ISAIAH
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1. | The Glorious New Creation | 3. | The Lord Vindicates Zion | |
| 2. | True Worship and False Worship | 4. | Lesson 34 from the Amplified Version |
|
New heavens &c: i.e. new, in respect to the old.
Not the “new” of 2
Peter 3:13, or Revelation 21:1.
Note the comparison of this with Revelation 21: -
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
65:19 no more heard - Therefore not the restoration of Ezra-Nehemiah, or the
Church of God now.
The fact that they have thus passed away is now still further explained; the
prophet heaping up one kii (for - for behold) upon another.
The promise here reaches its culminating point, which had already been seen from
afar in Isa 51:16.
Jehovah creates a new heaven and a new earth,
| which bind so fast with their glory, |
| and which so thoroughly satisfy all desires, |
Most of the commentators, from Jerome to Hahn, suppose the ri'shoonooth in verse 16 to refer to the former sorrowful times.
(From Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament: New Updated Edition, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1996 by Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.)
Calvin says,
| "The statement of the prophet, that there will be no remembrance of former things, is supposed by some to refer to the heaven and the earth, as if he meant, that henceforth neither the fame nor even the name of either would any more be heard; but I prefer to refer them to the former times." |
| Jeremiah 3:16-17 "Then it shall come to pass, when you are multiplied and increased in the land in those days," says the LORD, "that they will say no more, 'The ark of the covenant of the LORD.' It shall not come to mind, nor shall they remember it, nor shall they visit it, nor shall it be made anymore. At that time Jerusalem shall be called The Throne of the LORD, and all the nations shall be gathered to it, to the name of the LORD, to Jerusalem. No more shall they follow the dictates of their evil hearts. (NKJV) |
This promise is also a glorious one; but Jeremiah and all the other prophets’ fall short of the eagle-flight of Isaiah, of whom the same may be said as of John. Luther (like Zwingli and Stier) adopts the correct rendering, "that men shall no more remember the former ones (i.e., the old heaven and old earth), nor take it to heart." By making joy its perpetual state, it’s appointed condition of life both inwardly and outwardly. Nor is it joy on the part of the church only, but on the part of its God as well (see the primary passages in Deut 30:9).
| Deuteronomy 30:9-10 The LORD your God will make you abound in all the work of your hand, in the fruit of your body, in the increase of your livestock, and in the produce of your land for good. For the LORD will again rejoice over you for good as He rejoiced over your fathers, if you obey the voice of the LORD your God, to keep His commandments and His statutes which are written in this Book of the Law, and if you turn to the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. (NKJV) |
(From Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament: New Updated Edition, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1996 by Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.)
From The Dead Sea Scrolls Bible
| (17) For see, I am about to 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 forever in what I am creating; for I am about to create Jerusalem as a joy, and its people as a delight. (19) I will rejoice over Jerusalem, and take delight in my people; no longer will the sound of weeping be heard in it, or the cry of distress. |
|
There will be a different measure then, and a much greater one, for measuring the period of life and grace.
Henceforth there will not spring from Jerusalem (or, what hâyâh really means, "come into existence;" "there," misshâm, not "from that time," but locally)
| a suckling of days | one who has only reached the age of a few days |
| nor an old man who has not filled his days | has not attained to what is regarded as a rule as the full measure of human life |
He who dies as a youth, or is regarded as having died young, will not die before
the hundredth year of his life; and the sinner upon whom the curse of God falls, and who is overwhelmed by the punishment, will not be swept away before the
hundredth year of his life. The reference there is to the ultimate destruction
of the power of death; here it is merely to the limitation of its power.
(From Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament: New Updated Edition,
Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1996 by Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.)
They shall enjoy the blessings of great longevity, and that not a
longevity that shall be broken and feeble, but which shall be vigorous and
happy.
(from Barnes' Notes, Electronic Database Copyright © 1997, 2003 by
Biblesoft,
Inc. All rights reserved.)
From The Dead Sea Scrolls Bible
| (20) And there will no longer be in it a young boy who lives but a few days, or an old person who does not live out his days; for one who dies at a hundred years will be considered a mere youth, and one who falls short of a hundred will be considered accursed. |
|
Isa 65:21, 22 –
| 65:21- | Houses | Build | Positive | ||||
|
|||||||
| 65:-22 | Houses | Not build | Negative | ||||
|
|||||||
In the place of the threatened curses of the law in Lev 26:16 (cf., Deut 28:30
"you shall build a house, but you shall not dwell
in it; you shall plant a vineyard, but shall not gather its grapes"),
the very opposite will now receive their fullest realization.
They themselves will enjoy what they have worked for, without some one else
stepping in, whether a countryman by violence or inheritance, or a foreigner by
plunder or conquest (Isa 62:8 " I will no longer give your grain as food
for your enemies"), to take possession of that which they have built
and planted; for the duration of their life will be as great as that of trees
(i.e., of oaks, Terebinths, and cedars, which live for centuries), and thus they
will be able thoroughly to enjoy in their own person what their hands have made.
They are a family of the blessed of God, upon whose labor the blessing of God
rests, and their offspring are with them, without being lost to them by
premature death.
(From Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament: New Updated Edition,
Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1996 by Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.)
| Lowth renders verse 23 | "Neither shall they generate a short-lived race." |
| Noyes renders this | "Nor bring forth children for an early death." |
| The Septuagint renders it | "Nor shall they bring forth children for a curse." |
| The Chaldee renders it | "Nor shall they nourish them for death." |
| The word rendered 'bring forth' | yeelªduw | is a word that uniformly means to bear, to bring forth as a mother, or to beget as a father. And the promise here is, that which would be so grateful to parental feelings, that their posterity would be long-lived and respected. |
| The word rendered 'trouble' | behaalaah | means properly "terror," and then the effect of terror, or that which causes terror, sudden destruction. |
From The Dead Sea Scrolls Bible
| (21) They will build houses and dwell in them; they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit. (22) They will not build for others to inhabit; they will not plant for others to eat; for like the days of a tree so will be the days of my people, and my chosen ones will long enjoy the work of their hands. (23) They will not toil in vain or bear children doomed for calamity; for they will be offspring blessed by the Lord – and their descendants with them. |
|
Before they call &c. A reference to
Isaiah 30:19.
The blessing of
Messiah (Psalm 21:3) now extended to the new Israel.
| Psalms 21:3-4 For You meet him with the blessings of goodness; You set a crown of pure gold upon his head. He asked life from You, and You gave it to him — length of days forever and ever. (NKJV) |
All prayer will be heard then.
The will of
the church of the new Jerusalem will be so perfectly the will of Jehovah also, that He will hear the slightest emotion of prayer in the heart, the half-uttered
prayer, and will at once fulfill it.
(From Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament: New Updated Edition,
Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1996 by Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.)
Their desires shall be anticipated, God will see their needs, and he
will impart to them the blessings which they need.
| So it was with Daniel | (Daniel 9:20-21; compare Psalms 32:5) |
| So it was with the early disciples | when they were assembled in an upper room in Jerusalem, and when the Spirit of God descended with great power on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-2) |
| So when Paul and Silas | in the prison at Philippi, 'prayed and sang praises to God,' he heard them and came for their rescue (Acts 16:25-26) |
It is one of the precious promises pertaining to the blessings of the reign of the Messiah, that the answer of prayer shall be IMMEDIATE - and for this his people should look, and this they should expect.
(from Barnes' Notes, Electronic Database Copyright © 1997, 2003 by Biblesoft, Inc. All rights reserved.)
From The Dead Sea Scrolls Bible
| (24) Before they call I will answer; while they are yet speaking I will hear. |
|
The wolf and the lamb - A reference to
Isaiah 11:6, 7, 9, which is dealing with the
Millennial, and not the eternal period of time.
Dust - Never was the serpent’s food. It is used as a powerful Figure of
Speech, or Idiom, as in Psalm 72:9 (His enemies will lick
the dust.). As
for the serpent, dust shall be his food: i.e. the Old Serpent (Revelation 20:2 [He
laid hold of the...serpent...and bound him for a thousand years]), who brought in all the sin and misery to the world and to Israel, will then be
bound, and he will lick the dust, the symbol of his
humiliation, disappointment, and defeat.
And all around will peace and harmony prevail, even in the animal world itself.
We have frequently observed within ch.
40-66, how the prophet repeats entire
passages from the earlier portion of his prophecies almost word for word.
Here
he repeats Isa 11:6-9 with a compendious abridgment. Verse 25 b refers to the
animals just as it does there.
This will no longer watch for human life, but will content itself with the food
assign it in Gen 3:14. It still continues to wriggle in the dust, but without
doing injury to man. The words affirm nothing more than this. The description of
the new age closes here, as in ch. 11, with the peace of the world of nature, which stands throughout ch. 40-66 in the closest reciprocal relation to man,
just as it did in ch. 1-39. But to what part of the history of salvation are we
to look for a place for the fulfillment of such prophecies as these of the state
of peace prevailing in nature around the church, except in the millennium?
A prophet was certainly no fanatic, so that we could say, these are beautiful
dreams. And if, what is certainly true, his prophecies are not intended to be
interpreted according to the letter, but according to the spirit of the letter; the letter is the sheath of the spirit, as Luther calls it, and we must not give
out as the spirit of the letter what is nothing more than a quid-pro-quo of the
letter.
The prophet here promises a new age,
| in which the patriarchal measure of human life will return, |
| in which death will no more break off the life that is just beginning to bloom, |
| and in which the war of man with the animal world will be exchanged for peace without danger, |
The prophet appears, therefore, to refer to that Jerusalem, which is represented in the Apocalypse as coming down from heaven to earth after the transformation of the globe. But to this it may be replied, that the Old Testament prophet was not yet able to distinguish from one another the things which the author of the Apocalypse separates into distinct periods. From the Old Testament point of view generally, nothing was known of a state of blessedness beyond the grave. Hades lay beyond this present life; and nothing was known of a heaven in which men were blessed.
Around the throne of God in heaven there were angels and not men. And, indeed, until the risen Savior ascended to heaven, heaven itself was not open to men, and therefore there was no heavenly Jerusalem whose descent to earth could be anticipated then. Consequently in the prophecies of the Old Testament the eschatological idea of the new Cosmos does unquestionably coincide with the millennium.
It is only in the New Testament that the new creation intervenes as a party-wall between this life and the life beyond; whereas the Old Testament prophecy brings down the new creation itself into the present life, and knows nothing of any Jerusalem of the blessed life to come, as distinct from the new Jerusalem of the millennium. We shall meet with a still further illustration in ch. 66 of this Old Testament custom of reducing the things of the life to come within the limits of this present world.
(From Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament: New Updated Edition, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1996 by Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.)
From The Dead Sea Scrolls Bible
| (25) The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox; but as for the serpent – its food will be dust! They will not harm or destroy on my entire holy mountain, says the Lord. |
Isaiah Chapter 66
Ninth & Closing Prophecy
Exclusion of Scorners from the Coming Salvation
| TRUE WORSHIP AND FALSE WORSHIP |
|
Acts 7:49-50
(49) Heaven [is] My throne, and earth the footstool for My feet. What [kind of]
house can you build for Me, says the Lord, or what is the place in which I can
rest?
(50) Was it not My hand that made all these things? [Isa 66:1, 2.]
(AMP)
1 Kings 8:27
But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens
cannot contain You. How much less this temple which I have built!
(NKJV)
The place of My rest: i.e. rest in satisfaction.
The Temple was for
sacrifice and atonement (2 Chron. 2:6 "Who am I then, that I should build
Him a temple, except to burn sacrifice before Him?"), not for dwelling. Compare Acts 7:48.
Acts 7:48-50
However, the Most High does not dwell in temples made with hands, as the prophet
says: "Heaven is My throne, and earth is My footstool. What house will you
build for Me? says the LORD, or what is the place of My
rest? Has My hand not made all these things?" (NKJV)
As the idea of their return is associated immediately with that of the erection
of a new temple, there is nothing at all to surprise us, after what we have read
in Isa 65:8 ff., in the fact that Jehovah expresses His abhorrence at the
thought of having a temple built by the Israel of the captivity, as the majority
then were, and does so in such words as those which follow in verses 1-4.
Hitzig is of opinion that the author has broken off here, and proceeds quite
unexpectedly to denounce the intention to build a temple for Jehovah. Those who
wish to build he imagines to be those who have made up their minds to stay
behind in Chaldea, and who, whilst their brethren who have returned to their
native land are preparing to build a temple there, want to have one of their
own, just as the Jews in Egypt built one for themselves in Leontopolis.
He needs no temple; for heaven is His throne, and the earth His footstool.
He is
the Being who fills all, the Creator, and therefore the possessor, of the
universe; and if men think to do Him a service by building Him a temple, and
forget His infinite majesty in their concern for their own contemptible fabric, He
wants no temple at all.
"All those" refer, as if pointing with the finger, to
the world of visible objects that surround us.
In this His exaltation He is not concerned about a temple; but His gracious look
is fixed upon the man who is as follows (zeh - pointing forwards as in
Isa 58:6), viz.,
| upon the mourner, the man of broken heart, who is filled with reverential awe at the word of His revelation. |
We may see from Ps 51:9 (Hide Your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities) what the link of connection is between verses 2 and 3.
| So far as the mass of the exiles were concerned, who had not been humbled by their sufferings, and whom the preaching of the prophet could not bring to reflection, He did not want any temple or sacrifice from them. |
From The Dead Sea Scrolls Bible
| (1) Thus says the Lord: Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. Where is the house that you would build for me and where will my resting-place be? (2) All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came into being, says the Lord. But this is the one whom I will look upon: the one who is humble and contrite in spirit and who trembles at my word. |
|
| Isa 66:-3 | They delight | |||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
| Isa 66:-4- | I do not delight | |||||||||||||||
The prophecy is addressed to the entire body now ready to return, and says to
the whole without exception, that Jehovah, the Creator of heaven and earth, does
not stand in need of any house erected by human hands, and then proceeds to
separate the penitent from those that are at enmity against God, rejects in the
most scornful manner all offerings in the form of worship on the part of the
latter, and threatens them with divine retribution, having dropped
in verses 3 b-4
the form of address to the entire body.
Although the note on which this prophecy opens is a different one from any that
has yet been struck, there are many points in which it coincides with the
preceding prophecy. For not only is
Isa 65:12 repeated here in verse 4, but the
sharp line of demarcation drawn in chapter 65, between the servants of Jehovah and
the worldly majority of the nation with reference to the approaching return to
the Holy Land, is continued here.
The sacrificial acts, to which such detestable predicates are here applied, are
such as end with the merely external act, whilst the inward feelings of the
person presenting the sacrifice are altogether opposed to the idea of both
| the animal sacrifice |
| and the meat-offering, |
In this condemnation of the ritual acts of worship, the closing prophecy of the book of Isaiah coincides with the first (Isa 1:11-15). But that it is not sacrifices in themselves that are rejected,
| but the sacrifices of those whose hearts are divided between Jehovah and idols, |
| and who refuse to offer to Him the sacrifice that is dearest to Him (Ps 51:19, cf., 50:23), |
| Psalms 51:16-19 For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it; You do not delight in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart — these, O God, You will not despise. Do good in Your good pleasure to Zion; build the walls of Jerusalem. Then You shall be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offering and whole burnt offering; then they shall offer bulls on Your altar. (NKJV) |
| Psalms 50:23 Whoever offers praise glorifies Me; and to him who orders his conduct aright I will show the salvation of God. |
Just as in the Psalm of Asaph (Ps 50) Jehovah refuses animal and other material
offerings as such, because the whole of the animal world, the earth and the
fullness thereof, are His possession
As they have chosen - So I will choose
Gam...gam (OT:1571) [as...so], which means in other cases,
| "both...and also," | positive |
| "neither...nor," | negative |
They have chosen their own ways, which are far away from those of Jehovah, and their soul has taken pleasure, not in the worship of Jehovah, but in all kinds of heathen abominations, therefore Jehovah wants no temple built by them or with their co-operation, nor any restoration of sacrificial worship at their hands.
(From Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament: New Updated Edition, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1996 by Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.)
From The Dead Sea Scrolls Bible
| (3) Whoever slaughters an ox is like one who kills a human being; whoever sacrifices a lamb is like one who breaks a dog’s neck; whoever makes a grain offering is like one who offers pig’s blood; whoever makes a memorial offering of frankincense is like one who blesses an idol. These have chosen their own ways, and they take delight in their abominations; (4) so I also will choose harsh treatment for them, and will bring upon them what they dread. For when I called, no one answered, when I spoke, they did not listen; but they did what is evil in my sight, and chose what displeases me. |
| THE LORD VINDICATES ZION |
|
From the heathenish majority, with their ungodly hearts, the prophet now turns
to the minority, consisting of those who tremble with reverential awe when they
hear the word of God. They are called to hear how Jehovah will accept them
in defiance of their persecutors.
They that hate them are their own brethren, and (what makes the sin still
greater) the name of Jehovah is the reason why they are hated by them. According
to the accents, indeed (mndykm rebia, smy pashta), the meaning would be, "your
brethren say... 'for my name's sake (i.e., for me = out of goodness and love to
us) will Jehovah glorify Himself,' - then we shall see your joy, but - they will be
put to shame."
They never considered that it had a confessional sense here, which certainly
does not occur anywhere else: viz., "for my name's sake, which ye confess in
word and deed."
With unbelieving scorn they say to those who confess Jehovah, and believe in the word of the true redemption: Let Jehovah glorify Himself (lit.
let Him be, i.e., show Himself, glorious = yikkâbheed), that we may thoroughly satisfy ourselves with looking at your joy.
They regard their hope as deceptive, and the word of the prophet as fanaticism.
These are they, who, when permission to return is suddenly given, will desire to
accompany them, but will be disappointed,
| because they did not rejoice in faith before, |
(From Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament: New Updated Edition, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1996 by Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.)
The
mocking challenge of the persecutors, as if their violence toward you was
from zeal for God. 'Let the Lord show Himself glorious'-namely, by
manifesting Himself in your behalf; as the parallelism to "but he
shall appear to your joy" requires, as in
Isaiah 5:19. Compare
Isaiah 28:15;
57:4.
So against Christ on the cross (Matthew 27:42-43). "But he shall appear to your
joy" - giving you "joy" instead of your "rebuke" (Isaiah 25:8-9).
| Matthew 27:42-43 He saved others; Himself He cannot save. If He is the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him. He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now if He will have Him; for He said, 'I am the Son of God. (NKJV) |
From The Dead Sea Scrolls Bible
| (5) Hear the word of the Lord, you who tremble at his words: Your own brothers who hate you and exclude you because of my name had said, “Let the Lord be glorified, he will see your joy” – but it is they who will be put to shame. |
Isaiah 66:6
|
The city and temple, to which they desire to go, are nothing more, so far as
they are concerned, than the places from which just judgment will issue.
All three qwl (OT: 6963)
| The sound | from the city | call aloud |
| A voice | from the temple | of which shaa'own [uproar – destruction] (OT: 7588) must be supplied in thought |
| The voice | of the LORD | it is the sound of Jehovah - we have omitted the note of admiration, because here the interjectional clause approximates very nearly to a substantive clause, as the person shouting announces here who is the originator and cause of the noise which was so enigmatical at first. |
The city and temple are indeed still lying in ruins as the prophet is speaking; but even in this state they both preserve the holiness conferred upon them.
(From Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament: New Updated Edition, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1996 by Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.)
They are the places where Jehovah will take up His abode once more; and even now, at the point at which promise and fulfillment coincide, they are in the very process of rising again.
A loud noise (like the tumult of war) proceeds from it. It is Jehovah, He who is enthroned in Zion and rules from thence (Isa 31:9), who makes Himself heard in this loud noise (compare Joel 3:16 with the derivative passage in Amos 1:2); it is He who awards punishment or reckons retribution to His foes.
| Joel 3:16 The LORD also will roar from Zion, and utter His voice from Jerusalem; the heavens and earth will shake; but the LORD will be a shelter for His people, and the strength of the children of Israel. (NKJV) |
| Amos 1:2 The LORD roars from Zion, and utters His voice from Jerusalem; the pastures of the shepherds mourn, and the top of Carmel withers. (NKJV) |
Barnes has:
Here we may observe:
| 1. | That it is recompense taken on those who had cast out their brethren (Isaiah 66:5). |
| 2. | It is vengeance taken within the city, and on the internal, not the external enemies. |
| 3. | It is vengeance taken in the midst of this tumult. |
| It was the vengeance taken on those who had cast out their brethren; |
| it was the vengeance which was to precede the glorious triumph of truth and of the cause of the true religion. |
Geneva Notes has:
The enemies will shortly hear a more terrible voice, even fire and slaughter, seeing they would not hear the gentle voice of the prophets, who called them to repentance
(from Geneva Notes, PC Study Bible formatted electronic database Copyright © 2003 Biblesoft, Inc. All rights reserved.)
Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown have:
God, from Jerusalem and His "temple," shall take vengeance on the enemy (Ezekiel 43:1-8; Zechariah 12:2-3; 14:3,19-21). The abrupt language of this verse marks the suddenness with which God destroys the hostile Gentile host outside: as Isaiah 66:5 refers to the confounding of the unbelieving Jews.
(from Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown Commentary, Electronic Database. Copyright © 1997, 2003 by Biblesoft, Inc. All rights reserved.)
From The Dead Sea Scrolls Bible
| (6) Listen, an uproar in the city! A noise from the temple! It is the sound of the Lord, dealing retribution to his enemies! |
|
All of these fall victims to the judgment; and yet Zion is not left
either childless or without population.
Before Zion travaileth, before any labor pains come upon her (cheebhel), she has already given birth, or brought with ease into the world a male
child. This boy, of
whom she is delivered with such marvelous rapidity, is a whole land full of men,
an entire nation.
The seer [prophet] exclaims with amazement, like Zion herself in
Isa 49:21, "Who hath
heard such a thing, or seen anything like it? The population of a whole land (as in Judges 18:30), and that in
one day, or a nation born all at once? This unheard-of event has taken place
now, for Zion has travailed, yea, has also brought forth her children," - not
one child, but her children, a whole people that calls her mother.
(Note: There is a certain similarity in the saying, with which a Talmudic
teacher roused up the sleepy scholars of the Beth ha-Midrash:
| "There was once a woman, who was delivered of 600,000 children in one day," viz., Jochebed, who, when she gave birth to Moses, brought 600,000 to the light of freedom (Ex 12:37). |
| Jerome | understands this of the Messiah who was descended from the Jewish church. |
| Grotius | supposes that the whole verse refers to Judas Maccabeus, and to the liberation of Judea under him before anyone could have hoped for it! |
| Calvin | supposes that the word male here, or man-child, denotes the manly or generous nature of those who should be converted to the church; that they would be vigorous and active, not effeminate and delicate. (Commentary in loc.) |
| Vitringa | refers it to the character and rank of those who should be converted, and applies it particularly to Constantine, and to the illustrious philosophers, orators, and senators, who were early brought under the influence of the gospel. |
(from Barnes' Notes, Electronic Database Copyright © 1997, 2003 by Biblesoft, Inc. All rights reserved.)
Verse 9 follows with an emphatic confirmation of the things promised.
From the expression "your God," we see that the questions are addressed to Zion, whose faith they are intended to strengthen.
And He comforts the now barren daughter Zion (Isa 54:1) with the assurance that her barrenness is not meant to continue for ever. The prophetic announcement of our prophet has advanced so far, that the promised future is before the door. The church of the future is already like the fruit of the body ripe for the birth, and about to separate itself from the womb of Zion, which has been barren until now.
The God by whom everything has been already so far prepared, will suddenly cause Zion to become a mother; -a boy, viz., a whole people after Jehovah's own heart, will suddenly lie in her lap, and this new-born Israel, not the corrupt mass, will build a temple for Jehovah.
(From Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament: New Updated Edition, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1996 by Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.)
The success of the gospel was astonishing; that light, like the morning, strangely diffused itself till it took hold even of the ends of the earth. Cities and nations were born at once to Christ. The same day that the Spirit was poured out there were 3000 souls added to the church. And, when this glorious work was once begun, it was carried on wonderfully, beyond what could be imagined, so mightily grew the word of God and prevailed. He that brought to the birth in conviction of sin caused to bring forth in a thorough conversion to God.
(from Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible: New Modern Edition, Electronic Database. Copyright © 1991 by Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.)
Others believe this was fulfilled in 1948 when Israel became a nation again when recognized as a nation by the United Nations virtually in one day.
From The Dead Sea Scrolls Bible
| (7) Before she went into labor she gave birth; before her pangs came upon her she delivered a son. (8) Who has ever heard of such a thing? And who ever sees such things? Can a country be born in one day, or can a nation be a child in one moment? Yet no sooner Zion was in labor then she delivered her children. (9) Am I to open the womb and not deliver? Says the Lord. And when I bring to delivery, am I to close the womb? Asks your God. |
|
Rejoice ye with Jerusalem. The promises, of
Isa 1:27;
2:1-5, are now
at length to be fulfilled.
In the anticipation of such a future, those who inwardly participate in
the present sufferings of Zion are to rejoice beforehand in the change of all
their suffering into glory.
Those who love Jerusalem (the abode of the church, and the church itself), who
mourn over her (hith'abbeel, (OT:56) inwardly mourn), prove and show
themselves to be mourners and go into mourning, these are even now to rejoice in
spirit with Jerusalem and exult on her account (bâh), and share her ecstatic
delight with her ('ittâh (OT:854)), in order that when that in which they now rejoice in
spirit shall be fulfilled, they may drink and be satisfied.
Jerusalem is regarded as a mother, and the rich actual consolation, which she
receives (Isa 51:3), as the milk that enters her breasts (shood as in
Isa
60:16), and from which she now supplies her children with plentiful nourishment.
ziyz (OT: 2123), which is parallel to shod (OT: 7701) (not
ziyw (OT: 2122), a
reading which none of the ancients adopted), signifies a moving, shaking
abundance, which oscillates to and fro like a great mass of water, from
zi'zee', to move by fits and starts.
(From Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament: New Updated Edition,
Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1996 by Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.)
Isa 66:10 - Interlinear
| Simchuw | 'et- | Yªruwshaalaim | wªgiyluw |
| Rejoice | with | Jerusalem | and be glad |
| baah | kaal- | 'ohªbeyhaa |
| with | her | all ye that love her: |
From The Dead Sea Scrolls Bible
| (10) Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be happy for her, all you who lover her; rejoice with her in gladness, all you who mourn over her – (11) so that you may nurse and be satisfied at her comforting breasts, and so that you may drink deeply with delight from her glorious bosom. |
|
The promises of Isa 49:22 and 60:4 are again renewed.
The reason is now given, why the church of the future promises such abundant
enjoyment to those who have suffered with her. Jehovah guides or turns peace to Jerusalem, the
greatest of all inward blessings, and at the same time the most glorious of all
the outward blessings, that are in the possession of the Gentile world (kâbhood
(OT:3519)
as in Isa 56:6), both of them in the richest superabundance ("like a river," as
in Isa 48:18), so that "ye may be able to suck yourselves full
according to your heart's desire" (Isa
60:16).
The figure of the new maternity of Zion, and of her children, is still
preserved.
The members of the church can then revel in peace and wealth, like a
child at its mother's breasts.
The world is now altogether in the possession of
the church, because the church is altogether God's.
The allusion to the heathen
leads on to the thought, which was already expressed in a similar manner in Isa
49:22 and 60:4: "on the side (arm or shoulder) will ye be carried, and fondled
upon the knees," viz., by the heathen, who will vie with one another
in the effort to show you tenderness and care (Isa 49:23).
Note: You have two parts
| restored Israel | who accepts Jesus Christ as the Messiah |
| the existing church | believers of the Gentiles |
Our purpose is to win the world for Jesus and sometimes that’s all we can see as to what God is doing today.
Meanwhile God is also dealing with the nation of Israel, restoring her to her home land in 1948 and protecting her from those who would destroy her. As of yet Israel can not see that Jesus is the Messiah [‘Blindness in part has happened unto Israel….’]
We read about the 144,000 of all the tribes of Israel in the 7th and 14th chapters of the book of Revelation and though many different groups of believers have tried to attach them selves to those, I believe that it is talking about Jews, not Christians, no matter what denomination they call themselves. We are in the group of those who can not be numbered.
Paul the Learner
From The Dead Sea Scrolls Bible
| (12) Thus says the Lord: I shall extend prosperity to her like a river, and the wealth of nations like a flooding stream; and you will nurse and you will be carried on her hip, and bounced on her knees. |
|
In Jerusalem - Not in the Church.
See Isaiah 1:1 “The vision of
Isaiah…..he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem…..”
This is what the prophecy is
all about, a message to Judah (which represents all of Israel) for them to see
the Jesus who is called Christ (Messiah) has indeed come.
That is why that this
book in our study is called The Gospel to Israel.
Paul
the Learner
The prophet now looks upon the members of the church as having grown up, as it
were, from childhood to maturity: they suck like a child, and are comforted like
a grown-up son.
Hitzig says that 'iish is not well
chosen; but how easily could the prophet have written been (son), as in
Isa
49:15!
But looking upon the people, whom he had previously thought of as children, as
standing before him as one man. Israel is now like a man who has escaped from
bondage and returned home from a foreign land, full of mournful recollections, the echoing sounds of which entirely disappear in the maternal arms of divine
love there in Jerusalem, the beloved home, which was the home of its thoughts
even in the strange land.
(From Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament: New Updated Edition,
Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1996 by Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.)
From The Dead Sea Scrolls Bible
| (13) Like a child whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you; and you will be comforted in Jerusalem. |
| LESSON 34 FROM THE AMPLIFIED VERSION |
Isaiah 65:17 - 66:13 - from the Amplified Version
65:17 FOR BEHOLD, I
create new heavens and a new earth. And the former things shall not be
remembered or come into mind. [Isaiah 66:22; 2 Peter 3:13; Revelation 21:1.]
(18) But be glad and rejoice forever in that which I create; for behold, I
create Jerusalem to be a rejoicing and her people a joy.
(19) And I will rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in My people; and the
sound of weeping will no more be heard in it, nor the cry of distress.
(20) There shall no more be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or
an old man who dies prematurely; for the child shall die a hundred years old,
and the sinner who dies when only a hundred years old shall be [thought only a
child, cut off because he is] accursed.
(21) They shall build houses and inhabit them, and they shall plant
vineyards and eat the fruit of them.
(22) They shall not build and another inhabit; they shall not plant and
another eat [the fruit]. For as the days of a tree, so shall be the days of My
people, and My chosen and elect shall long make use of and enjoy the work of
their hands.
(23) They shall not labor in vain or bring forth [children] for sudden
terror or calamity; for they shall be the descendants of the blessed of the
Lord, and their offspring with them.
(24) And it shall be that before they call I will answer; and while they
are yet speaking I will hear. [Isaiah 30:19; 58:9; Matthew 6:8.]
(25) The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat
straw like the ox; and dust shall be the serpent's food. They shall not hurt or
destroy in all My holy Mount [Zion], says the Lord.
66:1 THUS SAYS the
Lord: Heaven is My throne, and the earth is My footstool. What kind of house
would you build for Me? And what kind can be My resting-place? [Acts 17:24.]
(2) For all these things My hand has made, and so all these
things have come into being [by and for Me], says the Lord. But this is the man
to whom I will look and have regard: he who is humble and of a broken or wounded
spirit, and who trembles at My word and reveres My commands. [John 4:24.]
(3) [The acts of the hypocrite's worship are as abominable to
God as if they were offered to idols.] He who kills an ox [then] will be as
guilty as if he slew and sacrificed a man; he who sacrifices a lamb or a kid, as
if he broke a dog's neck and sacrificed him; he who offers a cereal offering, as
if he offered swine's blood; he who burns incense [to God], as if he blessed an
idol. [Such people] have chosen their own ways, and they delight in their
abominations;
(4) So I also will choose their delusions and mockings, their
calamities and afflictions, and I will bring their fears upon them — because
when I called, no one answered; when I spoke, they did not listen or obey. But
they did what was evil in My sight and chose that in which I did not delight.
(5) Hear the word of the Lord, you who tremble at His word:
Your brethren who hate you, who 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.
(6) [Hark!] An uproar from the city! A voice from the temple!
The voice of the Lord, rendering recompense to His enemies!
(7) Before [Zion] travailed, she gave birth; before her pain
came upon her, she was delivered of a male child.
(8) Who has heard of such a thing? Who has seen such things?
Shall a land be born in one day? Or shall a nation be brought forth in a moment?
For as soon as Zion was in labor, she brought forth her children.
(9) Shall I bring to the [moment of] birth and not cause to
bring forth? says the Lord. Shall I Who causes to bring forth shut the womb?
says your God.
(10) Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad for her, all you who love her;
rejoice for joy with her, all you who mourn over her,
(11) That you may nurse and be satisfied from her consoling breasts, that
you may drink deeply and be delighted with the abundance and brightness of her
glory.
(12) 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; then you will be
nursed, you will be carried on her hip and trotted [lovingly bounced up and
down] on her [God's maternal] knees.
(13) As one whom his mother comforts, so will I comfort you; you shall be
comforted in Jerusalem.
(End of Lesson 34)
|
|
|||||
|
|
Second Covenant |
Topical Studies |
|||
|
|
|||||