Read Isaiah
65-66 & 2
Thessalonians 1
To discover:
As you read note what we
learn about the church age and the glory to come.
To ponder:
Chapter 65 begins with God declaring how he revealed himself
to Israel
despite her not seeking or calling on him. This probably refers to his original
creation of the nation through Abraham and in Egypt
(65v1). The point is that they cannot blame God for their coming exile. His
action from the start is evidence that he always acted in grace. Paul applies
this principle to God revealing himself to the Gentiles too (Rom 10v20). God
continues, stressing that he constantly held out his hands to Israel
despite her being obstinate and provoking him with her idolatrous worship,
disobedience of his cleanliness laws, and hypocrisy in warding others off for
fear that they would be contaminated by them. No doubt, God held out his hands
through the prophets, calling the people to take them in repentance. But not
having done so, he is now clear: They cause him to fume with anger (65v2-5).
And so he will pay them back the full payment for their sins and those of
previous generations. And the certainty of this seems stressed by it being
“written before” God – perhaps this oracle that decrees judgement (65v6-7).
God’s is incredibly patient ad longsuffering. But he will judge in the end.
65v8-10
declares, however, that God will not destroy all his people, as he has some
fruitful servants (the remnant) on the vine of Israel .
Indeed, he will bring forth more grapes (descendents) who will inherit the land
and seek him. But those who forsake him, forget Zion ,
and engage in the occult, he will destine for destruction because they did not
respond to his call (65v11-12). Whereas his faithful servants will eat, drink,
rejoice and sing, their experience will be the opposite. Indeed, it will be so
bad for them, that their name (reputation) will be left as a curse, in which
people would say “may it be to you as it was to the unfaithful Israelites.” By
contrast, the faithful will have another name – ie. their reputation and
experience will be markedly different. And from then, those in the land will
rely on God’s truthfulness in their blessings and oaths, because their sin and
its consequences will have been forgotten by them and hidden from God, showing
that he keeps his word (65v13-16). This is a certainty for those who trust in
Christ.
What
follows displays how completely forgotten those things will be: God will create
a new heavens (the sky, including stars etc) and earth in which the former
things won’t be remembered. This is new as in renewed rather than replaced, as
the stress here is on Israelites still living in the land and still having
Jerusalem in some sense. It will still be this earth (see Mat 5v5, Rom 8v19-21). Moreover, Isaiah cannot be speaking
of absolute forgetfulness, as there must be some awareness if God is to be
praised for his grace, and we are encouraged we will meet our loved ones again
(1 Thess 4v13-18). The point is, that the distress and shame of the past will
have faded from our minds. And so Isaiah’s hearers are called to rejoice in the
future in which he will delight in Jerusalem and its people will no longer
weep. v20 needs thought as seems to imply childbirth and death will remain.
Some argue it therefore refers to a glorious period of history before the final
state. However, v17 tells us this is after the new creation comes into being.
Others suggest God is figuratively using concepts the Israelites would
understand to describe the reversal of the curse in Eden. But it is hard to
explain why, as he was prepared to talk of the removal of death earlier in
Isaiah (25v7-8). Most likely to my mind, v20 therefore refers to the
present age from the perspective of the age to come. So, there will be no more
of the particular grief that now comes with premature death. Indeed, because we
will be immortal we will consider those who lived to a hundred in this age to
have still been mere children, and those who didn't live that long, to have
been especially cursed not to even get that far. And what will life be like in
the new creation? Homes and vineyards will no longer be taken from them through
war or financial disaster (v21-22), so God's people will be able to enjoy the
fruit of their labours without it ever being lost. The point is that the curse
of childbearing and work (Gen 3v16-19) will have passed, as the faithful and
their descendents (who also prove faithful) will be blessed by God - a blessing
seen in his readiness to answer their prayers even before asked (v24, see Matt
6v8). More than this, on Mount Zion (Jerusalem), there will be harmony between
animals, and the serpent (Satan) will eat dust, ie. experience his humiliation
and defeat (v25). In other words, this future life will be a continuation of
the sort of life we experience in this world, but perfected - a life of blessing,
peace, security, harmony, flourishing and joy. We will need to decide from
wider scripture whether we think there will be a literal Jerusalem and
vegetarian animals!
Returning either
to Isaiah’s day, or looking ahead to the rebuilding of the temple after the
exile, God speaks of his immensity, in which he is enthroned in heaven with his
footstall on earth. This brackets the body of the book with Isaiah’s vision in
6v1. The point is that despite the existence of the temple, none can really
build a house for him as God made everything (66v1-2). This is a reminder that
although the temple rituals display the attitude of worship God seeks, the
essence of what he looks for in worshippers is humility, sorrow for sin and
fearful reverence for God’s word – presumably, not just his law, but these
prophecies. So the ungodliness of God’s people meant that their offerings were
actually the equivalent of serious sin, uncleanliness with respect to worship,
and idolatry. Indeed, they so delighted in their abominations and refused to
respond to God’s call through his prophets, that he declared that he would
choose harsh treatment for them (66v3-4). It’s another reminder of how much God
detests the hypocrisy of worship in those who are unrepentant and who neglect
his word.
Next God
address the faithful. Their fellow Israelites who hate and exclude them whilst
speaking piously of God’s glory and joy, will be shamed and repayed. The note
about uproar in the city and temple looks to their destruction by Babylon ,
or if post exile, to some future destruction (66v5-6). By contrast, God
stresses that the children Zion
gives birth too – ie. his faithful remnant, will be born speedily and
painlessly because God is in charge of the delivery. Its striking how true this
is, when one considers it occurs as he brings us to faith in Christ. So those
who love and mourn over the coming destruction of Jerusalem
can also rejoice and be glad for her, for they will be nursed by her – implying
there will be abundance to enjoy within a new Jerusalem (66v7-11). And so God
promises Jerusalem peace or wholeness,
and the wealth of the nations like a river and stream, which were the life
source for any city. And by this means, her children will be fed, carried and
comforted, and also find joy like the child on its mother’s knee. On seeing
this, God’s servants will rejoice and flourish, seeing God’s hand acting for
them, whilst his enemies witness his anger, as he comes like a heavenly warrior
to judge all men (66v12-16).
In what follows God summarises Israel ’s
entire future in a few paragraphs (66v1-24): He declares Israelites who engage
in idolatry and unclean acts will meet their end, and, as if to make up for
their loss, he will gather non-Israelites from all nations to see his glory.
Having set up some “sign” amongst the Israelites, he will send some of those
who aren’t destroyed (presumably because they are repentant) to proclaim his
glory to the nations. And those from the nations will then come to Jerusalem
bringing Israelites with them as an offering to the LORD. Shockingly, God will
even select some of them to be priests and Levites – ie. those who minister in
whatever is the equivalent of the temple. And so God will have ensured not only
that the “name” and so reputation of Israel will endure forever before him in
this remnant, but those from all mankind will forever bow before him. However,
they will see those who rebelled outside the city in a never ending destruction
(66v1-24). This is all an astonishing fit with the church age, in which Jesus
outlined a series of events as a “sign” of the destruction of Jerusalem in AD70
(Lk 21v7-24), repentant Jews became the first Christians and took the gospel to
the nations, who in turn shared it with Jews who have joined them in coming to
the new Jerusalem through faith. And God has made many of those Gentile ministers
of the church, his spiritual temple. Here we might note Paul’s stress on word
ministry as a priestly ministry whereby people are offered to God (66v20, Rom
15v16).
Praying it home:
Praise God for how
he has eventually fulfilled his purposes despite Israel ’s
sin and failure to attract the nations to him. Pray that you would play your
part of proclaiming his glory to the nations.
Thinking
further:
None
today.
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