provoketh Me to anger. Reference to Pentateuch (Deuteronomy 32:21 , the same word, though not the same form). App-92 . that sacrificeth in gardens. Reference to Pentateuch (Leviticus 17:5 ). upon altars of brick = upon the bricks: i.e. not on the golden altar of incense. read more
Isaiah 65:3-4. That sacrificeth in gardens, &c.— The superstition of the Jews is here reproved: the passage is not to be understood literally, but mystically (see ch. Isaiah 66:17.); the prophet herein figuratively setting forth their shameful and detestable deviation from the true faith and the practice of holiness and virtue, which was as hateful and offensive to God as the most odious sacrifices, and vilest superstitions of idolatry. read more
3. continually—answering to "all the day" (Isaiah 65:2). God was continually inviting them, and they continually offending Him (Deuteronomy 32:21). to my face—They made no attempt to hide their sin (Isaiah 3:9). Compare "before Me" (Isaiah 3:9- :). in gardens—(See on Isaiah 3:9- :; Isaiah 66:17; Leviticus 17:5). altars of brick—Hebrew, "bricks." God had commanded His altars to be of unhewn stone (Exodus 20:25). This was in order to separate them, even in external respects, from idolaters; also,... read more
Superficial righteousness 65:1-7 read more
The divine response 65:1-16The Lord responded, through the prophet, to the viewpoint expressed in the preceding prayer (Isaiah 63:7 to Isaiah 64:12)."The great mass [of the Israelites] were in that state of ’sin unto death’ which defies all intercession (1 John Isaiah 65:16), because they had so scornfully and obstinately resisted the grace which had been so long and so incessantly offered to them." [Note: Delitzsch, 2:474.] read more
The Israelites provoked the Lord by offering their sacrifices in ways that were unacceptable to Him-and then claimed that He was unresponsive to them. Gardens were unauthorized places for sacrificing, and bricks were unauthorized materials for an altar (cf. Exodus 20:25; Deuteronomy 27:5-6; Joshua 8:31). 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
(3) That sacriflceth in gardens.—It is not without significance, as bearing on the date of the chapter, that the practice was common in Judah under Ahaz. (Comp. Isaiah 1:29, Micah 5:0; Ezekiel 20:28.)Burneth incense upon altars of brick.—Literally, on the bricks, and possibly, therefore, on the roofs of houses, as was common in the idolatrous practices of Judah (2 Kings 23:12; Jeremiah 19:13). By some interpreters the words are referred, though with less probability, to the brick altars which... read more
Get Bible verse every day in your inbox
Read on Mobile
Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Isaiah 65:1-16
God’s people: servants or rebels? (65:1-16)It was God’s desire that Israel seek him and enjoy his blessings, but instead the nation rebelled against him and stubbornly went its own way. Only a minority within Israel, along with those of Gentile nations who turned to Israel’s God, were really God’s people (65:1-2). As for the people of Israel as a whole, they had throughout their long history repeatedly made God angry. They sacrificed to other gods, consulted the spirits of the dead and ate... read more