SECTION XII .— FINAL THREATENINGS AND PROMISES ( Isaiah 66:1-24 .). THE UNGODLY EXILES REBUKED . Israel, being about to return from the Captivity, had the design of rebuilding the temple and re-establishing the temple worship. God rebukes this design in persons devoid of any spirit of holiness, and warns them that mere formal outward worship is an abomination to him ( Isaiah 66:1-3 ). In Isaiah 66:4 he threatens them with punishment. read more
All these things — i.e. heaven and earth hath mine hand made ; i.e. have I, Jehovah, brought into existence. How, then, can I need that men should build me a house? All these things have been , saith the Lord. The sentence seems incomplete. Mr. Cheyne supplies, "I spoke." The sentence will then run, "I spoke, and all these things crone into being, saith Jehovah;" i.e. heaven and earth, and all things that are therein, came into being at my word (comp. Genesis 1:1 ; Genesis 2:1 ... read more
He that killeth an ox is as if he slew a man ; literally, is a manslayer. The full meaning seems to be, "He that, not being of a poor and contrite spirit, would offer me an ox in sacrifice, is as little pleasing to me as a murderer." Sacrifice, without the true spirit of sacrifice, is an abomination (comp. Isaiah 1:11 , "To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the Lord," etc.). There, however, the sacrifices are actually offered; here they are hypothetical. The... read more
The rebuke of unrighteousness. We have— I. FOUR OFFENCES SPECIALLY HATEFUL TO THE HOLY ONE . 1 . Insincerity. These worshippers who brought their bullocks, their lambs, their prescribed oblations, were as guilty in the judgment of God as if they brought to his altar that which was an abomination in his sight. Their guilt lay in their insincerity; their heart was far from God when their feet were nigh his house. 2 . Heedlessness. When God calls and we pay no... read more
Their delusions ; or, their childish follies ( LXX ; ἐμπαίγματα ) . As God sends on some men "strong delusion that they should believe a lie" ( 2 Thessalonians 2:11 ), so on others he sends a spirit of childish folly, which makes their conduct silly and headstrong. Persons whose characters are of this stamp are especially liable to vain and groundless "fears." When I called, none did answer (comp. Isaiah 65:12 , and see the comment on that passage). read more
Hear … ye that tremble . The godly are addressed—those that have a reverent fear of God's word (comp. Isaiah 66:2 , ad fin. ; and see also Ezra 9:4 ; Ezra 10:3 ). Your brethren that … cast you out ; rather. that put you away (Cheyne), or thrust you from them (Delitzsch). The verb used came in later times to designate formal excommunication; but here it points merely to a practical renunciation of fellowship. Said, Let the Lord be glorified: but he shall appear to your joy;... read more
Spiritual and unspiritual worship. I. THE ORACLE OF JEHOVAH . "The heavens are my throne." What majestic poetry in that word! How sacred, then, the heaven! How profane, if once we rightly think of the force of what we say, to use the adjuration, "By heaven"! So Jesus teaches ( Matthew 5:34 ; Matthew 23:22 ). It is natural to "look up" when we think of God; and then to "look down" on the "things of earth," which is but his footstool. "What manner of house would ye build for me?"... read more
THE GODLY EXILES ENCOURAGED . The scoffs which have long greeted those who believed God's promises and expected the restoration of Zion, will be put to shame. The silence in which Zion has lain will be broken; she will be once more a city "full of stirs, a tumultuous city" ( Isaiah 22:2 ). Suddenly, without any pains of travail, she will bring forth; and her offspring will be "a nation born at once" ( Isaiah 66:8 ). The godly exiles are called upon to rejoice at the prospect ( ... read more
For all those things hath mine hand made - That is the heaven and the earth, and all that is in them. The sense is, ‘I have founded for myself a far more magnificent and appropriate temple than you can make; I have formed the heavens as my dwelling-place, and I need not a dwelling reared by the hand of man.’And all those things have been - That is, have been made by me, or for me. The Septuagint renders it, ‘All those things are mine?’ Jerome renders it, ‘All those things were made;’ implying... read more
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The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 66:1-2
The place of God's rest. This passage should be associated with that second temple which was raised by the returned captives from Babylon, at the direction of Ezra and Nehemiah, and under the inspirations of the prophets Isaiah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. A subtle peril lies in building any house for God. That peril lay in the building of the first house. It still lies in the erection of every new house. It is the danger of thereby limiting and materializing our idea of God. If, in our... read more