Today we study Chapter 66. This is the last chapter and the last of the summary section of Isaiah. We continue from Chapter 65 with the Lord speaking.
Isaiah 66:1-2
Thus says the LORD: "Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool; what is the house that you would build for me, and what is the place of my rest? All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the LORD. But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.
These verses come right after a flash forward to the end times. The verses have a particular fit in the context of God revealing that He will make a new heavens and a new earth (Isaiah 65:17). It isn't just going to take a new temple dedication or new temple to restore things to their proper relationships. It is going to take God moving forth in a new creation. God is calling on the men of Isaiah's day (and for us) to realize the severity of the situation. We are redeemed from a life of rebellion against God. In Ephesians 2:1-3 God states that you, the redeemed "were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind." You were (and all that don't know God are) guilty of treason against God. Of course we consider our "self" rule to be our right. We have no justification for that attitude but it flows from our sin nature. We were comfortable in our sin nature so long that, in general, it is hard to hear God saying that we were dead, and following the prince of the power of the air, and that we were sons of disobedience. Wayne Grudem says that, "God's holiness means that He is separated from sin and devoted to seeking His own honor." The first part of that definition is almost self evident and flows from almost anyone's idea of "holy". The second part should be terrifying. It should be terrifying because it will be worked out and expressed by an omniscient and omnipotent God. Our God of infinite perfections in all His ways will not leave sin unpunished. He will not leave it alone in your life, church, nation, or planet. He will seek His own honor because it is the perfect and righteous thing to do. God's mercy and love keep Him from removing all sin immediately and destroying all men in the process. When we know that God is going to deal with sin and don't tremble it is because we have forgotten how deep our sin nature runs. When Isaiah thought that he was a dead man and shouted at the revelation of God's holiness (Isaiah 6:5) it wasn't simply because of the separateness of God's holiness but he also had a sudden knowledge that our God is a consuming fire and a fear that he would find out firsthand about that fire (Isaiah 33:14).
Isaiah 66:3-4
"He who slaughters an ox is like one who kills a man; he who sacrifices a lamb, like one who breaks a dog's neck; he who presents a grain offering, like one who offers pig's blood; he who makes a memorial offering of frankincense, like one who blesses an idol. These have chosen their own ways, and their soul delights in their abominations; I also will choose harsh treatment for them and bring their fears upon them, because when I called, no one answered, when I spoke, they did not listen; but they did what was evil in my eyes and chose that in which I did not delight."
All the ritual sacrifices become an offence when they come from those who seek their own ways, delight in things that God has forbidden, and ignore God's Word. Israel had a problem with incorporating false religions into their lives (Ezekiel 8). In these verses Isaiah pairs the permissible with the impermissible. When your heart is divided it is separated from our Holy God. You can't stand divided in the presence of God. Even stuff can divide our hearts and separate us from God (Matthew 6:24; Luke 16:13). In the context here with Isaiah wrapping up I think we need to prepare for another series of verses with prophetic telescoping of time.
Isaiah 66:5
Hear the word of the LORD, you who tremble at his word: "Your brothers who hate you and cast you out for my name's sake have said, 'Let the LORD be glorified, that we may see your joy'; but it is they who shall be put to shame.
Ahaz and Hezekiah were likely in Isaiah's mind when he was inspired to write this verse. Isaiah would have had many who expressed the attitude that God should show up and fulfill what they wanted Him to do. They would have ridiculed Isaiah as naïve and unaware of the political situation. But flash forward and consider this prophecy in the light of Christ. He was despised and rejected by men. He heard the "If you are the Son of God …" introduction from the tempter (Matthew 4:3) and from men to begin their sinful responses to His light (Matthew 27:43). And yet Jesus knew that their lack of love for Him was to their shame (John 8:42).
Isaiah 66:6
"The sound of an uproar from the city! A sound from the temple! The sound of the LORD, rendering recompense to his enemies!
This sounds like a prophecy of the events recorded in Matthew 27:51-54 "And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split. The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many." This would have caused an uproar and a sound in the temple. The curtain was ripped in two from top to bottom and God's presence departed from the temple.
Then we see the fulfillment of God's presence coming to dwell in the hearts of believers through the Holy Spirit making one nation of many different nations (Acts 2). What a tremendous fulfillment of promise. I think the following describe the outpouring of God's Spirit in Acts chapter 2 in the first of many revivals.
Isaiah 66:7-14
"Before she was in labor she gave birth; before her pain came upon her she delivered a son. Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Shall a land be born in one day? Shall a nation be brought forth in one moment? For as soon as Zion was in labor she brought forth her children. Shall I bring to the point of birth and not cause to bring forth?" says the LORD; "shall I, who cause to bring forth, shut the womb?" says your God. "Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad for her, all you who love her; rejoice with her in joy, all you who mourn over her; that you may nurse and be satisfied from her consoling breast; that you may drink deeply with delight from her glorious abundance." For thus says the LORD: "Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream; and you shall nurse, you shall be carried upon her hip, and bounced upon her knees. As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you; you shall be comforted in Jerusalem. You shall see, and your heart shall rejoice; your bones shall flourish like the grass; and the hand of the LORD shall be known to his servants, and he shall show his indignation against his enemies.
I know that some apply this Scripture to the nation Israel. The continued existence of that nation is remarkable and I pray for revival there before the end times. However, it seems to me to be far more natural to the context to see this verse fulfilled in the Body of Christ as the Holy Spirit was poured out on the earth. We came into existence quickly by the power of God through the Holy Spirit. We are called the Holy Nation and God calls us Israel and Jerusalem. The picture of milk points forward to new believers who need spiritual milk to grow and get it from the Church (1 Corinthians 3:2; Hebrews 5:12-13; 1 Peter 2:2). Peter saw 3000 come into the Kingdom in one day. But God's judgment was also on the way for the earthly city.
Isaiah 66:15-17
"For behold, the LORD will come in fire, and his chariots like the whirlwind, to render his anger in fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire. For by fire will the LORD enter into judgment, and by his sword, with all flesh; and those slain by the LORD shall be many. "Those who sanctify and purify themselves to go into the gardens, following one in the midst, eating pig's flesh and the abomination and mice, shall come to an end together, declares the LORD.
After Pentecost in the mid-thirties AD about 35 years later a terrible judgment came upon the earthly city Jerusalem in 70 AD. The Jewish historian Josephus said that he hesitated to mention it because it seemed too strange to believe but many had told him that they saw and heard chariots in the air over Jerusalem in those days. It was a horrible time and the earthly temple was destroyed for what I think was the last time and never to be rebuilt again. The events in the first century drove the Church out from the Holy Land into other nations and eventually the world.
Isaiah 66:18-21
"For I know their works and their thoughts, and the time is coming to gather all nations and tongues. And they shall come and shall see my glory, and I will set a sign among them. And from them I will send survivors to the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, who draw the bow, to Tubal and Javan, to the coastlands far away, that have not heard my fame or seen my glory. And they shall declare my glory among the nations. And they shall bring all your brothers from all the nations as an offering to the LORD, on horses and in chariots and in litters and on mules and on dromedaries, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, says the LORD, just as the Israelites bring their grain offering in a clean vessel to the house of the LORD. And some of them also I will take for priests and for Levites, says the LORD.
And so He has built His Church from all nations. In hindsight we can understand the "bring all your brothers from all the nations as an offering to the Lord" since we know that God is grafting us in and making from all nations offspring for Abraham. Well if Isaiah is going to touch on the events surrounding the crucifixion, Pentecost, and the spread of the Church worldwide you know he must end with a look down through time to the final judgment.
Isaiah 66:22-24
"For as the new heavens and the new earth that I make shall remain before me, says the LORD, so shall your offspring and your name remain. From new moon to new moon, and from Sabbath to Sabbath, all flesh shall come to worship before me, declares the LORD. "And they shall go out and look on the dead bodies of the men who have rebelled against me. For their worm shall not die, their fire shall not be quenched, and they shall be an abhorrence to all flesh."
So once again we touch on eschatology. Your personal view of the end times, to be consistent with Scripture, must include a remade heavens and earth along with our eternal life in worship of Him. In culmination, God's holiness has removed all sin. Judgment is also coming. God will be glorified either by a man as God's grace is poured out or in judgment on men. Hell and judgment aren't popular these days but they must also be included in your eschatology to be consistent with the Word. Hell will serve eternally to magnify the work of God that saved us by His grace and His mercy. We will never get over being thankful for our Salvation. Nunc dimittis.
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