For those who may wish to ‘study’ this chapter, the following simple resources are provided for you. Each passage has a four-Part approach to help you take in and think further about what you have read.

Passage: Isaiah 65:1-5    

1 ‘I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me;
    I was found by those who did not seek me.
To a nation that did not call on my name,
    I said, “Here am I, here am I.”
2 All day long I have held out my hands
    to an obstinate people,
who walk in ways not good,
    pursuing their own imaginations –
3 a people who continually provoke me
    to my very face,
offering sacrifices in gardens
    and burning incense on altars of brick;
4 who sit among the graves
    and spend their nights keeping secret vigil;
who eat the flesh of pigs,
    and whose pots hold broth of impure meat;
5 who say, “Keep away; don’t come near me,
    for I am too sacred for you!”
Such people are smoke in my nostrils,
    a fire that keeps burning all day.

A. Find Out:

1. What point is God now making? v.1
2. To whom had He done what? v.2
3. Yet what had they done in general? v.3a
4. What had they specifically done? v.3b
5. What also had they done? v.4
6. What did the Lord feel about them? v.5

B. Think:

1. How had God been positive about his people?
2. How had they been negative in return?
3. So what did that leave Him feeling?

C. Comment:

Previously Isaiah had been doing most of the talking. Now the Lord speaks His mind. He had come to Israel before they were a people and had called them to know Him. The initiative had been all His. Indeed since that first time in Egypt, He had come and come again to every successive generation with His arms open wide to them, to be a Father to them, to bless them, provide for them and protect them.

What had been their response? Instead of following the Law given by God and going to the Tabernacle or the Temple to worship, they showed they couldn’t be bothered with correct worship; instead they sacrificed in their back gardens (v.3) on home made brick altars. This is man-made religion. But even worse they had resorted to spiritism and consulted the spirits of the dead (v.4a). They had also disregarded the law of foods and ate unclean forbidden food (v.4b). Finally they concocted a religion of elitism, with false holiness (v.5a) where religious elites claimed to be more special than other people.

And the result of all this? Well, says the Lord, in the same way that proper offerings were supposed to rise up like incense, a sign of your obedience, now all of this rises up like an unpleasant irritating smell that constantly provokes and offends me (v.5b). Everything that is happening is false religion and abominable to God!

D. Application:

1. We are called to obey what God says.
2. Do what God says, but our way, is false religion. Repent of it.

Passage: Isaiah 65:6-10

6 ‘See, it stands written before me;
    I will not keep silent but will pay back in full;
    I will pay it back into their laps –
7 both your sins and the sins of your ancestors,’
    says the Lord.
‘Because they burned sacrifices on the mountains
    and defied me on the hills,
I will measure into their laps
    the full payment for their former deeds.’

8 This is what the Lord says:

‘As when juice is still found in a cluster of grapes
    and people say, “Don’t destroy it,
    there is still a blessing in it,”
so will I do on behalf of my servants;
    I will not destroy them all.
9 I will bring forth descendants from Jacob,
    and from Judah those who will possess my mountains;
my chosen people will inherit them,
    and there will my servants live.
10 Sharon will become a pasture for flocks,
    and the Valley of Achor a resting-place for herds,
    for my people who seek me.

A. Find Out:

1. What does God say He has written in front of Him? v.6
2. What will He do with whose sins? v.7
3. What analogy does He use? v.8a
4. What does he say He will do? v.8b
5. What does He say will happen? v.9
6. Who will find rest? v.10

B. Think:

1. Who do verses 6 & 7 speak about?
2. Who do verses 8 to 10 speak about?
3. How therefore, is there both judgement and hope?

C. Comment:

The first part of this chapter pointed out the wrongs of the people. In the first two verses today, God determines He will deal with them. The decree of judgement is written (v.6a) and so is fixed. Israel has sinned in the past and in the present, as they turned to idols and away from the living God. Thus judgement is decreed and it is as if all the sins of the past and the guilt that went with them, have now mounted up so much that they will be dealt with all together (v.7c).

Yet there is also HOPE, for the Lord declares, as He so often does in the prophetic scriptures, that He will save a remnant. As so often, He uses an analogy to emphasise what He is saying. When the tenderers of the vineyard came through to cut down and burn the spent vines, they might come across a vine yet with grapes upon and therefore spare it. In the same way, the Lord sees a part of the vine ( Israel ) that it still fruitful. There are still a few who hold faithfully to the Lord and so these people will survive, in fact these people will do more than survive, they will inherit the blessing of the Lord and flourish and have peace, these few who still seek the Lord. Destruction may come for most, but salvation will be there for the remnant.

D. Application:

1. There are those who turn away from the Lord and those who seek after Him. Into which group do you fall?
2. Even if the majority turn away, may we be found to be a faithful remnant which remain true and obedient.

Passage: Isaiah 65:11-13   

11 ‘But as for you who forsake the Lord
    and forget my holy mountain,
who spread a table for Fortune
    and fill bowls of mixed wine for Destiny,
12 I will destine you for the sword,
    and all of you will fall in the slaughter;
for I called but you did not answer,
    I spoke but you did not listen.
You did evil in my sight
    and chose what displeases me.’

13 Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: ‘My servants will eat,
    but you will go hungry;
my servants will drink,
    but you will go thirsty;
my servants will rejoice,
    but you will be put to shame.

A. Find Out:

1. What have they been doing? v.11
2. What has the Lord for them? v.12a
3. Why? v.12b,c
4. What will happen to them? v13
5. But what will happen to His servants? v.13

B. Think:

1. How is the activity of unbelieving Israel described?
2. What does God say will happen to them?
3. Yet what will happen to the faithful remnant.

C. Comment:

In these verses we see a clear dividing out between those who have left God and those who have remained faithful. We also see that both judgement AND blessing can come at the same time.

First of all let’s consider the words spoken against unfaithful Israel. They have forsaken the Lord and gone away from the Holy Meeting Place (v.11a) and instead been worshiping the forces of fate, false gods, idols who they foolishly think have an impact on the world. God has called to His people (probably through His prophets) but they had taken no notice (v.12b), and carried on doing what was wrong, specific things spoken against by God. This was wilful rebellion.

As a result of this the Lord will bring His judgement, not just words. He will bring destruction upon them (v.12a). Something will happen which will cause destruction, they will suffer hunger and thirst and shame (v.13).

However, it is clear that there will be a faithful remnant who will not suffer these things (v.13). There are those who God still calls His servants and they will not be destroyed (implied), they will not hunger or thirst, and they will be able to rejoice in their salvation. Yes, destruction may come for the majority, but it will not include the minority who are faithful to the Lord, they will be saved, they will be blessed and they will be able to rejoice.

D. Application:

1. The majority may sin, but make sure you don’t.
2. Judgement may come for them, but blessing for faithful you.

Passage: Isaiah 65:14-16 

14 My servants will sing
    out of the joy of their hearts,
but you will cry out
    from anguish of heart
    and wail in brokenness of spirit.
15 You will leave your name
    for my chosen ones to use in their curses;
the Sovereign Lord will put you to death,
    but to his servants he will give another name.
16 Whoever invokes a blessing in the land
    will do so by the one true God;
whoever takes an oath in the land
    will swear by the one true God.
For the past troubles will be forgotten
    and hidden from my eyes.

A. Find Out:

1. What will God’s servants do? v.14a
2. But what will the rest of Israel do? v14b
3. What will happen to them? v.15a
4. But what will happen to God’s servants? v.15b
5. How will they swear in days to come? v.16a
6. What will happen about the past? v.16b

B. Think:

1. How and why will the name be taken from unfaithful Israel?
2. How will future references to God affect the name of the faithful?
3. What is taking place in these verses?

C. Comment:

Isaiah had been bringing a word of judgement on unfaithful Israel , but gradually a word of fresh hope creeps in, not hope for the future of the unfaithful people, but hope for those who will be faithful.

As a continuation from verse 13, verse 14 tells us that the faithful remnant will sing for joy in what God is doing for them. This stands in stark contrast to the anguish and wailing in the unfaithful majority. In the days to come, the name of Israel will almost be seen as a curse. People will look back and see and unfaithful people who incurred the wrath of God and who were destroyed. The name of Israel will not be a good one to remember. Yet to the faithful remnant, a new name will be given.

Verses 15 and 16 should really be linked by a “so”. Because of what God will do with the remnant, they will be given a new identification and it will be linked to the God of truth, to the “God who is true”. In all of this, God is totally unchanging. He is the Holy One, the Righteous One, and all of His actions conform perfectly to who He is. Thus His reward of His faithful people will be seen exactly for what it is and their name will reveal or remind us of this. When Israel was so named (Gen 32:28) his name meant “one who overcomes with God”. That name will have new meaning after the judgement has passed!

D. Application:

1. God removes unrighteousness, and us with it if we hold to it.
2. God blesses obedience and faithfulness. may that be us.

Passage: Isaiah 65:17-19

17 ‘See, I will create
    new heavens and a new earth.
The former things will not be remembered,
    nor will they come to mind.
18 But be glad and rejoice for ever
    in what I will create,
for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight
    and its people a joy.
19 I will rejoice over Jerusalem
    and take delight in my people;
the sound of weeping and of crying
    will be heard in it no more.

A. Find Out:

1. What does the Lord say He will do? v.17a
2. So what will happen about the past? v.17b
3. What does He instruct them to do? v.18a
4. Why? v.18b
5. What will He do? v.19a
6. To what effect? v.19b

B. Think:

1. How does verse 17 continue on from verse 16?
2. How would you describe the Lord’s future plans?
3. How will they affect the past?

C. Comment:

We often struggle in life with memories of the past, memories of our failure, our shame and our guilt. At the end of verse 16 the Lord had said that the past troubles will be forgotten (for the remnant?). In what follows we must remember that He has promised destruction of the ungodly and unrighteous because of the past. Yes, judgment in the form of destruction WILL come. Now He speaks of what will follow.

The Lord declares an entirely new beginning. We may see this, in the light of Rev 21, as a description of the eternal state or even something that the Lord will yet do with the earth. But for Isaiah’s listeners it must have been seen in the context of the warnings to the ungodly and assurances to the faithful ones in Israel . What does it say?

First it says that God will provide an entirely new start. Second, that start will mean that Jerusalem will become a place of great joy. Third, it will be a great joy because of the sense of the Lord’s presence there. Fourth, the effect of all this will be that the past woes, the past shames will be completely wiped away, the joy of the new present will make the past seem as if it had never been. This is God’s desire for His faithful people, not that they dwell on the bad past, but rejoice in His wonderful provision as the days roll out.

D. Application:

1. The promises of a new future are for the Lord’s faithful ones.
2. God doesn’t want us to constantly dwell on the past, for that just brings pain, but to receive and rejoice in His goodness, today!

Passage: Isaiah 65:20-22

20 ‘Never again will there be in it
    an infant who lives but a few days,
    or an old man who does not live out his years;
the one who dies at a hundred
    will be thought a mere child;
the one who fails to reach a hundred
    will be considered accursed.
21 They will build houses and dwell in them;
    they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
22 No longer will they build houses and others live in them,
    or plant and others eat.
For as the days of a tree,
    so will be the days of my people;
my chosen ones will long enjoy
    the work of their hands.

A. Find Out:

1. What does he say about babies in the future? v.20a
2. What does he say about the aged in the future? v.20b,c
3. What will happen about homes? v.21a
4. What will happen about vineyards? v.21b
5. How is that contrasted with the past? v.22a
6. But what will be the norm in the future? v.22b

B. Think:

1. What is the Lord saying about health in the new Jerusalem?
2. What is He saying about stability?
3. How is this contrasted with the past and present?

C. Comment:

When we come to these verses we are left wondering? Can this be a time in history, or is this some special time in the future? Why do we say this? Consider what is being promised about the new heavens and the new earth.

First, the Lord promises that all children that are born in that time will be healthy and there will be no deaths in infancy.

Second, people will live a lot longer, at least to a hundred and probably a lot more.

Third, there will be a new stability in life so people will build their own houses and they will not be taken away from them. They will plant their own fruits and their will live to enjoy them. This all speaks of a land of permanence where there is no fighting, a land where people will enjoy the fruits of their own hands without interruption and knowing they have plenty of years to enjoy it.

In the face of the words of judgement that have just been spoken earlier, these are words of hope for God’s faithful people. They too must have wondered about when such a time will be, but nevertheless these promises give hope for a day when unrighteousness, struggling and fighting are merely distant memories. We need to know that there is a better possibility to help us cope with the present where these wonderful things are lacking.

D. Application:

1. There is a future blessing yet to come.
2. God’s desire is to bring good to a physical world.

Passage: Isaiah 65:23-25

23 They will not labour in vain,
    nor will they bear children doomed to misfortune;
for they will be a people blessed by the Lord,
    they and their descendants with them.
24 Before they call I will answer;
    while they are still speaking I will hear.
25 The wolf and the lamb will feed together,
    and the lion will eat straw like the ox,
    and dust will be the serpent’s food.
They will neither harm nor destroy
    on all my holy mountain,’
says the Lord.

A. Find Out:

1. What 2 things will not happen? v.23a
2. Why? v.23b
3. How will the Lord be attentive to them? v.24
4. What 2 animals will be at peace? v.25a
5. What other animal will be changed? v.25b
6. Yet what creature will remain the same? v.25c
7. How is life with the creatures summarised? v.25d

B. Think:

1. How will there be a new blessing for people?
2. How will the animal kingdom be changed?
3. How would you summarise the changes?

C. Comment:

The Lord continues to declare the things that will be there when He creates a new heaven and a new earth. First of all work will be different. Under the curse it was hard (Gen 3:17 ,18), now it will be fruitful and a blessing. Second, childbirth will be different. Under the curse it was painful and often difficult. Now it will be safe and children will live. Why all this? Because this people will be living in close harmony with the Lord and will be recipients of His constant blessing.

There will be a new closeness so that the Lord will know their every query and will be there for them with an answer, even before they have a chance to ask it. Not a word from them to Him will be missed for there will be that sort of new closeness between the Lord and His people.

Then there will be a new peace in the animal kingdom. The original peace on earth that seemed to be lost after the advent of Sin, will be restored. Animals that naturally prey on other animals will become vegetarian again. Fear will be banished from the animal kingdom that was once “red in tooth and claw”. Now they will not harm or destroy one another but peace will reign. This is the hope of the new dispensation that the Lord will bring in.

D. Application:

1. In the present the world still lives under the curse of sin.
2. In the new world it will be blessed in its entirety by God’s presence.