“I am inquired of by those who didn’t ask. I am found by those who didn’t seek me. I said, ‘See me, see me,’ to a nation that was not called by my name.
I have spread out my hands all day to a rebellious people, who walk in a way that is not good, after their own thoughts;
a people who provoke me to my face continually, sacrificing in gardens, and burning incense on bricks;
who sit among the graves, and spend nights in secret places; who eat pig’s meat, and broth of abominable things is in their vessels;
who say, ‘Stay by yourself, don’t come near to me, for I am holier than you.’ These are smoke in my nose, a fire that burns all day.
“Behold, it is written before me: I will not keep silence, but will repay, yes, I will repay into their bosom,
your own iniquities, and the iniquities of your fathers together”, says Yahweh, “who have burned incense on the mountains, and blasphemed me on the hills. Therefore I will first measure their work into their bosom.”
Yahweh says, “As the new wine is found in the cluster, and one says, ‘Don’t destroy it, for a blessing is in it:’ so I will do for my servants’ sake, that I may not destroy them all.
I will bring offspring out of Jacob, and out of Judah an inheritor of my mountains. My chosen will inherit it, and my servants will dwell there.
Sharon will be a fold of flocks, and the valley of Achor a place for herds to lie down in, for my people who have sought me.
“But you who forsake Yahweh, who forget my holy mountain, who prepare a table for Fortune, and who fill up mixed wine to Destiny;
I will destine you to the sword, and you will all bow down to the slaughter; because when I called, you didn’t answer. When I spoke, you didn’t listen; but you did that which was evil in my eyes, and chose that in which I didn’t delight.”
Therefore the Lord Yahweh says, “Behold, my servants will eat, but you will be hungry; behold, my servants will drink, but you will be thirsty. Behold, my servants will rejoice, but you will be disappointed;
Behold, my servants will sing for joy of heart, but you will cry for sorrow of heart, and will wail for anguish of spirit.
You will leave your name for a curse to my chosen; and the Lord Yahweh will kill you. He will call his servants by another name,
so that he who blesses himself in the earth will bless himself in the God of truth; and he who swears in the earth will swear by the God of truth; because the former troubles are forgotten, and because they are hidden from my eyes.
“For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former things will not be remembered, nor come into mind.
But be glad and rejoice forever in that which I create; for, behold, I create Jerusalem to be a delight, and her people a joy.
I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and delight in my people; and the voice of weeping and the voice of crying will be heard in her no more.
“No more will there be an infant who only lives a few days, nor an old man who has not filled his days; for the child will die one hundred years old, and the sinner being one hundred years old will be accursed.
They will build houses and inhabit them. They will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
They will not build and another inhabit. They will not plant and another eat: for the days of my people will be like the days of a tree, and my chosen will long enjoy the work of their hands.
They will not labor in vain nor give birth for calamity; for they are the offspring of Yahweh’s blessed and their descendants with them.
It will happen that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.
The wolf and the lamb will feed together. The lion will eat straw like the ox. Dust will be the serpent’s food. They will not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain,” says Yahweh.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 20, 21, 25 Meaning, the Gentiles which knew not God, should seek…
Meaning, the Gentiles which knew not God, should seek after him, when he had moved their heart with his holy Spirit, Rom. 10:20.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv1–25 Isa 65:1 I am sought of [them that] asked…
Isa 65:1 I am sought of [them that] asked not [for me]; I am found of [them that] sought me not: I said, Behold me, behold me, unto a nation [that] was not called by my name.
Ver. 1. I am sought of them that asked not for me.] I am sought - that is, I am found, {a} {as Ecc 3:6} or, I am sought to by those that asked not of me - viz., by the Gentiles, who knew me not, inquired not of me. See Rom 10:20-21, where the apostle, than whom we cannot have a better interpreter, expoundeth this verse of the calling of the Gentiles, and the next verse, of the rejection of the Jews. And herein "Esaias was very bold," saith St Paul; so bold, say Origen and others, that for this cause, among others, he was sawn asunder by his unworthy countrymen. See on Isa 1:10.
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I am found of them that sought me not.] The first act of our conversion then, the infusion of the sap, is of God; our will prevents it not, but follows it. See 2Co 3:5 Rom 8:7 Joh 6:44 1Co 12:3 Deu 29:3-4 Psa 36:10. Note this against the patrons of nature, freewill men, Papists especially, who not only ascribe the beginning of salvation to themselves, in co-working with God in their first conversion, but also the end and the accomplishment of it, by works of condignity, meritorious of eternal life.
I said, Behold me, behold me.] We are not easily aroused out of that dead lethargy into which sin and Satan hath cast us; hence this "Lo I, lo I." And here we have both God’s answer to the Church’s prayer, {Isa 64:12} and the scope of the whole book, as Oecolampadius observeth, set down in the perclose - viz., the coming in of the Gentiles, and the casting off of the Jews for their many and mighty sins. {Amo 5:12}
{a} Piscat.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25 That in the primary sense of this text it…
That in the primary sense of this text it is a prophecy of the conversion of the Gentiles, upon the rejection of the Jews, for their contempt and crucifying of Christ, cannot be doubted by any who will not arrogate to themselves a greater ability to interpret the prophecies of the Old Testament than Paul had, who, Rom 10:20, expressly so interpreteth it, and applieth it, which showeth the vanity of the Jews in their other interpretations of it.
I am sought: the word signifies properly a diligent inquiry in things relating to God, 2Ch 14:4; Psa 34:4; Jer 37:7. I am diligently inquired of by them that asked not for me; that in times before made no inquiry after me (as the Gentiles, who are said to be without God in the world, Eph 2:12). As seeking may more strictly relate to prayer, as the word is used, Isa 55:6, so this word translated asked may also be so taken, and is so, 1Sa 1:20; 22:13, but (possibly) it is better interpreted more generally.
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I am found of them that sought me not; yea, I was found of them before they sought me; those who formerly did not seek me now seek me; but they were found of me before they
sought me; I prevented them by my grace, sending my Son to preach peace to those that were afar off, Eph 2:17, and my apostles to entreat them to be reconciled to God, 2Co 5:20, and my Spirit to convince the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment, Joh 16:8.
I said, Behold me, behold me, unto a nation that was not called by my name; I invited whole nations by the preaching of my gospel to behold me; and I invited them with importunity, doubling my words upon them; and this I did unto a
nation not called by my name, with whom I was not in covenant, and which did not profess any relation to me, which none of the Gentiles could pretend unto. The prophet speaks of a thing to come many years after as if it were a thing then done, to signify the certainty of it. God doth the same thing yet in every soul that is converted. But the text is manifestly to be interpreted of the conversion of the Gentiles.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On vv1, 8, 11, 17 The apostle Paul (an expositor we may depend upon)…
The apostle Paul (an expositor we may depend upon) has given us the true sense of these verses, and told us what was the event they pointed at and were fulfilled in, namely, the calling in of the Gentiles and the rejection of the Jews, by the preaching of the gospel, Rom 10:20, Rom 10:21. And he observes that herein Esaias is very bold, not only in foretelling a thing so improbable ever to be brought about, but in foretelling it to the Jews, who would take it as a gross affront to their nation, and therein Moses's words would be made good (Deu 32:21), I will provoke you to jealousy by those that are no people.
I. It is here foretold that the Gentiles, who had been afar off, should be made nigh, Isa 65:1. Paul reads it thus: I was found of those that sought me not; I was made manifest to those that asked not for me. Observe what a wonderful and blessed change was made with them and how they were surprised into it. 1. Those who had long been without God in the world shall now be set a seeking him; those who had not said, Where is God my maker? shall now begin to enquire after him. Neither they nor their fathers had called upon his name, but either lived without prayer or prayed to stocks and stones, the work of men's hands. But now they shall be baptized and call on the name of the Lord, Act 2:21. With what pleasure does the great God here speak of his being sought unto, and how does he glory in it, especially by those who in time past had not asked for him! For there is joy in heaven over great sinners who repent. 2. God shall anticipate their prayers with his blessings: I am found of those that sought me not. This happy acquaintance and correspondence between God and the Gentile world began on his side; they came to know God because they were known of him (Gal 4:9), to seek God and find him because they were first sought and found of him. 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. The design of the bounty of common providence to them was that they might seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him and find him, Act 17:27. But they sought him not; still he was to them an unknown God, and yet God was found of them. 3. God gave the advantages of a divine revelation to those who had never made a profession of religion: I said, Behold me, behold me (gave them a sight of me and invited them to take the comfort and benefit of it) to those who were not called by my name, as the Jews for many ages had been. When the apostles went about from place to place, preaching the gospel, this was the substance of what they preached: "Behold God, behold him, turn towards him, fix the eyes of your minds upon him, acquaint yourselves with him, admire him, adore him; look off from your idols that you have made, and look upon the living God who made you." Christ in them said, Behold me, behold me with an eye of faith; look unto me, and be you saved. And this was said to those that had long been lo-ammi, and lo-ruhamah (Hos 1:8, Hos 1:9), not a people, and that had not obtained mercy, Rom 9:25, Rom 9:26.
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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. The apostle applies this to the Jews in his time, as a seed of evil-doers. Rom 10:21, But to Israel he saith, All day long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people. Here observe,
1. How the Jews were courted to the divine grace. God himself, by his prophets, by his Son, by his apostles, stretched forth his hands to them, as Wisdom did, Pro 1:24. God spread out his hands to them, as one reasoning and expostulating with them, not only beckoned to them with the finger, but spread out his hands, as being ready to embrace and entertain them, reaching forth the tokens of his favour to them, and importuning them to accept them. When Christ was crucified his hands were spread out and stretched forth, as if he were preparing to receive returning sinners into his bosom; and this all the day, all the gospel-day. He waited to be gracious, and was not weary of waiting; even those that came in at the eleventh hour of the day were not rejected.
2. How they contemned the invitation; it was given to a rebellious and gainsaying people; they were invited to the wedding-supper, and would not come, but rejected the counsel of God against themselves. Now here we have,
(1.) The bad character of this people. The world shall see that it was not for nothing that they were rejected of God; no, it was for their whoredoms that they were put away.
[1.] Their character in general was such as one would not expect of those who had been so much the favourites of Heaven. First, They were very wilful. Right or wrong they would do as they had a mind. "They generally walk on in a way that is not good, not the right way, not a safe way, for they walk after their own thought, their own devices and desires." 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. God had told them his thoughts, what his mind and will were, but they would walk after their own thoughts, would do what they thought best. Secondly, They were very provoking. This was God's complaint of them all along - they grieved him, they vexed his Holy Spirit, as if they would contrive how to make him their enemy: They provoke me to anger continually to my face. They cared not what affront they gave to God, though it were in his sight and presence, in a downright contempt of his authority and defiance of his justice; and this continually; it had been their way and manner ever since they were a people, witness the day of temptation in the wilderness.
[2.] The prophet speaks more particularly of their iniquities and the iniquities of their fathers, as the ground of God's casting them off, Isa 65:7. Now he gives instances of both.
First, The most provoking iniquity of their fathers was idolatry; this, the prophet tells them, was provoking God to his face; and it is an iniquity which, as appears by the second commandment, God often visits upon the children. This was the sin that brought them into captivity, and, though the captivity pretty well cured them of it, yet, when the final ruin of that nation came, that was again brought into the account against them; for in the day when God visits he will visit that, Exo 32:34. Perhaps there were many, long after the captivity, who, though they did not worship other gods, were yet guilty of the disorders here mentioned; for they married strange wives. 1. They forsook God's temple, and sacrificed in gardens or groves, that they might have the satisfaction of doing it in their own way, for they liked not God's institutions. 2. They forsook God's altar, and burnt incense upon bricks, altars of their own contriving (they burnt incense according to their own inventions, which were of no more value, in comparison with God's institution, than an altar of bricks in comparison with the golden altar which God appointed them to burn incense on), or upon tiles (so some read it), such as they covered their flat-roofed houses with, and on them sometimes they burnt incense to their idols, as appears, Kg2 23:12, where we read of altars on the top of the upper chamber of Ahaz, and Jer 19:13, of their burning incense to the host of heaven upon the roofs of their houses. 3. "They used necromancy, or consulting with the dead, and, in order to that, they remained among the graves, and lodged in the monuments," to seek for the living to the dead (Jer 8:19), as the witch of Endor. Or they used to consult the evil spirits that haunted the sepulchres. 4. They violated the laws of God about their meat, and broke through the distinction between clean and unclean before it was taken away by the gospel. They ate swine's flesh. Some indeed chose rather to die than to eat swine's flesh, as Eleazar and the seven brethren in the story of the Maccabees; but it is probable that many ate of it, especially when it came to be a condition of life. In our Saviour's time we read of a vast herd of swine among them, which gives us cause to suspect that there were many then who made so little conscience of the law as to eat swine's flesh, for which they were justly punished in the destruction of the swine. And the broth, or pieces, of other forbidden meats, called here abominable things, was in their vessels, and was made use of for food. The forbidden meat is called an abomination, and those that meddle with it are said to make themselves abominable, Lev 11:42, Lev 11:43. Those that durst not eat the meat yet made bold with the broth, because they would come as near as might be to that which was forbidden, to show how they coveted the forbidden fruit. Perhaps this is here put figuratively for all forbidden pleasures and profits which are obtained by sin, that abominable thing which the Lord hates; they loved to be dallying with it, to be tasting of its broth. But those who thus take a pride in venturing upon the borders of sin, and the brink of it, are in danger of falling into the depths of it. But,
Secondly, The most provoking iniquity of the Jews in our Saviour's time was their pride and hypocrisy, that sin of the scribes and Pharisees against which Christ denounced so many woes, Isa 65:5. They say, "Stand by thyself, keep off" (get thee to thine, so the original is); "keep to thy own companions, but come not near to me, lest thou pollute me; touch me not; I will not allow thee any familiarity with me, for I am holier than thou, and therefore thou art not good enough to converse with me; I am not as other men are, nor even as this publican." This they were ready to say to every one they met with, so that, in saying, I am holier than thou, they thought themselves holier than any, not only very good, as good as they should be, as good as they needed to be, but better than any of their neighbours. These are a smoke in my nose (says God), such a smoke as comes not from a quick fire, which soon becomes glowing and pleasant, but from a fire of wet wood, which burns all the day, and is nothing but smoke. Note, Nothing in men is more odious and offensive to God than a proud conceit of themselves and contempt of others; for commonly those are most unholy of all that think themselves holier than any.
(2.) The controversy God had with them for this. The proof against them is plain: Behold, it is written before me, Isa 65:6. It is written, to be remembered against them in time to come; for they may not perhaps be immediately reckoned with. The sins of sinners, and particularly the vainglorious boasts and scorns of hypocrites, are laid up in store with God, Deu 32:34. And what is written shall be read and proceeded upon: "I will not keep silence always, though I may keep silence long." They shall not think him altogether such a one as themselves, as sometimes they have done; but he will recompense, even recompense into their bosom. Those basely abuse religion, that honourable and sacred thing, who make their profession of it the matter of their pride, and the jealous God will reckon with them for it; the profession they boast of shall but serve to aggravate their condemnation. [1.] The iniquity of their fathers shall come against them; not but that their own sin deserved whatever judgments God brought upon them, and much heavier; and this they owned, Ezr 9:13. But God would not have wrought so great a desolation upon them if he had not therein had an eye to the sins of their fathers. Therefore in the last destruction of Jerusalem God is said to bring upon them the blood of the Old Testament martyrs, even that of Abel, Mat 23:35. God will reckon with them, not only for their fathers' idols, but for their high places, their burning incense upon the mountains and the hills, though perhaps it was to the true God only. This was blaspheming or reproaching God; it was a reflection upon the choice he had made of the place where he would record his name, and the promise he had made that there he would meet them and bless them. [2.] Their own with that shall bring ruin upon them: Your iniquities and the iniquities of your fathers together, the one aggravating the other, constitute the former work, which, though it may seem to be overlooked and forgotten, shall be measured into their bosom. God will render into the bosom, not only of his open enemies (Psa 79:12), but of his false and treacherous friends, the reproach wherewith they have reproached him.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv1–25 I am sought of them that asked not for…
I am sought of them that asked not for me,.... That this is a prophecy of the calling and conversion of the Gentiles is not to be doubted, since the Apostle Paul has quoted it, and applied it to that case, Rom 10:20 and is here mentioned as an aggravation of the sin of the Jews, in rejecting Christ, when the Gentiles received him; and was the reason of their being rejected of God, and the Gospel being taken away from them, and given to another people, and of the Lord's removing his presence from the one to the other. The Gentiles are described as those that "asked not for" Christ, or after him, as the apostle supplies it; they had not asked for him, nor after him, nor anything about him; nor of him "before" this time, as the Vulgate Latin version renders it; they were without Christ, the promises and prophecies concerning him; and so had no knowledge of him, nor made any inquiry about him, who or what he was; they did not ask after his coming, or for it; did not desire it, or him, and were in no expectation of it; they asked no favour of him, nor saw any need of him, or worth in him; and yet now he was "sought of them"; or, as the apostle has it, "was made manifest unto them"; and so the Septuagint version; that is, he was manifested to them in the Gospel, and by the ministry of it; which is a revelation of him, of salvation by him, of justification by his righteousness, of peace and pardon by his blood, of atonement by his sacrifice, and of eternal life through him; and the words will bear to be rendered, "I was preached unto them": for from this word are derived others (g), which signify an expounder, and an interpretation, or exposition; and this was matter of fact, that Christ was preached to the Gentiles upon the Jews' rejection of him, which is one branch of the mystery of godliness, Ti1 3:16 and upon this he was sought of them: they sought him early and earnestly, and desired to have him and his Gospel preached to them again and again, Act 13:42 they sought after the knowledge of him, and for an interest in him, and for all grace from him, righteousness, salvation, and eternal life; and for all the supplies of grace, as all sensible sinners do; this they did as soon as he was made manifest to them by the word, and especially as soon as he was revealed in them, or made manifest in their hearts by his Spirit:
I am found of them that sought me not; that had not sought him before the Gospel came to them; they sought the world, and the thing, of it, "for after all these things do the Gentiles seek"; they sought after the wisdom of the world, the vain philosophy of it; "the Greeks seek after wisdom"; and at most and best they only sought after morality and outward righteousness, but not after Christ, till he was set up in the Gospel as an ensign to them, Isa 11:10, but being preached in it, they were set a seeking after him, and "found" him in it, of whom it is full; in the doctrines, promises, and ordinances of it; in whom they found righteousness, life, and salvation, food, and plenty of it, rest, spiritual and eternal, and everlasting glory and happiness:
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I said, behold me, behold unto a nation that was not called by my name; which still describes the Gentiles, who formerly were not called the people of God, even those who now are, Hos 2:23, this Christ says to them in the Gospel, whose eyes he opens by his Spirit, to behold the glory of his person, the riches of his grace, his wondrous love and condescension, the abundance of blessings in him, and the complete salvation he has wrought out for sinners; and the words are repeated to show that Christ is only to be beheld, and is always to be looked unto; as well as it declares the heartiness of Christ, and his willingness that sinners should look unto him, and be saved; and all this is a proof of the preventing grace of God in the conversion of men, he is first in it; before they ask anything of him, or about him, or his Son, he manifests himself; he reveals Christ, bestows his grace, and presents them with the blessings of his goodness. R. Moses the priest, as Aben Ezra observes, interprets this of the nations of the world; and that the sense is,
"even to the Gentiles that are not called by my name I am preached;''
which agrees with the apostle's sense of them; See Gill on Rom 10:20.
(g) So, with the Rabbins, is "to preach"; is "a preacher"; is "a sermon"; "the name of a book of sermons"; and "an exposition"; see Buxtorf. Lex. Rab. col. 583, 584.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 15, 16, 17, 18, 20, 23, 24, 25 The calling of the Gentiles: the Jews for their…
The calling of the Gentiles: the Jews for their incredulity, idolatry, and hypocrisy, rejected, ver. 1-7. A remnant shall be saved, ver. 8-10. Judgments on the wicked, and blessings on the Godly, ver. 11-16. The flourishing and peaceable state of the New Jerusalem, ver. 17-26.
I am, &c. - This in the primary sense of this text, is a prophecy of the conversion of the Gentiles, upon the rejection of the Jews; for their contempt and crucifying of Christ, cannot be doubted by any, who will not arrogate to themselves a greater ability to interpret the prophesies of the Old Testament, than St. Paul had, who, Rom. x, 20, expressly so interprets it, and applies it, which shews the vanity of the Jews in their other interpretations of it. Sought - The word signifies properly a diligent enquiry in things relating to God. Asked not - That in times past made no enquiry after me; l am now found by them that formerly sought me not. I said - I invited whole nations by the preaching of my gospel to behold me, and that with importunity, doubling my words upon them, and this I did unto a nation not called by my name, with whom I was not in covenant.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 17, 18, 19, 20, 22, 23, 24, 25 We have here a vindication of God's dealings with…
CHAPTER LXV
We have here a vindication of God's dealings with the Jews,
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1, 2.
To this end the prophet points out their great hypocrisy, and
gives a particular enumeration of their dreadful abominations,
many of which were committed under the specious guise of
sanctity, 3-5.
For their horrid impieties, (recorded in writing before
Jehovah,) the wrath of God shall certainly come upon them to
the uttermost; a prediction which was exactly fulfilled in
the first and second centuries in the reigns of the Roman
emperors Vespasian, Titus, and Hadrian, when the whole Jewish
polity was dissolved, and the people dispersed all over the
world, 6, 7.
Though God had rejected the Jews, and called the Gentiles, who
sought him not, (Ro 9:24-26,)
yet a remnant from among the former shall be preserved, to whom
he will in due time make good all his promises, 8-10.
Denunciation of Divine vengeance against those idolaters who
set in order a table for Gad, and fill out a libation to Meni,
ancient idolatries, which, from the context, and from the
chronological order of the events predicted, have a plain
reference to the idolatries practised by Antichrist under the
guise of Christianity, 11, 12.
Dreadful fate which awaits these gross idolaters beautifully
contrasted with the great blessedness reserved for the
righteous, 13-16.
Future restoration of the posterity of Jacob, and the happy
state of the world in general from that most glorious epoch,
represented by the strong figure of the creation of NEW heavens
and a NEW earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness, and into which
no distress shall be permitted to enter, 17-19.
In this new state of things the term of human life shall be
greatly protracted, and shall possess none of that uncertainty
which attaches to it in "the heavens and the earth which are
now." This is elegantly illustrated by the longevity of a tree;
manifestly alluding to the oak or cedar of Lebanon, some
individuals of which are known to have lived from seven to ten
centuries, 20-23.
Beautiful figures shadowing forth the profound peace and
harmony of the Church of Jesus Christ, which shall immediately
follow the total overthrow of Antichrist; with a most gracious
promise that the great chain of Omnipotence shall be put upon
every adversary, so that none will be able any longer to hurt
and destroy in all God's holy mountain, 24, 25.
This chapter contains a defence of God's proceedings in regard to the Jews, with reference to their complaint in the chapter preceding. God is introduced declaring that he had called the Gentiles, though they had not sought him; and had rejected his own people for their refusal to attend to his repeated call; for their obstinate disobedience, their idolatrous practices, and detestable hypocrisy. That nevertheless he would not destroy them all; but would preserve a remnant, to whom he would make good his ancient promises. Severe punishments are threatened to the apostates; and great rewards are promised to the obedient in a future flourishing state of the Church. - L.
NOTES ON CHAP. LXV
Verse 1. I am sought of them that asked not for me "I am made known to those that asked not for me"] נדרשתי nidrashti, εμφανης εγενομην, the Septuagint, Alexandrian, and St. Paul, Ro 10:20; who has however inverted the order of the phrases, εμφανης εγεομην, "I was made manifest," and ευρεδην, "I was found," from that which they have in the Septuagint. נדרשתי nidrashti means, "I am sought so as to be found." Vitringa. If this be the true meaning of the word, then שאלו shaalu, "that asked," which follows, should seem defective, the verb wanting its object: but two MSS., one of them ancient, have שאלוני shealuni,"asked me;" and another MS. שאלו לי shealu li, "asked for me;" one or other of which seems to be right. But Cocceius in Lex., and Vitringa in his translation, render נדרשתי nidrashti, by "I have answered;" and so the verb is rendered by all the ancient Versions in Eze 20:3; Eze 20:31. If this be right, the translation will be, "I have answered those that asked not." I leave this to the reader's judgment; but have followed in my translation the Septuagint and St. Paul, and the MSS. above mentioned. בקשני bikeshuni is written regularly and fully in above a hundred MSS. and in the oldest edition, בקשוני bikeshuni. - L.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 11, 12, 13, 16, 17, 20, 21, 24, 25 Isa 65:1. That in the primary sense of this…
Isa 65:1. That in the primary sense of this text it is a prophecy of the conversion of the Gentiles, upon the rejection of the Jews, for their contempt and crucifying of Christ, cannot be doubted by any, who will not arrogate to themselves a greater ability to interpret the prophecies of the Old Testament than St. Paul had, who, Rom 10:20, expressly so interprets it, and applies it; which shows the vanity of the Jews in their other interpretations of it. I am sought — Hebrew, נדרשׁתי, literally, diligent inquiry is made after me; or, I am diligently inquired of. Vitringa renders it, “Quæsitus sum cum effectu;” I am sought so as to be found. The LXX. read, εμφανης εγενηθην, I am made manifest, or, made known, as Bishop Lowth translates it; to them that asked not for me — That in times past made no inquiry after me; I am now found by them that formerly sought me not. I said, Behold me, behold me — I invited whole nations, by the preaching of my gospel, to behold me, and that with importunity, reiterating my calls and entreaties; and this I did unto a nation not called by my name, with which I was not in covenant, and which did not profess any relation to me. The prophet speaks of what was to take place some hundreds of years afterward, as if it were a thing already done, to signify the certainty of it.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv1–25 I am sought of them that asked not for…
I am sought of them that asked not for me - That is, by the Gentiles. So Paul applies it in Rom 10:20. Lowth translates the word which is rendered, ‘I am sought,’ by ‘I am made known.’ Noyes, ‘I have heard.’ The Septuagint renders it, Ἐμφανὴς ἐγενήθην Emphanēs egenēthēn - ‘I became manifest.’ Jerome, ‘They sought me who had not before inquired for me.’ The Chaldee, ‘I am sought in my word by those who had not asked me before my face.’ The Hebrew word דרשׁ dârash means properly “to frequent a place, to search or seek”; and in the Niphal - the form used here - “to be sought unto, to grant access to anyone; hence, to hear and answer prayer” Eze 14:3; 20:3-31. Here there is not only the idea that he was sought, but that they obtained access to him, for he listened to their supplications. The phrase, ‘That asked not for me,’ means that they had not been accustomed to worship the true God. The idea is, that those had obtained mercy who had not been accustomed to call upon him.
I am found of them - Paul has rendered this Rom 10:20, Ἐμφανὴς ἐγενόμην Emphanēs egenomēn - ‘I was made manifest.’ The idea is, that they obtained his favor.
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I said, Behold me, behold me - I offered them my favor, and invited them to partake of salvation. Paul has omitted this in his quotation.
Unto a nation - This does not refer to any particular nation, but to people who had never been admitted to favor with God.
That was not called by my name - (See the notes at Isa 63:19).
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 20, 22, 23, 25 Me. God answers the preceding prayer, and announces the…
Me. God answers the preceding prayer, and announces the rejection of the synagogue, alluding to the armies which prevailed in the days of the Machabees. --- Not. St. Paul explains this of the conversion of the Gentiles, Romans x. 20. (Calmet) --- It cannot regard the Jews, who are spoken of in the next verse. (Worthington)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain On vv1, 8, 13, 17 The Death and Life-bringing End-Period
V.—THE FIFTH DISCOURSE
The Death and Life-bringing End-Period
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Isaiah 65-66
These two chapters are closely connected. They form one discourse. Their commencement is obviously related to the preceding prayer, in which the people had been regarded as a unity without distinguishing between the godly and the wicked. In chap. 65 it is shown that Israel will neither be entirely saved (Isa_65:1-7), nor entirely cast off (Isa_65:8-12). The true and righteous God will act according to the rule “suum cuique” (Isa_65:13-16). The Prophet then describes the salvation destined for the godly as new life. He depicts it, Isa_65:17-25, from its outward side, and, Isa_66:1-3 a, from its inward side. I must regard the verses Isa_66:3-6 as an interpolation. [But see the exposition.—D. M.] In Isa_66:7-9 the Prophet describes the new life in a quite peculiar relation. He shows the wonderfully intensive power with which the new life will unfold itself, and find its realization in posterity that cannot be numbered. The fundamental, ethical character of the new order of life, which will express itself both in the relation of the redeemed to one another, and in the relation of the Lord Himself to the redeemed, shall be maternal love (Isa_66:10-14). In conclusion, the Prophet draws another comprehensive picture of the time of the end, in which he first views collectively all its elements of judgment, and then shows how the distinction between Israel and the Gentile world will cease, and the entire human race will be one new Israel, raised to a higher elevation (Isa_66:15-24).
1. NOT ALL ISRAEL SHALL BE SAVED
Isa_65:1-7
1 I am sought of them that asked not for me;
I am found of them that sought me not;
I said, Behold me, behold me,
Unto a nation that was not called by my name.
2 I have spread out my hands all the day unto a rebellious people,
Which walketh in a way that was not good, after their own thoughts;
3 A people that provoketh me to anger continually to my face;
That sacrificeth in gardens,
And burneth incense 1upon altars of brick,
4 Which remain among the graves,
And lodge in the 2monuments,
Which eat swine’s flesh,
And 3 4broth of abominable things is in their vessels;
5 Which say, Stand by thyself, come not near to me;
For 5I am holier than thou.
These are a smoke in my 6nose,
A fire that burneth all the day.
6 Behold, it is written before me:
I will not keep silence, dbut will recompense,
Even recompense into their bosom,
7 Your iniquities, and the iniquities of your fathers together, saith the Lord,
Which have burned incense upon the mountains,
And blasphemed me upon the hills:
eTherefore will I measure their former work into their bosom.
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL
Isa_65:1. The dative after the passive נדרשׁ stands here as Eze_14:3; Eze_20:3; Eze_20:31; Eze_36:37, according to a well-known usus loquendi. אשׁר is to be supplied before לא. [Ges., Gr., §123, 3.] The Pual of קָרָא is of not unfrequent occurrence in the latter part of Isa_48:8; Isa_48:12; Isa_58:12; Isa_61:3; Isa_62:2. Isa_65:6. ושׁלמתי has the accent on the final syllable on account of the future signification, to distinguish it from the first שׁלמתי, which has the accent on the penult.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
1. Chaps. 65 and 66 are a Yes—but [an affirmative answer with qualifications] to the prayer of the church. For that prayer shall assuredly be heard, but quite otherwise than she imagines [?]. First of all the Lord makes a distinction, which was not made in the prayer, between the persons, according to their religious and moral condition. The prayer takes the people as an undistinguished unity in what is good as in what is bad. The good are not excepted where the transgression of the people is spoken of (Isa_63:10; Isa_63:17; Isa_64:4-6), and where deliverance and salvation are spoken of, the evil are not excepted (Isa_63:16; Isa_54:7-8). [It is not the case that the prayer altogether ignores the distinction between the good and the bad in the community. This distinction is prominently made in the latter part of Isa_63:17 : Return for thy servants’ sake to the tribes of thine inheritance (amended translation). Jehovah’s answer is exactly conformable to this prayer. Comp. Isa_65:8 sq.: So will I do for my servants’ sakes. When the prayer speaks of the whole nation being God’s people, the reference is to the original relation established between them and God. The prayer distinctly declares that it is for those that wait for Him that God acts, and that it is he who rejoiceth and worketh righteousness whom God meets, Isa_64:4-5. Moreover, this prayer, which the church is supposed to utter, testifies, notwithstanding its strong confession of prevalent and general ungodliness, to the existence of a faithful, praying remnant. Dr. Naegelsbach fails to appreciate the prayer that precedes chap. 65, and attributes to it defects and blemishes which it does not really contain.—D. M.]. In chap. 65 there is a sharp line of separation drawn between the servants of Jehovah who have sought Him (Isa_65:8-10; Isa_65:13 sqq.), and the persons who have forsaken Him (Isa_65:11 sqq.) But it is not the intention of the Lord. that Israel should be reduced by the exclusion of the ungodly to a little flock, and that the old patriarchal promise of an innumerable progeny should find but a scanty realization in the glorious time of salvation. In the Messianic time Israel shall be not only blessed and glorious, but also numerous (comp. Eze_36:37). Just think of places such as Isa_49:13 sqq.; Isa_54:1 sqq.; Isa_60:4 sqq.! But the Lord will take the members of His redeemed church not merely out of Israel. He takes them out of all nations. For, connection with the church of the redeemed is no longer dependent on natural descent from Abraham and circumcision in the flesh, but on being born of God and circumcision of the heart. [We give here Dr. J. A. Alexander’s analysis of this section: “The great enigma of Israel’s simultaneous loss and gain is solved by a prediction of the calling of the Gentiles, Isa_65:1. This is connected with the obstinate unfaithfulness of the chosen people, Isa_65:2. They are represented, under the two main aspects of their character at different periods, as gross idolaters and as Pharisaical bigots, Isa_65:3-5. Their casting off was not occasioned by the sins of one generation, but of many, Isa_65:6-7. But even in this rejected race there was a chosen remnant, in whom the promises shall be fulfilled, Isa_65:8-10.”—D. M.].
2. I am sought——called by my name. Isa_65:1. The Apostle Paul understands Isa_65:1 of the Gentiles while he adheres to the Septuagint, with a transposition of the clauses (Rom_10:20). The Jewish commentators (with exception of Chiquitilla or Gecatilia, comp. RosenmuellerSchol. in loc.) and most modern interpreters refer the words to the unbelieving Jews. Only Hendewerk, who supposes the Persians specifically to be here meant, Stier and von Hofmann are exceptions. I agree with these latter. For 1) if Isa_65:1 is to refer to the Jews, then נמצאתי ,נדרשׁתי must signify: quaerendum, inveniendum me obtuli, and not “I let Myself be asked for, be found,” which signification the Niphal undoubtedly has in Eze_14:3; Eze_20:3; Eze_20:31; Eze_36:37 (Niph. tolerativum). For, in fact, the Jews have not sought the Lord, and therefore have not asked for and found Him. If then we would take the verbs נדרשׁתי and נמצאתי in the sense in which נדרשׁ occurs in the places quoted from Ezekiel, that would be affirmed regarding the Jews in the place before us which was not true of them. We must then take נדרשׁ and נמצא in the sense of quaerendum, inveniendum me obtuli, or in the sense “I was capable of being asked for, capable of being found;” but this sense the perfect Niphal cannot bear. In reference to נדרשׁ, an examination of the places in Ezekiel makes this clear. But in reference to נמצא appeal is made to Isa_55:6. There it is said: Seek the Lordבְּהִמָּֽצְאוֹ which may be rendered while he may be found.—For everything which is found, may be found. But does it follow that נמּצא can mean “to be capable of being found” to the exclusion of the signification “to be actually found?” But that must be the case if Isa_65:1 is to be referred to the Jews. 2) גוי לא קֹרָא בשמי is appropriately applied only to Gentiles, as even Delitzsch confesses. [Delitzsch also calls attention to the use of גּוֹי (comp. Isa_55:5) in Isa_65:1 and of עַם in Isa_65:2, as indicating that Isa_65:1 relates to the Gentiles and Isa_65:2 to the Jews.—D. M.]. With the words הנני הנני the Lord wishes to declare that He offers Himself lovingly and pressingly to the nation hitherto strangers to Him (comp. Isa_58:9).
3. I have spread out——their bosom.
Isa_65:2-7. In opposition to what the Lord will be in fact to the Gentiles we are told in these verses what the Lord wished to be to Israel, but was not on account of the stubbornness of this people. With infinite, compassionate love the Lord spread out His hands to Israel כל־היום (comp. Isa_65:5; Isa_28:24; Isa_51:13; Isa_52:5; Isa_62:6), i. e,, continually. He would gladly have enclosed them in His arms as dear children (כּרשׂ see the List.). But they were a refractory people. He calls them עַם not גּוֹי as, Isa_65:1, the Gentiles; but they were עם סורר. How they proved refractory is declared in what follows. They pursued evil, perverse ways, and this was the necessary consequence of their following, not the thoughts of Jehovah, but only their own thoughts (comp. Isa_55:7; Isa_59:7; Jer_18:12). But not only by omitting to do what the Lord desired, did they offend Him, but also by defiant and open (על־כּני, comp. Job_1:11; Job_6:28; Job_21:31, probably, too, alluding to Exo_20:3) doing of that which is contrary to the chief commandment of the theocracy, by gross idolatry which they practised, while they sacrificed in gardens or groves (comp. on Isa_1:29; Isa_66:17), and burnt incense on altars which, contrary to the law, were built of bricks. According to the Mosaic law only an altar of earth or of unhewn stones [or of wooden boards overlaid with brass] was allowed (Exo_20:24 sqq.; Isa_27:1 sqq.; Isa_30:1 sqq.). The bricks recall Babylon, the land of lateres cocti from ancient time (Gen_11:3). Another form of their idolatry consisted in their frequenting groves and other kept (i. e., secret, not easily accessible) places, where they even passed the night in order to obtain mantic revelations through the demons, or through the spirits of the dead, a thing which was strictly forbidden in the law (Deu_18:11; comp. Isa_8:19). Even Jerome and Theodoret have so understood this place. Jerome says: . . “Sedens . . vel habitans in sepulchris et in delubris idolorum dormiens, ubi stratis pellibus hostiarum incubare soliti erant, ut somniis futura cognoscerent.” Other passages from ancient authors regarding this usage are given by Rosenmueller,in loc. It seems to me less appropriate to think of purificatory offerings presented for the dead (inferiae, februationes, Vitringa), as these offerings and not require a lengthened sitting or passing the night in sepulchral caves. נְצוּים are loca abscondita, as Isa_48:6נְצוּרוֹתres absconditae, as נָצַר easily obtains the signification of hiding from the signification custodire, observare (comp. Pro_7:10). The swine which divides the hoof, but does not chew the cud, is according to the law unclean, and durst not be eaten (Lev_11:7; Deu_14:18). Quamdiu stetit Judaeorum respublica, in Judaea nulli erant sues,” says Bochart (Hieroz. I. p. 804, comp. Luk_15:11; Luk_8:26; Luk_8:32). It is doubtful whether in our place the common or the ritual use of swine’s flesh (at the sacrificial meal) is spoken of. Both are possible. Where swine are eaten, there they can also be used in sacrifice, and where they are sacrificed, there they are also eaten. In Isa_66:17, too, both profane and sacred uses can be promiscuously spoken of. That among many heathen nations of antiquity swine were offered in sacrifice has been sufficiently proved by Spencer (De legg. Hebr. p. 137), Bochart (Hieroz. II. p. 381 sqq.), Saubert (De sacrificiis veterum cap. 23, p. 572 sqq.); Movers (Phoen. I. p. 218 sqq.). That the Babylonians sacrificed and ate swine seems to be implied in what is here said [?], but is not confirmed by other testimonies (comp. Delitzschin loc.). כָּרָק from כָּרַקto rend, to tear in pieces (comp. Gen_27:40; Psa_7:3 et saepe) is ἅπ. λεγ. The signification must be that which is torn to pieces, broken. [Gesenius assigns to the word the meaning of broth, soup, which is so called from the fragments or crumbs of bread on which the broth is poured.—D. M.]. כִּגּוּל is res foeda, abominabilis, abomination (comp. Lev_7:18; Lev_19:7; Eze_4:14). Broken bits (a ragout, a medley) of abominations are their dishes. The expression is metonymical [synecdochical, comp. Jer_24:2]. The K’ri reads מְרַק, which, according to Jdg_6:19-20, must mean broth. But the alteration is not needed. In Isa_65:5 the Prophet alludes to idolatrous rites of purification or sanctification which were not sanctioned by the law. They were probably connected with the celebration of mysteries. One recalls appropriately here the, word of Horaceodi profanum vulgus et arceo. [Henderson thinks the class here described to be entirely different from the idolaters spoken of in Isa_65:3-4. “Having specified the sins for which the Jews were notorious, during what may be called the idolatrous period of their history, Jehovah now portrays their character during the self-righteous period, or that which succeeded the return from the captivity—including Pharisaism, Talmudism, and modern Judaism.” Comp. Isa_58:1-3; Luk_18:11; Rom_10:3—D. M.]. קרב אליך recalls expressions such as we find Isa_49:20; Gen_19:9; Gen_19:3; Gen_19:2; Pro_9:4; Pro_9:16. [“The literal translation is approach to thyself, which implies removal from the speaker. The E. V., stand by thyself suggests the idea of standing alone, whereas all that is expressed by the Hebrew phrase is the act of standing away from the speaker, for which Lowth has found the idiomatic equivalent keep to thyself.” Alexander. D. M.]. נָנַשׁ stands only here with בְּ, probably because there lies in the word the idea of an approach that would be offensive, disturbing. קדשׁתיך is one of the rare cases in which the verbal suffix has the signification of the dative (comp. Isa_44:21). [I am holy to thee,i. e., unapproachable.—Del.]. If the words which we read from Isa_65:3 b, to Isa_65:5 a, really portray such idolatry as the exiles committed in Babylon, we must regard them as an interpolation. For the description is so particular that it could proceed from no one but an eyewitness. [Here again our author would alter the text to make it conform to his theory of the nature of prophecy. It was such idolatry as is here described that brought on the Jews the punishment of the Exile. Comp. Isa_1:29; Isa_57:3-8. The Babylonish captivity had the effect of making them turn with abhorrence from such gross idolatry.—D. M]. By means of a strong figurative expression the Lord makes known how much those idolatrous practices call for His retributive justice. He describes those sinners as the prey of an unquenchable fire (comp. Isa_66:24), whose smoke ascends perpetually before Him (see similar images Isa_9:18; Isa_10:17; Isa_30:27). In order to prove that He is in terrible earnest with the threatening in Isa_65:5 b, the Lord attests in Isa_65:6 that it is written before Him. He does not mean that the sin of those idolaters is recorded before Him, for what is recorded is stated in what goes before and follows. But immediately before and after, mention is made not of sin, but of punishment. The Lord intends to say: it is not merely decreed, but recorded, set down in a document (Job_13:26; Jer_22:30), that I will not be silent till I have recompensed. ושׁלמתי assures that the recompense will not remain intention but will become fact. על־חיקם comp. Jer_32:18; Psa_79:12 (Luk_6:38). These are the only other places in which the expression occurs in the Old Testament. In them אל is found instead of על, as in the K’ri on Isa_65:7. These two particles are frequently substituted the one for the other (comp. on Isa_10:3). It is worthy of remark that Jeremiah (Isa_32:18) had this place manifestly in his mind. The quick change of person sounds very hard. Isa_65:6 closes with their bosom; and Isa_65:7 in reference to the same persons proceeds to say your iniquities, in the second person. [The form of the address shows that עונתיכם וגו׳ִ, Isa_65:7 a, is not governed by ושׁלמתי but by an אְַשַׁלֵּם which is easily understood from it.” Delitzsch.). ומדתי וגו׳ connects itself with ומדתי וגו׳ Isa_65:6, so that the words עונתיכם to חרפוני appear as a parenthesis. פעלתם ראשׁנה cannot mean: what they have first deserved, their first, earliest guilt.—For why should the Lord punish only this? But if the meaning was intended to be: their total guilt from the beginning, why do we not read מֵרֵאשִׁית, or some similar expression? ראשׁנה can therefore only be an adverb, and signify primum. The Prophet has the people of the Exile in his eye. The people suffering the Exile endure in it only the beginning of the punishment for the national guilt. This punishment extends beyond it. And the people redeemed from exile still suffer under it. The first restoration from the captivity was a poor one. Israel was never after the Exile again independent. And on the first exile a second still worse followed. For the second destruction by the Romans was total, while the first by Nebuchadnezzar was only partial. After the first exile the Israelites could organize themselves again according to their law. After the second this could no more be done. This thought lies also at the basis of the passage Jer_16:18 (comp. my remarks on this place), which manifestly depends on the one before us.
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 ἐκλογή (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 pædagogical discipline of the law. They felt simply that they were forsaken by God. Their spirit was hungry. And when for the first time God’s 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. God’s 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 totâ die manus ad populum perversum etc., non posterius. Expansio brachiorum notat quidem blandam et benevolam Dei invitationem, quâ 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, quâ brachium Domini illis revelatur qui docentur á 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 God’s 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 God’s 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 remnant…Our Saviour has told us that for the sake of these elect the days of the destruction of the Jews should be shortened, and a stop put to the desolation, which otherwise would have proceeded to 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 Isaiah’s 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. Israel’s 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 (Israel’s 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. God’s 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. God’s 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 twofold—inward 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]Heb. upon bricks,
[2]secret places.
[3]their dishes are a mixture of abominations.
[4]Or, pieces.
[5]1 am holy to thee.
[6]Or, anger.
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv2–25 spread out . . . hands--inviting them earnestly (Pro…
spread out . . . hands--inviting them earnestly (Pro 1:24).
all . . . day--continually, late and early (Jer 7:13).
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rebellious people--Israel, whose rebellion was the occasion of God's turning to the Gentiles (Rom 11:11-12, Rom 11:15).
way . . . not good--that is, the very reverse of good, very bad (Eze 36:31).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv1, 3, 6, 8, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 20, 21, 23, 24, 25 1, 2. Sought of them that asked not —…
1, 2. Sought of them that asked not — The first verse refers to the Gentiles; the second to the Jews. So St. Paul in Rom_10:20-21. The rendering of Delitzsch is: “I was discernible to those who did not inquire.” They had the ability to apprehend God from natural reason, and from pervasive influence of the ever-revealing Logos.
Found of them that sought me not — “The grace of God, that bringeth salvation,” Which “hath appeared to all men,” (Tit_2:10,) was a gift to heathen consciences, and when Messianic light first dawned on the world very many heathen welcomed it. But the Jew, with light, promise, and entreaty, during all his history, was still wont to walk in his own light, and withhold himself from God. He was of a rebellious nature, as a whole, to the last.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 23, 24, 25 1, 2. Jehovah’s overtures have been rejected by an…
1, 2. Jehovah’s overtures have been rejected by an obdurate people.
1 Render: I was to be enquired of by those that asked not, I was to be found by them that sought me not, etc.
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The first verb in each line is of the form Niphal, which is to be understood not as a simple passive, but in its tolerative sense: “I let myself be enquired of,” i.e. “I was ready to answer,” exactly as Eze_14:3; Eze_20:3; Eze_20:31; Eze_36:37 : “I let myself be found,” as ch. Isa_55:6. Jehovah’s readiness to hear is contrasted with the people’s unwillingness to pray.
Behold me, behold me] Cf. ch. Isa_40:9, Isa_41:27, Isa_52:6, Isa_58:9.
that was not called by my name] We should read, changing the vowels in accordance with the Old Versions: that did not call on my name.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25 (1) I am sought of them . . .—Is…
LXV.
(1) I am sought of them . . .—Is this the answer to the previous prayer? Most commentators say “Yes;” but there is, at least, an apparent absence of continuous sequence. A more probable view is that it was written after an interval more or less considerable, and that the prophet utters what had been revealed to him as explaining why the plaintive appeal of Isa_64:12 did not meet at once with the answer that might have been looked for.
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A further question meets us, which has received different answers. Do the opening words speak, as St. Paul implies they do, of the calling of the Gentiles, contrasting their faith with the unbelief of Israel (Rom_10:20)? Taking the text as it stands, the most natural interpretation (there being no reference afterwards to the Gentiles) seems to be that Jehovah speaks to the same people in Isa_65:1-2, and that both alike speak of indifference and hardness. On this view the words may be translated, I was ready to answer those who did not enquire, was nigh at hand to be discovered by those who did not seek. . . . Such words were a true description of the state of Israel, as they have been of Christian Churches since, and are in close agreement with what follows. On this view St. Paul’s free use of the LXX. rendering must be looked on as analogous to the like application of Hos_1:10; Hos_2:1, by him (Rom_9:25-26) and by St. Peter (1Pe_2:10), though in these instances it is beyond question that the words primarily referred to the Jews, and not to the Gentiles.
A nation that was not called by my name.—Better, with the LXX., as in Isa_43:22; Isa_64:7, that has not called on my name. The meaning, on either rendering, is that Israel has sunk to the level of the heathen.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25 Vers. 1-7. ISRAEL"S SUFFERINGS THE JUST MEED OF THEIR…
Vers. 1-7. ISRAEL"S SUFFERINGS THE JUST MEED OF THEIR SINS. God"s mercy is such that it even overflows upon those who are outside the covenant (ver. 1). It has been offered to Israel, but Israel has rejected it. Their rebellion, their idolatries, and their pride have caused, and must continue to cause, their punishment (vers. 2-7).
I am sought; rather, inquired of, or consulted. (comp. Eze_14:3 Eze_20:3, Eze_20:31) The application of the text by St. Paul (Rom_10:20) to the calling of the Gentiles will be felt by all believers in inspiration to preclude the interpretation which supposes Israel to be the subject of ver. 1 no less than of vers. 2-7. I said, Behold me. This was the first step in the conversion of the Gentiles. God called them by his messengers, the apostles and evangelists. A nation that was not called by thy Name (so Gesenius, Delitzsch, Kay, and others). Bishop Lowth, Ewald, Diestel, and Mr. Cheyne, following the Septuagint and other ancient versions, render, "a nation that has not called upon thy Name." But this requires an alteration of the vowel-points, which seems unnecessary.
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HOMILIES BY E. JOHNSON Vers. 1-10. Threatenings and promises.
Both, as it would appear, addressed to the chosen people, though many, including St. Paul, apply the earlier part of the passage to the conversion of the Gentiles. There is a polytheistic party, and a party of true believers in the nation.
I GOD BEFOREHAND WITH MEN. He "allows himself to be consulted;" he "offers answers," or "is heard" by those who came not to consult him. He was "at hand to those who did not seek him." To a nation that did not call on him he cried, "Here I am!". (Isa_64:7 Isa_43:22) It is actually he who "spreads out his hands the gesture of prayer; what a condescension!". (cf. Pro_1:24) And this "all the day," or continuously if God did beseech you." It is a thought full of deep pathos and Divine beauty, that God no less seeks men than they seek him. He in a sense prays them to be reconciled to him. While, therefore, prayer is in one aspect the going forth of active desires after God, on the other hand it is the response to his action upon us. Not a day passes but the gentle mercy and love expressed in his providence offers its silent plea to heart and conscience: "Child of man! I love thee; come to me, and be at peace.
II THE STUBBORNNESS OF MAN. The people are described as unruly," and as "walking in a way which is not good, after their own thoughts." In the will and its licence, falsely called liberty, lies the mischief. The carnal mind is not "subject to God, neither indeed can be." In will-worship" the indulgence of the senses and the caprices of the fancy, lies the source of idolatry. And thus they irritate Jehovah to his face continually. They sacrifice in the gardens and on the bricks, i.e. the tiles of the houses, (2Ki_23:12 Zep_1:5 Jer_19:13) or on altars of materials forbidden by the Law. (Exo_20:24, Exo_20:25) They appear to be guilty of necromancy, of the consultation of dreams or citation of the departed. They incur ceremonial pollution by eating of swine"s flesh and other animals. And, initiated into some heathen rites, they had actually assumed a superior holiness to that of the people of God, thus caricaturing the true religion.
III THE WRATH AND VENGEANCE OF JEHOVAH. Here, again, the strongest figures arc employed. These abominations are "a smoke in his nose, a fire burning all the day long." Nothing can more strongly express what is offensive and irritating. So in Deu_32:22, "A fire is kindled in mine anger, and shall burn to the lowest hell". (cf. Psalm Eze_38:18) And with equal force the certainty of Divine vengeance is described. Either the sin of the Jews, or the Divine decree for its punishment, is written before Jehovah. The allusion is to the custom of kings of recording decrees in a volume or on a tablet, and kept in their presence, so that they might not be forgotten. Moreover, "the fortunes of men, past, present, and future, are all noted in the heavenly registers". (ch. Psa_66:8 Dan_7:10) A book of remembrance was written before Jehovah. (Mal_3:16) From this follows the justice of Divine punishment. He will not keep silence; nothing shall suppress his just edict or sentence. He will certainly recompense, and in full measure; the large and loose besom of the Oriental garment being, by a figure, viewed as the receptacle of those Divine penalties. (Psa_79:12 Jer_32:18 Luk_6:38 Exo_4:6, 7 Pro_6:27) The firm scriptural doctrine that the consequences of ancestral sin pass over to posterity here appears. (Exo_20:5 Exo_34:7 Job_21:19 Num_14:18 Luk_11:50, Luk_11:51) There seems to have been a founding and an accumulation of crime which now threatens to sweep down every barrier before it.
IV THE BEAM OF HOPE. In this extreme of denunciation and despair a transition, as ever, occurs. His mercy is not "clean gone for ever." The majority of Israel may be evil, for all that there is ever a "remnant" according to the election of grace. The vintagers, finding but a few good grapes on a cluster, say to each other perhaps it is the snatch of a vintage-song it not, for a blessing is in it." We are too ready to deal with men in the lump and in the mass they are a "bad lot," in familiar language we say. But the Divine eye marks the element of worth amidst the most corrupt and worthless mass. (cf. Isa_1:9 Isa_7:3 Isa_10:21 Isa_11:11-16) That which has the germinal principle, the seed-life in it, he cherishes; he will, in spite of all that is of another quality in the midst of which it may be imbedded, preserve. So here, the mountains and the whole land from east to west shall be preserved by the people. (Isa_33:9 Jos_7:24-26) Tillage is the very symbol of peace, plenty, prosperity. (Isa_30:23, Isa_30:24) A traveller may see in the valley of Sharon, when the sun gilds the mountain-top, and the flocks are returning to their fold, a visible expression of the future Paradise of God. "What a Paradise was here when Solomon reigned in Jerusalem, and sang of the roses of Sharon! What a heaven upon earth will be here again, when he that is greater than Solomon shall sit on the throne of David; for in his days shall the righteous flourish, and abundance of peace so long as the moon endureth! J.
HOMILIES BY W. CLARKSON Vers. 1-7. The offensiveness and the doom of sin.
The passage brings out in a very graphic form
I THE OFFENSIVENESS OF SIN.
1. Assumption. "Walking after their own thoughts" instead of reverently inquiring God"s will (ver. 2).
2. Positive disobedience in the manner of Divine worship (ver. 3).
3. Superstitious practices, implying discontent with the disclosures God had made in his holy Word (ver. 4).
4. Irreligious self-indulgence (ver. 4).
5. Spiritual pride. "I am holier than thou" (ver. 5) All these things were hateful to the Holy One of Israel; they constituted "rebellion" in his sight (ver. 2); they amounted to a defiant provocation of his wrath (ver. 3); they were as a continual smoke in the nostrils (ver. 5). All sin, whatever be its form or name, is "an abominable thing which God hates:" it is to his pure eyes unutterably loathsome; it is as the leprous skin to the eyes of man he "cannot look upon" it. It draws down his righteous condemnation.
II ITS INEVITABLE DOOM.
1. We must not argue non-observance or indifference from temporary silence. "Behold, it is written before me: I will not keep silence". (ver. 6 Ps 1)
2. Guilt accumulates with time (ver. 7). God mercifully postpones punishment, thus giving opportunity for repentance and escape. But if there be impenitence and continuance in sin, there is an awful "treasuring up of wrath," an accumulation of guilt against a day of account. Nations, families, Churches, individual souls, may well take earnest heed to this solemn truth.
3. There is an absolute certainty and fulness of penalty to the obdurate. "I will recompense, even recompense," etc.; "I will measure their work," etc.
4. Those who have abused their trust must look for a humiliating displacement (ver. 1). God will remove the chosen instrument of his truth and grace, and he will find another to do his work. Let the too-confident "children of the kingdom" beware lest they have to make room for those whom they have been accustomed to despise. C.
HOMILIES BY R. TUCK Vers. 1-3. Divine reproaches.
In the two previous chapters we find. the prophet, pleading in the name of Israel, had urged that God kept strange silence when his people were so long held captive, and their land lay so desolate. In this chapter we have the Divine answer to the prophet"s plea. There was good reason for the long delay. Instead of the people reproaching their God, their God might much more reasonably reproach them, for they had rejected his long and earnest appeals; they had put the stumbling-blocks in the way of their own restoration. They were not "straitened in God;" they were "straitened in their own selves." "He has called his people, but in vain; they have been obstinately deaf to him, unfaithful, and superstitious. The unfaithful shall be punished; but a faithful remnant shall be saved and restored to Zion, and from them the promises shall take effect" (Matthew Arnold). The Divine reproaches here may be regarded as addressed to three classes the negligent, the wilful, and the insolent.
I DIVINE REPROACHES OF THE NEGLIGENT. There are always among us those who give no heed to God, whether he speaks in thunder-voice, or with the still small voice; in judgments or in mercies; from Sinai or from Zion. This is the most perplexing difficulty with which God"s ministers have to deal. Men hear, but give no heed. They even recognize the truth and importance of what is declared, but fail to see any relation in which it stands to them. No harder work is set before the servants of God than to break down pride and self-satisfaction, and awaken personal concern. Indifference to heavenly and Divine things keeps men away even from God"s "feast of fat things, and wines on the lees well refined." Ministers have constantly to be the arousing trumpet-blast, which cries, "Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.
II DIVINE REPROACHES OF THE WILFUL. The secret of wilfulness is over-confidence in self. A man persuades himself that it "is in man that walketh to direct his steps." Or, as Isaiah puts it, a man is quite comfortable, walketh "after his own thoughts," even though he goes in a way that is not good. Such a man opposes all Divine voices and messages, because he finds the beginning of every one of them is this, "Humble yourself under the mighty hand of God." Wilful people will have their way, but they will not have God"s way.
III DIVINE REPROACHES OF THE INSOLENT. (Ver. 3.) "Provoketh me to anger continually to my face." It is strange that we must recognize a more hopeful condition in active opposition to God, than in dogged and sullen resistance, or in weak indifference. The man who can oppose has strength of character, and Divine reproach may be convincing to him. R.T.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv1, 3, 5, 8, 11, 12, 13, 14, 17, 20, 22, 24 I am sought of them that asked not for…
Isa_65:1
I am sought of them that asked not for Me
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Jehovahs answer to the prayer of the Church
The supplication is ended; and chap.
65. appears to be intended as the answer--an answer, however, in which a distinction is drawn between worthy and unworthy members of Israel, and a different prospect is held out to each. God has ever, He says, been accessible to His people, He has ever been ready to renew intercourse with them: it was they who would not respond, but provoked Him with their idolatries. (Prof. S. R. Driver, D. D.)
A nation that was not called by My name
A nation that called not on My name. The reference is to those among the people who, after the Restoration, still practised the idolatries of their pre-exilic forefathers. (A. B.Davidson, D. D.)
The very bold prophecy
We learn on inspired authority that this is a very bold passage (Rom_10:20); it required much courage to utter it at the first, and in Pauls day it needed still more to quote it and press it home upon the Jews around him. He who protests against a self-righteous people, and angers them by showing that others whom they despised are saved while they themselves are being lost, will have need of a dauntless spirit. This text has the clear ring of free grace about it; and for this reason it may be called bold.
I. THE PERSONALITY OF GOD IN THE WORK OF HIS GRACE. This is remarkably prominent in the work before us.
1. The personality of God comes forth in that He Himself is observant of all that is done. Do any seek him? He saith, I am sought. De any find him? He saith, I am found. Is there any preaching of the Gospel? The Lord declares, Behold Me, behold Me.
2. He Himself in the great object of desire where grace is in operation. When men are savingly aroused, they seek--what? Religion? By no means. They seek God, if they seek aright. The Lord saith, I am found. If men do not find God they have found nothing. God Himself fills the vision of faith; observe the words, Behold Me, behold Me. We look to God in Christ, and find all that our soul needs.
3. He Himself is the Speaker of that call by which men are saved. Here are the words: I said, Behold Me, behold Me. The Lord Himself speaks the effectual word.
4. He Himself is the director of the message., I said, Behold Me, behold Me, unto a nation that was not called by My name. Not only does God speak the Gospel, but He speaks it home to those whom He appoints to hear it. This surrounds the Gospel with a strange solemnity: if the Gospel blesses us, it is not it, but God that blesses: God Himself has come unto us. This fact has another aspect to it; for if the Gospel be rejected, it is God that is rejected. Read the next verse: I have spread out My hands all the day unto a rebellious people.
II. THE DELIGHT WHICH GOD TAKES IN THE WORK OF GRACE. God is glad to be sought and found by those who once were negligent of Him.
1. It is evident that He rejoices in contrast to the complaint of the next verse.
2. The Lord rejoices in each step of the process. There is a poor soul beginning to cry,, Oh that I knew where I might find Him! and lo the Lord says, I am sought. A man has only just begun to attend the House of Prayer; he has only lately commenced the earnest study of the Bible; the Lord sees it, and He says, I am sought. As when a fisherman smiles because a fish has begun to nibble at the bait, so the Lord notes the first movings of the heart towards Himself, and He says, I am sought. The very next sentence is, I am found.
3. The Lord also rejoices in the persons who seek Him. He says, I am sought of them that asked not for Me. He will be glad for any heart to keep on seeking that has begun to seek; but He is best pleased when non-seekers become seekers.
4. The Lord rejoices in the numbers who seek and find Him. I said, Behold Me, behold Me, unto a nation. When shall the day come that nations shall be born at once?
III. THE DESCRIPTION WHICH GOD HIMSELF GIVES OF THE WORK OF GRACE.
1. The Lord tells us where He finds the objects of His grace. He says, They asked not for Me; they sought Me not; they were not called by My name. What a mercy it is that He comes to us in our sin and misery; for assuredly we should not else come to Him.
2. He next describes that Gospel which comes to them as the power of God. Here are His own words: I said, Behold Me, behold Me. The way of salvation is, Look unto Me and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth.
3. Then the Lord goes on to mention the converts which the Gospel makes. The careless become seekers, the ungodly finders, the prayerless behold their God and live.
4. The Lord also describes the experience of the saved. God comes to us that we may come to Him.
IV. THE USE WHICH GOD MAKES OF ALL THIS. The Lord here took care that when He said, I am sought of them that asked not for Me, His words should be written down, and that they should be made known to us. It is not everything that God may say to Himself that He will afterwards repeat to us; but here these private utterances of the Divine heart are spoken out to us by Isaiah, and left on record in this inspired Book. To what end d-o you think it is so?
1. That he may excite in us wonder and admiration.
2. To destroy pride and self-esteem.
3. To encourage you who are seeking Him: for if those who do not seek Him often find Him, why, you that do seek Him are sure to find Him.
4. To encourage workers. Go to work among the worst of the worst; for since God is found of those who seek Him not, there is hope for the vilest.
5. That he may convict those who do not come to Him of the greatness of their sin. Look, saith He, those who never heard of Me before have found salvation, while you who have been instructed, and invited, and impressed, have still held out and resisted My Spirit. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On vv1, 5, 8, 13, 22, 24 (Missionary Sermon.)
THE CONVERSION OF THE GENTILES
(Missionary Sermon.)
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Isa_65:1. I am sought of them that asked not for Me, &c.
It was God’s design from the beginning to call the Gentile nation into His Church, and, in due time, to admit them to all the blessings and privileges of the Gospel. The Jews, indeed, were His peculiar people; but this distinction in their favour was made only for a particular purpose, and for a limited season. They were chosen especially for this end, that they might preserve in the world the knowledge of the true God, and then prepare the way for the coming of the promised Redeemer, who, when He should come, was to be “a light to lighten the Gentiles,” &c. It is to this great event that our text refers, as we are taught by St. Paul, who cites it as an expressive prophecy of the conversion of the Gentiles (Rom_10:20). The passage sets before us—
I. The wretched state of the Gentiles before their conversion to Christianity. Many of the Gentile nations were neither savages, nor sunk in want and ignorance, nor destitute of the necessaries, conveniences, or even elegant comforts of life. In all these respects they came very little, if at all, behind ourselves; they were rich and powerful, and produced many eminent men, whose talents and exploits have commanded the admiration of mankind. Yet they were wretched; they knew not God. “Darkness covered the earth,” &c. They made no inquiry after Him, &c. Surrounded by the wonderful works of God, they yet asked not who was the maker of them. They bowed down to idols, &c. (Rom_1:21-32).
II. The surprising and glorious change which was then wrought in them. They sought and found God. Their idols they cast away. Their vices they abandoned. A moral transformation took place in them, even more wonderful than those physical ones, which the prophet depicts (Isa_35:1-7; Isa_55:13).
III. The simple but powerful means by which this great work was accomplished. The Lord, by His Word, revealed His grace and glory to them, &c.
CONCLUSION.—
1. We are deeply concerned in these facts, and ought to regard them with feelings of most lively gratitude. Such was once the state of this country, such, at this moment, would have been our state if God had not sent His light and truth among us.
2. The condition of the heathen nations is as lamentable today as it was of old. The character of the most degraded of them admits of as complete and glorious a transformation. We have witnessed these moral miracles in our own day. The means by which this glorious transformation may be effected has been intrusted to us (2Co_5:18; Mat_28:19-20). Shall we be unfaithful to so great a trust? Gratitude to God, and compassion for our fellow-men, should make us diligent in its discharge.—E. Cooper.
God justifies His dispensation towards the Jews because of their manifold apostacies from Him, and then shows that He had conferred His favour upon the Gentiles, who had made no application to Him.
I. Why we must behold Him.
1. Because our whole interests are bound up in His favour. Consider who it is that asks you to behold Him as a God reconciled in Christ. Think of the contrast between the parties. He calls a world of rebels to His footstool, &c.
2. Because He delights to raise up trophies of His grace when and where we might least expect it (see former outline).
3. Because, though He is sometimes found of those who seek Him not, He is always found of those who seek Him.
II. Where shall we behold Him? Everywhere; the kingdom of nature; the volume of His Word; the economy of providence; the terrors of Sinai, but specially in the cross of Calvary.
III. When, &c. Now. Always.—S. Thodey. (See p. 233–240.)
Isa_65:2-7. The rejection of Israel. I. Preceded by special privileges. II. Occasioned by sin. Ingratitude. Idolatry. Hypocrisy. III. Clearly predicted. As a warning. IV. Judicially sealed.—Dr. Lyth.
Isa_65:2. The conduct of Israel excites our astonishment, but it finds its parallel among ourselves. Observe—I. God’s conduct toward men.
1. Gracious. Rebels against His laws, &c., having every element of iniquity (Isa_65:2-4).
2. Earnest. Outstretched hands—attitude of entreaty—willing to receive to favour.
3. Forbearing—without intermission. Day of life often protracted. II. Man’s conduct toward God.
1. Ungrateful.
2. Insulting.
3. Obstinate.
4. Criminal. Such a rejection of mercy must secure punishment (Pro_1:24; Psa_107:11).—A. Tucker.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Sermon Bible 1900 · Public Domain On v1 False grounds of superiority in holiness. The disposition to…
Isa 65:5
False grounds of superiority in holiness. The disposition to arrogate the dignity of holiness,—in other words, of religious worth and excellence,—has never become extinct among men, nor the quite consistent disposition to turn it to the use of pride. We may specify a few of the many grounds of pretension on which this assumption of holiness sustains itself, and takes authority for its pride of comparison with other men.
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I. In some instances an assumption of superior holiness has been made upon the ground of belonging to a certain division or class of mankind, a class having its distinction in the circumstances of descent and nativity, or in some artificial constitution of society.
II. Again, in many periods and places men have reputed themselves holy on the ground of a punctilious observance of religious forms and ceremonies, whether of Divine appointment or human invention.
III. Another ground of such assumption and pride as the text expresses, is general rectitude of practical conduct, separate from the true religious principle of moral excellence.
IV. The pride of self-estimation for goodness or holiness is apt to be betrayed by persons who have preserved a character substantially free from reproach, against those who have, in some known instance, fallen into great sin.
V. There is such a thing as a factitious zeal in the active service of religion, and that forms a ground of high pretension.
VI. There are a number of persons among professing Christians whose minds are almost ever dwelling on certain high points of doctrine, sought chiefly in the book of God’s eternal decrees. And it is on these doctrines that they found, in some manner, an absolute assurance of their being in Christ, in the Divine favour, children of God, and therefore as sure of heaven as if they were there. They can look with pride, not with pious gratitude, on those who are suffering doubts and solicitude respecting their state toward God and a future world.
VII. We may name, lastly, as one of the things made a ground of pretension and pride,—the experience of elated, ardent, enthusiastic feelings in some semblance of connection with religion, but not really of its genuine inspiration.
J. Foster, Lectures, 1st series, p. 180.
Reference: Isa 65:5.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxv., No. 1497.
Isa 65:8
Here we have four lessons taught us by a bunch of grapes.
I. That great good may be stored in little things. A bunch of grapes is a little thing, and yet there is a blessing in it. With a heart given to Jesus, a child is a sun which cannot but shine, a fountain which cannot but send out streams, a flower which cannot but fill the air with sweetness.
II. God alone puts the blessing into little things. In this He displays: (1) His wisdom; (2) His omnipotence; (3) His condescension and compassion.
III. Little things are to be spared for this blessing in them. There are plenty of little things which you are apt to despise because they are little, and yet, destroy them not, says God, for a blessing is in them. (1) Your vows and resolutions; (2) your principles; (3) your habits; (4) your character; (5) your friendships; (6) your interest in the heathen.
IV. If the blessing is lacking in them they will be undone for ever. "Destroy it not; for a blessing is in it." As if it were said, If there were no blessing in it, then it might be destroyed. It is the blessing which delivers. If there is no blessing in us, we are doomed. The unprofitable servant hid his talent in the napkin, but he could not hide himself from his master’s indignation.
J. Bolton, Family Treasury, Jan. 1863, p.111.
References: Isa 65:8.—Outline Sermons to Children, p. 104. Isa 65:11.—F. W. Farrar, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xviii., p. 321. Isa 65:19.—Spurgeon, Morning by Morning, p. 236. Isa 65:20.—G. Brooks, Outlines of Sermons, p. 341.
Isa 65:24
I. Consider how great degrees of love and anxiety for us are expressed in these few words. The Almighty Lord of heaven and earth represents Himself as watching with anxiety the hearts and consciences of us His creatures, His sinful creatures; as listening after any, the least, expression of penitence, so it be sincere; as having joy in any expressions of returning love in the cold and hardened heart. When we reflect on this, when we consider what forbearance and parental anxiety the great God of heaven shows for us, our hearts must indeed be hardened, our natural affections deadened by long intercourse with a cruel, deceitful world, if we feel not at least some desire to be worthy to be called the sons of so kind, so tender, so good a Father.
II. The question, then, which it concerns us to put impartially to our consciences is, Whether we do habitually endeavour to pray? Whether, in the midst of the daily cares and business of life, our minds habitually ascend to our God and Saviour, and with Him continually dwell; whether our desires, hopes, and wishes are in the right direction, namely, towards God and heaven and heavenly things; whether we habitually express these our feelings and affection in such ways as our heavenly Father has directed and sanctioned, namely, by the practice of deliberate, earnest, importunate prayer.
III. If we will not look to God as our Father, what other hope or dependence can we be trusting to? Our having a good character in the world for morality or religion will avail us nothing; our thinking favourably of ourselves will avail us nothing; our occasional regard to good forms, or occasional indulgence of seeming religious feelings, will avail us nothing. If we do not love and adore and devote ourselves to the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity, we are surely not in the safe way to salvation; and without leading a life of prayer, how can we flatter ourselves that we love our God?
Plain Sermons by Contributors to "Tracts for the Times" vol. x., p. 208.
References: Isa 65:24.—Preacher’s Monthly, vol.i.,p. 34. Isa 66:1, Isa 66:2.—E. Roberts, Penny Pulpit, No. 3504; Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xviii., No. 1083. Isa 66:5.—S. Cox, Expositor, 1st series, vol. ix., p. 53; J. B. Heard, Christian World Pulpit, vol. ix., p. 225. Isa 66:8.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xvii., No. 1009.
The Sermon Bible, ed. William Robertson Nicoll (1888–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Alexander MacLaren 1905 · Public Domain On v16
Isaiah
‘THE GOD OF THE AMEN’
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Isa 65:16.
The full beauty and significance of these remarkable words are only reached when we attend to the literal rendering of a part of them which is obscured in our version. As they stand in the original they have, in both cases, instead of the vague expression, ‘The God of truth,’ the singularly picturesque one, ‘The God of the Amen.’
I. Note the meaning of the name. Now, Amen is an adjective, which means literally firm, true, reliable, or the like. And, as we know, its liturgical use is that, in the olden time, and to some extent in the present time, it was the habit of the listening people to utter it at the close of prayer or praise. But besides this use at the end of some one else’s statement, which the sayer of the ‘Amen’ confirms by its utterance, we also find it used at the beginning of a statement, by the speaker, in order to confirm his own utterance by it.
And these two uses of the expression reposing on its plain meaning, in the first instance signifying, ‘I tell you that it is so’; and in the second instance signifying, ‘So may it be!’ or, ‘So we believe it is,’ underlie this grand title which God takes to Himself here, ‘the God of the Amen,’ both His Amen and ours. So that the thought opens up very beautifully and simply into these two, His truth and our faith.
First, it emphasises the absolute truthfulness of every word that comes from His lips. There is implied in the title that He really has spoken, and declared to man something of His will, something of His nature, something of His purposes, something of our destiny. And now He puts, as it were, the broad seal upon the charter and says, ‘Amen! Verily it is so, and My word of Revelation is no man’s imagination, and My word of command is the absolute unveiling of human duty and human perfectness, and My word of promise is that upon which a man may rest all his weight and be safe for ever.’ God’s word is ‘Amen!’ man’s word is ‘perhaps.’ For in regard to the foundation truths of man’s belief and experience and need, no human tongue can venture to utter its own asseverations with nothing behind them but itself, and expect men to accept them; but that is exactly what God does, and alone has the right to do. His word absolutely, and through and through, in every fibre of it, is reliable and true.
Now do not forget that there was one who came to us and said, ‘Amen! Amen! I say unto you.’ Jesus Christ, in all His deep and wonderful utterances, arrogated to Himself the right which God here declares to be exclusively His, and He said, ‘I too have, and I too exercise, the right and the authority to lay My utterances down before you, and expect you to take them because of nothing else than because I say them.’ God is the God of the Amen! The last book of Scripture, when it draws back the curtain from the mysteries of the glorified session of Jesus Christ at the right hand of God, makes Him say to us, ‘These things saith the Amen!’ And if you want to know what that means, its explanation follows in the next clause, ‘the faithful and true witness.’
But then, on the other hand, necessarily involved in this title, though capable of being separately considered, is not only the absolute truthfulness of the divine word, but also the thorough-going reliance, on our parts, which that word expects and demands. God’s ‘Amen,’ and ‘Verily,’ of confirmation, should ever cause the ‘Amen’ of acceptance and assent to leap from our lips. If He begins with that mighty word, so soon as the solemn voice has ceased its echo should rise from our hearts. The city that cares for the charter which its King has given it will prepare a fitting, golden receptacle in which to treasure it. And the men who believe that God in very deed has spoken laws that illuminate, and commandments that guide, and promises that calm and strengthen and fulfil themselves, will surely prepare in their hearts an appropriate receptacle for those precious and infallible words. God’s truth has corresponding to it our trust. God’s faithfulness demands, and is only adequately met by, our faith. If He gives us the sure foundation to build upon, it will be a shame for us to bring wood, hay, stubble, and build these upon the Rock of Ages. The building should correspond with its foundation, and the faith which grasps the sure word should have in it something of the unchangeableness and certainty and absoluteness of that word which it grasps. If His revelation of Himself is certain, you and I ought to be certain of His revelation of Himself. Our certitude should correspond to its certainty.
Ah! my friend, what a miserable contrast there is between the firm, unshaken, solid security of the divine word upon which we say that we trust, and the poor, feeble, broken trust which we build upon it. ‘Let not that man think that He shall receive anything of the Lord’; but let us expect, as well as ‘ask, in faith, nothing wavering’; and let our ‘Amen!’ ring out in answer to God’s.
The Apostle Paul has a striking echo of the words of my text in the second Epistle to the Corinthians: ‘All the promises of God in Him are yea! and through Him also is the Amen!’ The assent, full, swift, frank -the assent of the believing heart to the great word of God comes through the same channel, and reaches God by the same way, as God’s word on which it builds comes to us. The ‘God of the Amen,’ in both senses of the word, is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the seal as well as the substance of the divine promises, and whose voice in us is the answer to, and the grasp of, the promises of which He is the substance and soul.
II. Now notice, next, how this God of the Amen is, by reason of that very characteristic, the source of all blessing.
‘He who blesseth himself in the earth shall bless himself in the God of Truth.’ That phrase of blessing oneself in, which is a frequent Old Testament expression, is roughly equivalent to invoking, and therefore receiving, blessing from. You find it, for instance, in the seventy-second Psalm, in that grand burst which closes one of the books of the Psalter and hails the coming of the Messianic times, of which my text also is a prediction. ‘Men shall be blessed in Him,’ or rather, ‘shall bless themselves in Him,’ which is a declaration, that all needful benediction shall come down upon humanity through the coming Messias, as well as that men shall recognise in that Messias the source of all their blessing and good. So the text declares that, in those days that are yet to come, the whole earth shall be filled with men whose eyes have been purged from ignorance and sin, and from the illusions of sense and the fascinations of folly, and who have learned that only in the God of the Amen is the blessing of their life to be found.
Of course it is so. For only on Him can I lean all my weight and be sure that the stay will not give. All other bridges across the great abysses which we have to traverse or be lost in them, are like those snow-cornices upon some Alp, which may break when the climber is on the very middle of them, and let him down into blackness out of which he will never struggle. There is only one path clear across the deepest gulf, which we poor pilgrims can tread with absolute safety that it will never yield beneath our feet. My brother! there is one support that is safe, and one stay upon which a man can lean his whole weight and be sure that the staff will never either break or pierce his palm, and that is the faithful God, in whose realm are no disappointments, amongst whose trusters are no heart-broken and deceived men, but who gives bountifully, and over and above all that we are able to ask or think. They who have made experience, as we have all made experience, of the insufficiency of earthly utterances, of the doubtfulness of the clearest words of men, of the possible incapacity of the most loving, to be what they pledge themselves to be, and of the certainty that even if they are so for a while they cannot be so always-have surely learned one half, at least, of the lesson that life is meant to teach us; and it is our own fault if we have not bettered it with the better half, having uncoiled the tendrils of our hearts from the rotten props round which they have been too apt to twine themselves, and wreathed them about the pillars of the eternal throne, which can never shake nor fail. ‘He that blesseth himself in the earth shall bless himself’-unless he is a fool-’in the God of the Amen!’ and not in the man of the ‘peradventure.’
III. Lastly, note how the God of the Amen should be the pattern of His servants.
‘He that sweareth in the earth shall swear by the God of truth,’ or, ‘of the Amen.’ The prophet deduces from the name the solemn thought that those who truly feel its significance will shape their words accordingly, and act and speak so that they shall not fear to call His pure eyes to witness that there are neither, hypocrisy, nor insincerity, nor vacillation, nor the ‘hidden things of dishonesty’ nor any of the skulking meannesses of craft and self-seeking in them. ‘I swear by the God of the Amen, and call Thy faithfulness to witness that I am trying to be like Thee,’ that is what we ought to do if we call ourselves Christians. If we have any hold at all of Him, and of His love, and of the greatness and majesty of His faithfulness, we shall try to make our poor little lives, in such measure as the dewdrops may be like the sun, radiant like His, and of the same shape as His, for the dewdrop and the sun are both of them spheres. That is exactly what the apostle does, in that same chapter in 2 Cor., to which I already referred. He takes these very thoughts of my text, and in their double aspect too, and says, ‘Just because God is faithful, do you Corinthians think that, when I told you that I was coming to see you, I did not mean it?’ He brings the greatest thought that He can find about God and God’s truth, down to the settlement of this very little matter, the vindication of Himself from the charge, on the one hand, of facile and inconsiderate vacillation, and, on the other hand, of insincerity. So, we may say, the greatest thoughts should regulate the smallest acts. Though our maps be but a quarter of an inch to a hundred miles, let us see that they are drawn to scale. Let us see that He is our Pattern; and that the truthfulness, the simplicity, and faithfulness, which we rest upon as the very foundation of our intellectual as well as our moral and religious being, are, in our measure, copied in ourselves. ‘As God is faithful,’ said Paul, ‘our word to you was not yea! and nay!’ And they who are trusting to the God of the Amen! will live in all simplicity and godly sincerity; their yea will be yea, and their nay, nay.
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. R. Dummelow 1909 · Public Domain On v1 The Punishment of Apostate and Reward of Faithful Israel
The Punishment of Apostate and Reward of Faithful Israel
Isa_65:1-10. Israel's obduracy to Jehovah's appeals, and persistent idolatry, which He will surely punish; yet a faithful remnant shall be preserved.
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11-25. The fate in store for the unfaithful. The glories of the coming age for God's faithful people.
Isa_66:1-4. The danger of trusting in externals; a merely formal worship is an abomination to Jehovah.
5. A message of comfort for the faithful who axe persecuted.
6- 14a. The wonderful restoration of Israel.
14b-18a. The divine judgment on the nations, and on all idolaters.
18b-24. The recognition and worship of Jehovah by all nations.
1. Render, 'I have offered answers to those who asked not; I have been at hand to those who sought me not.. a nation that hath not called upon my name.' The v. refers to the Israelites who neglected Jehovah's appeals so often made. St. Paul (Rom_10:20) applies the passage by inference to the heathen world.
3. Gardens] the scenes of idolatrous rites in the pre-exile period (Isa_1:29; Isa_57:5). Upon altars, etc.] RV 'upon bricks,' i.e. perhaps the tiled roofs of houses (2Ki_23:12).
4. Monuments] RV 'secret places.' The v. alludes to the custom of sleeping in sepulchres or vaults of idol temples to learn the future through dreams. Eat swine's flesh] i.e. in sacrificial meals (Isa_66:17); it was forbidden by the Law as unclean (Lev_11:7; Deu_14:8). Broth, etc.] referring to a sacrificial feast of unclean food.
5. Which say, etc.] The words are uttered by those initiated into heathen mysteries, and who therefore considered themselves peculiarly sacred.
6. It (i.e. their sin) is written] cp. Jer_17:1.
7. Upon the mountains] cp. Isa_57:7; Hos_4:13.
Therefore.. work] RV 'there will I first measure their work.' Jehovah must first of all punish these deeds.
8. The meaning is that as a few good grapes often save a cluster from being destroyed, so Israel shall be preserved through the faithful remnant.
10. Sharon] the maritime plain on the W. of Palestine and the valley of Achor near Jericho on the E., are put for the whole land.
11. Ye are they that] RV 'ye that.'
Prepare a table] alluding to rites such as are described in Jer_7:18. That troop] Heb. Gad, i.e. 'Fortune' (RV): cp. Jos_11:17. Furnish, etc.] 'fill up mingled wine unto Meni' (i.e. 'destiny'). 'Meni' and 'Gad'.in the clause preceding are names of heathen deities.
12. Number you] RV 'destine you.'
15. Ye shall leave, etc.] So fearful will their fate be that their name will be used in imprecation. Jer_29:22 exactly illustrates what is meant.
16. The meaning is that men will recognise the faithfulness of Jehovah.
17. The same language is in NT. applied to God's final interposition and restoration of all things (2Pe_3:13; Rev_21:1). Nature itself will be transformed to be in harmony with regenerate Israel: cp. Isa_11:6-9.
20. The future, in the prophet's view, will be marked by a return to patriarchal longevity (Genesis 5), the power of death being not altogether removed, but limited. Those who die at 100 will be reckoned as but children, or as prematurely cut off for their sins.
21, 22. Reversal of the curse (Deu_28:30).
25. Together with the coming golden age for humanity the prophet anticipates a transformation of the lower creation, as in Isa_11:6 : cp. Rom_8:19. Dust, etc.] the serpent will be content with the food God assigned to it (Gen_3:14).
J. R. Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible (Macmillan, 1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On v17 Isa 65:17 looks beyond the kingdom-age to the new…
behold
Isa 65:17 looks beyond the kingdom-age to the new heavens and the new earth (see refs. at "create"), but Isa 65:18-25 describe the kingdom-age itself. Longevity is restored, but death, the "last enemy" 1Co 15:26 is not destroyed till after Satan’s rebellion at the end of the thousand years. Rev 20:7-14.
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Arno C. Gaebelein 1922 · Public Domain On v1 Jehovah’s Answer: The Rebellious and Their Judgment,
CHAPTER 65
Jehovah’s Answer: The Rebellious and Their Judgment,
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the Faithful and Their Blessings
1. The divine rebuke to the apostates (Isa 65:1-8) 2. The elect seed (Isa 65:9-10) 3. The judgment of the apostates (Isa 65:11-12) 4. The blessings of Jehovah’s servants and the contrast (Isa 65:13-16) 5. The glories and blessings of the future (Isa 65:17-25) The first eight verses give a description of the iniquities practiced by apostate Israel. Judgment will overtake them in the day of vengeance. Then the blessings of Jehovah’s true servant (the remnant) are declared. They shall eat, drink, rejoice and be blessed. All is contrasted with the wicked who have forsaken the Lord. A marvelous revelation concerning the future is given in Isa 65:17-25. When will all this be accomplished? It begins with the day of Jehovah; that day of the Lord is one thousand years. At the close of it the new heavens and a new earth will be created. Then, when eternal ages begin the complete fulfillment is reached. But the blessings of the Millennium are also before us. Jerusalem is created a place of rejoicing and His people, the people of the kingdom, Jews and Gentiles, obedient to the laws of the kingdom, will enjoy the material blessings here predicted. And groaning creation is seen once more delivered.
Arno C. Gaebelein, The Annotated Bible (1913–1922) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On vv1, 8, 17 The Lord’s Refusal
The Lord’s Refusal
v. 1. I am sought of them that asked not for Me, the Gentiles being represented as having access to the Lord and His mercy, although they were not members of God’s covenant people; I am found of them that sought Me not, His free grace and mercy being revealed to all men without any merit or worthiness on their part. I said, Behold Me, behold Me! unto a nation that was not called by My name, that did not belong to Israel according to the flesh. The universality of the Gospel-message is here set forth in unmistakable terms. By way of contrast the Lord now describes the behavior of Israel.
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v. 2. I have spread out My hands all the day, during the entire period when His covenant relation with Israel was in force, unto a rebellious people, stiff-necked and stubborn in all its actions, which walketh in a way that was not good, utterly at variance with God’s holy will, after their own thoughts, which were always evil and therefore led to destruction; Cf Rom 11:7;
v. 3. a people that provoketh Me to anger continually to My face, with a bold impertinence that challenged the wrath of the Lord; that sacrificeth in gardens, in groves, after the manner of the heathen, and burneth incense upon altars of brick, like the idol-worshipers of Babylonia;
v. 4. which remain among the graves and lodge in the monuments, passing the night in hidden recesses, for the purposes of necromancy and Spiritism, which eat swine’s flesh, a custom which was expressly forbidden in the Ceremonial Law, Lev 11:7, and broth of abominable things is in their vessels, Cf Lev 7:18; Lev 19:7;
v. 5. which say, Stand by thyself, thus declaring their rejection of Jehovah, come not near to me; for I am holier than thou. Thus the idolaters give voice to the thoughts of their hearts, with whom they no longer desire to be identified, since they consider themselves members of a better religious class than His worshipers represent. These are a smoke in My nose, most disagreeable to Him, a fire that burneth all the day, causing consuming wrath to be kindled in Him.
v. 6. Behold, it is written before Me, so that He has it before His eyes all the time. I will not keep silence, this being God’s answer upon their final appeal, Isa 64:12, but will recompense, even recompense into their bosom, with a thoroughness which they would not be apt to forget,
v. 7. your iniquities and the iniquities of your fathers together, saith the Lord, so that the guilt of both would be laid upon them, Exo 20:5, which have burned incense upon the mountains, in an excess of idolatry which had so often been rebuked by the Lord, and blasphemed Me upon the hills, where the worship of Baal, Ashtaroth, and other heathen idols was carried on. Therefore will I measure their former work into their bosom, letting them bear the full burden of their transgressions. As it was true then, so it is true today: "God is not mocked; for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. " Gal 6:7.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv1, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 15, 17, 20, 22, 24 I was ready
I was ready
Here "I" refers to Yahweh.
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I have spread out my hands all day to a stubborn people
"Spreading out my hands" here is a person's gesture to show imploring or a strong request. AT: "I have continually begged a stubborn people to receive my help" (See: Idiom)
translationWords
nation
call
name
people of God
walk
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18, 24, 25 65:1–66:24 Here the Lord responds to the prayer in…
65:1–66:24 Here the Lord responds to the prayer in 63:7–64:12.
65:1-2 The Lord opened up every opportunity for the people of Israel to seek him (55:6; 58:2), but they did not do so.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.