lord declares an earthly place to be insufficient to be a habitation for His Godhead, without directly forbidding the erection of such a habitation. Such a prohibition He could not possibly design to make. For, in fact, He plainly disclosed to the returning exiles His will that His house should be rebuilt in Jerusalem (comp. the close of chap. 46; Ezr 1:2 sqq.; Hag 1:2 sqq.). There is no indication that the rebuilding of the temple and the re-institution of the Mosaic cultus were hindered by the place before us. Doubtless there was found in Isa 66:1 b merely the thought that there is no place which, as a dwelling, corresponds in the least degree to the greatness of God, and that the Prophet warns against such rude childish notions as formerly were entertained in Israel, that Jehovah really dwells in the most holy place of the temple as a man dwells in his house. The thought would readily suggest itself when this passage would be considered, that the new temple was not intended to be a place to contain God, but only to be the restoration of the old place where God revealed Himself. is=place of rest, Psa 132:14. The second question is literally rendered: what place is my resting place? I will not undertake to decide whether it was also seen that the look of the Prophet is here directed also to the time of the end. But we can have no doubt on this point. For it is undeniable that all through chapters 65 and 66 even the remotest time of the end is present to the spirit of the Prophet. And in this last time there will really, according to Rev 21:22, be no temple. For God is then inwardly and outwardly ever present to all. He is then Himself their temple. The Prophet assigns as reasons for the questions which he puts: First, God has heaven for His throne, the earth for His footstool. Secondly, he declares that God has made all these, that all have arisen through His almighty Let there be. He evidently alludes to the word of the Creator in Genesis 1, . He thus lets it be known that God, if He wished, could build Himself a temple. For what would that be for Him who made all these, heaven and earth? And thirdly and lastly, he tells why God does not do this, although He could do it. He needs no temple. Hearts that feel their misery, that with contrition (comp. Isa 16:7; Pro 15:13; Pro 17:22; Pro 18:14) are conscious of their sin, and humbly hearken to His word (, comp. Jdg 7:3; 1Sa 4:13; Ezr 9:4; Ezr 10:3. for , comp. Isa 66:5; Isa 60:5; Isa 10:3) are the temple which He most desires and values. On these He looks, these He regards and loves, and in these He will dwell. And because He is in them, they also are in Him. They are His temple, and He is their temple. While I cannot believe that the Prophet in Isa 66:1-2 absolutely repels the design of the returning Israelites to build God a temple, still less can I believe that he in Isa 66:3 a declares only to those estranged from God that the Lord will accept no religious services from them. Where is it by a single syllable intimated that Isa 66:3 is addressed solely to those estranged from God?[See the words immediately following Isa 66:3 b and Isa 66:4.D. M.]Delitzsch indeed affirms that the sentence: He who slays in the new Jerusalem an ox in sacrifice is like one who slays a man, could not possibly be contained in the Old Testament. If under the new Jerusalem he means the city rebuilt by the exiles on their return, I admit that Delitzsch is perfectly right. But distingue tempora et concordabit Scriptura! The Prophet does not distinguish the times. He surveys the whole time of salvation from the end of the Exile to the at one view, and in this space of time he perceives really a temple and sacrificial worship; but he declares both to be insufficient. He utters no absolute prohibition; but he declares most unambiguously that this temple must disappear and give place to a better. And when this shall have happened, then (this the Prophet sees quite clearly, as it is also self-evident), an animal sacrifice will be an abomination. He who in the Christian church would present an ox or a sheep as as sin-offeringwould he not commit a crime, which in its way would be as great as if a Jew should present a sacrifice of a man or of a dog? Would he not thus despise the blood of the Lamb of God? If in chaps. 56 and 60 and also in our chapter, Isa 66:6; Isa 66:20 sqq., a temple and sacrificial worship are still spoken of, are we to suppose that the old temple of stone, with its material, bloody offerings, is intended? Verily chaps. 53 and 55 testify that the Prophet knew of an infinitely better offering and of an infinitely better way of appropriating salvation. Even Jeremiah can speak of a time in which the ark of the covenant will be no more thought of (Jer 3:16). And Isaiah emphatically testifies that the religious conception of the Israelites of his time will be superseded by one infinitely higher (Isa 55:8 sqq.). I cannot therefore agree with those who propose this explanation: He who with a disposition unholy and estranged from God offers an ox, a sheep, etc., is like one who kills a man, etc. For in the time present to the mind of the Prophet every animal sacrifice will be a crimen laesae majestatis. Still less is that explanation to be approved which Hahn, not after the example of Gesenius, whom he misunderstands, but after the example of Lowth, adopts: He who slays an ox kills at the same time a man, etc. According to it the Prophet is supposed to censure those who, while they offer sacrifice to the Lord in His sanctuary, outside of it commit all possible abominations; a course of conduct which is reproved by Eze 23:39, and in the New Testament by our Lord,Mat 23:14. We have here sentences containing comparisons in which the figure and the thing compared are put in the relation of subject and predicate, whereby they are not absolutely, but yet relatively, identified. The offerer of an ox is a manslayer,i. e. he is, viewed as to his religious worth, a manslayer. He stands before God on the same level with one who now should offer a human sacrifice. For according to the context the Prophet does not mean to compare animal sacrifices in the time of the end with every kind of offence, but with offerings which would be abominable in the present time. Human sacrifices in general are not expressly forbidden in the law. Implicitly they are prohibited by all the places of the law which command Israel to shun all the abominations of the heathen (comp. Exo 23:24; Lev 18:3, et saepe). But the offering of children, such as was practised in the worship of Baal, is in various places most strictly prohibited (comp. Lev 18:21; Lev 20:2 sqq.; Deu 12:31, et saepe). Regarding the custom of sacrificing dogs practised by the Carians, Lacedaemonians, Macedonians and other Greeks, see Bochart,Hieroz. I., p. 798 sqq., ed Lips. is part. act. Kal. from , verb. denom. from , the neck (comp. Exo 13:13; Deu 21:4; Deu 21:7; Hos 10:2). It means to break the neck.In the clause we have in order to complete the sentence simply to repeat before (comp. Isa 57:6). On the offering of swine, comp. on Isa 65:4. Dogs and swine are in the Scriptures, as in profane authors, often joined together (comp. Mat 7:6; 2Pe 2:22; 1Ki 21:19; 1Ki 22:38 in several codices of the LXX. Horatii,Epist. I. 2, 26; II. 2, 75). stands only here as direct causative Hiphil in the sense of to make an , to offer as is taken by most interpreters correctly in the sense of vanum, i. e.idolum (comp. 1Sa 15:23; Hos 10:8; Hos 12:12), for this particular meaning corresponds better to the context than the general one of iniquitas, scelus, wickedness (Luther).
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6. PUNISHMENT TO THE WICKED! REWARD TO THE FAITHFUL
Isa 66:3-6
3b 7Yea, they have chosen their own ways,
And their soul delighteth in their abominations.
48 I also will choose their [9]10delusions,
And will bring their fears upon them;
Because when I called, none did answer;
When I spake, they did not hear:
But they did evil before mine eyes,
And chose that in which I delighted not.
5Hear the word of the Lord, ye that tremble at his word;
Your brethren that hated you,
That cast you out for my names sake, said,
11Let the Lord be glorified:
But he shall appear to your joy,
12And they shall be ashamed.
6A voice of 13noise from the city,
A voice from the temple,
A voice of the Lord that rendereth recompence to his enemies.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
1. There were among the exiles in Babylon not a few who forsook Jehovah and forgot His holy mountain (Isa 65:11). These looked upon the theocracy as a played-out game. Jehovah had not protected them against the gods of Babylon. To these, therefore, they now attached themselves. Between such persons and the faithful Israelites there existed naturally a hostile relation. The apostates mocked those who remained faithful, while the latter abhorred the others as shameful apostates, and threatened them with the wrath of Jehovah. We repeatedly find traces of this enmity in chaps. 65 and 66. It appears that one of those who remained faithful used every opportunity which he could find in chapters 65 and 66 in order to attach to the words of the Prophet a commination against the abhorred apostates [!]. If we must discard the opinion that the Prophet in Isa 66:3 a rejects only the sacrifices of the wicked, we cannot avoid perceiving that a wide chasm exists between Isa 66:3 a and b. For Isa 66:3 a relates to the glorious time of the end. Yea, the highest elevation of its spiritual life is indicated by these words. But Isa 66:3 b6 bring us back into the particular relations of the Exile.[Dr. Naegelsbach accordingly condemns Isa 66:3 b6 as an interpolation. The interpolator we are asked to regard as a faithful servant of Jehovah. But assuredly he was not one who trembled at Jehovahs word, else he would have shrunk with horror from corrupting that holy word. Even the Pharisees did not venture to alter the text of Scripture to make it support their views. The apostates, too, whom the interpolator is supposed to threaten, having openly renounced the worship of Jehovah, would pay no regard to the fictitious or real utterances of His Prophet. Were the transition in Isa 66:3 a3b sqq. as abrupt as our author supposes, from the time of the end to concrete existing relations, such a transition could not be pronounced unparalleled. Look, e.g. at the surroundings of the glorious promise respecting the abolition of death contained in Hos 13:14. Shall we say that what follows that promise is to be rejected as spurious? But the want of coherence, of which our author here complains, is only imaginary. If we adopt the view of Isa 66:3 a taken by Delitzsch and others that not the temple-offerings in themselves are rejected, but the offerings of those whose heart is divided between Jahve and the false gods, and who refuse Him the offering which is most dear to Him (Psa 51:19; comp. Psa 50:23), then there is no difficulty in perceiving the coherence of the words that follow. But if we should (as I believe Dr. Naegelsbach rightly does) regard the Prophet as here predicting the future abolition of the temple-service under a more glorious dispensation, we should be at no loss to perceive the coherence of Isa 66:3 b, 4 with such a prediction. The language can be aptly applied to those Jews who obstinately refused to obey the revealed will of God, and persisted in practising rites which were superseded by the establishment of the new and better economy. This is the view taken by many interpreters who, in order to justify it, do not find it necessary to condemn the Hebrew text as interpolated. Henderson,e.g., looks upon Isa 66:3 a as teaching the absolute unlawfulness of sacrifices under the Christian dispensation. When the Jews are converted to the faith of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, they must acquiesce in the doctrine taught in the ninth and tenth chapters of the Epistle to the Hebrews, that the one offering which He presented on the cross forever set aside all the animal sacrifices and oblations which had been appointed by the law of Moses. Any attempt to revive the practice is here declared to be upon a par with the cruel and abominable customs of the heathen, who offered human sacrifices and such animals as the ancient people of God were taught to hold in abomination. And he finds what follows Isa 66:3 b to have this connection with the aforesaid teaching: In retribution of the unbelieving and rebellious persistence of the Jews in endeavoring to establish the old ritual, Jehovah threatens them with condign punishment: while such of them as may render themselves obnoxious to their brethren by receiving the doctrines of the Gospel on the subject, have a gracious promise of divine approbation and protection given to them. In no case, then, is there any necessity for supposing the hand of an interpolator to have been here at work. Strange would be the course taken by this assumed interpolator! The sentiments which he utters do not look like those of one who would recklessly alter the sacred text, and give out his own words for those of Jehovah. See especially Isa 66:5 where the writer addresses those who tremble at Gods word. Can we suppose that he was, while using this language, corrupting the word of God and making his own additions to it? The character of this passage strongly attests its genuineness. We have to add that Isa 66:3 b, 4, should not have been separated from what precedes, as the close connection between the two parts has been pointed out.D. M.]
2. Yea, they have chosendelighted not, Isa 66:3 b4. are related as et-et, tamquam (comp. Gen 24:25; Jer 51:12, et saepe). stands here, as often (comp. Amo 8:14; Psa 139:24), in the signification of the religious bent. is likewise used frequently of the abominations of idolatry (comp. 1Ki 11:5; 1Ki 11:7; Jer 7:30, et saepe). The word is found only here in Isaiah. (in which word the signification of the Hithpael with following (comp. Jdg 19:25) is reflected) is . .[This is an error. The word occurs in Isa 3:4 in the plural as here. There it means the petulances, the puerilities of boys. Here it retains the kindred notion of annoyances, vexations. The occurrence of this peculiar word here and in Isa 3:4 speaks in favor of identity of authorship. The rendering of the E. V. delusions, in the sense of childish, wayward follies, may be defended. These childish delusions would mock and disappoint those who entertained them. God could be said to choose their delusions by allowing them in His providence, and causing the people to eat the fruit of them. Their fears,, may be taken as what is feared by them, or, with Delitzsch, situations, conditions, which inspire dread. The latter part of Isa 66:4 from becauseDr. Naegelsbach regards as a needless repetition from Isa 65:12; but Alexander rightly judges that the repetition serves not only to connect the passages as parts of an unbroken composition, but also to identify the subjects of discourse in the two places.D. M.]
3. Hear the wordHis enemies, Isa 66:5-6. These words are a consolation for the faithful adherents of Jehovah, who tremble at His word. The verb occurs only in Piel, and is found only here and Amo 6:3. In later Hebrew the word is employed of removal, exclusion from the community, or excommunication (comp. Luk 6:22; Joh 9:22; Joh 12:42; Joh 16:2). The Rabbis use the word to denote the lowest of the three grades of excommunication (comp. Buxtorf,Lex. Chal., p. 1303). The Masoretes connect with what follows, because they could not conceive, or would not admit that an Israelite was ever put out of the community for the sake of the name of Jehovah. But this is what the forsakers of Jehovah did in the Exile where they had the power [?]. And they scoffingly called out to the excommunicated: Let Jehovah be (appear as) glorious (comp. Job 14:21; Eze 27:25), and we will (in consequence) behold with delight your joy. They thus mock the Lord and their brethren, regarding whom they do not think that they will experience the joy of seeing their hopes fulfilled. But this scoffing misses the mark. Not those who are scoffed at, but the scoffers will be put to shame.[Barnes, Alexander and Kay think with Vitringa that in this verse we are brought down to New Testament times. Vitringa applies it to the rejection of the first Christian converts by the unbelieving Jews: Hear the word (or promise) of Jehovah, ye that wait for it with trembling confidence: your brethren (the unconverted Jews) who hate you and cast you out for my names sake, have said (in so doing): Jehovah will be glorious (or glorify Himself on your behalf no doubt), and we shall witness your salvation (a bitter irony like that in Isa 5:19); but they (who thus speak) shall themselves be confounded (by beholding what they now consider so incredible). The phrase those hating you may be compared with Joh 15:18; Joh 17:14; Mat 10:22; 1Th 2:14; and casting you out with Joh 16:2; and Mat 18:17 : for my names sake, with Mat 24:9; Joh 15:21. Alexander.And they shall be ashamed. How true this has been of the Jews who persecuted the early Christians! How entirely were they confounded and overwhelmed! God established permanently the persecuted; He scattered the persecutors to the ends of the earth. Barnes Isa 66:6. The Hebrew word is never applied elsewhere to a joyful cry or a cry of lamentation, but to the tumult of war, the rushing sound of armies and the shock of battle, in which sense it is repeatedly employed by Isaiah. The enemies here mentioned must of course be those who had just been described as the despisers and persecutors of the brethren. The description cannot without violence be understood of foreign or external enemies. Alexander. Barnes observes here: 1) that it is recompense taken on those who had cast out their brethren (Isa 66:5). 2) It is vengeance taken within the city, and on the internal, not the external enemies. 3) It is vengeance taken in the midst of this tumult. All this is a striking description of the scene when the city and temple were taken by the Roman armies; and it seems to me that it is to be regarded as descriptive of that event. It was the vengeance which was to precede the glorious triumph of truth and of the cause of the true religion.D. M.]
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. On Isa 65:1-2. Our Lord has said, He that seeketh findeth (Mat 7:8). How, then, does it come that the Jews do not find what they seek, but the heathen find what they did not seek? The Apostle Paul puts this question and answers it, Rom 9:30 sqq.; Isa 10:19 sqq.; Isa 11:7. [See also Isa 10:3]. All depends on the way in which we seek. Luther says: Quaerere fit dupliciter. Primo, secundum praescriptum verbi Dei, et sic invenitur Deus, Secundo, quaeritur nostris studiis et consiliis, et sic non invenitur. The Jews, with exception of the (Rom 11:7), sought only after their own glory and merit. They sought what satisfies the flesh. They did not suffer the spirit in the depths of their heart to speak,the spirit which can be satisfied only by food fitted for it. The law which was given to them that they might perceive by means of it their own impotence, became a snare to them. For they perverted it, made what was of minor importance the chief matter, and then persuaded themselves that they had fulfilled it and were righteous. But the Gentiles who had not the law, had not this snare. They were not tempted to abuse the pdagogical discipline of the law. They felt simply that they were forsaken by God. Their spirit was hungry. And when for the first time Gods word in the Gospel was presented to them, then they received it the more eagerly in proportion to the poverty, wretchedness and hunger in which they had been. The Jews did not find what they sought, because they had not a spiritual, but a carnal apprehension of the law, and, like the elder brother of the prodigal son, were full, and blind for that which was needful for them. But the Gentiles found what they did not seek, because they were like the prodigal son, who was the more receptive of grace, the more he needed it, and the less claim he had to it. [There is important truth stated in the foregoing remarks. But it does not fully explain why the Lord is found of those who sought Him not. The sinner who has obtained mercy when he asks why? must have recourse to a higher cause, a cause out of himself, even free, sovereign, efficacious grace. It is of God that showeth mercy, Rom 9:16. Though in after-communion God is found of those that seek Him (Pro 8:17), yet in the first conversion He is found of those that seek Him not; for therefore we love Him, because He first loved us. Henry. D. M.].
2. On Isa 65:2. Gods long-suffering is great. He stretches out His hands the whole day and does not grow weary. What man would do this? The disobedient people contemns Him, as if He knew nothing, and could do nothing.
3. On Isa 65:2. It is clear from this verse gratiam esse resistibilem. Christ earnestly stretched out His hands to the Jews. He would, but they would not. This doctrine the Remonstrants prove from this place, and rightly too, in Actis Synodi Dodrac. P. 3. p. 76. Leigh. [The grace of God which is signified by His stretching out His hands can be, and is, resisted. That figurative expression denotes warning, exhorting, entreating, and was never set forth by Reformed theologians as indicating such grace as was necessarily productive of conversion. The power by which God quickens those who were dead in sins (Eph 2:5), by which He gives a new heart (Eze 36:26), by which He draws to the Son (Joh 6:44-45; Joh 6:65), is the grace which is called irresistible. The epithet is admitted on all hands to be faulty; but the grace denoted by it is, from the nature of the case, not resisted. Turrettin in treating De Vocatione et Fide thus replies to this objection, Aliud est Deo monenti et vocanti externe resistere; Aliud est conversionem intendenti et efficaciter ac interne vocanti. Prius asseritur Isa. lxv. 2, 3. Quum dicit Propheta se expandisse tot die manus ad populum perversum etc., non posterius. Expansio brachiorum notat quidem blandam et benevolam Dei invitationem, qu illos extrinsecus sive Verbo, sive beneficiis alliciebat, non semel atque iterum, sed quotidie ministerio servorum suorum eos compellando. Sed non potest designate potentem et efficacem operationem, qu brachium Domini illis revelatur qui docentur Deo et trahuntur a Patre, etc. Locus XV.; Quaestio VI .25.D. M.].
4. On Isa 65:2. (Who walk after their own thoughts.)
Duc me, nec sine, me per me, Deus optime, duci.
Nam duce me pereo, te duce certus eo.
[If our guide be our own thoughts, our way is not likely to be good; for every imagination of the thought of our hearts is only evil. Henry. D. M.].
5. On Isa 65:3 sq. The sweetest wine is turned into the sourest vinegar; and when Gods people apostatize from God, they are worse than the heathen (Jer 3:11). Starke.
6. On Isa 65:5. [I am holier than thou. A deep insight is here given us into the nature of the mysterious fascination which heathenism exercised on the Jewish people. The law humbled them at every turn with mementoes of their own sin and of Gods unapproachable holiness. Paganism freed them from this, and allowed them (in the midst of moral pollution) to cherish lofty pretensions to sanctity. The man, who had been offering incense on the mountain-top, despised the penitent who went to the temple to present a broken and contrite heart. If Pharisaism led to a like result, it was because it, too, had emptied the law of its spiritual import, and turned its provisions into intellectual idols. Kay. D. M.].
7. On Isa 65:6-7. The longer God forbears, the harder He punishes at last. The greatness of the punishment compensates for the delay (Psa 50:21). Starke after Leigh.
8. On Isa 65:8 sqq. [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 remnantOur 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 that degree that no flesh should be saved. Mat 24:22. Henry. D. M.].
9. On Isa 65:15. The judgment which came upon Israel by the hand of the Romans, did not altogether destroy the people, but it so destroyed the Old Covenant, i.e., the Mosaic religion, that the Jews can no more observe its precepts in essential points. For no Jew knows to what tribe he belongs. Therefore, they have no priests, and, consequently, no sacrifices. The Old Covenant is now only a ruin. We see here most clearly that the Old Covenant, as it was designed only for one nation, and for one country, was to last only for a certain time. If we consider, moreover, the way in which the judgment was executed, (comp. Josephus), we can truly say that the Jews bear in themselves the mark of a curse. They bear the stamp of the divine judgment. The beginning of the judgment on the world has been executed on them as the house of God. But how comes it that the Jews have become so mighty, so insolent in the present time, and are not satisfied with remaining on the defensive in their attitude toward the Christian church, but have passed over to the offensive? This has arisen solely from Christendom having to a large extent lost the consciousness of its new name. There are many Christians who scoff at the name of Christian, and seek their honor in combating all that is called Christian. This is the preparation for the judgment on Christendom itself. If Christendom would hold fast her jewel, she would remain strong, and no one would dare to mock or to assail her. For she would then partake of the full blessing which lies in the principle of Christianity, and every one would be obliged to show respect for the fruits of this principle. But an apostate Christendom, that is ashamed of her glorious Christian name, is something more miserable than the Jews, judged though they have been, who still esteem highly their name, and what remains to them of their old religion. Thus Christendom, in so far as it denies the worth and significance of its name, is gradually reaching a condition in which it will be so ripe for the second act of the judgment on the world, that this will be longed for as a benefit. For, this apostate Christendom will be the kingdom of Antichrist, as Antichrist will manifest himself in Satanic antagonism to God by sitting in the temple of God, and pretending to be God (2Th 2:3 sqq.). [We do not quite share all the sentiments expressed in this paragraph. We are far from being so despondent as to the prospects of Christendom, and think that there is a more obvious interpretation of the prophecy quoted from 2 Thess., than that indicated.D. M.].
10. On Isa 65:17. [If we had only the present passage to testify of new heavens and a new earth, we might say, as many good interpreters do, that the language is figurative, and indicates nothing more than a great moral and spiritual revolution. But we cannot thus explain 2Pe 3:10-13. The present earth and heavens shall pass away; (comp. Isa 51:6; Psa 102:25-26). But how can we suppose that our Prophet here refers to the new heavens and new earth, which are to succeed the destruction of the world by fire? In the verses that follow Isa 65:17, a condition of things is described which, although better than the present, is not so good as that perfectly sinless, blessed state of the redeemed, which we look for after the coming of the day of the Lord. Yet the Apostle Peter (2Pe 3:13) evidently regards the promise before us of new heavens and a new earth, as destined to receive its accomplishment after the conflagration which is to take place at the end of the world. If we had not respect to other Scriptures, and if we overlooked the use made by Peter of this passage, we should not take it literally. But we can take it literally, if we suppose that the Prophet brings together future events not according to their order in time. He sees the new heavens and new earth arise. Other scenes are disclosed to his prophetic eye of a grand and joy-inspiring nature. He announces them as future. But these scenes suppose the continued prevalence of death and labor (Isa 65:20 sqq.), which, we know from definite statements of Scripture, will not exist when the new heaven and new earth appear (comp. Rev 21:1-4). The proper view then of Isa 65:17 is to take its prediction literally, and to hold at the same time that in the following description (which is that of the millennium) future things are presented to us which are really prior, and not posterior to the promised complete renovation of heaven and earth. Nor should this surprise us, as Isaiah and the other Prophets place closely together in their pictures future things which belong to different times. They do not draw the line sharply between this world and the next. Compare Isaiahs prophecy of the abolition of death (Isa 25:8) in connection with other events that must happen long before that state of perfect blessedness.D. M.].
11. On Isa 65:20. [The extension of the Gospel every where,of its pure principles of temperance in eating and drinking, in restraining the passions, in producing calmness of mind, and in arresting war, would greatly lengthen out the life of man. The image here employed by the Prophet is more than mere poetry; it is one that is founded in reality, and is designed to convey most important truth. Barnes. D. M.].
12. On Isa 65:24. [It occurs to me that an erroneous application is frequently made of the promise, Before they call, etc. This declaration is made in connection with the glory and blessedness of the last days. It belongs specifically to the millennium. There are, indeed, occasions when God even now seems to act according to this law. (Comp. Dan 9:23). But Paul had to pray thrice before he received the answer of the Lord (2Co 12:8). Compare the parable of the importunate widow, Luk 18:1-7. The answer to prayer may be long delayed. This is not only taught in the Bible, but is verified in Christian experience. But the time will come when the Lord will not thus try and exercise the faith of His people.D. M.].
13. On Isa 65:25. If the lower animals live in hostility in consequence of the sin of man, a state of peace must be restored to them along with our redemption from sin. J. G. Mueller in Herz. R.-Encycl. xvi. p. 45. [By the serpent in this place there seems every reason to believe that Satan, the old seducer and author of discord and misery, is meant. During the millennium he is to be subject to the lowest degradation. Compare for the force of the phrase to lick the dust, Psa 72:9; Mic 7:17. This was the original doom of the tempter, Gen 3:14, and shall be fully carried into execution. Comp. Rev 20:1-3. Henderson. D. M.].
14. On Isa 66:1. [Having held up in every point of view the true design, mission and vocation of the church or chosen people, its relation to the natural descendants of Abraham, the causes which required that the latter should be stripped of their peculiar privileges, and the vocation of the Gentiles as a part of the divine plan from its origin, the Prophet now addresses the apostate and unbelieving Jews at the close of the old dispensation, who, instead of preparing for the general extension of the church and the exchange of ceremonial for spiritual worship, were engaged in the rebuilding and costly decoration of the temple at Jerusalem. The pride and interest in this great public work, felt not only by the Herods but by all the Jews, is clear from incidental statements of the Scriptures (Joh 2:20; Mat 24:1), as well as from the ample and direct assertions of Josephus. That the nation should have been thus occupied precisely at the time when the Messiah came, is one of those agreements between prophecy and history, which cannot be accounted for except upon the supposition of a providential and designed assimilation. Alexander after Vitringa. D. M.].
15. On Isa 66:1-2. What a grand view of the nature of God and of the way in which He is made known lies at the foundation of these words! God made all things. He is so great that it is an absurdity to desire to build a temple for Him. The whole universe cannot contain Him (1Ki 8:27)! But He, who contains all things and can be contained by nothing, has His greatest joy in a poor, humble human heart that fears Him. He holds it worthy of His regard, it pleases Him, He enters into it, He makes His abode in it. The wise and prudent men of science should learn hence what is chiefly necessary in order to know God. We cannot reach Him by applying force, by climbing up to Him, by attempting to take Him by storm. And if science should place ladder upon ladder upwards and downwards, she could not attain His height or His depth. But He enters of His own accord into a child-like, simple heart. He lets Himself be laid hold of by it, kept and known. It is not, therefore, by the intellect [alone] but by the heart that we can know God.
16. On Isa 66:3. He who under the Christian dispensation would retain the forms of worship of the ancient ritual of shadows would violate the fundamental laws of the new time, just as a man by killing would offend against the foundation of the moral law, or as he would by offering the blood of dogs or swine offend against the foundation of the ceremonial law. For when the body, the substance has appeared, the type must vanish. He who would retain the type along with the reality would declare the latter to be insufficient, would, therefore, found his salvation not upon God only, but also in part on his own legal performance. But God will brook no rival. He is either our All, or nothing. Christianity could tolerate animal sacrifices just as little as the Old Testament law could tolerate murder or the offering of abominable things.
17. On Isa 66:5. [The most malignant and cruel persecutions of the friends of God have been originated under the pretext of great zeal in His service, and with a professed desire to honor His name. So it was with the Jews when they crucified the Lord Jesus. So it is expressly said it would be when His disciples would be excommunicated and put to death, Joh 16:2. So it was in fact in the persecutions excited against the apostles and early Christians. See Act 6:13-14; Act 21:28-31. So it was in all the persecutions of the Waldenses, in all the horrors of the Inquisition, in all the crimes of the Duke of Alva. So it was in the bloody reign of Mary; and so it has ever been in all ages and in all countries where Christians have been persecuted. Barnes.D. M.].
18. On Isa 66:10. The idea which is presented in this verse is, that it is the duty of all who love Zion to sympathize in her joy. The true friends of God should rejoice in every real revival of religion, they should rejoice in all the success which attends the Gospel in heathen lands. And they will rejoice. It is one evidence of piety to rejoice in her joy; and they who have no joy when souls are born into the kingdom of God, when He pours down His Spirit and in a revival of religion produces changes as sudden and transforming as if the earth were suddenly to pass from the desolation of winter to the verdure and bloom of summer, or when the Gospel makes sudden and rapid advances in the heathen world, have no true evidence that they love God and His cause. They have no religion. Barnes.D. M.
19. On Isa 66:13. The Prophet is here completely governed by the idea that in the glorious time of the end, love, maternal love will reign. Thus He makes Zion appear as a mother who will bring forth with incredible ease and rapidity innumerable children (Isa 66:7-9). Then the Israelites are depicted as little children who suck the breasts of their mother. Further, the heathen who bring back the Israelites into their home, must do this in the same way in which mothers in the Orient are wont to carry their little children. Lastly, even to the Lord Himself maternal love is ascribed (comp. Isa 42:14; Isa 49:15), and such love as a mother manifests to her adult son. Thus the Israelites will be surrounded in that glorious time on all sides by maternal love. Maternal love will be the characteristic of that period.
20. On Isa 66:19 sqq. The Prophet describes remote things by words which are borrowed from the relations and conceptions of his own time, but which stand in strange contrast to the reality of the future which he beholds. Thus the Prophet speaks of escaped persons who go to Tarshish, Pul, Lud, Tubal, and Javan. Here he has rightly seen that a great act of judgment must have taken place. And this act of judgment must have passed on Israel, because they who escape, who go to the Gentiles to declare to them the glory of Jehovah, must plainly be Jews How accurately, in spite of the strange manner of expression, is the fact here stated that the Gospel of Jesus Christ was proclaimed to the Gentiles exactly at the time when the old theocracy was destroyed! How justly does he indicate that there was a causal connection between these events! He did not, indeed, know that the shattering of the old form was necessary in order that the eternal truth enclosed in it might be set free, and fitted for filling the whole earth. For the Old Covenant cannot exist along with the New, the Law cannot stand with equal dignity beside the Gospel. The Law must be regarded as annulled, in order that the Gospel may come into force. How remarkably strange is it, however, that he calls the Gentile nations Tarshish, Pul, Lud, etc. And how singular it sounds to be told that the Israelites shall be brought by the Gentiles to Jerusalem as an offering for Jehovah! But how accurately has he, notwithstanding, stated the fact, which, indeed, still awaits its fulfilment, that it is the conversion of the heathen world which will induce Israel to acknowledge their Saviour, and that they both shall gather round the Lord as their common centre! How strange it sounds that then priests and Levites shall be taken from the Gentiles also, and that new moon and Sabbath shall be celebrated by all flesh in the old Jewish fashion! But how accurately is the truth thereby stated that in the New Covenant there will be no more the priesthood restricted to the family of Aaron, but a higher spiritual and universal priesthood, and that, instead of the limited local place of worship of the Old Covenant, the whole earth will be a temple of the Lord! Verily the prophecy of the two last chapters of Isaiah attests a genuine prophet of Jehovah. He cannot have been an anonymous unknown person. He can have been none other than Isaiah the son of Amoz!
HOMILETICAL HINTS
1. On Isa 65:1 sq. [I. It is here foretold that the Gentiles, who had been afar off, should be made nigh, Isa 65:1. II. It is here foretold that the Jews, who had long been a people near to God, should be cast off, and set at a distance, Isa 65:2. Henry, III. We are informed of the cause of the rejection of the Jews. It was owing to their rebellion, waywardness and flagrant provocations, Isa 65:2 sqq.D. M.]
2. On Isa 65:1-7. A Fast-Day Sermon. When the Evangelical Church no more holds fast what she has; when apostasy spreads more and more, and modern heathenism (Isa 65:3-5 a) gains the ascendency in her, then it can happen to her as it did to the people of Israel, and as it happened to the Church in the Orient. Her candlestick can be removed out of its place.[By the Evangelical Church we are not to understand here the Church universal, for her perpetuity is certain. The Evangelical Church is in Germany the Protestant Church, and more particularly the Lutheran branch of it.D. M.]
3. On Isa 65:8-10. Sermon on behalf of the mission among the Jews. Israels hope. 1) On what it is founded (Israel is still a berry in which drops of the divine blessing are contained); 2) To what this hope is directed (Israels Restoration).
4. On Isa 65:13-16. [The blessedness of those that serve God, and the woful condition of those that rebel against him, are here set the one over against the other, that they may serve as a foil to each other. The difference of their states here lies in two things: 1) In point of comfort and satisfaction, a. Gods servants shall eat and drink; they shall have the bread of life to feed, to feast upon continually, and shall want nothing that is good for them. But those who set their hearts upon the world, and place their happiness in it, shall be hungry and thirsty, always empty, always craving. In communion with God and dependence upon Him there is full satisfaction; but in sinful pursuits there is nothing but disappointment. b. Gods servants shall rejoice and sing for joy of heart; they have constant cause for joy, and there is nothing that may be an occasion of grief to them but they have an allay sufficient for it. But, on the other hand, they that forsake the Lord shut themselves out from all true joy, for they shall be ashamed of their vain confidence in themselves, and their own righteousness, and the hopes they had built thereon. When the expectations of bliss, wherewith they had flattered themselves, are frustrated, O what confusion will fill their faces! Then shall they cry for sorrow of heart and howl for vexation of spirit. 2) In point of honor and reputation, Isa 65:15-16. The memory of the just is, and shall be, blessed; but the memory of the wicked shall rot. Henry.D. M.]
5. On Isa 66:1-2. Carpzov has a sermon on this text. He places it in parallel with Luk 18:9-14, and considers, 1) The rejection of spiritual pride; 2) The commendation of filial fear.
6. On Isa 66:2 Arndt, in his True Christianity I. cap. 10, comments on this text. He says among other things: The man who will be something is the material out of which God makes nothing, yea, out of which He makes fools. But a man who will be nothing, and regards himself as nothing, is the material out of which God makes something, even glorious, wise people in His sight.
7. On Isa 66:3. [Saurin has a sermon on this text entitled Sur l Insuffisance du culte exterieur in the eighth volume of his sermons.D. M.]
8. On Isa 66:13. As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you. These words stand, let us consider it, 1) In the Old Testament; 2) In the heart of God always; 3) But are they realized in our experience? Koegel in Aus dem Vorhof ins Heiligthum, II. Bd., p. 242, 1876.
9. On Isa 66:24. The punishment of sin is twofoldinward and outward. The inward is compared with a worm that dies not; the outward with a fire that is not quenched. This worm and this fire are at work even in this life. He who is alarmed by them and hastens to Christ can now be delivered from them.[It is better not to fall into this fire and never to have any experience of this worm, even though, as some imagine, eternity should not be eternal, and the unquenchable fire might be quenched, and the worm that shall never die, should die, and Jesus and His apostles should not have expressed themselves quite in accordance with the compassionate taste of our time. Better, I say, is better. Save thyself and thy neighbor before the fire begins to burn, and the smoke to ascend. Gossner.D. M.]
Footnotes:
[1]What.
[2]what.
[3]began to be.
[4]Or, kid.
[5]Heb. maketh a memorial of.
[6][From the whole strain of the prophecy and particularly from Isa 66:3-5, it seems probable that it refers to the time when the temple which Herod had reared was finishing; when the nation was full of pride, self-righteousness and hypocrisy, and when all sacrifices were about to be superseded by the one great sacrifice which the Messiah was about to make of Himself for the sins of the world. Barnes.D. M.].
[7]As they have chosen.
[8]So I also will choose.
[9]Or, devices.
[10]vexations.
[11]Let Jehovah be glorified that we may see your joy!
[12]But.
[13]tumult.
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange
CONTENTS
The Prophet is here come to the close of his Prophetical writings, and a blessed close he makes. The Chapter seems to be but the continuation of the same subject as the former; full of consolation to God’s people, and marking all their mercies in Christ.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Stephen, in his address to the Jewish Council, made a quotation from hence, and in direct application, to their characters. But what a very blessed and condescending way was this, of Jehovah’s speaking! And what unheard of, unexplored, yea, unknown mercies, must be contained in the bosom of this astonishing declaration of the Lord! Though the heaven of heavens cannot contain him, yet will he condescend both to look to the man of a contrite heart, and even dwell in him. Paul the Apostle seems to have followed up his earnest address for the Church on this very ground, and perhaps from this authority, Eph 3:14 to the end.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
The Genesis of Delusions
Isa 66:4
They will think it is the devil, but I am behind it all; they will ascribe it to some peculiar condition of the brain, and they will endeavour to trace that condition to indigestion, to the wrong food, to a mistake in choices and fancies; they will never suspect that I am in it. We are not worshippers of a limited Sovereign; the universe is not split up into sections, God presiding over, it may be, the larger section, and the devil presiding over the remaining fraction. Yet it would seem as if this was the religion of some people; what wonder if they are disturbed and perturbed and dealt with vexatiously, the whole process ending in confusion twice confounded? They do not know the central reality of things; they have no faith; they have a kind of meagre and struggling sentiment, but a deep, living, eternal faith they have not; and they cannot have until they get back to the centre and metaphysic of things.
The Apostle uses the word which we have correctly translated delusion: ‘For this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie’ (2Th 2:11 ). The Apostle Paul was not so dainty and whimsically sensitive as we are; his God ruled the heavens and the earth, little time and great eternity. And he said that the object of this delusion was that ‘They all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness’. We should carefully consider the exact terms used by the indignant and ever-majestic Apostle. God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe not a lie, as it is written in this English, but that they should believe the lie the lie of the day, the popular lie.
I. When does God choose for us our delusions, intellectual devices, and mean and false-tending imaginings and nightmares? Often when we have sinned away our privileges. We have attended church so long as to have become quite familiar with it, with a familiarity of that kind which breeds, if not contempt, at least indifference. A man may have sat through a ministry thirty years long, and have remained a hard heart at the last. A man may boast that he sat under the brilliant ministry of one teacher, and the instructive teaching of another expositor, and under the comforting ministry of one tender-hearted as Barnabas; and yet when we come to ask him concerning the result of it all, we may find him under the spell of a delusion which keeps him out of the Church and makes him an alien and a stranger who ought to have been like a child at home. It is a dangerous thing to have too many spiritual privileges; such an abundance of opportunity of understanding somewhat of the kingdom of God may tell against us in the judgment.
II. When we have trusted our own imaginations God may have turned imagination itself, our finest faculty, into a delusion. When the imagination carries us too far God simply breathes upon us, and it becomes a delusion; He takes the poetry out of it, He robs day of the morning light, and that which might under some circumstances have been to us as wings, great strong pinions that flap themselves in the upper airs, yea, even at the gate of heaven, may be turned into a poor cripple, a mean dreamer, a man who is the victim of his own misguided impression. God often chooses our oracles for us or our delusions for us when we seek for guidance at forbidden oracles.
III. God always sends us delusions when we undertake the management of our own lives. A man thinks that he will undertake everything on his own account and do it in his own strength, not knowing that he has no account and that he has no strength but such as may be given to him by a condescending and loving God.
Then what are we to do? We are to go back to God, we are to live and move and have our being in God, we are to have a sanctuary in the rock, we are to possess the key of a chamber in high places into which we can retire prayerfully, lovingly, and penitentially, there to learn what God would have us do on this particular day and at that particular hour. Then we shall have no delusion.
Joseph Parker, City Temple Pulpit, vol. III. p. 69.
Fuente: Expositor’s Dictionary of Text by Robertson
XXVII
THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST IN ISAIAH
The relation between the New Testament Christ and prophecy is that the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. To him give all the prophets witness. All the scriptures, the law, the prophets, and the psalms, testify of him. And we are fools, and slow of heart to credit adequate testimony when we distrust any part of the inspired evidence.
Of the ancient prophets Isaiah was perhaps the most notable witness of the coming Messiah. An orderly combination of his many messianic utterances amounts to more than a mere sketch, indeed, rather to a series of almost life-sized portraits. As a striking background for these successive portraits the prophet discloses the world’s need of a Saviour, and across this horrible background of gloom the prophet sketches in startling strokes of light the image of a coming Redeemer.
In Isa 2:2-4 we have the first picture of him in Isaiah, that of the effect of his work, rather than of the Messiah himself. This is the establishment of the mountain of the Lord’s house on the top of the mountains, the coming of the nations to it and the resultant millennial glory.
In Isa 4:2-6 is another gleam from the messianic age in which the person of the Messiah comes more into view in the figure of a branch of Jehovah, beautiful and glorious. In sketching the effects of his work here the prophet adds a few strokes of millennial glory as a consummation of his ministry.
In Isa 7:14 he delineates him as a little child born of a virgin, whose coming is the light of the world. He is outlined on the canvas in lowest humanity and highest divinity, “God with us.” In this incarnation he is the seed of the woman and not of the man.
The prophet sees him as a child upon whom the government shall rest and whose name is “Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isa 9:6 ). This passage shows the divinity of Christ and the universal peace he is to bring to the world. In these names we have the divine wisdom, the divine power, the divine fatherhood, and the divine peace.
In Isa 11:1-9 the prophet sees the Messiah as a shoot out of the stock of Jesse, i.e., of lowly origin, but possessing the Holy Spirit without measure who equips him for his work, and his administration wrought with skill and justice, the result of which is the introduction of universal and perfect peace. Here the child is presented as a teacher. And such a teacher! On him rests the seven spirits of God. The spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge, and the fear of the Lord. He judges not according to appearances and reproves not according to rumors. With righteousness he judges the poor and reproves with equality in behalf of the meek. His words smite a guilty world like thunderbolts and his very breath slays iniquity. Righteousness and faithfulness are his girdle. He uplifts an infallible standard of morals.
In Isa 40:3-8 appears John the Baptist, whom Isaiah saw as a voice crying in the wilderness, preparing the way for the coming King.
In Isa 11:2 ; Isa 42:1 ; Isa 61:1-3 the prophet saw the Messiah as a worker in the power of the Spirit, in whom he was anointed at his baptism. This was the beginning of his ministry which was wrought through the power of the Holy Spirit. At no time in his ministry did our Lord claim that he wrought except in the power of the Holy Spirit who was given to him without measure.
In Isa 35:1-10 the Messiah is described as a miracle worker. In his presence the desert blossoms as a rose and springs burst out of dry ground. The banks of the Jordan rejoice. The lame man leaps like a hart, the dumb sing and the blind behold visions. The New Testament abounds in illustrations of fulfilment. These signs Christ presented to John the Baptist as his messianic credentials (Mat 11:1-4 ).
The passage (Isa 42:1-4 ) gives us a flashlight on the character of the Messiah. In the New Testament it is expressly applied to Christ whom the prophet sees as the meek and lowly Saviour, dealing gently with the blacksliding child of his grace. In Isa 22:22 we have him presented as bearing the key of the house of David, with full power to open and shut. This refers to his authority over all things in heaven and upon earth. By this authority he gave the keys of the kingdom to Peter one for the Jews and the other for the Gentiles who used one on the day of Pentecost and the other at the house of Cornelius, declaring in each case the terms of entrance into the kingdom of God. This authority of the Messiah is referred to again in Revelation:
And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as one dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying. Fear not: I am the first and the last, and the Living one; and I was dead, and behold I am alive for evermore and I have the keys of death and of Hades. Rev 7:17
And to the angel of the church in Philadelphis write: These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth and none shall shut, and shutteth and none openeth. Rev 3:7
In Isa 32:1-8 we have a great messianic passage portraying the work of Christ as a king ruling in righteousness, in whom men find a hiding place from the wind and the tempest. He is a stream in a dry place and the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.
In Isa 28:14-18 the Messiah is presented to w as a foundation stone in a threefold idea:
1. A tried foundation stone. This is the work of the master mason and indicates the preparation of the atone for its particular function.
2. An elect or precious foundation stone. This indicates that the stone was selected and appointed. It was not self-appointed but divinely appointed and is therefore safe.
3. A cornerstone, or sure foundation stone. Here it is a foundation of salvation, as presented in Mat 16:18 . It is Christ the Rock, and not Peter. See Paul’s foundation in 1 Corinthians:
According to the grace of God which was given unto me; as a wise masterbuilder I laid a foundation; and another buildeth thereon. But let each man take heed how he buildeth thereon. For other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 1Co 3:10-11 .
In Isa 49:1-6 he is presented as a polished shaft, kept close in the quiver. The idea is that he is a mighty sword. In Revelation, Christ is presented to John as having a sharp, twoedged sword proceeding out of his mouth.
In Isa 50:2 ; Isa 52:9 f.; Isa 59:16-21 ; Isa 62:11 we have the idea of the salvation of Jehovah. The idea is that salvation originated with God and that man in his impotency could neither devise the plan of salvation nor aid in securing it. These passages are expressions of the pity with which God looks down on a lost world. The redemption, or salvation, here means both temporal and spiritual salvation salvation from enemies and salvation from sin.
In Isa 9:1 f. we have him presented as a great light to the people of Zebulun and Naphtali. In Isa 49:6 we have him presented as a light to the Gentiles and salvation to the end of the earth: “Yea, he saith, It is too light a thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth.”
In Isa 8:14-15 Isaiah presents him as a stone of stumbling: “And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And many shall stumble thereon, and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken.”
The prophet’s vision of his maltreatment and rejection are found in Isa 50:4-9 ; Isa 52:13-53:12 . In this we have the vision of him giving his “back to the smiters, and his cheeks to them that plucked off the hair.” We see a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. His visage is so marred it startled all nations. He is a vicarious sacrifice. The chastisement of the peace of others is on him. The iniquity of others is put on him. It pleases the Father to bruise him until he has poured out his soul unto death as an offering for sin.
The teaching of Isaiah on the election of the Jews is his teaching concerning the “holy remnant,” a favorite expression of the prophet. See Isa 1:9 ; Isa 10:20-22 ; Isa 11:11 ; Isa 11:16 ; Isa 37:4 ; Isa 37:31-32 ; Isa 46:3 . This coincides with Paul’s teaching in Romans 9-11.
In Isa 32:15 we find Isaiah’s teaching on the pouring out of the Holy Spirit: “Until the Spirit be poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness become a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be esteemed as a forest,” and in Isa 44:3 : “For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and streams upon the dry ground; I will pour my Spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring.”
In Isa 11:10 he is said to be the ensign of the nations: “And it shall come to pass in that day, that the root of Jesse, that standeth for an ensign of the peoples unto him shall the nations seek; and his resting place shall be glorious.”
Isa 19:18-25 ; Isa 54:1-3 ; Isa 60:1-22 teach the enlargement of the church. The great invitation and promise are found in Isa 55 .
The Messiah in judgments is found in Isa 63:1-6 . Here we behold an avenger. He comes up out of Edom with dyed garments from Bozra. All his raiment is stained with the blood of his enemies whom he has trampled in his vengeance as grapes are crushed in the winevat and the restoration of the Jews is set forth in Isa 11:11-12 ; Isa 60:9-15 ; Isa 66:20 . Under the prophet’s graphic pencil or glowing brush we behold the establishment and growth of his kingdom unlike all other kingdoms, a kingdom within men, a kingdom whose principles are justice, righteousness, and equity and whose graces are faith, hope, love, and joy, an undying and ever-growing kingdom. Its prevalence is like the rising waters of Noah’s flood; “And the waters prevailed and increased mightily upon the earth. And the water prevailed mightily, mightily upon the earth; and all the high mountains, that are under the whole heavens, were covered.”
So this kingdom grows under the brush of the prophetic limner until its shores are illimitable. War ceases. Gannenta rolled in the blood of battle become fuel for fire. Conflagration is quenched. Famine outlawed. Pestilence banished. None are left to molest or make afraid. Peace flows like a river. The wolf dwells with the lamb. The leopard lies down with the kid. The calf and the young lion walk forth together and a little child is leading them. The cow and the bear feed in one pasture and their young ones are bedfellows. The sucking child safely plays over the hole of the asp, and weaned children put their hands in the adder’s den. In all the holy realms none hurt nor destroy, because the earth is as full of the knowledge of the Lord as the fathomless ocean is full of water. Rapturous vision! Sublime and ineffable consummation! Was it only a dream?
In many passages the prophet turns in the gleams from the millennial age, but one of the clearest and best on the millennium, which is in line with the preceding paragraph, Isa 11:6-9 : “And the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together: and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of Jehovah, as the waters cover the sea.”
The prophet’s vision of the destruction of death is given in Isa 25:8 : “He hath swallowed up death for ever; and the Lord Jehovah will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the reproach of his people will he take away from all the earth: for Jehovah hath spoken it,” and in Isa 26:19 : “Thy dead shall live; my dead bodies shall arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in the dust; for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast forth the dead.”
The clearest outlines of the prophet’s vision of “Paradise Regained” are to be found in Isa 25:8 , and in two passages in chapter Isa 66 : Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and be glad for her, all ye that love her: rejoice for joy with her, all ye that mourn over her; that ye may suck and be satisfied with the breasts of her consolations; that ye may milk out, and be delighted with the abundance of her glory. For thus saith Jehovah, Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream: and ye shall suck thereof; ye shall be borne upon the side, and shall be dandled upon the knees, as one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you; and ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem. And ye shall see it, and your heart shall rejoice, and your bones shall flourish like the tender grass: and the hands of Jehovah shall be known toward his servants ; and he will have indignation against his enemies. Isa 66:10-14
For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make shall remain before me, saith Jehovah, so shall your seed and your name remain. And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith Jehovah. Isa 66:22-23
QUESTIONS
1. What is the relation between the New Testament Christ and prophecy?
2. What can you say of Isaiah as a witness of the Messiah?
3. What can you say of Isaiah’s pictures of the Messiah and their background?
4. Following in the order of Christ’s manifestation, what is the first picture of him in Isaiah?
5. What is the second messianic glimpse in Isaiah?
6. What is Isaiah’s picture of the incarnation?
7. What is Isaiah’s picture of the divine child?
8. What is Isaiah’s vision of his descent, his relation to the Holy Spirit, his administration of justice, and the results of his reign?
9. What is Isaiah’s vision of the Messiah’s herald?
10. What is the prophet’s vision of his anointing?
11. What is the prophet’s vision of him as a miracle worker?
12. What is the prophet’s vision of the character of the Messiah?
13. What is the prophet’s vision of him as the key bearer?
14. What is the prophet’s vision of him as a king and a hiding place?
15. What is the prophet’s vision of the Messiah as a foundation stone?
16. What is the prophet’s vision of him as a polished shaft?
17. In what passages do we find the idea of the salvation of Jehovah, and what the significance of the idea?
18. What is Isaiah’s vision of the Messiah as a light?
19. Where does Isaiah present him as a stone of stumbling?
20. What is the prophet’s vision of his maltreatment and rejection?
21. What is the teaching of Isaiah on the election of the Jews?
22. Where do we find Isaiah’s teaching on the pouring out of the Holy Spirit?
23. Where is he said to be the ensign of the nations?
24. What passages teach the enlargement of the church?
25. Where is the great invitation and promise?
26. Where is the Messiah in judgment?
27. What passages show the restoration of the Jews?
28. What is the prophet’s vision of the Messiah’s kingdom?
29. What is the prophet’s vision of the millennium?
30. What is the prophet’s vision of the destruction of death?
31. What is the prophet’s vision of “Paradise Regained?”
Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible
XXVI
THE BOOK OF ISAIAH PART 18
Isaiah 63:7-66:34
The general theme of this last section of the book of Isaiah is the divine principle of discrimination. More particularly, the items of this theme are penitent Israel’s prayer, Jehovah’s response, and the fixing of final destinies.
This section opens with the prophet’s recounting of the mercies of Jehovah. In the distant past the Lord had pity on Israel and bore his people in his arms. The elements of his compassion are here mentioned as loving-kindness, great goodness, mercies, sympathy, love, and pity, the expression of which is realized in his salvation, deliverance, redemption, and support. All these terms are strong and significant of the relation Jehovah sustained to his people in the past. This is a most excellent way to stimulate in a people the spirit of prayer. The people had rebelled at Sinai in the incident of the golden calf, at Taberah they murmured, at Shittim in the case of the daughters of Moab, in the time of the Judges, in Samuel’s time, the ten tribes under Jeroboam, and Judah under Manasseh, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah. Thus Jacob was a rebellious people.
The results of this rebellion and the effect on the people were tremendous. This rebellion on the part of God’s people (1) grieved his Holy Spirit, (2) caused him to turn to be their enemy, and (3) made him to fight against them. When the Holy Spirit was withdrawn from the people and Jehovah began to fight against them, they were set to questioning thus: Where is the God that brought us up out of Egypt? Where is he that put his Holy Spirit in our midst? and so on (Isa 63:11-14 ). This reminds us of the dear old hymn that runs thus: Where is the blessedness I knew When first I saw the Lord? Where is the soul-refreshing view Of Jesus and his word? The prophet here is going back to their glorious experience with the Lord and in so doing he is kindling in them the spirit of prayer and supplication which finds expression in the following paragraphs.
The elements of prayer in Isa 63:15-19 are striking. In this excellent and pious prayer in which they entreat God, for his grace and mercy, to behold them with an eye of compassion, they argue both from the goodness of his nature, and from the greatness of the works which he had formerly done for them. God sees everywhere and everything, but he is said to look down from heaven, because there is his throne, whereon he reigns in majesty. This is a plea for Jehovah’s condescension, followed by a complaint that God had relaxed in his zeal for them and had restrained his compassion toward them. Then they plead his fatherhood and his redemption from everlasting, following it up with a complaint of his judgment of judicial hardness of heart, and a lamentation for the desolation of their own land and their forsaken condition in a strange land.
This prayer is continued (Isa 64:1-7 ) in an expression of an earnest wish that God would show himself as visibly in favor of his ancient people as he did when he came down upon Mount Sinai, amidst thunder, and lightning, and tempests, which shook heaven and earth, and testified his presence. They plead what God had formerly done, and was always ready to do for his people. Then they confessed themselves to be sinful and utterly unworthy of God’s favor, and that they had deserved the judgments under which they were now suffering. Note that there are three emphatic “alls” in his confession “All unclean,” “ all our righteousness” and “we all do fade as a leaf.” They were all morally unclean; a moral leprosy was upon them. They were like a leprous man who had to rend his clothes and go about crying, “Unclean! unclean!” They were like one under a ceremonial pollution and not admitted to the courts of the tabernacle. All their righteousnesses were as filthy rags, rags which would only defile. This is true when considering the very best works and actions that can be performed by the very best of mankind, for all our works have so great an alloy of imperfection that they cannot justify us before a just and holy God. They were all like a fading and falling leaf, but Leaves have had their time to fall, And flowers to wither at the north wind’s breath, And stars to set; but all Thou hast all seasons for thine own, O death.
The final plea of this prayer (Isa 64:8-12 ) is threefold: (1) They again plead the fatherhood of God who had made them as a potter makes the vessel out of the clay; (2) his holy cities, Zion and Jerusalem, were a wilderness and a desolation; (3) their holy and beautiful house was burned with fire and all their pleasant places were a waste. They urged that these things should move Jehovah in pity and compassion to interfere in their behalf.
The special theme of Isaiah 65-66 is Jehovah’s response to the prayers and confessions of penitent Israel. In the most restricted sense, this is an answer of Jehovah to the preceding confession and prayer. It is the close of the great prophecy of the Servant who is to glorify Jehovah on earth and to finish the work given him to do. It is also a winding up of Isaiah’s ministry.
The first response to these prayers is a sharp discrimination between the faithful and unfaithful, a contrast in the hopes of the faithful and the unfaithful, a contrast in the hopes of acceptably approaching Jehovah cherished by the two parties: those who find him had not been called by his name; whereas Israel in the mass are cast off through their own sinfulness (Isa 65:1-7 ).
In Isa 65:1-2 we have the ones who find Jehovah and the ones who fail to find him. Here he is represented as hastening to assist and welcome a people that was not called by his name. This refers to the Gentiles, the proof of which is found in Rom 10:20-21 . These words of Isaiah certainly include the Gentiles, as he had included them in Isa 56:7 , in which he said, “My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.” On the other hand he spread out his hands to a rebellious people, which, as Paul construes it, refers to Israel who rejected Christ.
The details of their rebelliousness (Isa 65:3-5 ) are stated, in general, as provoking Jehovah to his face, and are specified as follows:
1. Sacrificing in gardens, i.e., the groves and gardens of Palestine in which they worshiped Astarte. The profligacy of these rites cannot be described.
2. Burning incense upon bricks, i.e., upon the tiled or bricked roofs of houses, which was directly contrary to the Mosaic Law.
3. Sitting among the graves, i.e., the rock tombs of Palestine, for the purpose of raising the dead, or of obtaining prophecies from them, or of getting prophetic intimations made to them in dreams.
4. Lodging in the secret places, i.e., in the Crypts, for the mysteries celebrated in the natural caves and artificial crypts.
5. Eating swine’s flesh, i.e., as a part of the sacrificial meals.
6. Eating broth of abominable things, i.e., from the flesh of unclean or unlawful animals.
7. They said, “Stand by yourself; I am holier than thou.” This was self-conceit and hypocrisy.
The votaries of these abominations are described as smoke in the Lord’s nose, and a fire that burns continually. They were objects of his wrath and should receive the measure of their work into their own bosom.
The contrast in Isa 65:8-12 , or the second item of Jehovah’s response, is a contrast in their character and in their notions of God. In Israel there is a precious seed, or kernel, which shall be preserved, whereas the doings of the idolaters shall return upon their own heads.
But what is the meaning of “inheritor of my mountains,” (Isa 65:9 ) ? The whole of Palestine is little more than a cluster of mountains, which may be divided into three groups: (1) the mountains of Galilee, extending from Hermon to Tabor; (2) the mountains of Samaria and Judea, extending from Carmel and Gilboa to the plateau of Mamre above Hebron, separated from the first group by the plain of Esdraelon; (3) the mountains of the trans-Jordanic region, including those of Bashan, Gilead, Moab, and Edom, separated from the two other groups by the Jordan Valley. The inheritor of this whole region of Palestine was to be the true Israel of God.
Then what the meaning of “Fortune” and “Destiny” in Isa 65:11 , and what the application here? These are heathen deities for whom Israel prepared viands and poured out a drink offering, respectively. The prophet here makes a play upon the word, “destiny,” saying, “I will destine you to the sword,” and then assigns the reason, viz: that he called but they did not answer.
The third item of Jehovah’s response (Isa 65:13-16 ) is a contrast in results. The promised blessings are more than realized to the one, whereas the other has a corresponding disappointment. The first paragraph is introduced by the word “therefore,” which connects back with the thought of their ‘rejecting the call of Jehovah. The thought, as carried on in this paragraph, is the supply of good things for his servants while those who reject the call shall hunger and thirst. The servants shall rejoice, while they are put to shame. The servants shall sing for joy of heart, while they shall cry for sorrow of heart, and shall wail for vexation of spirit. They shall leave their name for a curse unto God’s people. They will be slain by the Lord, while the servants receive a new name. “So that he who blesseth himself in the earth shall bless himself in the God of truth; and he that sweareth in the earth shall swear by the God of truth.” All this is now being realized. The prophet starts with the call from the captivity which many of them did not have the heart to hear and suffered many privations among the nations as the consequence, but the deeper meaning is their spiritual privation which the Jews have suffered for these many centuries since they rejected the salvation offered to them. Their name is a curse to every Jew today, as the Jews are hated and persecuted in all lands.
The phrase, “the God of truth,” in Isa 65:16 should be translated, “the God of the Amen,” which is a unique epithet. The explanation of it is found in the New Testament passages (2Co 1:20 ; Rev 3:14 ). This means the God of the covenant; the God, to whom that quality of covenant keeping truth essentially belongs, is he in whom all shall “bless themselves” or “shall be blessed.” The seed of Abraham and the seed of David are to be identified with this God of truth, a mystery completely realized in him who is “the Amen, the faithful, and true witness” of Rev 3:14 . In him “all the promises of God are . . . Amen.” In his person God and man were joined in an immutable covenant of peace. To the curse pronounced upon everyone that violates God’s law, he said, “Amen,” upon the cross. To the blessings guaranteed to all nations by God’s promises to Abraham and David, he said, “Amen,” when he rose from the dead to “live for evermore” (Rev 1:18 ). When the time shall come in which men shall call themselves by the name of the Lord and know only one God as the source of blessing in Christ Jesus, then the former state of human affairs, with all its “troubles” will have passed away, and the new era will be inaugurated, which is abundantly described in the next paragraph.
The prophetic picture in Isa 65:17-25 is an ideal picture of the overflowing blessings in the messianic age extending into the millennium. In some respects this picture corresponds to John’s picture of the holy city in Revelation, but they cannot be identical, since death and sin are not banished from Isaiah’s new Jerusalem. In this ideal state the heavens and the earth are new; there will be rejoicing, but no weeping and crying. Death shall be there but the longevity of the patriarchal times will be restored. There shall be such prosperity as they never saw in the land of Canaan. Then prayer and its answer are simultaneous, and heaven and earth are closer together than ever before since sin entered the world. The enmity in the animal creation caused by sin will be removed. The wolf and the lamb shall feed as one, and the full curse of sin shall fall upon the serpent whose food shall be dust. Nothing shall hurt nor destroy in the Holy Mountain of the Lord. This picture makes one think of paradise regained, but it does not reach the complete ideal. John carried much of the symbolism here into his picture of paradise regained, but he saw the Holy City in its state of perfection, with no death, no sin, no tears, no sea, and with the glory of all the nations brought into it.
The fourth item of Jehovah’s response to penitent Israel’s prayer (Isa 66:1-4 ) is a contrast in the ideas and methods of approach to Jehovah. In the new order of things (Isa 66:1-2 ) Jehovah will operate the affairs of his kingdom from his throne in heaven and will not need the old temple for his resting place. But his new temple will be a spiritual house and the man to whom he will look will not be one after the Jewish ritual but the poor and contrite in spirit. This looks very much like the beatitudes of our Lord, which set forth the true characteristics of the citizens of his kingdom.
But what is the import of Isa 66:3-4 ? This relates to the sacrifices in the new order of things. The man that offers an ox will be in God’s sight as if he sacrificed a man, and he that offers a lamb as if he sacrificed a dog. “He that offereth an oblation, as he that offereth swine’s blood; he that burneth frankincense, as he that blesseth an idol.” Then follows a graphic description of the state of the Jews in their delusion. The Jews are now holding on to the old ritual and the Catholics would put the whole of Christendom back under the types and shadows by their system of ritualism. What the prophet here labors to show, the apostle Paul elaborates in his letters to the Colossians, to the Ephesians, and to the Hebrews. The Jews are under this delusion today and in judicial blindness because they did not heed the call of God through the Messiah.
The fifth response of Jehovah to these prayers (Isa 66:5-6 ) is a contrast between the love and favor shown by Jehovah to his people, and the hatred toward them, cherished by the ungodly Israelites.
The short passage announces that the true Israel will be hated and persecuted by Israel after the flesh. These Jews in their zeal for Jehovah’s cause will persecute the righteous, but they shall be put to shame, for Jehovah is keeping watch over his own and recompenses their enemies. All this was fulfilled in the early history of Christianity and God’s judgment on the Jews.
In Isa 66:7-9 we have distinctly, the conversion of the Jews as a nation which ushers in the millennium. This is the nation born in a day. It is this restoration that Ezekiel speaks of in Eze 37 , and Zechariah in Zec 14:1-8 , and Paul in Rom 11:11-15 , and the period here introduced corresponds to the millennium of Rev 20:1-6 .
The sixth response of Jehovah to the penitent prayer of Israel is a command to all who love Jerusalem to rejoice that she is extended and enriched (Isa 66:10-14 ). There are two tender expressions in this paragraph relative to Jerusalem, viz: (1) “Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream.” (2) “As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you.”
These two blessings here are the thoughts of peace and comfort: peace like a river, and comfort like a mother’s love. The added thought of the glory of the nations flowing into it is worthy of note. This is to be the center of all that is beautiful and glorious and John carrying this idea over into his description of the New Jerusalem, says, “And the nations shall walk amidst the light thereof: and the kings of the earth bring their glory into it . . . and they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it.”
The seventh item of Jehovah’s response to their prayers is the announcement of the final work of Jehovah, universal and everlasting, glorifying his people, and judging his and their enemies.
The judgment of Isa 66:15-17 is the final judgment at his coming after the millennium, in which all the nations are gathered and his fiery judgment is executed upon the abominable of the earth, and the thought is carried on in Isa 66:18-21 . There is the happy issue of the judgment on the righteous, as in Mat 25:31-40 .
The final picture of the book (Isa 66:22-24 ) shows us the final habitat of the righteous, who will occupy the “New Earth” forever, and the eternal destruction of the wicked, whose “worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh.”
QUESTIONS
1. What are the general theme of this last section of the book of Isaiah?
2. What more particularly the items of this theme?
3. How does this section open and what the contents of Isa 63:7-9 ?
4. What had the people done and when?
5. What are the results of this rebellion and what the effect on the people?
6. What are the elements of prayer in Isa 63:15-19 ?
7. How is this prayer continued in Isa 64:1-7 ?
8. What the final plea of this prayer (Isa 64:8-12 )?
9. What is the special theme of Isaiah 64-66?
10. What is the first item of this response?
11. Who are the ones who find Jehovah and the ones who fail to find him (Isa 64:1-2 )?
12. What are the details of their rebelliousness (Isa 64:3-5 )?
13. How are these abominations characterized by Jehovah?
14. What is the contrast in Isa 65:8-12 , or the second item of Jehovah’s response?
15. What is the meaning of “inheritor of my mountains” (Isa 65:9 )?
16. What is the meaning of “fortune” and “destiny” in Isa 65:11 , and what is the application here?
17. What is the third item of Jehovah’s response, how does the first paragraph (Isa 65:13-16 ) carry on this thought and when are the prophecies therein fulfilled?
18. What is the meaning and application of “the God of truth” in Isa 65:16 ?
19. What is the prophetic picture in Isa 65:17-25 and what the fulfilment?
20. What is the fourth item of this response to penitent Israel’s prayer (Isa 66:1-4 )?
21. What is the import of Isa 66:1-2 ?
22. What is the import of Isa 66:3-4 ?
23. What is the fifth response of Jehovah to these prayers (Isa 66:5 )?
24. What is the import of Isa 66:5-6 ?
25. What is the import of Isa 66:7-9 ?
26. What is the sixth response of Jehovah to the penitent prayer of Israel?
27. What are two tender expressions in this paragraph relative to Jerusalem?
28. What is the seventh item of Jehovah’s response to their prayers?
29. What is the judgment of Isa 66:15-17 ?
30. How is the thought carried on in Isa 66:8-21 ?
31. What is the final picture of the book (Isa 66:22-24 )?
Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible
Isa 66:1 Thus saith the LORD, The heaven [is] my throne, and the earth [is] my footstool: where [is] the house that ye build unto me? and where [is] the place of my rest?
Ver. 1. Thus saith the Lard. ] The same he saith in effect here in this last chapter that he had done in the first, rejecting the Jews’ vain confidence in their temple and sacrifices, and showing that he was neither confined to their temple nor contented with their sacrifices, so long as the hidden man of the heart and the spiritual worship was wanting – so long as they neglected his laws and served their own lusts. Isa 66:3
Heaven is my throne.
The earth is my footstool.
Where is the house that ye build unto me?
“ Enter praesenter Deus hic et ubique potenter. ”
This the heathens knew. Empedocles said that God was a circle, the centre whereof is everywhere, the circumference nowhere. This the Turks acknowledge, by building their mosques or temples open at the top, to show that God is nowhere circumscriptively and definitively, but repletively everywhere. He is higher than heaven, saith Bernard, deeper than hell, larger than earth, broader than the sea: he is nowhere, and yet everywhere, yet he is everywhere all-present. The heavens have a large place, but they have one part here and another there; but the Lord is totally present wheresoever present, not commensurable by any place whatsoever.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Isaiah Chapter 66
The concluding chapter of our prophet pursues what was begun in Isa. 65. – the answer of Jehovah to the supplication which precedes them both.
“Thus saith Jehovah, the heavens [are] my throne, and the earth [is] my footstool: what [is] the house that ye will build unto me? and where [is] the place of my rest? Even all those [things] hath my hand made, and all those [things] have been, saith Jehovah” (vv. 1, 2). It is not that God did not accept the house which king David desired, and his son Solomon was given, to erect for His glory. It is not that He will not have a sanctuary in the midst of Israel in the glorious land; for He has revealed it minutely, with the feasts, sacrifices, priests, and appurtenances, by Ezekiel (Ezek. 40 – 48).
But it is another thing when His people, despising the only Saviour and Lord, their own Messiah, rest in the sanctuary, as of old in the ark to their own shame and discomfiture before their enemies. So it was when the Lord left the temple – no longer God’s house but theirs, and left to them desolate, Himself its true glory being despised and rejected. So Stephen charged home on them these very words (Act 7:48-50 ). It was not he nor Luke, but Isaiah who declared that the Most High dwells not in temples made with hands: and this in full view of the “exceeding magnifical” temple which Solomon built. Heaven is His throne, earth is His footstool. What can man do worthily for Him to rest in? He needs nothing of human resources. His own hand has made all these things, in comparison with which man’s greatest exertions are puny indeed.
Once more among the Jews at the end of the age shall be the state of things which draws out this rebuke of their own prophet. Trusting in the house that they are at length allowed to build in Jerusalem, they must prove afresh that an unbelieving idolatrous heart desecrates a temple, and that not thus can sin be settled between God and the sinner. Earthly splendour in such circumstances is but gilding over iniquity. It is real hypocrisy. They may seek in unbelief to restore “all these things that have been”; but God has a controversy with the people about idolatry and the rejected Messiah not yet judged; and His elect own their sins and look for the new estate He will create in honour of Messiah. The heart must be purified by faith in order to worship acceptably.
“But to this [man] will I look, to the afflicted and contrite in spirit, and trembling at my word” (v. 2). Thus the line is drawn here as before between a godly remnant, and the people apostate as a whole. Hence their oblations are vain. “He that killeth an ox slayeth a man; he that sacrificeth a lamb breaketh a dog’s neck; he that offereth an oblation [is as] swine’s blood; he that burneth incense [is as] he that blesseth an idol. As they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delighteth in their abominations, I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears upon them; because when I called, none did answer; when I spake, they did not hear: but they did the evil in mine eyes, and chose [that] wherein I delight not” (vv. 3, 4).
The English Bible follows the Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate, and Arabic, as well as the Chaldee paraphrase. Houbigant, Bishop Lowth, Horsley, De Wette, etc., omit the terms of comparison (inserted in italics in the A. 5), which in their judgement mar the true sense. Their translation makes the verse to intimate the combination of ritual observance with open wickedness and Gentile abominations. Otherwise the statement is that their impiety made their acts of worship to be so many horrors.
In either view the people of Israel had chosen their own path of self-will and disregard of God for the evils they loved; but God’s retribution would not be wanting. No delusions among the nations were more complete than Israel’s have been and are yet to be; and the evils they dreaded, and sacrificed all to avoid, were just what befell them, and must till the end come. Did they refuse the Messiah? They have been a prey to false Messiahs, and shall yet bow down to the Antichrist. Did they own no king but Caesar? In Caesar they found a destroyer. Did they fear the Romans would come and take away their place and nation? All the world knows how punctually their fear was accomplished; and yet the end is not. Greater abominations shall be seen in them; greater delusions, greater fears, and a greater fulfilment. The abomination of desolation of which the Saviour spoke in Mat 24:15 (citing not Dan 11:31 , which was then past, but Dan 12:11 , which is still future) must yet be set where it ought not, in the sanctuary at Jerusalem; and then there shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
It is impossible to interpret of the past Roman siege either Mat 24 , or Dan 12 , or our chapter; but the days for the due fulfilment of all these prophecies are at hand, and the effect of every vision. “Hear the word of Jehovah, ye that tremble at his word, Your brethren that hated you, that cast you out for my name’s sake, said, Let Jehovah be glorified; but he shall appear to your joy, and they shall be ashamed” (v. 5).
But hark, what is this that breaks on the ear? “A voice of noise from the city, a voice from the temple, a voice of Jehovah that rendereth recompense to his enemies. Before she travailed, she brought forth; before her pain came, she was delivered of a man-child. Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things? Shall a land be made to bring forth in one day? shall a nation be born at once? for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children. Shall I bring to the birth, and not cause to bring forth? saith Jehovah: shall I cause to bring forth, and shut [the womb]? saith thy God. Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all ye that love her; rejoice for joy with her, all ye that mourn over her; because ye shall suck and be satisfied with the breasts of her consolations, because ye shall drink out, and be delighted with the abundance of her glory. For thus saith Jehovah, Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the nations like a flowing stream and ye shall suck, ye shall be borne upon the side, and be dandled upon the knees. As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you; and ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem. And ye shall see [this], and your heart shall rejoice, and your bones shall flourish like the grass: and the hand of Jehovah shall be known toward his servants, and indignation toward his enemies” (vv. 6-14).
Thus no longer by testimony to the heart, but by manifest judgement will Jehovah decide between cattle and cattle. The infidel scoff, which so long harassed the heavenly people, will then be put to shame before the poor in spirit of the earthly people. It is not the gospel that is here described, but the effect of the Lord’s taking His great power and reigning, according to Rev 11:15 Rev 11:18 . It is the world-kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ actually come. Hence judgement is executed on the living destroyers of the earth. Jehovah will be glorified to the joy of such as trembled at His word before He appears and to the eternal infamy of those who knew Him not and doubted His interest in His despised confessors here below. For Christ and for the church, they were raised or changed and taken on high, leaving the world without a blow or even a notice. But it will not be so for the Jew by-and-by: “A voice of noise from the city, a voice from the temple, a voice of Jehovah that rendereth recompense to his enemies.” The Roman destruction of Jerusalem was no adequate fulfilment of this: but it shall be fulfilled to the letter of many prophecies. (Cp. Isa 9:3-5 ; Isa 18:3-7 ; Isa 29 ; Zec 14:1-4 ) And then shall follow the new birth or ingathering of Zion’s children, no longer to be Abraham’s seed nominally but his children in deed and in truth. As nothing of the kind followed the capture by Nebuchadnezzar, no more did it ensue when Titus took Jerusalem. No outpouring of vengeance on the guilty city followed by blessing unexampled for fullness and without sorrow has as yet appeared to satisfy the terms of the prediction. Sudden as it will be, it will also be permanent.
It will be the day of Jehovah when man’s and Israel’s sad history is to be reversed; and those who loved and mourned for Jerusalem shall rejoice for her and share the rich results of her blessedness. Yet is it in no way the character of gospel joy which blends inward comfort by the Spirit’s power with shame and sorrow and rejection in the world. Here contrariwise, “And ye shall see this, and your heart shall rejoice, and your bones shall flourish like the grass; and the hand of Jehovah shall be known toward his servants, and indignation toward his enemies” (ver. 14). It is the future day, not of grace and salvation only as it is to-day, but of vengeance also, when Jehovah will not stop short as once He did on earth (Luk 4:20 ). Then He was proclaiming the acceptable year of Jehovah, and this only. By-and-by He will proclaim and accomplish both that year and the day of vengeance. For this is in His heart, and the year of His redeemed is come. Both will be fulfilled then without let or delay. It will be the introduction of His day, and of the millennial reign.
“For, behold, Jehovah will come with fire, and his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire. For by fire and by his sword will Jehovah plead with all flesh: and the slain of Jehovah shall be many. They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens behind one in the midst, eating swine’s flesh and the abomination and the mouse, shall perish together, saith Jehovah. And I [know] their works and their thoughts: it cometh, that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come, and see my glory. And I will set a sign among them, and I will send those that escape of them unto the nations, [to] Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, that draw the bow, [to] Tubal, and Javan, [to] the isles afar off, that have not heard my fame, neither have seen my glory; and they shall declare my glory among the nations. And they shall bring all your brethren [for] an offering unto Jehovah out of all the nations upon horses and in chariots, and in covered wagons, and upon mules, and upon dromedaries, to my holy mountain, to Jerusalem, saith Jehovah, as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house of Jehovah. And of them also will I take for priests, for Levites, saith Jehovah” (vv.15-21). The efforts of ancient and modern commentators to apply this passage, like the rest, to gospel times are desperate but vain. How unequivocally is it a day of judgement, not the glad tidings of salvation by His grace, but His revelation from heaven in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and on them that obey not the gospel! Evidently the Jews in that day will not only set up their ritual again, but be addicted to heathen abominations. The day of divine recompense shall be when old evils revive and amalgamate with novel iniquities, that all may come before Jehovah in judgement, and a new era dawn on both Jew and Gentile over the earth now purged. It will be a question then not of believing the grace of God, but of seeing the glory of Jehovah that is to be revealed. Jewish worship with its priests and Levites is restored in that day.
Vitringa’s argument on verse 19 that no future call of Gentiles can be here intended, because those named have long since known the God of Israel, seems to be of no real force. For even Christendom will then be in a state of apostasy (2Th 2 ); and, besides, the hearing of Jehovah’s fame and seeing His glory refers to the manifestation of Himself that will then be made here below. How little is the future looked for according to God’s word!
Thus an unsparing divine judgement will be executed on all the gathered nations when the Jews are dealt with in their pollutions; and those that “escape of them” will be sent of God to the distant nations ignorant of what He has wrought, and Gentiles will bring back all the Jews remaining outside the Holy Land. It appears to be the detail of the prediction in Isa 18:7 . From all nations shall this offering to Jehovah be brought, and by every means of conveyance. Before this, it will have been only the Jews and not all Israel.
All this is evidently not the same as the gospel or its effects, but in the most certain and evident contrast with it. The offering now is characteristically of the Gentiles, as we see in Rom 15:16 , and as experience shows. Jews are no doubt now as ever converted, but they are comparatively rare. The prophet contemplates the day when “all Israel shall be saved,” the apostates having been surprised by the divine judgement.
And any supposed difficulty of reconciling with Joh 4:21 Jerusalem becoming a centre for all nations is imaginary, or rather arises from the confusion of “the hour that now is” with the day that shall be. Our Lord was contemplating the time of His rejection and His approaching absence in heaven; the prophet had in view the day of His glory for the earth, which is still future. Distinguish the times, and the objection vanishes. Jerusalem has no place in the Christian system; in the coming day of Jehovah it will have a greater and holier place than it ever had of old; and no wonder with the name of Jehovah Shammah!
Hence it is obvious that the ordinary strain of argument and interpretation, popular from the days of Origen and Jerome down to the present, is founded on a total confusion of things that differ. Christianity no doubt is very distinct; but that the new age must be a repetition of the same aims, principles, and ways, is an error quite as great as that which fancies the gospel to be only a continuation of the law with a great accession of better privileges. Israel shall be established for ever before Jehovah. “For as the new heavens and the new earth which I will make shall remain before me, saith Jehovah, so shall your seed and your name remain. And it shall come to pass, [that] from new moon to new moon, and from sabbath to sabbath, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith Jehovah” (vv. 22, 23). There is no solid reason for doubting the literal bearing of the prediction. New moons and sabbaths shall once more figure in the worship of Jehovah; but it will be no more in the letter so hiding Christ or in its range so contracted as of old. For “all flesh” shall share in it, though (from other scriptures we may gather) on no such exalted ground or such dispensed nearness to the King as His chosen people. He is Sovereign, and disposes as He pleases; and our eye should not be evil, because He is good, alike in what is special and in what is common. His house shall be literally a house of prayer for all the peoples, which will in no way hinder the greatness of His name among the nations, or the offering of incense to it or a pure offering in every place.
And as His honour is thus maintained, so is His fear. Not only shall there be an awful outpouring of wrath on His adversaries at the end of this age, but Jehovah will keep up, nigh the very spot where His glory dwells, a salutary warning against transgressors. “And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcasses of the men that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorrence unto all flesh” (v. 24). There is nothing really obscure in this, save to those who, from regarding the passage only in a Christian point of view, deny its full accomplishment in judgement at the end of the age. In its own connection it is most simple, solemn, and expressive. No doubt by Rev 20:11 – Rev 21:8 we are shown the still more awful sight of eternal punishment for all the wicked in its full force, when they shall be raised up from death for the second death. Annihilation is a wicked imposture, and an impossibility for all but God, Who, far from intimating any such end, declares that He will judge by His Son Jesus Christ the Lord those that shall come forth from their graves. Universalism is the still more audacious lie of the enemy.
“THE WORD OF OUR GOD SHALL STAND FOR EVER”
Fuente: William Kelly Major Works (New Testament)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Isa 66:1-2
1Thus says the LORD,
Heaven is My throne and the earth is My footstool.
Where then is a house you could build for Me?
And where is a place that I may rest?
2For My hand made all these things,
Thus all these things came into being, declares the LORD.
But to this one I will look,
To him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word.
Isa 66:1 Heaven is My throne and the earth is My footstool.
Where then is a house you could build for Me?
And where is a place that I may rest? This is an obvious allusion to the dedicatory prayer of Solomon in 1Ki 8:27 and is again alluded to in Acts 8:47-48.
What is difficult to know is to what historical period this relates. Some see it relating to the return from the exile and the rebuilding of the Temple, which is possible from the context. However, others say that God does not live in manmade buildings and that this refers to
1. the temple of the human body which God has made
2. the family of God, the faith seed of Abraham (Jews and Gentiles of faith, cf. Rom 2:28-29)
3. the cosmic temple of Genesis 1, see John H. Walton, The Lost World of Genesis One
Isa 66:2 For My hand made all these things For hand see Special Topic: Hand . We learn from the NT that God’s agent in creation was no one other than the pre-Incarnate Jesus Christ (cf. Joh 1:3; 1Co 8:6; Col 1:16; Heb 1:2).
But to this one I will look,
To him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word God looks first at the motives and character of the human heart. YHWH knows the thoughts and intents of the heart (cf. Isa 66:18).
1. 1Sa 2:3; 1Sa 16:7
2. 1Ki 8:39
3. 1Ch 28:9
4. 2Ch 6:30
5. Psa 7:9; Psa 17:3; Psa 26:2; Psa 44:21; Psa 139:1; Psa 139:23
6. Pro 15:11; Pro 16:2; Pro 21:2; Pro 24:12
7. Jer 11:20; Jer 17:9-10; Jer 20:12
8. Luk 16:15
9. Act 1:24; Act 15:8
10. Rom 8:27
Jesus also knows the inner thoughts and motives of humans, see Joh 2:24-25; Joh 6:61; Joh 6:64; Joh 13:11!
This same description is used of David’s contrition over the sin with Bathsheba (cf. Psa 51:17); note Isa 57:15; Psa 34:18; Mat 5:3-4; Luk 18:13-14.
This also has two titles for God’s people that are very beautiful and descriptive.
1. a humble and repentant people
2. those who tremble at His word (cf. Isa 66:5)
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
Thus saith the LORD. See App-82.
The heaven, &c. Quoted in Act 7:49. Compare 1Ki 8:27. 2Ch 6:18.
the = this. Hebrew. zeh.
ye: i.e. the future builders of the house.
the place of My rest: i.e. rest in satisfaction. The Temple was for sacrifice and atonement (2Ch 2:6), not for dwelling. Compare Act 7:48.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Chapter 66
Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that you build unto me? and where is the place of my rest? ( Isa 66:1 )
They’re going to build a new temple, but God says, “Hey, don’t need it.” And this is that temple that will probably be built at the covenant of the antichrist. Thus saith the Lord, “The heaven is My throne, the earth is My footstool. Where is the house that you will build for Me? Where is the place of My rest?”
For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, who trembles at my word ( Isa 66:2 ).
God says, “I don’t need a house. I don’t need a fancy building to live in. The heaven is My throne. The earth is My footstool. What are you giving to Me? It’s all Mine; I made it anyhow.” That’s what makes it hard to give anything to God. I’m not giving to God. I’m giving only that which is His, so why should I make a big deal? Here, God, I’m going to give You what is Yours, what belongs to You. You made it all to begin with. And now the sacrifices that they will institute in this period before the Lord returns are unacceptable completely to God.
He that kills an ox is as if he slew a man; he that sacrifices a lamb, as if he cut off a dog’s neck; he that offers an oblation, as if he offered swine’s blood; he that burns incense, as if he blessed an idol. Yea, they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delighteth in their abominations. I also will choose their delusions ( Isa 66:3-4 ),
God will bring a strong delusion. Because they would not believe the truth of Jesus Christ, God will allow them to believe the lie of the antichrist. Jesus said, “I came in My Father’s name, you didn’t receive Me. Another one’s going to come in his own name, him you will receive” ( Joh 5:43 ). And he’ll make a covenant with the nation Israel and they will rebuild their temple and they will start their sacrifices. But God says it’s in unbelief as far as Christ is concerned and He’ll have nothing to do with it.
Hear the word of the LORD, ye that tremble at his word; Your brethren that hated you, that cast you out for my name’s sake, said, Let the LORD be glorified: but he shall appear to your joy, and they shall be ashamed ( Isa 66:5 ).
Paul when he was persecuting the church thought that he was doing the Lord a service. He was doing it in the name of God. God said, “For those that had been cast out tremble at His Word. Your brothers that hated you, saying, ‘Let the Lord be glorified,’ but he shall appear for your joy, they shall be ashamed.”
A voice of noise from the city, a voice from the temple, a voice of the LORD that rendereth recompense to his enemies. Before she travailed, she brought forth; before her pain came, she was delivered of a man child. Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? or shall a nation be born at once? for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children. Shall I bring to the birth, and not cause to bring forth? ( Isa 66:6-9 )
In other words, God says, “I brought it this far and will I not complete it?” It’s inconsistent to think that God is going to stop the whole prophetic plan and picture at this point. He’s brought us right up to the birth of the Kingdom Age. Surely He will bring it forth.
Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all ye that love her: rejoice for joy with her, all ye that mourn for her: That ye may suck, and be satisfied with the breasts of her consolations; that ye may milk out, and be delighted with the abundance of her glory. For thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream: then shall ye suck, ye shall be borne upon her sides, and be dandled upon her knees. As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you; and ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem. And when you shall see this, your heart shall rejoice, and your bones shall flourish like the vegetables: and the hand of the LORD shall be known toward his servants, and his indignation towards his enemies. For, behold, the LORD will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire. For by fire and by his sword will the LORD plead with all flesh: and the slain of the LORD shall be many ( Isa 66:10-16 ).
Now I’ve heard of people being slain in the Spirit and here we find them. Finally found the scriptural reference, that’s great. I’m glad we found it.
They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens behind one tree in the midst, eating swine’s flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, will be consumed together, saith the LORD. For I know their works ( Isa 66:17-18 )
God’s speaking again of the day of vengeance and judgment that is going to come. People will be judged for their abominations. “For I know their works,”
and their thoughts: it shall come, that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come, and see my glory. And I will set a sign among them, and I will send those that escape of them unto the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, that draw the bow, to Tubal, and Javan, to the isles [or the coasts that are] afar off, that have not seen or heard my fame, neither have seen my glory; and they shall declare my glory among the Gentiles. And they shall bring all your brethren for an offering unto the LORD out of all nations upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, and upon swift beasts, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, saith the LORD, as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house of the LORD. And I will also take of them for priests and for Levites, saith the LORD. For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, [they will be eternal] saith the LORD, so shall your seed and your name remain. And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the LORD ( Isa 66:18-23 ).
So that glorious day of the future when all the universe again is in harmony with God. But those that have rebelled and chosen to rebel against God have another destiny.
I think that we have to be extremely careful that we do not modify God’s Word. Just because it doesn’t agree with our own sense of fairness or justice or righteousness or whatever, we try to make God’s Word read something other than it actually does.
There has been a lot of ridicule against the idea of eternal punishment and damnation for the unrighteous. And because of the ridicule, many pastors are hesitant to talk about hell or the judgment of God or the wrath of God, the indignation of His wrath or the eternal punishment of the damned. And yet if God speaks of it, then we are derelict as His ministers if we do not also speak of it. And because the Bible teaches it, I must also warn a person of it. Now I would rather preach 10,000 sermons on heaven than one sermon on hell. I don’t like to talk about hell. I don’t like to preach about hell. I would rather preach a thousand sermons on the love of God and never preach on the wrath of God. I don’t like to preach about the wrath of God. I love to preach about the love of God. I would much rather preach on the grace of God, the goodness of God, the blessings of God. I enjoy these subjects. I do not enjoy the wrath of God, the vengeance of God, the judgments of God against the wicked. And yet, because God speaks of them and I am a spokesman for God, I must also speak of them. And that’s the advantage of going straight through the scriptures; I can’t jump them and I can’t jump the last verse of Isaiah, though I would like to. I would like to quit the lesson right there. Say, “It’s going to be glorious. The whole world is going to come and worship before the Lord. Glory, glory.”
And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcasses of the men that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh ( Isa 66:24 ).
Jesus, using the same phraseology of Isaiah in warning against the coming judgment, said, “Don’t fear him who can kill your body, but after that doesn’t have any power over you. But rather fear Him, who after the body is destroyed is able to cast both your soul and spirit into Gehenna” ( Luk 12:4-5 ). “Where the worm dieth not, neither is the fire quenched” ( Mar 9:44 ). “Yea, I say unto you, Fear ye Him” ( Luk 12:5 ).
Now the phrases that the Lord uses for those that are in this place of Gehenna, a place of torment, the final disposition of the unrighteous dead. Hades is not the final place of the unrighteous dead. Hades is going to give up their dead before the great white throne judgment of God. Death and Hades are going to deliver up the dead. So hell is going to be empty. But whosoever’s name is not found written in the book of life will be cast in the lake of fire. This is the second death into Gehenna. And there is a vast difference between Gehenna and Hades in the New Testament. Gehenna is a place, the eternal abode of the damned.
Now Jesus, when He returns and gathers the nations together for judgment, as He places those on His left as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, to those on His left He says, “Depart from Me, you cursed, you workers of iniquity. For I was hungry; you didn’t feed Me. Thirsty; you didn’t give Me to drink. Naked; you didn’t clothe Me. In prison; you didn’t visit Me.” “Lord, when did we see You hungry, naked, and ignored You?” “Inasmuch as you did it not unto the least of these My brethren you didn’t do it to Me. Depart from Me into Gehenna which was prepared for Satan and his angels” ( Mat 25:41-45 ). Wasn’t prepared for people. It was prepared for Satan who had rebelled against God and those angels that have rebelled with him. But those who choose to align with Satan’s rebellion shall also find their part with him in the lake which burns with fire. And as we are warned in Revelation chapter 14, “The smoke of their torment ascends from the ages throughout the ages” ( Rev 14:11 ).
I dare not modify that. I must just leave it stand as it is declared. I dare not try to lessen the impact of it. There is to be the judgment of God against all unrighteousness and ungodliness of men who hold the truth of God in unrighteousness. And God will judge and it is a fearful thing to fall in the hands of a living God. You say, “But that isn’t fair. I don’t see… ” I can’t help what we might think. I can only tell you what the scriptures says is. And I can’t modify it. We must leave it there. For God said, “If any man would take away from the words of this prophecy,” and God warned about these things in Revelation very heavily, He said, “his name will be taken out of the book of life” ( Rev 22:19 ). And thus I don’t and can’t modify or take away from the impact that there is God’s wrath and judgment that is going to come against the ungodly and it is eternal. That is why it is so important that we walk with Jesus Christ. That we live for Jesus Christ. That we submit our lives to Him and we’re a part of God’s eternal kingdom.
So I don’t dwell in that other side, because I don’t plan to be around. I dwell where I plan to be. “For where a man’s treasure is, there will his heart be also” ( Mat 6:21 ). My heart’s with the Lord and in the heavenly things, and that’s where I like to dwell. But I would be negligent and derelict in my duties as a representative of God if I didn’t bring out to you that the other side does exist. The scriptures speak about it and you can’t take it away.
Father, we thank You for the hope that we have in Christ Jesus. In the hope of our calling. And we thank You for these glorious things that we have read here in Isaiah of the coming age when the Lord shall reign. And we shall dwell with Him in righteousness upon the renewed earth. And Lord, we pray, even so, come quickly. Establish Thy righteous kingdom, O Lord, that we might share with Thee in the glory that You had with the Father before the worlds ever existed. Bless, Lord, Your people. Bless Thy Word to our hearts. May we be nourished and strengthened in our spiritual walk through Thy Word. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
May the Lord be with you and bless you, give you a beautiful day tomorrow. And may He keep you in His love and in His grace. We look forward to our gathering together again on many occasions this week as we learn more about God’s glorious work in the past and His marvelous plans for our future. And so God keep you in the love of Jesus Christ and strengthen you by His Spirit in your inner man. And may He help you to begin to comprehend what is the length, the breadth, the depth, the height of His love and begin to understand more and more the things that He has prepared for those who love Him and wait on Him. May God cause His grace to abound towards you through Jesus Christ our Lord. “
Fuente: Through the Bible Commentary
Isa 66:1-6
Isa 66:1-4
This chapter ends the inspiring trilogy penned by Isaiah, all of them dealing with events certain to take place in Israel in the days following the death of the great prophet, such as the destruction of their nation, their captivity, and many other events reaching all the way down to the birth of Messiah, the establishment of Christianity, the call of the Gentiles, the second destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, and even to the final judgment day itself.
All of the doodling engaged in by critics about how many authors produced these chapters, or particularly what dates should be assigned to various chapters, etc., is of no importance at all. The fundamental facts are indisputable, these being: (1) that every line of this great book was printed in the Greek language about 250 years before the Son of God was born, in what is called the Septuagint (LXX) Version. A vast number of the prophecies in Isaiah were fulfilled long after that date, absolutely destroying the critical dictum regarding the impossibility of predictive prophecy; (2) the subject matter, the vocabulary, the style, and the spirit of Isaiah dominate every paragraph of the whole prophecy; and (3) our Lord Jesus Christ and his holy apostles had the utmost respect for the whole prophecy, fight down to this very last chapter, quoting from it, by inspiration adding to it, and by attributing it repeatedly to Isaiah. In our opinion, the critical enemies of the Word of God totally discredited both themselves and their system by their vain efforts to divide and discredit Isaiah.
A summary of this chapter must be especially heeded in the interpretation of it. Adam Clarke declared that, “These last two chapters relate to the calling of the Gentiles, the establishment of the Christian church, the reprobation of the apostate Jews, and their destruction executed by the Romans.” Lowth concurred in this analysis. “This final chapter points to the final days of Judah and the coming glory of Zion in the new dispensation.”
Cheyne described the first five verses here as, “A declaration by Jehovah that he requires no earthly habitation, and that he is displeased with the service of unspiritual worshippers, followed by a solemn antithesis between the fate of the persecutors and the persecuted (Isa 66:1-5).”
The big thing in this chapter is not fleshly Israel at all, but the Church which is the New Israel. Payne understood this, writing, “Here we have a warning to Jews that, `not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel’ (Rom 9:6), and an appeal to all men, `Be not faithless, but believing’ (Joh 20:27).”
There were among the Jews of that period some who trusted the sanctity of the temple and the security of Zion as a guarantee of their salvation without regard to their wickedness; and these lines are directed against such thoughts.
Isa 66:1-4
“Thus saith Jehovah, Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: what manner of house will ye build unto me? and what place shall be my rest? For all these things hath my hand made, and so all these things came to be, saith Jehovah: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and that trembleth at my word. He that killeth an ox is as he that slayeth a man; he that sacrificeth a lamb, as he that breaketh a dog’s neck; he that offereth an oblation, as he that offereth swine’s blood; he that burneth frankincense, as he that blesseth an idol. Yea, they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delighteth in their abominations: also I will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears upon them; because when I called, none did answer; when I spake, they did not hear: but they did that which was evil in mine eyes, and chose that wherein I delighted not.”
“What manner of house will ye build me? …” (Isa 66:1). Some have construed this paragraph as revealing God’s displeasure with the Jewish Temple. However that may be, there is no doubt that in Israel, the more discerning souls had long been familiar with the truth that “God dwelleth not in temples made with hands.” The martyr Stephen quoted this passage (Act 7:50-51); and Solomon, upon the dedication of the temple he built, said, “Will God indeed dwell on earth? Behold, the heaven and heavens of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded” (1Ki 8:27). Christ called it a “den of thieves and robbers”; and it will be recalled from 2 Samuel 7 that the idea of building God a temple was never God’s idea, at all, but was associated altogether with human origin in David. If it had been God’s design, he would never have commanded its destruction twice. And yet, in Haggai, we learn that God commanded the rebuilding of the temple, that, no doubt, being due to the fact that, in their condition, they needed such a device, because of their fanatical preference for such things.
“He that killeth an ox, as he that slew a man …” (Isa 66:3).
This means that a man who is without poverty of spirit and not having a contrite heart who offers an ox, “is not any more pleasing to God than a murderer would be.” The following major clauses in Isa 66:3-4, are reiterations of the same thought in different terminology.
Kelley pointed out that there is another interpretation of this passage, making it, “The most violent rejection of the Temple cultus to be found in the Old Testament. It places the sacrifice of an ox, etc., on the parity with the murder of a man.” We reject this view, because God could not have been but pleased with one who offered an ox as a sacrifice, if offered from an humble and contrite heart and according to the Law of Moses. In our studies of the prophets, we have frequently encountered the writings of scholars who try to make it out that God cared nothing for the observance of forms, sacrifices and ceremonies, but only for “social justice.” This is a false view. What God condemned was insincere and hypocritical worship. God indeed is concerned for “social justice”; but, in the final analysis, all moral and social justice derives from the holy commandments of God, properly honored, respected, and obeyed.
Isa 66:5-6
“Hear the word of Jehovah, ye that tremble at his word: Your brethren that hate you, and cast you out for my name’s sake, have said, Let Jehovah be glorified, that we may see your joy; but it is they that shall be put to shame. A voice of tumult from the city, a voice from the temple, a voice of Jehovah that rendereth recompense to his enemies.”
An outstanding thing here is that, “These verses presuppose a schism within the Jewish community, with the faithful believers being persecuted and cast out by their own brethren.” There is nothing new about this development; throughout Isaiah, the two Israels of God have been clearly visible.
This prophecy, without any doubt, applies to the total destruction of Jerusalem and the Jewish temple by the Romans in 70 A.D., whether or not there might have been earlier applications. The mention of the temple, however, points strongly to the Roman destruction. Kelley also observed that the voice of Jehovah coming from the temple “emphasized that those being judged were the Israelites.” This, of course, is true. That destruction signaled the end of the Jewish nation for a period of about two millenniums, a cessation forever of the daily sacrifices, the total and final destruction of their temple, the end of their government, and the physical death of more than a million of the people. There is no wonder that Peter referred to that event as “the end of all things” (1Pe 4:7); and as far as the Jewish Dispensation was concerned, it surely was!
“These verses are an address to the pious and persecuted part of the nation (that is, the righteous remnant); and it is designed for their comfort and consolation, and contains the assurance that God would appear in their behalf.” In that terrible destruction of Jerusalem to which we have applied the passage, God did indeed appear upon behalf of the saints; and he made it possible for every Christian to escape with his life, before the city was ravaged.
Isaiah’s reference here to brothers persecuting brothers, “Is one of the earliest allusions to purely religious persecution and theological hatred. The intolerance of Isa 66:5 was acted out, almost to the letter, in Joh 9:24; Joh 9:34,” in the record of the man born blind.
What we have in these verses is a continuation of what Isaiah wrote in Isaiah 13.
Isa 66:1-3 ABOMINABLE: Chapter 66 contains a three-part summarization of the whole book of Isaiah. First there is capsulation of the abomination of Isaiahs contemporaries and the coming judgment (Isa 66:1-6); second, the birth of new Israel (messianic age-church) (Isa 66:7-14); third, the proclamation of redemption to the whole world (Isa 66:15-24). These are the three major theses of the prophet and thus chapter 66 forms an appropriate epilogue.
These verses are not condemnations of houses of worship as such, nor were they intended to abrogate animal sacrifices for Isaiahs contemporaries. The prophet is condemning the arrogant hypocrisy of those who thought an earthly temple guaranteed the presence of Jehovah in their midst regardless of the wickedness of their motives and actions. Many of the Jews fell into the dangerous self-induced delusion that as long as their temple stood Jehovah must confine Himself there so their nation would never be without His presence and protection. This delusion is a consequence of spiritual immaturity and this-worldly-mindedness about the worship of God. Most of the Jewish rulers and religious leaders of Jesus day trusted in their earthly temple, human priesthood and animal sacrifices but not in the Invisible God who made them. It is a common failure of human nature to demand that which can be handled, touched and tasted (cf. Col 2:20-23; 2Co 4:16 to 2Co 5:5, etc.). When the Pharisees of Jesus day wanted to make an oath by the highest thing they could think of, they made it on the temple or the gold of the temple (cf. Mat 23:16-21). When Jesus predicted the desolation of the city and the temple (Mat 23:37-39), His own disciples could not believe it, so He gave an extended lesson to them about the destruction of Jerusalem (Mat 24:1-35) at the hands of the Romans. The fundamental issue of the entire book of Hebrews in the N.T. is that of weaning Hebrew Christians away from the powerful temptation to return to Judaism (abrogated by the new covenant) which appealed to the fleshly desire for a religion that centered in an earthly temple, touchable sacrifices, visible high-priesthood and religious hierarchy. Stephen, the martyr, condemned his Jewish brethren for not accepting the fact that Jesus was the fulfillment of all the temple stood for (Act 7:44-53). The Jews were not alone in thinking the Creator could be reduced to human level and confined to earthly shrines. Paul reminded the idolaters of Athens that such ideas were illogical (cf. Act 17:24-28). Young aptly says, Those who would build a house influenced by such conceptions were seeking to render the infinite finite, the eternal temporal, and the Creator a mere creature.
Jehovah does dwell in a spiritual temple composed of people (cf. Eph 2:11-22; 2Pe 2:5) of afflicted and contrite hearts. The Hebrew word anah is translated poor but means literally, afflicted. It is from a root word that may also be translated answer. The idea is that God dwells in people who are poor in spirit or afflicted in the soul enough to answer God when He calls. Gods presence dwells in a people who are humble and penitent, whether they have a church building or not. But the most elaborate building and the best well-organized religious system will never enjoy the presence of God if haughty, arrogant, independent and rebellious worshipers gather there. True worship of God is done in spirit and truth (Joh 4:19-26) and where God is worshiped is secondary to that! When truth and righteousness are renounced for the sake of places, things and human traditions, it is an abomination before the Lord!
Rituals and ceremonies are means to an end; they are vehicles of human expressions of faith and willing obedience to a Person-God. When the rituals and ceremonies become the objects of our hope, they become idols! God Himself is the object of our hope; biblical commandments concerning acts of obedience or rituals or worship are revealed as acceptable ways men may express their faith in Him. There are two ways men turn biblically revealed rituals into abominations before the Lord: (a) make the rituals the object of their hope, or; (b) refuse to observe the ritual as the Lord commands it in His Word. The people of Isaiahs day were guilty of both. They were making their ability to keep the rituals the object of their hope which is trusting in self-righteousness, and they were also arrogantly mixing the practices of pagan idolatry with the worship of Jehovah. Sacrifices to God, no matter how often or how affluent, without the proper spirit and contrary to revealed truth are unacceptable to God (cf. Isa 1:10-20; Eze 8:5-18; Eze 14:1-11; 1Sa 15:17-23; Isa 57:1-13; Mic 3:11; Mat 5:23-24; Mat 6:1-18; etc.). Observance of rituals contrary to biblical specifications and without humility toward the God who commanded them makes them abominations to God. A man may kill an ox and bring it to the temple for a sacrifice, but with an improper attitude toward God he may as well have offered a human sacrifice-both are equally abominable to God! Do men really realize how serious it is to observe religious ritual in an improper frame of mind and heart?! To give an offering or do any act of worship without a contrite heart is an affront to the Lord and as insulting as offering swines blood! Such impersonal, rebellious, impenitent behavior exposes the real focus of the heart of a man-the ritual itself-and that is in fact, idolatry! Even people of the new covenant must be on guard against this tendency. Ananias and Sapphira fell-not in the amount given or not given to the Lord, but in the attitude they had in their heart (cf. Act 5:1 ff). Simon, the converted magician, fell-not in what he sought but the purpose for which he sought it (cf. Act 8:9-13). Even the Corinthian church made the Lords Supper an abomination before the Lord by the attitude of divisiveness in which they participated in it (cf. 1 Corinthians 10-11). The church at Laodicea was an abomination to Christ-not because she was affluent but because of her attitude toward her affluency.
Men will err and sin. Those who worship God will never be able to do so perfectly. The Lord will forgive those errors when men worship Him penitently, honestly and trembling at His Word. But when men deliberately choose their own ways against those God has plainly revealed, and when they delight in doing what they know is contrary to His revealed will, He will not forgive.
Isa 66:4-6 ABANDONED: What choice do men leave the Righteous and Just God when they delight in their abominations? The only choice God has is to leave them to their choice! God chooses their delusions as the instruments of their judgment. When God called and called, none were poor (anah) enough in spirit to answer. When God spake, none obeyed (shama). They plainly told God they did not want to hear from Him (cf. Isa 30:9-11; Mic 2:6-11, etc.). They obstinately chose their own way against Gods (cf. Jer 6:16-18; Jer 8:4-7, etc.). So the Lord let them have what they chose! The Lord abandoned them to their sins (cf. Eze 11:21-25; Eze 39:23-24, etc.). They are given up to suffer in their own bodies the due penalties of their errors (cf. Rom 1:27). Judah trusted in human schemes and human allies to keep her safe and prosperous, but her human allies betrayed her and turned on her. Judahs idol gods could not provide anything for her because they were only pieces of wood and stone. Judahs social injustices and political chicanery on the international scene eventually caused her captivity. But it-was Jehovah who was exercising His sovereign rule in righteousness over the universe that was the real cause of it. God exercises His sovereign rule through secondary agents both in men and natural means (cf. Isa 10:5-19; Jer 27:1-11; Amo 4:6-11; Hab 1:5-6; Dan 8:1 ff; Rev 6:1-17; Rev 8:1 to Rev 9:21; Rev 17:15-18, etc.).
In verse five, the Lord addresses Himself to those few people who were listening to the teaching of Isaiah (cf. Isa 8:16 ff) and being persecuted for their faithfulness. The majority of the people hated the righteous remnant. Gods righteous minority will alway be persecuted by the wicked majority because their righteousness acts as a catalyst of judgment in their midst (cf. Joh 3:18-21; Joh 9:35-40; Joh 15:18-27, etc.). The righteous minority of Isaiahs day had been cast out which probably means the haughty, self-righteous majority had ostracized them socially, religiously economically and politically. The poor and humble in spirit and those obedient to the Word of God were oppressed and exploited. The rich and powerful wicked mock them as they oppress them, saying, Since you are so anxious to praise the name of Jehovah and call on Him for help, we will give you plenty of opportunity to call on Him by casting you out. Such perverse haughtiness in a people who had all the advantages of the miraculous deliverance of God from enemies centuries past and who had the Law of God delivered by angels through Moses, is shocking! It is blasphemous! But such mockery of Gods saints in the midst of their persecutions will continue so long as this present order exists. All who live a godly life in this world will suffer persecution (2Ti 3:12). But Gods vindication of His saints will be done-if not in this world, in the next!
As for those of Isaiahs day who were persecuting the righteous, they would themselves be cast out and suffer shame and humiliation for their disobedience to God in the Babylonian captivity. But Isaiah is looking past his own time by many centuries and hears the noise of warfare that comes from Jerusalem, the city that the wicked majority believed would never fall (Mic 3:11; Jer 6:13-14; Jer 8:11; Jer 26:7-11; Jer 28:1-17). Isaiahs prediction of Jerusalems judgment refers to her fall at the hands of Rome (70 A.D.) as will be seen from the following text.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
This last chapter is confessedly difficult of interpretation. In it the prophet seems to look beyond all that he has previously described, and to deal with destiny. He first announces anew the fact of the established government of God, and then proceeds to show how that for those who had chosen their own ways He will choose delusions, and that because when He called they did not answer. Those who had trembled at His word He will deliver, in spite of all difficulties.
In the final message the prophet describes the coming of Jehovah with fire, when His chariots will be like the whirlwind. It is a picture of righteous vengeance, proceeding to the establishment of the new heavens and the new earth which are to remain before the Lord.
The last declaration of the great prophecy is one which reminds those who read of the sure and terrible judgment of God on evil, of the one fact which must never be lost sight of, that there can be no peace to the wicked.
Fuente: An Exposition on the Whole Bible
Gods People Made a Blessing
Isa 66:1-14
The prophet forecasts the advent of a new day, when places and rites would be comparatively unimportant compared with the condition of the heart, Isa 66:1-4. The opening words were quoted by Stephen, when announcing the substitution of spiritual worship for the effete system which it superseded. See Act 7:48-49. What is the outward rite to God, when the spirit has fled? It was all one to Him, whether a man killed a lamb in the Temple, or broke a dogs neck on his farm. His chosen home is not in ornate temples but in contrite hearts!
The blessedness of Gods people is depicted in glowing words, Isa 66:5-14. God will appear, to the joy of His people and the recompense of their foes. Those times will be characterized by great revivals, and souls will be easily born into the heavenly kingdom. The Jew and Gentile will meet like confluent streams in one blessed channel. But, above all, we shall become aware of the mother-side in Gods nature. As one whom his mother comforteth, Isa 66:13.
Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary
EXPOSITORY NOTES ON
THE PROPHET ISAIAH
By
Harry A. Ironside, Litt.D.
Copyright @ 1952
edited for 3BSB by Baptist Bible Believer in the spirit of the Colportage ministry of a century ago
ISAIAH CHAPTER SIXTY-SIX
THE END OF THE LORD MANIFESTED
IN THIS last chapter again we find that GOD stresses the failures of His people, and then closes by telling of the wonderful conditions that will prevail in the days of the kingdom, and gives another glimpse of the new heavens and the new earth.
“Thus saith the Lord, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest? For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the Lord: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word . . . Hear the word of the Lord, ye that tremble at his word; Your brethren that hated you, that cast you out for my name’s sake, said, Let the Lord be glorified: but he shall appear to your joy, and they shall be ashamed” (verses 1-3, 5).
Once more it is emphasized that He who fills heaven and earth cannot be confined to any house here, yet deigns to dwell in the heart of the lowly and the contrite. “To this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word,” he who walks carefully fearing lest he might go contrary to the Word of GOD. And those that tremble at the Word may have the assurance that He himself will ever undertake for them. He is not looking for great ability nor wonderful eloquence on the part of His servants, but for a heart subject to His truth. And when He finds that He will intervene on behalf of His people.
But those who are merely formalists, who do not know the realities of spiritual things, will look down upon them with contempt, think of them, perhaps, as fanatics and accuse them of all kinds of folly. So here He says, “Your brethren that hated you, that cast you out for My name’s sake, said, Let the Lord be glorified.” But GOD says it is for His name’s sake.
So the remnant of Israel will be despised and looked down upon by those who do not take their place of repentance before GOD, but the Lord shall appear to their glory and their enemies shall be ashamed.
Chapter sixty-six gathers together the threads of GOD’s ways of holiness and grace. Heaven is His throne, yet He dwells with him who is of a contrite and humble spirit (chap. 57:15). The offerings
of those who have only a form of pleasing Him are an offense. They have chosen their own ways, but GOD will choose too, and bring their fears upon them, because when He called and spoke they did not answer nor hear, but did evil and chose what did not please Him (chap. 65:12). Yet those who heard His voice heard the promise: “Before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear” (chap. 65:24).
The Lord had said to His people that He would give them peace like a river, and speaking as GOD the Creator He said there would be peace, peace to him that is far off, and to him that is near (chap. 57:19). But the solemn assurance is twice given also: “There is no peace, saith the Lord [my GOD] unto the wicked” (chaps. 48:22; 57:21).
“As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you; and ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem” (verse 13).
Compare chapters 40 and 61 for GOD’s plan and design for His people. The Hebrew word translated “comfort” in this verse is from a root meaning “to sigh!” It says, “As one whom his mother sighs with, so will I sigh with you.” We know how a loving mother enters into the sufferings of her children. Taking the little one in her arms she sighs with him as he sobs out his grief upon her bosom. So does GOD feel for us in our trials. Of old He said concerning Israel when they were in Egyptian bondage, “I have surely seen the affliction of My people. . . I know their sorrows; and am come to deliver them.”
He is ever the same in His concern for His afflicted children. His great heart of love is moved with compassion as He beholds the ravages that sin has made and the sufferings that it has entailed upon all mankind. Yet we are so slow to refer our troubles to Him, thinking of Him as a stern Judge rather than a tender, loving Father.
“For, behold, the Lord will come with fire . . . to render his anger with fury . . . For by fire and by his sword will the Lord plead with all flesh . . . I know their works and their thoughts: it shall come, that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come and see my glory” (verses 15, 16, 18).
The whole book of Revelation bears witness to this.
“And I will set a sign among them, and I will send those that escape of them unto the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, that draw the bow, to Tubal, and Javan, to the isles afar off, that have not heard my fame, neither have seen my glory; and they shall declare my glory among the Gentiles. And they shall bring all your brethren for an offering unto the Lord out of all nations upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, and upon swift beasts, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, saith the Lord, as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house of the Lord. And I will also take of them for priests and for Levites, saith the Lord. For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the Lord, so shall your seed and your name remain. And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all 11esh come to worship before me, saith the Lord. And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcases of the men that have transgressed against me; for their worm shall not die, neither
shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh” (verses 19-24).
In chapter 65:22 we read of the longevity of the people in the millennium: “as the days of a tree shall be the days of My people.” If one dies at one hundred years of age, he shall be counted as a child, and yet the presence of death and the curse would indicate that death will come only to any who definitely rebel against the King, who sin against Him. And then those who are in the place of blessing will see from time to time the dead bodies of those who are slain, where “their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.” The Lord JESUS quotes Isaiah’s words again and again when referring to the final estate of the eternally lost (Mar 9:43-48).
And so the book ends with GOD’s holiness and glory manifested and magnified as well as His divine compassions.
“Here Thy bright character is known,
Nor dare a creature guess
Which of His glories brightest shone
The justice or the grace.”
Meanwhile it is true for us as for GOD’s ancient people,
“Upon the wings of every hour
We read Thy patience still.”
~ end of book ~
http://www.baptistbiblebelievers.com/
***
Fuente: Commentaries on the New Testament and Prophets
Isa 66:12
The peace of God’s Church resembles a river.
I. In its source. The source or spring of a river is hidden. It wells up from the fountains of the great deep beneath the earth. Many see the river in its course, and witness the fertility with which its progress is attended, whose footsteps never approached its source, nor indeed could do so. The source of peace to God’s children is God Himself. The peace of God is a well of water springing up in the depths of the spirit. And accordingly men can see that peace only in its effects and results.
II. In the method of its nourishment. It is true that rivers are fed perpetually by their springs. But an external nourishment is also supplied to them by occasional rains and landfloods, which swell the rivers and cause them to rise, and even to overflow their channels. The river of the Christian’s peace is augmented by contrition. The tears and sighs of godly sorrow are essential to the fulness of that peace. “He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.”
III. In its course. (1) A river in its course is quietly progressive. The Christian’s peace is a peace of progress in grace. (2) A river is exceeding deep. And the peace of God is said to “pass all understanding.” The nature and character of that peace is unintelligible to those who have not tasted it, and by those who have tasted it its depth is unfathomable. (3) A river in its course is fertilising and enriching. The peace of God is at the root of all holy fruitfulness. (4) A river in its course is clean and cleansing. The peace of God’s Church is a clean and holy (because a living) peace-clear as crystal, and perfectly alien from all defilement. (5) A river bears burdens. It is one of the most delightful characteristics of the Christian’s peace that its buoyancy supports many and grievous burdens.
IV. At its mouth. A river expands at its mouth. For the last few miles of its progress the distance between its banks becomes wider, till at length it pours itself with a full flood into the ocean. The peace of the true believer is enlarged as he draws near to the heavenly goal, and accordingly the country of his soul is more abundantly fertilised.
E. M. Goulburn, Sermons in the Parish Church of Holywell, p. 229.
Isa 66:13
I. God comforts like the ideal mother. The only perfect mother is in the mind and heart of God. And He comforts as that image might be expected to comfort and would be capable of comforting.
II. God comforts as the mothers comforted of whom the prophet spoke. No mother is perfect, but every true and good mother is a great consoler. (1) God comforts naturally; (2) He comforts personally; (3) He comforts lovingly; (4) He comforts practically; (5) He comforts broadly; (6) He comforts constantly; (7) He comforts effectually.
S. Martin, Comfort in Trouble, p. 1.
References: Isa 66:13.-J. T. Stannard, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxiv., p. 252. Isa 66:19.-Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. x., p. 272. Isa 66:21.-Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xvii., No. 992; J. Keble, Sermons from Advent to Christmas Eve, p. 332.
Fuente: The Sermon Bible
CHAPTER 66
The Finale: The Two Classes and the Prophecy of Isaiah in a Retrospect
1. The apostates and their wicked worship (Isa 66:1-4) 2. The remnant suffering and encouraged (Isa 66:5) 3. The sudden manifestation of the Lord (Isa 66:6) 4. The nations rebirth (Isa 66:7-9) 5. Jerusalems supremacy and glory (Isa 66:10-14) 6. The warning of judgment (Isa 66:15-18) 7. The regathering after judgment (Isa 66:19-21) 8. The blessings for the righteous (Isa 66:22-23) 9. The destiny of the wicked (Isa 66:24) This great chapter is the fitting conclusion of the prophecy of Isaiah. The leading predictions contained in Isaiah concerning the future are once more restated. The opening verses have mystified many readers of this book. The apostate part of the Jewish nation, restored in unbelief (a restoration now going on) , erect a temple once more and resume their ancient worship. This worship without faith in Jehovah is an abomination before Him. It were as if they offered swines blood. Their coming judgment is announced in Isa 66:4. The pious remnant, the praying remnant is seen once more. They tremble at the Word of the Lord. The unbelievers in their own nation hate them. They are mocked because they expect Jehovahs intervention from above. Let the Lord be glorified–they say in ridicule (Isa 66:5). Then the coming of the Lord takes place. This is described in the sixth verse. The nations rebirth, the supremacy and glory of Jerusalem, additional warnings, the gathering of the people into the kingdom, the blessedness of the righteous and the destiny of Jehovahs enemies conclude the chapter and the book.
The reader will have noticed that each section of the second part begins with a chapter which is the key and introduction to the section. Each concludes with a description of the two classes which compose the nation in the last days and emphasizes the fact that for the wicked there is no peace, but punishment. Each section reveals a person. The first section reveals Cyrus, under whom the remnant returned from Babylon; the second, the suffering Servant of Jehovah; the third, the King of Glory to execute vengeance and deliver His people. May He give us to see these wonderful things to come. May the vision of the future be the inspiration of our lives.
Fuente: Gaebelein’s Annotated Bible (Commentary)
The heaven: 1Ki 8:27, 1Ch 28:2, 2Ch 6:18, Psa 11:4, Psa 99:9, Psa 132:7, Mat 5:34, Mat 5:35, Mat 23:21, Mat 23:22, Act 17:24
where is the house: 2Sa 7:5-7, Jer 7:4-11, Mal 1:11, Mat 24:2, Joh 4:20, Joh 4:21, Act 7:48-50
Reciprocal: Exo 15:2 – an habitation Exo 17:16 – Because Num 10:33 – a resting place Deu 10:14 – the heaven Deu 12:5 – habitation Deu 26:15 – Look down 1Ch 17:5 – dwelt 1Ch 29:11 – all that 2Ch 2:6 – But who 2Ch 6:41 – thy resting 2Ch 20:6 – God in heaven 2Ch 30:27 – his holy dwelling place Ezr 1:2 – Lord God Job 22:12 – not God Psa 2:4 – He that Psa 33:14 – General Psa 68:5 – in his Psa 99:5 – footstool Psa 103:19 – prepared Psa 113:4 – his glory Psa 115:16 – heaven Psa 123:1 – O thou Psa 132:5 – an habitation Psa 132:14 – my rest Isa 6:1 – sitting Isa 33:5 – he dwelleth Isa 40:22 – It is he that sitteth Isa 57:15 – I dwell Isa 60:13 – the place Isa 63:15 – the habitation Jer 3:16 – The ark Jer 3:17 – the throne Jer 17:12 – General Jer 23:24 – Do Lam 3:66 – heavens Eze 43:7 – and the place Dan 2:11 – whose Hab 2:20 – the Lord Mal 4:2 – that fear Mat 6:9 – which Mat 11:25 – Lord Luk 10:21 – Lord Joh 4:23 – true Act 6:14 – that Rev 21:22 – I saw
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Isa 66:1-2. Thus saith the Lord, The heaven is my throne That is, the throne of my glory and government; the place where I most manifest my power, and show myself in my majesty. Hence we are taught to pray, Our Father which art in heaven. And the earth is my footstool Or, a place on which I set my feet, (Mat 5:35,) overruling all the affairs of it according to my will. Where is the house that ye build me? Can there be a house built that will contain me, who encompass and fill heaven and earth? and where is the place of my rest? Where is the place wherein I can be said to rest in a proper sense? The ark was indeed called Gods footstool, and the place of his rest, in a figurative sense, because there God manifested himself, though in degrees much beneath the manifestations of himself in heaven: but properly God hath no certain place of rest, and especially no temple built by man can be a place of rest for him. For what satisfaction can the Eternal Mind take in a house made with mens hands? What occasion has he, as we have, for a house to repose himself in, who fainteth not, neither is weary; who neither slumbers nor sleeps? Or, if he had occasion, he would not tell us, Psa 50:12. For all those things hath his hands made Heaven and all its courts, earth and all its borders, and all the hosts of both. And all these have been Have had their beginning by the power of God, who was infinitely happy from eternity before they existed, and therefore cannot be benefited by them. Or, as the clause may be rendered, all these things are: they still continue upheld by the same power that made them; so that our goodness extendeth not to him. Vitringa is justly of opinion that this discourse is directed to the hypocrites, who, despising the gospel of the Son of God, after they had made the temple a den of thieves, were yet zealous to repair and adorn it. They did not consider that a new economy being established, no earthly and material temple could be acceptable to Him whose throne was in heaven, and who everywhere found the place of his rest in the humble and contrite heart. The Jews, says Bishop Lowth, valued themselves much upon their temple, and the pompous system of services performed in it, which they supposed were to be of perpetual duration; and they assumed great confidence and merit to themselves for their strict observance of all the externals of their religion. And at the very time when the judgments denounced in Isa 66:6; Isa 66:12 of the preceding chapter were hanging over their heads, they were rebuilding, by Herods munificence, the temple in a most magnificent manner. God, therefore, admonishes them, that the Most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; and that a mere external worship, how diligently soever attended, when accompanied with wicked and idolatrous practices in the worshippers, would never be accepted by him. This their hypocrisy is set forth in strong colours, which brings the prophet again to the subject of the former chapter; and he pursues it in a different manner, with more express declarations of the new economy, and of the flourishing state of the church under it; the increase of which he shows is to be sudden and astonishing.
But to this man will I look But though I regard not the magnificence and splendour of a temple built with human hands, nor any ornaments that are or can be bestowed upon it, nor the pomp and show of the ceremonies and services performed in it, or connected with it; and though I reign on a throne in majesty in the highest heavens, and fill both heaven and earth with my glory, yet will I look with a favourable eye to him that hath a broken and contrite spirit Whose heart is subdued to the will of God, and who is poor and low in his own eyes; and that trembleth at my word Who trembles when he hears my threatening words, and receives every revelation of my will with reverence. Such a one is a living temple of God, (Isa 57:15,) and of infinitely more value in his sight than the most sumptuous edifice that can be raised by the art or power of man, though it should be adorned in the most costly manner with gold and silver, and precious stones.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Isa 66:1. The heaven is my throne. This chapter applies to Isaiahs time, as well as to future times; and though the Lord rejected the impure worship of the temple, yet he would dwell with the contrite and with the tremblers at his word. It seems from the connection to import, that God would forsake his sanctuary, and dwell with those who worship him in spirit and in truth.
Where is the house that ye build unto me? These words are spoken to designate the grandeur and immensity of the supreme Being; and by consequence, to shame and condemn the degenerate Jews, who joined the worship of God with their abominable idols.
Isa 66:2-3. To this man will I look, even to him that is poor and contrite. But if these dispositions be wanting, he who kills an ox is as offensive as he who slays a man. The heathen have said that the sacrifices of men are not acceptable to the gods, unless their lives be agreeable. The ox, a rich mans sacrifice, was rejected, while the poor mans tears were accepted.
Isa 66:6. A voice from the city, crying and bewailing its most calamitous situation, when surrounded by the Roman armies. This is followed by a voice from the temple; for voices were then heard in the holy place, saying, Let us go hence. Josephuss wars of the Jews, book 7. chap. 12.
Isa 66:8. Shall a nation be born at once? The prophet foresaw the sudden spread of the gospel, rising like the sun on the gentile world. We have equal ground of hope, that the conversion of the jews will be a spontaneous work, as life from the dead. See on Psalms 19. Isaiah 2.
Isa 66:15-16. The Lord will come with fireby fire and sword will he plead with all flesh. It is ridiculous to attempt an application of these words to the return from Babylon, or to Judas Maccabeus. No doubt they associate with the destruction of the last enemies of the church, as in chap. 63. Ezekiel 39. Revelation 19.
Isa 66:17. They sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens, behind one tree, or behind every one, or one after another. Every biblical critic seems dissatisfied with the numerous readings of the Versions. Emendations of the Hebrew seem also to be irrelevant. The learned Professor Michaelis, who has admirably relieved many texts, contends here that one tree is a mistake for Ahad or Adad, as appears from a passage in Iamblicus. Before all things that exist, says this Egyptian philosopher, and before the first origin of beings, there is but one God, , who continues in the solitude of his unity. Dr. William Stukeley, quoting as above, notes here, This only God they worshipped all over the east, under the name of Adad or AhadOne. Macrobius saturn, lib. 1:23. Euseb. Prp. Evang. 10:38. From this One, continues Iamblicus, that God, who is his own original, , kindled himself, . Wherefore he is also called his own Father, and his own origin; for he is the origin of beings, and the God of gods. One of One, before any thing existed, , and before the beginning of existence. For from him comes the possibility of being, and being itself, . Iamb. de Myst. gyp. 8:2.
The above, continues Dr. Stukeley, may be regarded as a fragment of the true patriarchal faith. The Egyptians believed that Ahad, or the true God, never approached his worshippers, without being attended with a train of inferior spirits, who were also to be worshipped with sacrifice and prayer. Iamb. 5:21. This then is the worship of Ahad in the midst of idols, or in their imaginary train of other spirits, against the worship of which idols or angels, Isaiah here denounces a curse.
Isa 66:19. I will send those that escapeto Tarshish, Pul, and Lud. That is, to Egypt, Ethiopia, or the countries of Africa, To Tubal, or Spain; and to Javan, or Greece. Jer 46:9. Ezekiel 35.
Isa 66:21. I will also take of them for priests. This the law of Moses did not allow; therefore in the christian church, only the converts made a royal priesthood, or kings and priests unto God. 1Pe 2:9. Rev 1:6. Isa 61:6.
Isa 66:23. From one new moon to another. There were mysteries in the levitical law not yet unfolded.
GENERAL REFLECTIONS
On the Glory of the Latter Day.
Glorious things are spoken of thee, oh city of God. Unto Jesus thy Messiah gave all the prophets witness, searching diligently what the Spirit did signify, which spake in them of the salvation which is come unto us. Thy towers shall rise, and thy glory shall shine forth, when the glory of the nations shall vanish away.
In the illustration of these prophecies, the rabbins who lived before our Redeemer appeared on earth, the new-testament writers, and the fathers of the primitive church, are all agreed in referring them to the Messiah. Hence while resting our faith on those unspeakable glories promised to the christian church, we have only to combat a few unprincipled critics, who either secretly or openly deny the Godhead and glory of Christ. They would fain restrict all those promises to the prosperity of the Jews after their return from Babylon, and absolutely expound the ministry of those holy men, as referring to wine and the good things of this life. Their system is however considerably embarrassed by the positive assurances, that Jerusalem should no more be defiled and trodden down of the heathen; that she should be the joy of the whole earth, and an eternal excellency. This long and most instructive dispersion of Israel by the Romans disconcerts their theory, and throws a gloom of embarrassment on plans secretly designed to destroy the credid of prophecy, and to rob the church of her hope.
As the prophecies of the Messiahs kingdom and glory lie scattered throughout the psalms, the prophets, and the new testament, and as the largest collection of them is found in the latter part of Isaiah, it is proper to review them here. They form a regular series; they rise in order, and terminate in the glory of a celestial day. The deity and humanity of Christ his descent in the line of Davidthe atonement for sinthe issuing forth of the gospel law from Jerusalemthe effusion of the Spirit, with all his graces and giftsare all most amply laid down in a grand scale of luminous predictions.
But it is the conversion of the gentiles to the faith and worship of Christ, as mentioned in a hundred places, to which our attention shall be first directed. During the dark ages of the church, we must confess that zeal has slumbered; but now heaven seems to have roused the energies of the faithful; and we have a more encouraging prospect than ever, that the kingdoms of the gentiles shall be converted to the Lord. It is only possible in this place barely to enumerate the extraordinary labours of Francis Xavier for ten years, on the coasts of Indostan; the success of Ricci, who laboured alone for eighteen years in China; and the success of the Jesuits in South America. A larger account may be seen in my Introduction to Christianity. But the whole protestant church seems now alive, and glowing with desire for the conversion of the heathen. The Moravians have done what they could in corners of the earth. Dr. Coke in the West-India mission, and Dr. Vanderkemp in Caffraria, discovered great perseverance, and were singularly owned with success, while younger men are completing their work.
The grand object of our hope is, the efforts made in London, and in India, to diffuse the holy scriptures in every language of the earth, so far as it is in the power of the societies established for that purpose. Dr. Buchanan, in his sermon on the Star in the East, informs us that there are editions of the new testament, and some of the old testament, circulating in fifteen languages of Indostan, of Tartary, and Cochin China; and that they are received with an avidity which cannot be described. These are most hopeful preparations for missionaries to follow, and rescue the poor heathens from the gross darkness of gentile superstition. The sacred volume is now circulated in almost two hundred languages and dialects.
It is of importance also to remark, that the political changes which have recently taken place in the earth, seem highly favourable to the enlargement of the Redeemers kingdom. The great Russian empire exhibits a very favourable appearance for the Greek church to spread the gospel in the east. That empire has extended itself to the Caspian sea, to the confines of China, and to the northern and eastern extremities of the continent. Including all variety of soil and climate, of vegetable and mineral productions, it has a vast commerse within itself. The way is therefore open for civilization, literature, and the gospel of peace, to go hand in hand through all the provinces of northern Asia.
The Mahomedan empire, so long the scourge of the church, is now crumbling to pieces, and likely to be divided by christian powers. Many of the pachas, by asserting their independence, have so enfeebled the body, that it cannot move its enormous limbs. The fall of this empire will have a happy tendency to emancipate the long captive church, and the diffusion of knowledge, to raise it above superstition, that the candlestick may once more give light to the oriental world.
The commercial and colonial influence of the European nations, which annually encreases, is another inviting circumstance to send missionaries to the heathen. The way is as open as we could reasonably expect it, and the work is opposed by none of the sovereigns of Europe. The colonies enrich us with their best productions; and if we make no efforts to impart to them the true riches, we shall be altogether inexcusable in the sight of God, and prove to the infidel at home that we do not believe the religion we profess.
It is true that soberminded christians would not wish to go before the Lord, but like prompt and faithful servants, they would acquiesce in the intimations of his will. It is quite evident, not only from the preseding considerations of the favourable state of the world for this work, but from the apparent accomplishment of several prophecies, that this is really the time for the enlargement of Christs kingdom. The two thousand three hundred days, that is years of Daniel, for the God of heaven to cleanse the sanctuary, are expired, or nearly so. Dan 8:13-14. Likewise, the fall of the tenth part of the city by a great earthquake, and the slaughter of the seven thousand men, seem to have been strikingly accomplished by the French revolution. Their bidding defiance to the powers of the Pontificate was sudden and unexpected as an earthquake, and attended with the slaughter of more than a million of men. The aggrandisements of this empire are declarations to the world, that the temporal powers of the pope exist no more. There are now no disputes about the doctrine of the two swords. The reformed churches have uniformly considered this empire as that tenth part of the city, and it is sufficiently evident they were not mistaken, for none of the protestant nations were agitated with such great political commotions. This great empire, situate in the centre of the catholic community, having abolished all persecution for religious sentiments, having annihilated the tyrannical parts of the papal power, and exposed relics, images, and every priestly artifice, to the utmost degradation and contempt, must thereby have applained the way for the total destruction of idolatry, and afforded a favourable moment for christianity in France, Italy, and Spain, to assume her primitive character of purity and love. It fully appears that the Roman catholic communion shall ultimately be purified from idolatry and superstition.
We proceed to illustrate two more prophecies, which seem farther to indicate, that this is the time for the universal spread of the gospel. The Son of man shall send his angels, (or ministers) with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. Mat 24:31. I saw an angel, says John, fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation and kindred, tongue and people, saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory unto him; for the hour of his judgment is come. And worship him that made heaven and earth, the sea and the fountains of water. And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen. Rev 14:6-8. From these and other corresponding passages, we derive information of a very important and consolatory nature.
(1) That the gospel shall he preached in every nation and language.
(2) That it shall be preached amidst the four winds, or commotions and wars which shall agitate the whole world.
(3) That the holy angels shall superintend the missions, and influence the pagans to renounce their idols, and to worship Him who made the heavens and the earth.
The ways and means by which religion shall be revived at home and propagated abroad, are also predicted. The Spirit of life from God shall enter into his two faithful witnesses, and they shall be exalted to heaven in presence of their enemies. Rev 11:1-12. They are called Gods two witnesses, because that number is competent for evidence in courts of justice; but they comprehend the great cloud and succession of witnesses who have prophesied in sackcloth during the ages of antichrist. They have been massacred in every country of Europe, and their dead bodies treated with horrible indignities. The extermination of heretics has been celebrated by jubilees at Rome, and by great rejoicings amongst the papal princes. Their situation however shall be completely reversed. After three days and a half, that is, about the expiration of the twelve hundred and sixty years, the Lord shall raise up abundance of ministers in the spirit of the holy martyrs; and they shall be exalted to heaven, or exceedingly honoured for their wisdom, piety, and labours. From ministers so peculiarly endowed with the spirit of faith and love, we may expect a success in the propagation of the gospel, correspondent to the prophecies concerning the latter-day glory of the church. The work at first will of course be arduous and slow, but having once obtained the handful of corn, it will multiply to an abundant harvest. Psa 72:16.
The missionaries will not have proceeded far with their work among the heathen, before God will afford his church extraordinary consolation and aid by the call and conversion of the Jews; or as Dr. Thomas Burner thinks, a remnant of the Jews. All their hopes are founded upon prophecy, and from prophecy alone will they receive conviction. Whenever they have a prospect that the gentile world will receive the faith of Christ, they will perceive that providence is about to establish the christian expositions of those prophecies, and to refute the expositions of their rabbins. In evidence so divine and strong they cannot but acquiesce, and be ashamed to be the last to do homage to their king. Hitherto this work has been obstructed by the immorality of the christian world. But being wearied, on the one hand, with their misguided expectations of a temporal Messiah, and perceiving on the other, the success of the gospel among the heathen, their ancient prejudices will vanish. The veil which is upon their hearts, when Moses and the prophets are read, shall be taken away. They will see their scriptures full of this important truth, that the Messiah was to be cut off, and his soul made an offering for sin, before he was to see his seed, to prolong his days, and before the pleasure of the Lord was to prosper in his hand: chap. 53. Thus Jews and Gentiles shall be joined in one: Isaiah 54:55.
The dispersion of the Jews, and their preservation as a distinct people, exhibit a grand and instructive scheme of providence. According to the prediction of Moses they are scattered on the face of the whole earth, from under one end of heaven to the other. Deu 28:64. They have rejected the Prophet of whom he spake, and therefore the Lord hath cut them off from the land which he gave to their fathers. They demonstrate, among all nations, the sad consequences of making light of the gospel and rejecting the Messiah. But the judgments of God have mercy for their object. The tedious winter shall be succeeded by a reviving spring. If they abide not still in unbelief, God is able to graft them in again. Blindness in part has happened to Israel, until the fulness of the gentiles is come in: and so all Israel shall be saved in the day of the Lord. Rom 11:25-26.
From the manner in which God has preserved his ancient people, we cannot but think that he designs them to contribute their share in the establishment of his kingdom of righteousness. Resident or wandering among all commercial nations, and perfectly acquainted with their habits, religions and languages, they want only the residue of the Spirit,
Mal 2:15, to constitute them an army of missionaries. Their situation too is peculiarly happy for promoting the conversion of many nations on the shores of Asia and Africa. When that is the case, Ethiopia, the country of black people, shall soon stretch out her hands unto God. Psa 68:31. Of this we may be confident, that whenever it shall please the Almighty to pour out his Spirit upon his servants and handmaidens, their sermons will not be lukewarm, but animating and powerful, like those of St. Paul. The whole christian church will be revived by the work, and filled with acclamations of joy and thanksgiving. If the casting away of Israel were the reconciling of the world, by the conversion of the gentiles, what shall the receiving of them be but life from the dead? Rom 11:15.
The difficulties of the work are assuredly very great, but not too great for Omnipotence. Having begun a divine work in the earth, he will not leave it unfinished, but will carry it on to the day of Christ. The age of righteousness shall succeed the ages of wickedness. His work shall be revived, and his gospel propagated with a power which shall bid defiance to the sneers of infidelity, and the wide influence of hoary idolatry. Every valley shall be exalted, every mountain and hill shall he made low; the crooked places shall be made straight, and the rough places plain; and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. Isa 40:4-5. All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the Lord, and all the kindred of the nations shall worship before thee. For the kingdom is the Lords, and he is the governor among the nations. Psa 22:27-28. The creature itself, made subject to the vanity of idols, shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. Surely those engaged in the divine work cannot want support for their faith.
But reason also, detached from revelation, affords now a brighter prospect than it afforded at any former period, that the religion of Jesus shall become the religion of the whole world. It is so benevolent in principle, so simple and sublime in its worship, so glorious in its expectations, and so well adapted to the present state of man, as to harmonize every moral difficulty, to captivate every candid enquirer, and to confound every system of error and idolatry. Indeed, if we except the apostate ages of the church, nothing as yet ever could resist effectively its beauty and force. It brought destruction on the Jews, by their wilful blindness; it captivated the enlightened Greeks; it softened the ferocious Romans, and converted the barbarous nations who once inhabited the north of Europe.Among the polished Chinese, it carried all before it, until the idolaters opposed its progress by the sword. Hence, from past experience, and from the success of present feeble essays, little doubt can be entertained, if a well-conducted mission was established in every pagan nation, the time would fast approach, when the kingdoms of this world would become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ. But let us rejoice with trembling; for in that eventful day, God will awfully punish the unbelieving world. There is scarcely a text which speaks of the kingdom of Christ, but it either expresses or implies the destruction of the powers and states who resist the progress of the gospel. When he shall take the heathen for his inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession, he will destroy his enemies, as a potters vessel is broken with a rod of iron. Psalms 2. The nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish; yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted. Isa 60:12.
It is apparent from several of the prophets, but we must not speak with confidence, that the Jews, when partially returned to their own land, shall be assailed with trouble. Their riches, commerce and prosperity, may excite the envy and avarice of the unbelievers, and the defenceless state of the country embolden their passion for military enterprizes. This will probably be the eventful moment, when the lying spirit shall go forth out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet, to the mahomedan kings of the earth, and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. Rev 16:13-14. The ostensible plea for this allied invasion of Judea may be, (for those who engage in war are careful to justify themselves) that the aggrandisement and prosperity of the Jewish Theocracy threaten to subvert their kingdoms, and monopolize their commerce. Be that as it may, these hardened princes shall combine, and enter the holy land with vast multitudes of their ungodly hosts, and exceedingly alarm and terrify the Jews. In that day there shall be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadad-rimmon in the valley of Megiddon; and the land shall mourn, every family apart. And they shall look on him whom they have pierced. Zechariah 12. Their expectations of deliverance shall be in the crucified Messiah; and by some manifestation of himself he will come and deliver them. In that day shall the Lord defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and he that is feeble among them shall be as David. Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judea and against Jerusalem. All that burden themselves with it shall be cut to pieces, though all the people of the earth were gathered against it. Zec 12:2; Zec 12:8. Ezekiel, in his views of this awful destruction of the infidel world, seems to have been more favoured than any of the ancient prophets. In the thirty eighth and thirty ninth chapters, we are informed at large, that the allied hosts of Gog and Magog shall assemble from Persia, Ethiopia, and the countries which surround Judea; that taking advantage of the unfortified state of the country, they shall combine to ravage it; that the Lord shall destroy them with hail and flames of fire, leaving but a sixth part to escape, and that the burying of their dead bodies shall continue seven months. Eze 39:11-12. Rev 20:8-9.
The most sublime description of Christs coming to destroy those who will not have him to reign over them, is found in the nineteenth chapter of the Revelation. I saw heaven opened, says John, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called faithful and true, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and be had a name written that no man knew but himself; and he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of God. The armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean; and out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations. He shall rule them with a rod of iron, and shall tread the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come, gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God; that ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men; and the flesh of horses, and the flesh of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both bond and free, both small and great.And I saw the BEAST, and the kings of the earth, gathered together to make war against Him that sat on the horse, and against his army. And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone; and the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat on the horse, and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.
This extraordinary passage cannot refer to the day of judgment. In no sense will the fowls then feast on the wicked. It speaks unquestionably of that day in which he will come to destroy the enemies of truth and righteousness, and to establish his kingdom in all the earth. It is highly probable that it solely refers to the last efforts of mahomedanism to oppose the spiritual reign of Christ. John having described the rise of that empire in chapter the ninth, it was proper he should also describe its destruction. Mahomedanism in the east, and the Pontificate in the west, have both been considered as antichrist, and the scourge of God to the apostate church. The former seems to be denominated the false prophet, and the latter the beast. But others are of opinion that the beast signifies the temporal powers, and the false prophet the spiritual errors of Mahomeds antichristian empire.
The succession of great and good men, who have distinguished themselves in the cause of christianity, have generally agreed that the age of righteousness shall succeed that of wickedness. Barnabas affirms, that after six thousand years, the Lord will introduce the sabbatical millennium of righteousness and peace. He assures us that the six days employed in the creation are typical of the six thousand years of labour and sorrow which should afflict mankind; and that the seventh day is expressive of the repose which God will grant his church in the latter day. Hermas, who is mentioned by St. Paul, intimates that God will purify his church from all hypocrisy and vice, and that he will unite the hearts of all men in faith and charity. But the testimony of Papias, the disciple of St. John, conferred the greatest sanction on the doctrine of the millennium, because it was supposed that he best understood the mind of his master on this subject. After these, Justin Martyr, Tertullian, Irenus, Nepos, Origen, Victorinus, Lactantius, and Sulpicius Severus, have borne their testimony to this consolatory doctrine.
It is however presumed, that as these holy and venerable fathers were mistaken in some circumstances respecting the antichrist, they are mistaken also with respect to the personal reign of Christ on earth, for a thousand years, previously to the general resurrection. This notion placed the doctrine of the millennium quite too high. It has given great offence to learned men, and induced them to explain the prophecies concerning it in a very absurd and childish manner. It is plain enough, from several passages in Isaiah, that mankind will always be born in sin, and have need of regeneration; that human life will ever be attended with labour and sorrow, and that sin and death will not be entirely abolished during the age of righteousness. Hence we may fairly conclude, that a world in which these evils are not removed, cannot be the residence of the Lord of life and glory for a thousand years.
On this subject, further notice of the opinions of the primitive fathers is not immediately requisite, since they very judiciously express themselves, for the most part, in the language of the sacred scriptures. In this we shall endeavour to imitate them, and class the predicted blessings under proper heads. May the Almighty, in great condescension, grant us the wisdom and comfort which these exalted and glorious predictions are calculated to inspire! There is no doubt but that the evidences of revelation shall be renewed in such a way as to be pleasing to the Redeemer, and proper for the church.
The happy age before us, which has been so long the cheering theme of prophecy, and the support of the church in all her struggles with the pagan and the papal beast, shall be ushered in by a personal, though transient, manifestation of the Son of God. Behold, says John, he cometh with clouds, and every eye shall see him; they also who have pierced him shall wail because of him. Rev 1:7. This passage has an evident allusion to the twelfth chapter of Zechariah: and they shall look on him whom they have pierced. Hence it is the more proper to apply it to the manifestation of the Son of God at this eventful period. Whom the heavens, says Peter, must receive until the times of the restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began. Act 3:21. Then shall the Lord go forth and fight against those infidel nations, as when he fought for Joshua in the day of battle. And his feet shall stand in that day on the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof towards the east, and towards the west, and there shall be a great valley; and half the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south. And the Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with thee. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the light shall not be clear nor dark. But it shall be one day which shall be known to the Lord, not day nor night; but it shall come to pass at evening time it shall be light. Zec 14:4-8. Those who apply this passage to the darkness at our Saviours crucifixion, assume a liberty not permitted to the Evangelists; and they forget that he did not then slaughter his enemies, and rend the mountain with his feet.
The glorious manifestation of the Son of God shall, at the same instant, be accompanied with happy events, both in the kingdom of nature and of grace. The bodies of all the holy martyrs, who during the pagan and antichristian persecutions, were beheaded for the witness of Jesus and for the word of God, shall be raised up from the dead. Their useful lives were shortened on earth, and therefore God shall honour them with an earlier resurrection; and it seems, with an angelic ministry in his kingdom: they shall live and reign with Christ a thousand years. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. Rev 20:4-6. Where this reign of Christ and the holy martyrs shall be, we are not permitted to know: it is said only, I saw thrones, and they sat upon them. It is also said by the twenty four elders, Thou hast made us unto our God kings and priests, and we shall reign on the earth. Rev 5:10. Our Lord said that the children of the resurrection are equal to the angels; and St. Paul has distinguished their offices by the dignified appellatives of thrones, dominions, principalities, and powers. It is therefore not improbable but the holy martyrs will be raised to an angelic ministry in the kingdom of heaven, and to superintend the church in all that glorious prosperity which they so often prayed for and desired while on earth. The Lord will create upon every dwellingplace of mount Zion, and upon her assemblies a cloud and a smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night: for upon all the glory shall be a defence. Isa 4:5. Should this application of these prophecies be admitted, it by no means follows, that those who sit on the thrones, and the reigning martyrs, will visibly converse with mortals; therefore, all the objections which have been made against their reigning with Christ on earth fall to the ground. This is a moderate opinion, and was embraced by the learned Lactantius.
To the victory of our Lord over the infidel world, shall immediately succeed the binding and imprisonment of Satan in the bottomless pit for a thousand years. After that, he must be loosed for a little season. Rev 20:3. How glorious will be the state of the church, and flourishing the work of grace upon the soul, when the host of demons are chased away from this lower region, and their places supplied with the holy martyrs; when we shall have every spiritual aid, and no spiritual obstruction.
The manifestation of our Lord is also represented as attended with a great and mighty earthquake. Zec 14:5. This, with other changes which will then take place in the kingdom of nature, may produce the most benignant effects on the elements, and on the fertility of the earth. The barrenness of the ground, and the obstructions to husbandry, were designed to punish and restrain the wickedness of the nations; and when the wickedness shall be diminished, we have a moral certainty, that the righteous God will proportionably diminish the difficulties of agriculture. The holy scriptures put this beyond a doubt, and assure us that the produce of the earth shall then exceed all possible calculation. So luxuriant shall be the harvest, that it shall continue till the vintage, and the vintage shall continue till the seedtime. The mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk. The rivers of Judah shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall come out of the house of the Lord, and shall water the valley of Shittim. Joe 3:18. Then shall the earth yield its encrease, and God, even our own God, shall bless us. Psa 67:6.
The encrease of population shall correspond with the abundance of vegetation, and with the agricultural industry of the husbandman. A little one shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong nation. They of the city shall flourish and multiply like grass, and the strangers that dwell among them shall be as the dust of the earth. The city is to be greatly enlarged, from the tower of Hananeel to the gate of the corner, and the measuring line is to go forth to the hill Gareb, and compass about unto Goath. All the waste and desolate places shall be inhabited, and the holy land enlarged to the original extent promised to Abraham, and far beyond what the tribes of Israel formerly possessed, for the accommodation of its numerous inhabitants. Gen 15:18-21. Eze 47:13-21. Disease and death are no longer to prevail as they have done, since the day of provocation in the wilderness; the voice of weeping shall no more be heard, nor the voice of crying. Human life shall be extended to the age of the patriarchs, and peace and joy shall be the portion of Gods people. Isa 65:17-25.
Great and inestimable are the blessings already enumerated, but they are very inconsiderable, if compared with the graces and talents which God shall communicate to the saints, and with the unction of the Spirit which shall rest on all religious assemblies. The pentecost will then extend to all the earth, and every nation exhibit primitive christianity, arrived at a vigorous maturity. The superabundance of knowledge, graces and gifts, will in some sort constitute the whole church a royal priesthood to the Lord. They shall all be righteous; and they shall no more teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord; for they shall all know him from the least to the greatest. The earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. The public worship of that age will have a striking resemblance of heaven, and the immense congregations be overshadowed with the divine presence. All hardness and obduracy shall be removed from the mind, all iniquity forgiven; and the laws of Christ shall be written on every heart. His glory shall enter the holy temple in Judea by the east gate, and dwell on the mercyseat. He will make the place of his feet glorious in the midst of them, and he will beautify the house of his glory. His dominion also shall be from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth. The kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High; whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him. Amen.
Fuente: Sutcliffe’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Isaiah 66. Here divisions are hard to define. The themethe coming punishment of the apostates and the coming glory of the piousis pursued now on one side, now on the other.
Isa 66:1-4. An Attack on the Projectors of a Rival Temple.Those Jews who refused to accept the reformed religion apparently proposed to set up a rival temple. Yahweh scornfully demands of them in what manner of building they would house Him, whose habitation is the universe. These thingsa temple and a resting-placeHe has already made for Himself, on Zion; for despite His loftiness He ever considers the humble and obedient worshipper. As for these rebels who combine forbidden with legitimate rites, such as human sacrifice, the sacrifice of a dog without effusion of blood, the sacrificial use of swines blood, and honouring of images, just as they choose their own perverse ways so will He choose to make them the sport of fate and bring upon them the things they dread. For, refusing to hearken to His commandments, they deliberately defied Him.
Isa 66:2. but: Heb. simply and.
Isa 66:3. is as he that: Heb. literally, He that killeth an ox, he that killeth a man and similarly. The same man practises both the recognised and the illicit rite.
Isa 66:4. delusions: a rare word, meaning possibly wanton blows of fortune.
Isa 66:5-11. The Imminent Satisfaction of the Hopes of the Pious.On the other hand, those for whom Yahwehs word is law, to whom the opponents of reform have mockingly said, Let Yahweh glorify Himself (so LXX) in accordance with your confident hopes, that we may see you happy! are comforted by the assurance that He will bring these mockers to shame. He will roar from His Temple (cf. Amo 1:2) as He comes forth to punish His enemies. Zion, to the amazement of the nations, shall become so suddenly populous with throngs of returning exiles that she is likened to a woman who ere the birthpains have begun brings forth a son. Having brought His purposes near to accomplishment, Yahweh will certainly complete them. He bids Jerusalem rejoice, and those who have been constant in her ills be joyous in her joy, deriving from her joy to the full.
Isa 66:8. land: probably the people of a has fallen out before this word.
Isa 66:10. Rejoice ye with: read with LXX rejoice thou.
Isa 66:12-18 a. The Future Felicity of the Pious Contrasted with the Impending Doom of their Opponents.Yahweh promises that He will divert to Zion prosperity (peace) like an overflowing stream; and the wealth of the nations shall pour into her like a torrent. Her children shall be so comforted by Him that they are compared to an infant carried on the side (cf. Isa 60:4) and fondly consoled by a mother. In their experience of Yahwehs grace they shall rejoice, and their bodies shall be full of life like the new grass after the early rains. But while Yahwehs grace (so emend hand, Isa 66:14) shall be manifested to His servants, His enemies shall feel His wrath. He will come like (so some MSS and LXX) fire, the storm-cloud His chariot (cf. Psa 18:10) scorching His foes with His hot indignation. With fire and sword He will enter into judgement with all men. As for those who cling to the old superstitious cultus, purifying themselves for the worship not of the Temple but of the groves, where they follow the actions of one in the midstprobably a leader of the ceremonies, cf. Eze 8:11and eat in mystic meaJs food regarded by the Law as unclean, their works and thoughts shall perish together.
Isa 66:12. and ye shall suck; ye: read, and your children (LXX).
Isa 66:17. abomination: read, swarming creatures.
Isa 66:18. Transfer the first clause to Isa 66:17, rendering their works and their thoughts shall come, etc.
Isa 66:18 b Isa 66:22. Yahweh will Gather to Zion her Dispersed Sons, and She shall Abide for Ever.Yahweh will assemble all nations before Jerusalem, and manifest His majesty in punishment; the survivors He will send into the furthest regions to testify of what they have seen. These furthest nationsevidently the all of Isa 66:18 is not to be taken literallyshall bring all the dispersed Jews back to Jerusalem, tenderly and reverently as a Jew would bring an offering to Yahweh. Yahweh will take some from the returned exiles to be Levite-priests. The nation shall be eternal, like the new earth and heavens which Yahweh will make.
Isa 66:18. If all are gathered, who are the nations of Isa 66:19? Many would delete all. But possibly the writer was not strictly logical.
Isa 66:19. unto the nations . . . Javan: a gloss explaining the far lands. In any case for Pul read Put (LXX); cf. Jer 46:9, Eze 27:10 f., and for that draw the bow, read (cf. LXX) Meshech and Rosh, cf. Eze 38:2.Javan = the Ionians.
Isa 66:21. priests and for Levites: the and is inserted by the translators, the for probably due to accidental repetition of a consonant in Heb.; read Levitical priests. The point is important, as it would date the passage before the sharp distinction made in the Priestly Legislation between priests and Levites.
Isa 66:23 f. A Late Appendix.The triumphant note upon which the book ends is sadly marred by this late addition, which pictures the Jewsall flesh can hardly here be of wider applicationcoming each new moon and Sabbath to worship in the Temple, and regarding with abhorrence the dead bodies of the apostates in the Valley of Hinnom (Gehenna Mar 9:43*). But the picture is not to be taken too literally, for the fantastic elements of the ever-gnawing worm and the undying fire cannot be reduced within the limits of experience. The addition is not much older than the second century B.C.
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
66:1 Thus saith the LORD, The {a} heaven [is] my throne, and the earth [is] my footstool: where [is] the house that ye build to me? and where [is] the place of my rest?
(a) My majesty is so great, that it fills both heaven and earth, and therefore cannot be included in a temple like an idol, condemning by this their main confidence which trusted in the temple and sacrifices.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Humility rather than sacrifice 66:1-6
This section introduces judgment into the mood of hope that pervades this section describing Israel’s glorious future (Isa 65:17 to Isa 66:24). Oppressors of the godly remnant will not prosper, nor will those who depend on externals for their relationship to God.
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Yahweh reminded His people that He is sovereign over His universe (cf. Isa 65:17). They should not assign too much importance to the temple and its service, since they built the temple for God (cf. 2Sa 7:4-14; 1Ki 8:27; Psa 11:4; Psa 103:19; Jer 7:12-14; Jer 23:24; Mat 5:34-35). It was a symbol of Him. They should consider more important that He had created all things Himself (cf. Act 7:48-50). It is people who are not self-assertive or preoccupied with their own rights, but rather who delight in the Lord’s Word, that He favors (cf. Exo 20:18-21; Luk 18:9-14; Luk 23:39-43).
"If cult is performed to curry favor with God, to satisfy God’s supposed needs, and thereby get something for ourselves from him, we should shut the doors of the temple at once and abandon the whole thing. But if our attitude in worship is the opposite of such arrogance as to think we can do something for God, and is instead the humble recognition that we can do nothing either for or to him (afflicted), the awareness that we deserve nothing but destruction from him (broken in spirit), and the desire to do nothing other than what he commands (trembles at my word), then the expression of such a spirit through the medium of ritual and symbolic worship is entirely pleasing to God." [Note: Oswalt, The Book . . . 40-66, p. 667.]
"The Lord’s priority is the individual who has a trembling reverence for his word." [Note: Motyer, p. 532. Cf. Ortlund, p. 449.]
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
CHAPTER XXV
A LAST INTERCESSION AND THE JUDGMENT
Isa 63:7 through Isa 66:1-24
WE might well have thought, that with the section we have been considering the prophecy of Israels Redemption had reached its summit and its end. The glory of Zion in sight, the full programme of prophecy owned, the arrival of the Divine Saviour hailed in the urgency of His feeling for His people, in the sufficiency of His might to save them, -what more, we ask, can the prophecy have to give us? Why does it not end upon these high notes? The answer is, the salvation is indeed consummate, but the people are not ready for it. On an earlier occasion, let us remember, when our prophet called the nation to their Service of God, he called at first the whole nation, but had then immediately to make a distinction. Seen in the light of their destiny, the mass of Israel proved to be unworthy; tried by its strain, part immediately fell away. But what happened upon that call to Service happens again upon this disclosure of Salvation. The prophet realises that it is only a part of Israel who are worthy of it. He feels again the weight, which has been the hindrance of his hope all through, -the weight of the mass of the nation, sunk in idolatry and wickedness, incapable of appreciating the promises. He will make one more effort to save them-to save them all. He does this in an intercessory prayer, Isa 63:7 through Isa 64:1-12, in which he states the most hopeless aspects of his peoples case, identifies himself with their sin, and yet pleads by the ancient power of God that we all may be saved. He gets his answer in chapter 65, in which God sharply divides Israel into two classes, the faithful and the idolaters, and affirms that, while the nation shall be saved for the sake of the faithful remnant, Jehovahs faithful servants and the unfaithful can never share the same experience or the same fate. And then the book closes with a discourse in chapter 66, in which this division between the two classes in Israel is pursued to a last terrible emphasis and contrast upon the narrow stage of Jerusalem itself. We are left, not with the realisation of the prophets prayer for the salvation of all the nations, but with a last judgment separating its godly and ungodly portions.
Thus there are three connected divisions in Isa 63:7 through Isa 66:1-24. First, the prophets Intercessory Prayer, Isa 63:7 through Isa 64:1-12; second, the Answer of Jehovah, chapter 65; and third, the Final Discourse and Judgment, chapter 66.
I. THE PRAYER FOR THE WHOLE PEOPLE
(Isa 63:7 through Isa 64:1-12)
There is a good deal of discussion as to both the date and the authorship of this piece, was to whether it comes from the early or the late Exile, and as to whether it comes from our prophet or from another. It must have been written after the destruction and before the rebuilding of the Temple; this is put past all doubt by these verses: “Thy holy people possessed it but a little while: our adversaries have trodden down Thy sanctuary.” “Thy holy cities are become a wilderness, Zion has become a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation. The house of our holiness and of our ornament, wherein our fathers praised Thee, is become for a burning of fire, and all our delights are for ruin.”
This language has been held to imply that the disaster to Jerusalem was recent, as if the citys conflagration still flared on the national imagination, which in later years of the Exile was impressed rather by the long cold ruins of the Holy Place, the haunt of wild beasts. But not only is this point inconclusive, but the impression that it leaves is entirely dispelled by other verses, which speak of the Divine anger as having been of long continuance, and as if it had only hardened the people in sin; compare Isa 63:17; Isa 64:6-7. There is nothing in the prayer to show that the author lived in exile, and accordingly the proposal has been made to date the piece from among the first attempts at rebuilding after the Return. To the present expositor this seems to be certainly wrong. The man who wrote Isa 63:11-15 had surely the Return still before him; he would not have written in the way he has done of the Exodus from Egypt unless he had been feeling the need of another exhibition of Divine Power of the same kind. The prayer, therefore, must come from pretty much the same date as the rest of our prophecy, -after the Exile had long continued, but while the Return had not yet taken place. Nor is there any reason against attributing it to the same writer. It is true the style differs from the rest of his work, but this may be accounted for, as in the case of chapter 53, by the change of subject. Most critics, who hold that we still follow the same author, take for granted that some time has elapsed since the prophets triumphant strains in chapter 60-62. This is probable; but there is nothing to make it certain. What is certain is the change of mood and conscience. The prophet, who in chapter 60 had been caught away into the glorious future of the people, is here as utterly absorbed in their barren and doubtful present. Although the salvation is certain, as he has seen it, the people are not ready. The fact he has already felt so keenly about them, -see Isa 42:24-25, -that their long discipline in exile has done the mass of them no good, but evil, comes forcibly back upon him. {Isa 64:5 b ff.} “Thou wast angry, and we sinned” only the more: “in such a state we have been long, and shall we be saved!” The banished people are thoroughly unclean and rotten, fading as a leaf, the sport of the wind. But the prophet identifies himself with them. He speaks of their sin as ours, of their misery as ours. He takes of them the very saddest view possible, he feels them all as sheer dead weight: “there is none that calleth on Thy name, that stirreth himself up to take hold on Thee: for Thou hast hid Thy face from us, and delivered us into the power of our iniquities.” But the prophet thus loads himself with the people in order to secure, if he can. their redemption as a whole. Twice he says in the name of them all, “Doubtless Thou art our Father.” His great heart will not have one of them left out; “we all,” he says, “are the work of Thy hand, we are all Thy people.”
But this intention of the prayer will amply account for any change of style we may perceive in the language. No one will deny that it is quite possible for the same man now to fling himself forward into the glorious vision of his peoples future salvation, and again to identify himself with the most hopeless aspects of their present distress and sin; and no one will deny that the same man will certainly write in two different styles with regard to each of these different feelings. Besides which, we have seen in the passage the recurrence of some of our prophecys most characteristic thoughts. We feel, therefore, no reason for counting the passage to be by another hand than that which has mainly written “Second Isaiah.” It may be at once admitted that he has incorporated in it earlier phrases, reminiscences, and echoes of language about the fall of Jerusalem in use when the Lamentations were written. But this was a natural thing for him to do in a prayer in which he represented the whole people and took upon himself the full burden of their woes.
If such be the intention of Isa 63:7 through Isa 64:1-12, then in them we have one of the noblest passages of our prophets great work. How like he is to the Servant he pictured for us! How his great heart fulfils the loftiest ideal of Service: not only to be the prophet and the judge of his people, but to make himself one with them in all their sin and sorrow, to carry them all in his heart. Truly, as his last words said of the Servant, he himself “bears the sin of many, and interposes for the transgressors.” Before we see the answer he gets, let us make clear some obscure things and appreciate some beautiful ones in his prayer.
It opens with a recital of Jehovahs ancient lovingkindness and mercies to Israel. This is what perhaps gives it connection with the previous section. In chapter 62 the prophet, though sure of the coming glory, wrote before it had come, and “urged” upon “the Lords remembrancers to keep no silence, and give Him no silence till He establish and till He make Jerusalem a praise in the earth.” This work of remembrancing, the prophet himself takes up in Isa 63:7 : “The lovingkindnesses of Jehovah I will record,” literally, “cause to be remembered, the praises of Jehovah, according to all that Jehovah hath bestowed upon us.” And then he beautifully puts all the beginnings of Gods dealings with His people in His trusting of them: “For He said, Surely they are My people, children that will not deal falsely; so He became their Saviour. In all their affliction He was afflicted, the Angel of His Face saved them.” This must be understood, not as an angel of the Presence, who went out from the Presence to save the people, but, as it is in other Scriptures, Gods own Presence, God Himself; and so interpreted, the phrase falls into line with the rest of the verse, which is one of the most vivid expressions that the Bible contains of the personality of God. “In His love and in His pity He redeemed them, and bare them, and carried them all the days of old.” Then he tells us how they disappointed and betrayed this trust, ever since the Exodus, the days of old. “But they rebelled and grieved the Spirit of His holiness: therefore He was turned to be their enemy, He Himself fought against them.” This refers to their history down to, and especially during, the Exile: compare Isa 42:24-25. Then in their affliction they “remembered the days of old”-the English version obscures the sequence here by translating he remembered- and then follows the glorious account of the Exodus. In Isa 63:13 the wilderness is, of course, prairie, flat pasture-land; they were led as smoothly as “a horse in a meadow, that they stumbled not. As cattle that come down into the valley”-cattle coming down from the hillside to pasture and rest on the green, watered plains-“the Spirit of Jehovah caused them to rest: so didst Thou lead Thy people to make Thyself a glorious name.” And then having offered such precedents, the prophets prayer breaks forth to a God, whom His people fed no longer at their head, but far withdrawn into heaven: “Look down from heaven, and behold from the habitation of Thy holiness and Thy glory: where is Thy zeal and Thy mighty deeds? the surge of Thy bowels and Thy compassions are restrained towards me.” Then he pleads Gods fatherhood to the nation, and the rest of the prayer alternates between the hopeless misery and undeserving sin of the people, and, notwithstanding, the power of God to save as He did in times of old; the willingness of God to meet with those who wait for Him and remember Him; and, once more, His fatherhood, and His power over them, as the power of the potter over the clay.
Two points stand out from the rest. The Divine Trust, from which all Gods dealing with His people is said to have started, and the Divine Fatherhood, which the prophet pleads.
“He said, Surely they are My people, children that will not deal falsely: so He was their Saviour.” The “surely” is not the fiat of sovereignty or foreknowledge: it is the hope and confidence of love. It did not prevail; it was disappointed.
This is, of course, a profound acknowledgment of mans free will. It is implied that mens conduct must remain an uncertain thing, and that in calling men God cannot adventure upon greater certainty than is implied in the trust of affection. If one asks, What, then, about Gods foreknowledge, who alone knoweth the end of a thing from the beginning, and His sovereign grace, who chooseth whom He will? are you not logically bound to these?-then it can only be asked in return, Is it not better to be without logic for a little, if at the expense of it we obtain so true, so deep a glimpse into Gods heart as this simple verse affords us? Which is better for us to know-that God is Wisdom which knows all, or Love that dares and ventures all? Surely, that God is Love which dares and ventures all with the worst, with the most hopeless of us. This is what makes this single verse of Scripture more powerful to move the heart than all creeds and catechisms. For where these speak of sovereign will, and often mock our affections with the bare and heavy (if legitimate) sceptre they sway, this calls forth our love, honour, and obedience by the heart it betrays in God. Of what unsuspicious trust, of what chivalrous adventure of love, of what fatherly confidence, does it speak! What a religion is this of ours in the power of which a man may every morning rise and feel himself thrilled by the thought that God trusts him enough to work with His will for the day; in the power of which a man may look round and see the sordid, hopeless human life about him glorified by the truth that for the salvation of such God did adventure Himself in a love that laid itself down in death. The attraction and power of such a religion can never die. Requiring no painful thought to argue it into reality, it leaps to light before the natural affection of mans heart; it takes his instincts immediately captive; it gives him a conscience, an honour, and an obligation. No wonder that our prophet, having such a belief, should once more identify himself with the people, and adventure himself with the weight of their sin before God.
The other point of the prayer is the Fatherhood of God, concerning which all that is needful to say here is that the prophet, true to the rest of Old Testament teaching on the subject, applies it only to Gods relation to the nation as a whole. In the Old Testament no one is called the son of God except Israel as a people, or some individual representative and head of Israel. And even of such the term was seldom employed. This was not because the Hebrew was without temptation to imagine his physical descent from the gods, for neighbouring nations indulged in such dreams for themselves and their heroes; nor because he was without appreciation of the intellectual kinship between the human and the Divine, for he knew that in the beginning God had said, “Let us make man in our own image.” But the same feeling prevailed with him in regard to this idea, as we have seen prevailed in regard to the kindred idea of God as the husband of His people. The prophets were anxious to emphasise that it was a moral relation, -a moral relation, and one initiated from Gods side by certain historical acts of His free, selecting, redeeming, and adopting love. Israel was not Gods son till God had evidently called and redeemed him. Look at how our prophet uses the word Father, and to what he makes it equivalent. The first time it is equivalent to Redeemer: “Thou, O Lord, art our Father; our Redeemer from old is Thy name”. {Isa 63:16 b} The second time it is illustrated by the work of the potter: “But now, O Lord, Thou art our Father; we are the clay, and Thou our potter; and we are all the work of Thy hand”. {Isa 64:8} Could it be made plainer in what sense the Bible defines this relation between God and man? It is not a physical, nor is it an intellectual relation. The assurance and the virtue of it do not come to men with their blood or with the birth of their intellect, but in the course of moral experience, with the sense that God claims them from sin and from the world for Himself; with the gift of a calling and a destiny; with the formation of character, the perfecting of obedience, the growth in His knowledge and His grace. And because it is a moral relation time is needed to realise it, and only after long patience and effort may it be unhesitatingly claimed. And that is why Israel was so long in claiming it, and why the clearest, most undoubting cries to God the Father, which rise from the Greek in the earliest period of his history, reach our ears from Jewish lips only near the end of their long progress, only (as we see from our prayer) in a time of trial and affliction.
We have a New Testament echo of this Old Testament belief in the Fatherhood of God, as a moral and not a national relation, in Pauls writings, who in the Second Epistle to the Corinthians {2Co 6:17-18} urges thus: “Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be My sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.”
On these grounds, then, -that God in His great love had already adventured Himself with this whole people, and already by historical acts of election and redemption proved Himself the Father of the nation as a whole, -does our prophet plead with Him to save them all again. The answer to this pleading he gets in chapter 65.
II. GODS ANSWER TO THE PROPHETS INTERCESSION
(Chapter 65)
Gods answer to His prophets intercession is twofold. First, He says that He has already all this time been trying them with love, meeting them with salvation; but they have not turned to Him. The prophet has asked, “Where is Thy zeal? the yearning of Thy bowels and Thy compassions are restrained towards me. Thou hast hid Thy face far from us. Wilt Thou refrain Thyself for these things, O Jehovah? Wilt Thou hold Thy peace and afflict us very sore?” And now, “in the beginning of chapter 65, Jehovah answers, not with that confusion of tenses and irrelevancy of words with which the English version makes Him speak; but suitably, relevantly, and convincingly.” “I have been to be inquired of those who asked not for Me. I have been to be found of them that sought Me not. I have been saying, I am here, I am here, to a nation that did not call on My name. I have stretched out My hands all the day to a people turning away, who walk in a way that is not good, after their own thoughts; a people that have been provoking Me to My face continually,”-and then He details their idolatry. This, then, is the answer of the Lord to the prophets appeal. “In this I have not all power. It is wrong to talk of Me as the potter and of man as the clay, as if all the active share in salvation lay with Me. Man is free, – free to withhold himself from My urgent affection; free to turn from My outstretched hands; free to choose before Me the abomination of idolatry. And this the mass of Israel have done, clinging, fanatical and self-satisfied, to their unclean and morbid imaginations of the Divine, all the time that My great prophecy by you has been appealing to them.” This is a sufficient answer to the prophets prayer. Love is not omnipotent; if men disregard so open an appeal of the Love of God, they are hopeless; nothing else can save them. The sin against such love is like the sin against the Holy Ghost, of which our Lord speaks so hopelessly. Even God cannot help the despisers and abusers of Grace.
The rest of Gods answer to His prophets intercession emphasises that the nation shall be saved for the sake of a faithful remnant in it (Isa 65:8-10). But the idolaters shall perish (Isa 65:11-12). They cannot possibly expect the same fare, the same experience, the same fate, as Gods faithful servants (Isa 65:13-15). But those who are true and faithful Israelites, surviving and experiencing the promised salvation, shall find that God is true, and shall acknowledge Him as “the God of Amen, because the former troubles are forgotten” (those felt so keenly in the prophets prayer in chapter 64) “and because they are hid from Mine eyes.” The rest of the answer describes a state of serenity and happiness wherein there shall be no premature death, nor loss of property, nor vain labour, nor miscarriage, nor disappointment of prayer nor delay in its answer, nor strife between man and the beasts, nor any hurt or harm in Jehovahs Holy Mountain. Truly a prospect worthy of being named as the prophet names it, “a new heaven and a new earth!”
Chapter 65 is thus closely connected, both by circumstance and logic, with the long prayer which precedes it. The tendency of recent criticism has been to deny this connection, especially on the line of circumstance. Chapter 65 does not, it is argued, reflect the Babylonish captivity as Isa 63:7 through Isa 64:1-12 so clearly does; but, on the contrary, “while some passages presuppose the Exile as past, others refer to circumstances characteristic of Jewish life in Canaan.” But this view is only possible through straining some features of the chapter adaptable either to Palestine or Babylon, and overlooking others which are obviously Babylonian. “Sacrificing in gardens and burning incense on tiles” were practices pursued in Jerusalem before the Exile, but the latter was introduced there from Babylon, and the former was universal in heathendom. The practices in Isa 65:5 are never attributed to the people before the Exile, were all possible in Babylonia, and some we know to have been actual there. The other charge of idolatry in Isa 65:11 “suits Babylonia,” Cheyne admits, “as well as (probably) Palestine.” But what seems decisive for the exilic origin of chapter 65 is that the possession of Judah and Zion by the seed of Jacob is still implied as future (Isa 65:9). Moreover the holy land is alluded to by the name common among the exiles in flat Mesopotamia, My mountains, and in contrast with the idolatry of which the present generation is guilty the idolatry of their fathers is characterised as having been “upon the mountains and upon the hills,” and again the people is charged with “forgetting My holy mountain,” a phrase reminiscent of Psa 137:4, and more appropriate to a time of exile, than when the people were gathered about Zion. All these resemblances in circumstances corroborate the strong logical connection which we have found between chapter 64 and chapter 65, and leave us no reason for taking the latter away from the main author of “Second Isaiah,” though he may have worked up into it recollections and remains of an older time.
III. THE LAST JUDGMENT
(Chapter 66)
Whether with the final chapter of our prophecy we at last get footing in the Holy Land is doubtful. It was said that, “in Isa 66:1-4 the Temple is still unbuilt, but the building would seem to be already begun.” This latter clause should be modified to, “the building would seem to be in immediate prospect.” The rest of the chapter, Isa 66:6-24, has features that speak more definitely for the period after the Return; but even they are not conclusive, and their effect is counterbalanced by some other verses. Isa 66:6 may imply that the Temple is rebuilt, and Isa 66:20 that the sacrifices are resumed; but, on the other hand, these verses may be, like parts of chapter 60, statements of the prophets vivid vision of the future. Isa 66:7-8 seem to describe a repeopling of Jerusalem that has already taken place; but Isa 66:9 says, that while the “bringing to the birth” has already happened, which is, as we must suppose, the deliverance from Babylon, -or is it the actual arrival at Jerusalem?-the “bringing forth from the womb,” that is, the complete restoration of the people, has still to take place. Isa 66:13 is certainly addressed to those who are not yet in Jerusalem.
These few points reveal how difficult, nay, how impossible, it is to decide the question of date, as between the days immediately before the Return and the days immediately after. To the present expositor the balance of evidence seems to be with the later date. But the difference is very small. We are at least sure-and it is really all that we require to know-that the rebuilding of Jerusalem is very near, nearer than it has been felt in any previous chapter. The Temple is, so to speak, within sight, and the prophet is able to talk of the regular round of sacrifices and sacred festivals almost as if they had been resumed.
To the people, then, either in the near prospect of Return, or immediately after some of them had arrived in Jerusalem, the prophet addresses a number of oracles, in which he pursues the division that chapter 65 had emphasised between the two parties in Israel. These oracles are so, intricate that we are compelled to take up the chapter verse by verse. The first of them begins by correcting certain false feelings in Israel, excited by former promises of the rebuilding and the glory of the Temple. “Thus saith Jehovah, The heavens are My throne, and earth is My footstool: what is this for a house that ye will build (or, are building) Me, and what is this for a place for My rest? Yea, all these things” (that is, all the visible works of God in heaven and earth) “My hand hath made, and so came to pass all these things, saith Jehovah. But unto this will I look, unto the humble and contrite spirit, and that trembleth at My word.” These verses do not run counter to, or even go beyond, anything that our prophet has already said. They do not condemn the building of the Temple: this was not possible for a prophecy which contains chapter 60. They condemn only the kind of temple which those whom they address had in view, -a shrine to which the presence of Jehovah was limited, and on the raising and maintenance of which the religion and righteousness of the people should depend. While the former Temple was standing, the mass of the people had thus misconceived it, imagining that it was enough for national religion to have such a structure standing and honoured in their midst. And now, before it is built again, the exiles are cherishing about it the same formal and materialistic thoughts. Therefore the prophet rebukes them, as his predecessors had rebuked their fathers, and reminds them of a truth he has already uttered, that though the Temple is raised, according to Gods own promise and direction, it wilt not be to its structure, as they conceive of it, that He will have respect, but to the existence among them of humble and sincere personal piety. The Temple is to be raised: “the place of His feet God will make glorious,” and men shall gather round it from the whole earth, for instruction, for comfort, and for rejoicing. But. let them not think it to be indispensable either to God or to man, -not to God, who has heaven for His throne and earth for His footstool; nor to man, for God looks direct to man, if only man be humble, penitent, and sensitive to His word. These verses, then, do not go beyond the Old Testament limit; they leave the Temple standing, but they say so much about Gods other sanctuary man, that when His use for the Temple shall be past, His Servant Stephen {Act 7:49} shall be able to employ these words to prove why it should disappear.
The next verse is extremely difficult. Here it is literally: “A slaughterer of the ox, a slayer of a man; a sacrificer of the lamb, a breaker of a dogs neck; an offerer of meat-offering, swines blood; the maker of a memorial offering of incense, one that blesseth an idol, or vanity.” Four legal sacrificial acts are here coupled with four unlawful sacrifices to idols. Does this mean that in the eye of God, impatient even of the ritual He has consecrated, when performed by men who do not tremble at His word, each of these lawful sacrifices is as worthless and odious as the idolatrous practice associated with it, -the slaughter of the ox as the offering of a human sacrifice, and so forth? Or does the verse mean that there are persons in Israel who combine, like the Corinthians blamed by Paul, {1Co 10:1-33} both the true and the idolatrous ritual, both the table of the Lord and the table of devils? Our answer will depend on whether we take the four parallels with Isa 66:2, which precedes them, or with the rest of Isa 66:3, to which they belong, and Isa 66:4. If we take them with Isa 66:2, then we must adopt the first, the alternative meaning; if with Isa 66:4, then the second of these meanings is the right one. Now there is no grammatical connection, nor any transparent logical one, between Isa 66:2 and Isa 66:3, but there is a grammatical connection with the rest of Isa 66:3. Immediately after the pairs of lawful and unlawful sacrificial acts, Isa 66:3 continues, “yea, they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delighteth in their abominations.” That surely signifies that the unlawful sacrifices in Isa 66:3 are things already committed and delighted in, and the meaning of putting them in parallel to the lawful sacrifices of Jehovahs religion is either that Israelites have committed them instead of the lawful sacrifices, or along with these. In this case, Isa 66:3-4 form a separate discourse by themselves, with no relation to the equally distinct oracle in Isa 66:1 and Isa 66:2. The subject of Isa 66:3-4 is, therefore, the idolatrous Israelites. They are delivered unto Satan, their choice; they shall have no part in the coming Salvation: In Isa 66:5 the faithful in Israel, who have obeyed Gods word by the prophet, are comforted under the mocking of their brethren, who shall certainly be put to shame. Already the prophet hears the preparation of the judgment against them (Isa 66:6). It comes forth from the city where they had mockingly cried for Gods glory to appear. The mocked city avenges itself on them. “Hark, a roar from the City! Hark, from the Temple! Hark, Jehovah accomplishing vengeance on His enemies!” A new section begins with Isa 66:7, and celebrates to Isa 66:9 the sudden re-population of the City by her children, either as already a fact, or, more probably, as a near certainty. Then comes a call to the children, restored, or about to be restored, to congratulate their mother and “to enjoy her. The prophet rewakens the figure, that is ever nearest his heart, of motherhood, -children suckled, borne, and cradled in the lap of their mother fill all his view; nay, finer still, the grown man coming back with wounds and weariness upon him to be comforted of his mother.” As a man whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you, and ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem. And ye shall see, and rejoice shall your heart, and your bones shall flourish like the tender grass.” But this great light shines not to flood all Israel in One, but to cleave the nation in two, like a sword of judgment. “The hand of Jehovah shall be known towards His servants, but He will have indignation against His enemies” (enemies, that is, within Israel. Then comes the fiery judgment) “For by fire will Jehovah plead, and by His sword with, all flesh; and the slain of Jehovah shall be many. Why there should be slain of Jehovah within Israel is then explained. Within Israel there are idolaters: “they that consecrate themselves and practise purification for the gardens, after one in the middle; eaters of swines flesh, and the Abomination, and the Mouse. They shall come to an end together, saith Jehovah, for I” (know, or will punish,) “their works and their thoughts.” In this eighteenth verse the punctuation is uncertain, and probably the text is corrupt. The first part of the verse should evidently go, as above, with Isa 66:17. Then begins a new subject.
“It is coming to gather all the nations and the tongues, and they shall come and shall see My glory; and I will set among them a sign” (a marvellous and mighty act, probably of judgment, for he immediately speaks of their survivors) “and I will send the escaped of them to the nations Tarshish, and Lud, drawers of the bow, to Tubal and Javan” (that is, to far Spain, and the distances of Africa, towards the Black Sea and to “Greece, a full round of the compass) the isles far off that have not heard report of Me, nor have seen My glory; and they shall recount My glory among the nations. And they shall bring all your brethren from among all the nations an offering to Jehovah, on horses and in chariots and in litters, and on mules and on dromedaries, up on the Mount of My Holiness, Jerusalem, saith Jehovah, just as when the children of Israel bring the offering in a clean vessel to the house of Jehovah. And also from them will I take to be priests, to be Levites, saith Jehovah. For like as the new heavens and the new earth which I am making shall be standing before Me, saith Jehovah, so shall stand your seed and your name.” But again the prophecy swerves from the universal hope into which we expect it to break, and gives us instead a division and a judgment: the servants of Jehovah on one side occupied in what the prophet regards as the ideal life, regular worship-so little did he mean Isa 66:1 to be a condemnation of the Temple and its ritual!-and on the other the rebels unburied carcasses gnawed by the worm and by fire, an abomination to all. “And it shall come to pass from new moon to new moon, and from sabbath to sabbath, all flesh shall come to worship before Me, saith Jehovah: and they shall go out and look on the carcasses of the men who have rebelled against Me; for their worm dieth not, and their fire is not quenched, and they shall be an abhorrence to all flesh.”
We have thus gone step by step through the chapter, because its intricacies and sudden changes were not otherwise to be mastered. What exactly it is composed of must, we fear, still remain a problem. Who can tell whether its short, broken pieces are all originally from our prophets hand, or were gathered by him from others, or were the fragments of his teaching which the reverent hands of disciples picked carefully up that nothing might be lost? Sometimes we think it must be this last alternative that happened; for it seems impossible that pieces so strange to each other, so loosely connected, could have flowed from one mind at one time. But then again we think otherwise, when we see how the chapter as a whole continues the separation made evident in chapter 65, and runs it on to a last emphatic contrast.
So we are left by the prophecy, -not with the new heavens and the new earth which it promised: not with the holy mountain on which none shall hurt nor destroy, saith the Lord; not with a Jerusalem full of glory and a people all holy, the centre of a gathered humanity, -but with the city like to a judgment floor, and upon its narrow surface a people divided between worship and a horrible woe.
O Jerusalem, City of the Lord, Mother eagerly desired of her children, radiant light to them that sit in darkness and are far off, home after exile, haven after storm, -expected as the Lords garner, thou art still to be only His threshing-floor, and heaven and hell as of old shall, from new moon to new moon, through the revolving years, lie side by side within thy narrow walls! For from the day that Araunah the Jebusite threshed out his sheaves upon thy high windswept rock, to the day when the Son of Man standing over against thee divided in his last discourse the sheep from the goats, the wise from the foolish, and the loving from the selfish, thou hast been appointed of God for trial and separation and judgment.
It is a terrible ending to such a prophecy as ours. But is any other possible? We ask how can this contiguity of heaven and hell be within the Lords own city, after all His yearning and jealousy for her, after His fierce agony and strife with her enemies, after so clear a revelation of Himself, so long a providence, so glorious a deliverance? Yet, it is plain that nothing else can result, if the men on whose ears the great prophecy had fallen, with all its music and all its gospel, and who had been partakers of the Lords Deliverance, did yet continue to prefer their idols, their swines flesh, their mouse, their broth of abominable things, their sitting in graves, to so evident a God and to so great a grace.
It is a terrible ending, but it is the same as upon the same floor Christ set to His teaching, -the gospel net cast wide, but only to draw in both good and bad upon a beach of judgment; the wedding feast thrown open and men compelled to come in, but among them a heart whom grace so great could not awe even to decency; Christs gospel preached, His Example evident, and Himself owned as Lord, and nevertheless some whom neither the hearing nor the seeing nor the owning with their lips did lift to unselfishness or stir to pity. Therefore He who had cried, “Come all unto Me,” was compelled to close by saying to many, “Depart.”
It is a terrible ending, but one only too conceivable. For though God is love, man is free, -free to turn from that love; free to be as though he had never felt it; free to put away from himself the highest, clearest, most urgent grace that God can show. But to do this is the judgment.
“Lord, are there few that be saved?”
The Lord did not answer the question but by bidding the questioner take heed to himself:
“Strive to enter in at the strait gate.”
Almighty and most merciful God, who hast sent this book to be the revelation of Thy great love to man, and of Thy power and will to save him, grant that our study of it may not have been in vain by the callousness or carelessness of our hearts, but that by it we may be confirmed in penitence, lifted to hope, made strong for service, and above all filled with the true knowledge of Thee and of Thy Son Jesus Christ, Amen.