2. The culmination of Israel’s future 65:17-66:24As the book opened with an emphasis on judgment (chs. 1-5), so it closes with an emphasis on hope (Isaiah 65:17 to Isaiah 66:24). Amid judgment, Israel could have hope. References to "new heavens" and a "new earth" form an inclusio for this final section of the book (Isaiah 65:17; Isaiah 66:22). read more
New heavens and a new earth 65:17-25God not only will be faithful to His promises in spite of Israel’s unfaithfulness (Isaiah 63:1 to Isaiah 65:16), but He will demonstrate His ability and desire to provide righteousness for sinful humankind by creating new heavens and a new earth. Most of this section describes God’s renovation of creation during the Millennium. read more
Specifically, death will not have the power that it has had. Infant mortality will be virtually unknown, and people’s life-spans will be much longer. This seems to describe a return to conditions before the Flood, when people lived hundreds of years (Genesis 5). In short, one of the sources of sorrow and weeping, namely, Death, will suffer defeat. Christians need not fear the second death even now. Believers alive in the Millennium will live longer on this earth than they do now, but they will... read more
Likewise there will be abundant safety and plenty when God brings new life to the world (cf. Isaiah 17:11; Leviticus 26:16; Deuteronomy 28:15-46; Amos 5:11; Zephaniah 1:13). Again, people will live longer: longer than God’s other creations such as trees, and longer than their own "creations," such as buildings and bridges that normally outlive them (cf. Isaiah 40:6-8)."What a promise, to have the time to do something right and then the opportunity to enjoy it to the full!" [Note: Oswalt, The... read more
The Punishment of Apostate and Reward of Faithful IsraelIsaiah 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. 11-25. The fate in store for the unfaithful. The glories of the coming age for God’s faithful people.Isaiah 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... read more
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 (Romans 10:20) applies the passage by inference to the heathen world.3. Gardens] the scenes of idolatrous rites in the pre-exile period (Isaiah 1:29; Isaiah 57:5). Upon altars, etc.] RV ’upon bricks,’ i.e. perhaps the tiled roofs of houses (2 Kings 23:12).... read more
(20) There shall be no more thence . . .—The prophet sees in the restored city not so much an eternal and a deathless life as the return of the traditional longevity of the prediluvian and patriarchal age (Genesis 5:11), Life will not be prematurely cut off, as it had been, by pestilence and war. (Comp. Zechariah 8:4.) He who dies at the age of a hundred will be thought of as dying young; even the sinner, dying before his time as the penalty of his guilt, shall live out the measure of a... read more
(21) They shall build houses . . .—The proverbial type of national security and peace, as the opposite was of national misfortune (Leviticus 26:16; Deuteronomy 28:30). read more
The Church a Blessing in the World Isaiah 65:8 As a rule, the pious and good are of little value in the eyes of the world, and are despised often as foolish and 'narrow' men. The 'religious public' is spoken of contemptuously and scornfully. But God's judgment is a different one. It is the judgment that Abraham recognized when he pleaded for Sodom and Gomorrah for the sake of even (at length) ten righteous persons. It is the judgment of the text. The vinedresser is about to hew down the... read more
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Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Isaiah 65:21
21. (See on :-; Amos 9:14). read more