Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Isaiah 65:4

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Isaiah 65:4. Which remain among the graves — "For the purpose of evoking the dead. They lodged in desert places that demons might appear to them; for demons do appear in such places, to those who do believe in them." - Kimchi.

In the monuments - "In the caverns"] בנצורים bannetsurim, a word of doubtful signification. An ancient MS. has בצורים batstsurim, another בצרים batstsurim, "in the rocks;" and Le Clec thinks the Septuagint had it so in their copy. They render it by εν τοις στηλαιοις, "in the caves."

Which eat swine's flesh — This was expressly forbidden by the law, Leviticus 11:7, but among the heathen was in principal request in their sacrifices and feasts. Antiochus Epiphanes compelled the Jews to eat swine's flesh, as a full proof of their renouncing their religion, 2Mac. 6:18; 7:1. "And the broth of abominable meats," for lustrations, magical arts, and other superstitious and abominable practices.

In their vessels — For כליהם keleyhem, a MS. had at first בכליהם bichleyhem. So the Vulgate and Chaldee, (and the preposition seems necessary to the sense,) "in their vessels."

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

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 forbidden food, yet all the time they claimed that they were holy but other nations were unclean (3-5). Consequently, God had punished Israel and sent the people into captivity (6-7).
Amid all the religious corruption of Israel there is still a faithful remnant. They are like a few good grapes in a bad bunch. For their sake God will restore Israel to its land, where faithful believers will worship and serve him in peace and contentment (8-10). But those who ignore his warnings and continue to worship foreign gods will be destroyed (11-12).
The minority of faithful believers, those who worship and obey God, are God’s truly chosen ones, God’s true servants. They will be blessed with God’s favour. The rest of the nation, those who ignore God, will be disgraced with God’s punishment (13-14). Although the ungodly will be destroyed, their name will continue to be used by the faithful as a symbol of the curse of God upon disobedience. The faithful, by contrast, will be given a new name, to indicate God’s favour upon them. They will live in loyal dependence on the faithful God (15-16).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

"I am enquired of by them that asked not for me; I am found by them that sought me not: I said, Behold me, behold me, unto a nation that was not called by my name. I have spread out my hands all the day unto a rebellious people, that walk in a way that is not good, after their own thoughts; a people that provoke me to my face continually, sacrificing in gardens, and burning incense upon bricks; that sit among the graves, and lodge in the secret places; that eat swine's flesh, and broth of abominable things in their vessels; that say, Stand by thyself, come not near to me, for I am holier than thou. These are a smoke in my nose, a fire that burneth all day. Behold, it is written before me: I will not keep silence, but will recompense, yea, I will recompense into their bosom, your own iniquities, and the iniquities of your fathers together, saith Jehovah, that have burned incense upon the mountains, and blasphemer me upon the hills: therefore will I first measure their work into their bosom."

Kidner understood the first two verses here as, "An answer to the complaint of Isaiah 63:19."The New Bible Commentary, Revised, p. 624. This, of course does not deny the application of the passage to the call of the Gentiles (Romans 10:20). There is also an answer to the complaint of Isaiah 64:9 that God has "hidden his face," making himself hard to find. As McGuiggan noted, "Why, God had even been found by people who did not even ask for him ."Jim McGuiggan, p. 319. No, the problem lay not with God but with the Jews.

Hailey also observed that there is also an answer to the plea of Israel that they are "all" God's people. This is capable of two different meanings, both of which are erroneous: (1) that Israel constituted the totality of God's people, and (2) that all of the fleshly nation were indeed the people of God. Neither proposition was true, except in the rather loose sense that God created all men. Hailey wrote: "Jehovah's reply is that he is rejecting them (Israel),"Homer Hailey, p. 513. and that the Gentiles will also be called as God's people.

These seven verses are, "A castigation of the rebellious idolaters among them (which were the majority of the nation) and a warning that God's punishment must one day fall. However the innocent are not to suffer with the guilty (Isaiah 65:8-12)."The New Layman's Bible Commentary, p. 813. In no other section of Isaiah does the divided state of Israel appear any more sharply than here. Throughout the prophecy, we have repeatedly stressed the Two Israels to whom Isaiah is addressed, these being, The Reprobate Majority, and the Faithful Remnant. Cheyne called them, "The polytheistic party, and the true believers."T. K. Cheyne's Commentary, p. 114.

In somewhat stronger terms, Archer referred to these verses: "This is a scathing indictment of the hypocritical Jewish nation of Isaiah's day, professing to be a holy and righteous people (Isaiah 65:5), and yet practicing all of the execrable abominations of the heathen. This description would be altogether inappropriate for the post-exilic Israel, which had abandoned idolatry forever."Wycliffe Old Testament Commentary, p. 652.

"I have spread out my hands all day" "This means that God had invited them sincerely."Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's Commentary, p. 502. Cheyne stated that it was, "A gesture of prayer. What a condescension on God's part!"T. K. Cheyne's Commentary, p. 115.

"Burning incense upon bricks" All of the things mentioned here were associated with idolatry, and the pagan shrines in the gardens and groves of the heathen. The command of God was that sacrifices should be offered upon altars of unhewn stone (Exodus 20:24-25) and at the place where God had recorded his name. Sacrificing upon bricks was therefore wrong on two counts; it was in the wrong place, and the altar was not properly constructed.

"Continually… and to my face" "There was no attempt at concealment;"Albert Barnes' Commentary, Vol. II, p. 408. and like the antediluvian, there was no intermission in their sinful deeds. They were wicked all the time, continually.

"That sit among the graves" This was an action associated with witchcraft, necromancy, seeking "familiar spirits" among the dead, and all kinds of shameful activity connected with idolatry. Also, "The verse alludes to the custom of sleeping in sepulchres or vaults of idol temples to learn the future through dreams."J. R. Dummelow's Commentary, p. 452.

"That eat swine's flesh" This was specifically forbidden to Jews in Leviticus 11:7; and the mention of this here is proof that the period of Jewish history in view here is positively pre-exilic; because after the exile, the Jews had renounced idolatry and all such things for ever. This is elaborated in the apocryphal book of 2 Maccabees (chapters 6 and 7), where is recorded the names of many Jewish martyrs who refused to bow to the edict of Antiochus Epiphanes who attempted to force Jews to demonstrate their renunciation of their religion by eating swine's flesh.

"That say, Stand by thyself… for I am holier than thou" is a reference to some idolatrous practice the renegade Jews had entered into, "A heathen mystery… Idolatry was bad enough, but that heathen idolaters should assume superiority over God's `holy ones' was worse."T. K. Cheyne's Commentary, Vol. II, p. 116.

"I will recompense, yea, I will recompense" The verbs here are repeated, after the Hebrew manner of strong emphasis. Jehovah had just concluded in the previous verses a list of the excessively wicked and abominable deeds of the Israelites, which constitutes a list of particulars, explaining why God would most surely punish them.

"That have burned incense upon the mountains, and blasphemed me upon the hills" "The hills and mountains here are a Palestinian feature,"Ibid., p. 117. It was a specialty of the Canaanite Baalism that many of their shrines were located on high hills and mountains, especially if a grove of trees was available in such locations. That is the reason that such shrines were generally called "high places." The orgiastic, licentious rites associated with those fertility cults were as shameful and debasing as anything ever associated with pagan worship. There can be no doubt whatever, that the attractiveness of such worship for the Jews was fundamentally that of sexual gratification.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

Which remain among the graves - That is, evidently for purposes of necromancy and divination. They do it to appear to hold converse with the dead, and to receive communications from them. The idea in necromancy was, that departed spirits must be acquainted with future events, or at least with the secret things of the invisible world where they dwelt, and that certain persons, by various arts, could become intimate with them, or ‘familiar’ with them, and, by obtaining their secrets, be able to communicate important truths to the living. It seems to have been supposed that this acquaintance might be increased by lodging in the tombs and among the monuments, that they might thus be near to the dead, and have more intimate communion with them (compare the notes at Isaiah 8:19-20). It is to be recollected, that tombs among the ancients, and especially in Oriental countries, were commonly excavations from the sides of hills, or frequently were large caves. Such places would furnish spacious lodgings for those who chose to reside there, and were, in fact, often resorted to by those who had no houses, and by robbers (see Matthew 8:28; Mark 5:3).

And lodge in the monuments - Evidently for some purpose of superstition and idolatry. There is, however, some considerable variety in the exposition of the word rendered here ‘monuments,’ as well as in regard to the whole passage. The word rendered ‘lodge’ (ילינוּ yâliynû), means properly to pass the night, and refers not to a permanent dwelling in any place, but to remaining over night; and the probability is, that they went to the places referred to, to sleep - in order that they might receive communications in their dreams from idols, by being near them, or in order that they might have communication with departed spirits. The word rendered ‘monuments’ (נצוּרים netsûrı̂ym) is derived from נצר nâtsar, to watch, to guard, to keep; then to keep from view, to hide - and means properly hidden recesses; and dark and obscure retreats. It may be applied either to the adyta or secret places of pagan temples where their oracles were consulted and many of their rites were performed; or it may be applied to sepulchral caverns, the dark and hidden places where the dead were buried. The Septuagint renders it, ‘They sleep in tombs and in caves (ἐν τοῖς σπηλαίοις en tois spēlaiois) for the purpose of dreaming’ (διὰ ἐνύπνια dia enupnia); in allusion to the custom of sleeping in the temples, or near the oracles of their gods, for the purpose of obtaining from them communications by dreams. This custom is not unfrequently alluded to by the ancient writers. An instance of this kind occurs in Virgil:

- huc dona sacerdos

Cum tulit, et caesarum ovium sub nocte silenti

Pellibus incubuit stratis, somnosque petivit:

Multa modis simulacra videt volitantia miris,

Et varias audit voces, fruiturque Deorum,

Colloquio, atque imis Acheronta affatur Avernis.

AEaeid, vii. 86-91.

‘Here in distress the Italian nations come,

Anxious to clear their doubts and earn their doom;

First on the fleeces of the slaughter’d sheep,

By night the sacred priest dissolves in sleep;

When in a train before his slumbering eye,

Their airy forms and wondrous visions fly:

He calls the powers who guard the infernal floods,

And talks inspired familiar with the gods.’

Pitt

In the temples of Serapis and AEsculapius, it was common for the sick and infirm who came there to be cured, to sleep there, with the belief that the proper remedy would be communicated by dreams. ‘The following places may also be referred to as illustrating this custom: Pausan. Phoc. 31; Cic. Divin. i. 43; Strabo vi. 3, 9; S. H. Meibom. De incubatione in fanta Deorum olim facta. Helmst. 1659, 4. Lowth and Noyes render it, ‘In caverns.’ The Chaldee renders it, ‘Who dwelt in houses which are built of the dust of sepulchres, and abide with the dead bodies of dead people.’ There can be no doubt that the prophet here alludes to some such custom of sleeping in the tombs, for the alleged purpose of conversing with the dead, or in temples for the purpose of communion with the idols by dreams, or with the expectation that they would receive responses by dreams (compare the notes at Isaiah 14:9)

Which eat swine’s flesh - This was expressly forbidden by the Jewish law Leviticus 11:7, and is held in abomination by the Jews now. Yet the flesh of the swine was freely eaten by the pagan; and when the Jews conformed to their customs in other respects, they doubtless forgot also the law commanding a distinction to be made in meats. Antiochus Epiphanes compelled the Jews to eat swine’s flesh as a token of their submission, and of their renouncing their religion. The case of Eleazer, who chose to die as a martyr, rather than give such a proof that he had renounced his religion, and who preferred death rather than to dissemble, is recorded in 2 Macc. 6:19-31. See also the affecting case of the mother and her seven sons, who all died in a similar manner, in 2 Macc. 7. Yet it seems that, in the time of Isaiah, they had no such devotedness to their national religion. They freely conformed to the nations around them, and thus gave public demonstration that they disregarded the commands of Yahweh. It is also to be observed, that swine were often sacrificed by the pagan, and were eaten in their feasts in honor of idols. The crime here referred to, therefore, was not merely that of partaking of the flesh, but it was that of joining with the pagan in idolatrous sacrifices. Thus Ovid says:

Prima Ceres avidae gavisa est sanguine porcae,

Ulta suas merita caede nocentis opes.

Fastor, i. 349

So Horace:

- immolet aequis

Hic porcum Laribus -

Serm. ii. 164

Thus, Varro (De Re Rustic. ii. 4), says ‘The swine is called in Greek ὗς hus (formerly θῦς thus), and was so called from the word which signifies to sacrifice (θύειν thuein), for the swine seem first to have been used in sacrifices. Of this custom we have vestiges in the fact, that the first sacrifices to Ceres are of the swine; and that in the beginning of peace, when a treaty is made, a hog is sacrificed; and that in the beginning of marriage contracts in Etruria, the new wife and the new husband first sacrifice a hog. The primitive Latins, and also the Greeks in Italy, seem to have done the same thing.’ Spencer (De Leg. Heb i. 7) supposes that this was done often in caves and dark recesses, and that the prophet refers to this custom here. If this view be correct, then the offence consisted not merely in eating swine’s flesh, but in eating it in connection with sacrifices, or joining with the pagan in their idolatrous worship.

And broth of abominable things - Margin, ‘Pieces.’ Lowth says that this was for ‘lustrations, magical arts, and other superstitious and abominable practices.’ The word rendered here ‘broth,’ and in the margin ‘pieces’ (פרק pârâq), is derived from the verb פרק pâraq, to break (whence the Latin frango; the Goth. brikan; the Germ. breoken; and the English break), and means that which is broken, or a fragment; and hence, broth or soup, from the fragments or crumbs of bread over which the broth is poured. The Septuagint renders this, ‘And all their vessels are polluted.’ It is not improbable that the broth or soup used here was in some way employed in arts of incantation or necromancy. Compare Shakespeare’s account of the witches in Macbeth:

1. Witch: Where hast thou been, sister?

2. Witch: Killing swine.

Act i. Sc. 3.

Hec: Your vessels and your spells provide,

Your charms, and everything beside.

Act iii. Sc. 5.

1. Witch: Round about the caldron go,

In the poison’d entrails throw,

Toad that under the cold stone,

Days and nights hath thirty-one,

Fillet of a finny snake,

In the caldron boil and bake,

Eye of newt, and toe of frog,

Wool of bat, and tongue of dog,

Adder’s fork, and blind worm’s sting,

Lizard’s leg, and howlet’s wing,

For a charm of powerful trouble,

Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.

Act iv. Sc. 1.

It seems probable that some such magical incantations were used in the time of Isaiah. Such things are known to have been practiced in regions of idolatry (see Marco Polo, De Region. Orient., iii. 24). ‘When the priests of the idol,’ says he, ‘wish to engage in sacred things, they call the consecrated girls, and with them, in the presence of the idols, they engage in the dance, and sing aloud. These girls bear with them vessels of food, which they place on the table before the idols, and they entreat the gods to eat of the food, and particularly they pour out broth made of flesh before them, that they may appease them.’ The whole scene here described by the prophet is one connected with idolatry and magical incantations; and the prophet means to rebuke them for having forsaken God and fallen into all the abominable and stupid arts of idolaters. It was not merely that they had eaten the flesh of swine, or that they had made broth of unclean meats - which would have been minor, though real offences - it was that they had fallen into all the abominable practices connected with idolatry and necromancy.

Calvin's Commentary on the Bible

4.Who dwell in the graves. He enumerates other kinds of superstitions; and although, in consequence of its brevity, the description is obscure, yet we may easily learn from other passages what was the nature of them. For as necromancy was generally practiced among heathen nations, the Jews also consulted demons “in graves and deserts,” instead of consulting God alone, which they ought to have done; and, as if they were seeking answers from the dead, they took pleasure in being deceived by the illusions of demons. ⁽²⁰⁰⁾ How solemnly the Lord had forbidden it, appears very clearly from Deuteronomy 18:10, and other passages; and we have seen something of this kind in a former part of this book, (Isaiah 8:19.) In general we are taught that God demands nothing more than obedience, which he prefers to slain beasts and sacrifices. (1 Samuel 15:22.)

Who eat swine’s flesh. Formerly he complained that the worship of God was polluted by strange inventions; and now he adds that they set aside every distinction, so that they do not distinguish between the clean and the unclean; and he brings forward a single instance, that they do not abstain from “swine’s flesh.” But it may be thought that this was a small matter. Very far from it; for we ought not to judge from our own opinion, but from that of the legislator, how heinous a sin it is; and nothing which the Lord has forbidden ought to be reckoned trivial. (Leviticus 11:7; Deuteronomy 14:8.) This related to the external profession of. faith, by which the Jews were in duty bound to testify how widely they differed from the pollution of the Gentiles. From that rule, therefore, which the Lord enjoins upon us, we must not swerve even a hair’s breadth. ⁽²⁰¹⁾

(200) “Des esprits malins.” “Of wicked spirits.”

(201) “Non pas mesmes de l’espesseur d’une ongle.” “Not even the thickness of a nail.”

Smith's Bible Commentary

Chapter 65

Now God answers the prayer offered by the remnant of the people and He said,

I am sought of them that asked not for me ( Isaiah 65:1 );

Here's the remnant of the Jewish people calling to God. "If You've forsaken us, won't You remember us?" and all this. And God answers them and He says, "I am sought of them that asked not for Me."

I am found of them that sought me not: I said, Behold me, behold me, unto a nation that was not called by my name. I have spread out my hands all the day to a rebellious people, which walked in a way that was not good, after their own thoughts; a people that provoked me to anger continually to my face; that sacrificed in gardens, and burned incense upon altars of brick; Which remain among the graves, and lodge in the monuments, and eat swine's flesh, and broth of abominable things is in their vessels; Which say, Stand by thyself, come not near to me; for I am holier than you. These are a smoke in my nose, a fire that burned all the day ( Isaiah 65:1-5 ).

So God is declaring here now how that He stretched out His hands actually to the Gentiles. And Paul quotes this in Romans the tenth chapter as he shows how that God set the nation Israel aside that He might draw out from among the Gentiles a people for His name. And he quotes here in tenth chapter from this passage here in Isaiah where God speaks about how that He has been found really by them who did not seek Me. He turned to another nation that wasn't called by His name. "For all day long," He said, "I've stretched out my hands to a rebellious people which walked in their own ways and not after Me." Which had committed these abominable practices against the Lord. Who became as an irritant unto God. Smoke in His nostrils.

Behold, it is written before me: I will not keep silence, but will recompense, even recompense into their bosom, your iniquities, and the iniquities of your fathers together, saith the LORD, which have burned incense upon the mountains, and blasphemed me upon the hills: therefore will I measure their former work into their bosom. Thus saith the LORD, As the new wine is found in the cluster, and one saith, Destroy it not; for a blessing is in it: so will I do for my servants' sakes, that I may not destroy them all ( Isaiah 65:1-8 ).

Speaks now, "I'm going to bring forth the faithful remnant."

And I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob, and out of Judah the inheritor of my mountains: and mine elect shall inherit it ( Isaiah 65:9 ),

"Mine elect shall inherit it." God is going to gather together His elect, Matthew 24:1-51 , and bring them back that they might inherit it. And to try to interpret the elect there as the church is just poor biblical exposition. It is the denying of God's restoration of the nation Israel and it is anti-Semitic in its teaching and it breeds anti-Semitism. That identity of Israel as the church. Because they then deny that God is going to yet deal with Israel, that Israel is through. And they excuse their hatred against the Jews by the fact that God has cut them off and we are now the Israel and so forth. But that is poor biblical exposition.

Sharon [the valley of Sharon] shall be a fold of flocks, and the valley of Achor a place for the herds to lie down in, for my people that have sought me. But ye are they that forsake the LORD, that forget my holy mountain, that prepare a table for that troop, and that furnish the drink offering unto that number. Therefore will I number you to the sword, and ye shall all bow down to the slaughter: because when I called, you did not answer; when I spoke, you did not hear; but did evil before mine eyes, and did choose that in which I did not delight. Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, my servants shall eat, but ye shall be hungry: behold, my servants shall drink, but ye shall be thirsty: behold, my servants shall rejoice, but ye shall be ashamed: Behold, my servants shall sing for joy of heart, but ye shall cry for sorrow of heart, and ye shall howl for the vexation of spirit. And ye shall leave your name for a curse unto my chosen: for the Lord GOD shall slay thee, and call his servants by another name ( Isaiah 65:10-15 ):

What is the other name by which He calls His servants? And in Antioch they called them Christians. The servant of God called by the new name. As God is at the present time still working among the Gentiles until the time of the Gentiles be fulfilled, which we are there. The days of God's grace and mercy and hand stretched out to the Gentiles is just about over. If you're going to become a part of the kingdom you'd better become a part of the kingdom in a hurry, because the opportunities will soon be over.

That he who blesseth himself in the earth shall bless himself in the God of truth; and he that sweareth in the earth shall swear by the God of truth; because the former troubles are forgotten, and because they are hid from mine eyes ( Isaiah 65:16 ).

Now in verse Isaiah 65:17 , it's sort of an isolated verse, for God goes out beyond, way out now, and He said,

Behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind ( Isaiah 65:17 ).

Now this is out beyond the millennium, beyond the millennial age. He comes back in the next verse and deals with things of the millennium. But He goes out way to the end now that is described in Second Peter when God causes this whole universe to dissolve, to melt with a fervent heat. All of the works in it being dissolved, destroyed. And God said, "Behold, I create a new heaven and a new earth." Now there are those who teach the eternity of the earth. In other words, the earth is going to go on forever and ever. Using some poetic verses out of Psalms and verses that are in poetic form out of the Psalms. "The earth abides forever" ( Ecclesiastes 1:4 ), and all. Yet the earth and all of its works are going to be destroyed. Second Peter goes into quite a bit of detail in describing the end of the physical universe. The molecular structure as we understand it and know it.

Now in the beginning God created the heaven and the earth and the Hebrew word for create is bara, which is a word that means to create something out of nothing. Now only God has that capacity. There is another Hebrew word translated create or made, and that is the word asah. And that word in the Hebrew has as a meaning to assemble existing materials. So some man created this pulpit. Now he didn't say, "Pulpit be!" And poof! Out of nothing here was a pulpit. That would be bara. But man can't do that. He took the wood and he cut it and he planed it and he glued it and he put it together and he assembled the pulpit. He created the pulpit out of existing materials. Now man does have that capacity. Only God, though, has capacity of creating out of nothing. When God said, "Behold, I create a new heaven and a new earth" here in Isaiah, He again uses the Hebrew word bara. Out of nothing He's going to bring a whole new heaven and a new earth into existence. Now seeing then that the present earth and universe is to be dissolved, seeing then that all of these things are going to be dissolved, what manner of persons ought we to be? If the whole material realm is going to be destroyed, then what kind of a person should I be?

Well, if I am a total materialist, I'm going to be totally wiped out. So what kind of a person should I be? I should be spiritual. I should put my value in spiritual things. I should lay up my treasures in heaven where moth doth not corrupt. Where thieves cannot break through and steal. I should be spiritual, and a spiritual man and mindful of spiritual things because the physical material universe is going to be destroyed.

So "Behold, I create," bara, out of nothing, "a new heaven and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, or called into mind." When we get into that final age, out at the end of the millennium in the new heaven and the earth, we won't be saying, "Oh, you remember that day we were surfing down in Huntington?" You won't be remembering that stuff anymore. It won't be even coming into mind.

Some people are worried, "I could never really enjoy heaven if my parents aren't there or my children aren't there or something." It won't even be... You'll have no memory of these things. It will never be brought into mind. That is, that horrible period of history when man rebelled against God. All of the sorrow that has been brought because of that rebellion will be wiped out. Never brought into mind again. Now during the millennial age...

But be ye glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create: for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy. And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people: and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying ( Isaiah 65:18-19 ).

This is during the Kingdom Age. It's going to be glorious then.

There shall be no more an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days: for the child shall die a hundred years old ( Isaiah 65:20 );

Now if a person dies when they're just a hundred, you'll say, "Oh, what a shame, young child died," because there will be a renewing of the earth during the millennial Kingdom Age back to the pre-flood conditions. Where again God will put a shield around the earth and we'll be protected from these cosmic radiations that cause the mutations and the aging process and so forth. And with this canopy that--and you'll be hearing all about this this week--the canopy that used to be around the earth and why men lived to be so long. Why lived so many years and why dinosaurs grew so big and why cockroaches were a foot long. You'll be finding all that out as we study this week of the world that was before the flood. It's interesting to look back and find out what the earth was like before the judgment of God in the flood. You'll be getting that this week.

"A child will die being a hundred years old."

but the sinner being a hundred years old shall be accursed ( Isaiah 65:20 ).

So during the millennial age... now, we will not die. We're in our new bodies. We've moved out of our tents and we'll be in our new bodies during the Kingdom Age. But there will be people that will live through the time of the Great Tribulation who will also live through the judgment of the nations when Jesus returns and they will live into the Kingdom Age. And they are the one that will be bearing children and so forth during the Kingdom Age. But we will be here to reign with Christ as enforcers of righteousness. As a kingdom of priests upon the earth, representing Christ to the people and the people to Christ. And we will be here to rule and to reign upon the earth with Him during this millennial age in our new bodies. Now what will our new bodies be like? I really don't know. Vastly superior to the one I'm presently in.

Paul said, "Some of you will say, 'How are the dead raised and with what body will they come? What kind of a body will it be?'" ( 1 Corinthians 15:35 ) And he said nature teaches you that there is resurrection from the dead. When you plant a seed into the ground it doesn't come forth into new life until it first of all dies. And then the body that comes out of the ground isn't the body that you planted. So I'm not going to be in this body. But God gives it a body that pleases Him. My new body is going to please God. That's all that matters to me. I know if it pleases God, I'm going to be very pleased with it. What will be the capacities? These are things I oftentimes wonder about, the capacities of the new body. How will we be able to... the transporting of the new body around. And there's a lot of interesting aspects about. It will probably be of a different molecular structure than this body, which will make being on the earth very interesting if you're different molecular structure, because you're walking right into the buildings and everything else. Even as Jesus in His resurrected body. But that's all for conjecture and all to find out in the future.

And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them. They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree are the days of the people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands ( Isaiah 65:21-22 ).

Mine elect, the Jews.

They shall not labor in vain, nor bring forth for trouble; for they are the seed of the blessed of the LORD, and their offspring with them. And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear ( Isaiah 65:23-24 ).

Oh, the closeness of God and the rapport with the people.

The wolf and the lamb shall feed together ( Isaiah 65:25 ),

Beautiful Kingdom Age.

and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent's meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the LORD ( Isaiah 65:25 ).

So the earth again being in harmony with God, and creation in harmony with God, and man in harmony with God. How glorious it must have been for Adam in harmony with the whole universe around him. Everything humming together in a glorious harmony with God. Oh, what a disastrous affect sin has had in putting man out of harmony with God and out of harmony with nature around him. I think of that song, "This is my Father's world. All nature sings and round me rings the music of the spheres." But man is out of harmony so often with nature and with God. And nature even itself has suffered from the curse and is out of harmony with God. Even the animal kingdom. The ferociousness of the lion, the wolf and these things, out of harmony with God. They are suffering the result of man's sin. "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Superficial righteousness 65:1-7

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

The divine response 65:1-16

The 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.]

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

The Israelites also engaged in pagan practices that rendered them unclean, and they were not careful to avoid the defilement caused by disregard for God’s will. God’s standards of discipline and holiness were of no concern to them (cf. Revelation 21:8; Revelation 22:15).

"Sitting in the tombs and lodging between the rocks appear to be rituals of the cult of the dead, that is, necromancy in which one contacts the spirits of the dead by spending the night in the cemeteries." [Note: Ibid., p. 343.]

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

Which remain among the graves,.... In order to practise necromancy, to consult the dead, where they imagined demons and departed spirits haunted, and of whom they fancied they might get knowledge of future things:

and lodge in the monuments: whole nights for the same purposes. The Vulgate Latin version is, "that sleep in the temples of idols"; after the manner of the Heathens, who used to sleep there in order to obtain dreams, whereby they might be able to foretell things to come, as they did in the temple of Aesculapius; or, "in desolate places" k, as Kimchi and Ben Melech interpret it; where they expected to meet with demons and noxious spirits, to give them knowledge of things to come. The Targum paraphrases both clauses thus,

"who dwell in houses built of the dust of graves, and lodge with the corpse of the children of men;''

so corpse, according to Jarchi, are expressed by this word, which signifies "kept", or "preserved" l, as in Isaiah 49:6, because they are put in a strait place, from whence they cannot get out; though some think idols are meant, called so by way of derision, because kept for fear of being stolen, or because they cannot keep themselves, nor their votaries:

which eat swine's flesh; forbidden by the law, Leviticus 11:7:

and broth of abominable things is in their vessels; or "pots": broth made of swine's flesh, and of other sorts of flesh which were unclean by the law. Our version follows the marginal m reading; as do the Targum, Aben Ezra, Jarchi, and Kimchi; but the written text is, "a fragment" n, or piece, or pieces, of abominable things; both may be retained in the sense of the passage; slices of flesh unclean, and so abominable by the law, were put into their pots and stewed, and made broth of, which they drank. Spencer o thinks the milk in which kids were boiled is meant, which the Zabians kept in vessels, and sprinkled on the trees in their gardens, to make them more fruitful; hence mention is made of idolatrous practices in gardens, in the preceding verse.

k "In desertis locis", Munster, Pagninus. l בנצורים "apud custodita", Junius Tremellius "custoditos", Piscator. m מרק "jusculum". n פרק "fragmentum". o De Legibus Hebr. I. 2. c. 8. sect. 2. p. 275.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      1 I am sought of them that asked not for me; I am found of them that sought me not: I said, Behold me, behold me, unto a nation that was not called by my name.   2 I have spread out my hands all the day unto a rebellious people, which walketh in a way that was not good, after their own thoughts;   3 A people that provoketh me to anger continually to my face; that sacrificeth in gardens, and burneth incense upon altars of brick;   4 Which remain among the graves, and lodge in the monuments, which eat swine's flesh, and broth of abominable things is in their vessels;   5 Which say, Stand by thyself, come not near to me; for I am holier than thou. These are a smoke in my nose, a fire that burneth all the day.   6 Behold, it is written before me: I will not keep silence, but will recompense, even recompense into their bosom,   7 Your iniquities, and the iniquities of your fathers together, saith the LORD, which have burned incense upon the mountains, and blasphemed me upon the hills: therefore will I measure their former work into their bosom.

      The apostle Paul (an expositor we may depend upon) has given us the true sense of these verses, and told us what was the event they pointed at and were fulfilled in, namely, the calling in of the Gentiles and the rejection of the Jews, by the preaching of the gospel, Romans 10:20; Romans 10:21. And he observes that herein Esaias is very bold, not only in foretelling a thing so improbable ever to be brought about, but in foretelling it to the Jews, who would take it as a gross affront to their nation, and therein Moses's words would be made good (Deuteronomy 32:21), I will provoke you to jealousy by those that are no people.

      I. It is here foretold that the Gentiles, who had been afar off, should be made nigh, Isaiah 65:1; Isaiah 65:1. Paul reads it thus: I was found of those that sought me not; I was made manifest to those that asked not for me. Observe what a wonderful and blessed change was made with them and how they were surprised into it. 1. Those who had long been without God in the world shall now be set a seeking him; those who had not said, Where is God my maker? shall now begin to enquire after him. Neither they nor their fathers had called upon his name, but either lived without prayer or prayed to stocks and stones, the work of men's hands. But now they shall be baptized and call on the name of the Lord,Acts 2:21. With what pleasure does the great God here speak of his being sought unto, and how does he glory in it, especially by those who in time past had not asked for him! For there is joy in heaven over great sinners who repent. 2. God shall anticipate their prayers with his blessings: I am found of those that sought me not. This happy acquaintance and correspondence between God and the Gentile world began on his side; they came to know God because they were known of him (Galatians 4:9), to seek God and find him because they were first sought and found of him. Though in after-communion God is found of those that seek him (Proverbs 8:17), yet in the first conversion he is found of those that seek him not; for therefore we love him because he first loved us. The design of the bounty of common providence to them was that they might seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him and find him,Acts 17:27. But they sought him not; still he was to them an unknown God, and yet God was found of them. 3. God gave the advantages of a divine revelation to those who had never made a profession of religion: I said, Behold me, behold me (gave them a sight of me and invited them to take the comfort and benefit of it) to those who were not called by my name, as the Jews for many ages had been. When the apostles went about from place to place, preaching the gospel, this was the substance of what they preached: "Behold God, behold him, turn towards him, fix the eyes of your minds upon him, acquaint yourselves with him, admire him, adore him; look off from your idols that you have made, and look upon the living God who made you." Christ in them said, Behold me, behold me with an eye of faith; look unto me, and be you saved. And this was said to those that had long been lo-ammi, and lo-ruhamah (Hosea 1:8; Hosea 1:9), not a people, and that had not obtained mercy,Romans 9:25; Romans 9:26.

      II. It is here foretold that the Jews, who had long been a people near to God, should be cast off and set at a distance Isaiah 65:2; Isaiah 65:2. The apostle applies this to the Jews in his time, as a seed of evil-doers. Romans 10:21, But to Israel he saith, All day long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people. Here observe,

      1. How the Jews were courted to the divine grace. God himself, by his prophets, by his Son, by his apostles, stretched forth his hands to them, as Wisdom did, Proverbs 1:24. God spread out his hands to them, as one reasoning and expostulating with them, not only beckoned to them with the finger, but spread out his hands, as being ready to embrace and entertain them, reaching forth the tokens of his favour to them, and importuning them to accept them. When Christ was crucified his hands were spread out and stretched forth, as if he were preparing to receive returning sinners into his bosom; and this all the day, all the gospel-day. He waited to be gracious, and was not weary of waiting; even those that came in at the eleventh hour of the day were not rejected.

      2. How they contemned the invitation; it was given to a rebellious and gainsaying people; they were invited to the wedding-supper, and would not come, but rejected the counsel of God against themselves. Now here we have,

      (1.) The bad character of this people. The world shall see that it was not for nothing that they were rejected of God; no, it was for their whoredoms that they were put away.

      [1.] Their character in general was such as one would not expect of those who had been so much the favourites of Heaven. First, They were very wilful. Right or wrong they would do as they had a mind. "They generally walk on in a way that is not good, not the right way, not a safe way, for they walk after their own thought, their own devices and desires." If our guide be our own thoughts, our way is not likely to be good; for every imagination of the thought of our hearts is only evil. God had told them his thoughts, what his mind and will were, but they would walk after their own thoughts, would do what they thought best. Secondly, They were very provoking. This was God's complaint of them all along--they grieved him, they vexed his Holy Spirit, as if they would contrive how to make him their enemy: They provoke me to anger continually to my face. They cared not what affront they gave to God, though it were in his sight and presence, in a downright contempt of his authority and defiance of his justice; and this continually; it had been their way and manner ever since they were a people, witness the day of temptation in the wilderness.

      [2.] The prophet speaks more particularly of their iniquities and the iniquities of their fathers, as the ground of God's casting them off, Isaiah 65:7; Isaiah 65:7. Now he gives instances of both.

      First, The most provoking iniquity of their fathers was idolatry; this, the prophet tells them, was provoking God to his face; and it is an iniquity which, as appears by the second commandment, God often visits upon the children. This was the sin that brought them into captivity, and, though the captivity pretty well cured them of it, yet, when the final ruin of that nation came, that was again brought into the account against them; for in the day when God visits he will visit that, Exodus 32:34. Perhaps there were many, long after the captivity, who, though they did not worship other gods, were yet guilty of the disorders here mentioned; for they married strange wives. 1. They forsook God's temple, and sacrificed in gardens or groves, that they might have the satisfaction of doing it in their own way, for they liked not God's institutions. 2. They forsook God's altar, and burnt incense upon bricks, altars of their own contriving (they burnt incense according to their own inventions, which were of no more value, in comparison with God's institution, than an altar of bricks in comparison with the golden altar which God appointed them to burn incense on), or upon tiles (so some read it), such as they covered their flat-roofed houses with, and on them sometimes they burnt incense to their idols, as appears, 2 Kings 23:12, where we read of altars on the top of the upper chamber of Ahaz, and Jeremiah 19:13, of their burning incense to the host of heaven upon the roofs of their houses. 3. "They used necromancy, or consulting with the dead, and, in order to that, they remained among the graves, and lodged in the monuments," to seek for the living to the dead (Isaiah 8:19; Isaiah 8:19), as the witch of Endor. Or they used to consult the evil spirits that haunted the sepulchres. 4. They violated the laws of God about their meat, and broke through the distinction between clean and unclean before it was taken away by the gospel. They ate swine's flesh. Some indeed chose rather to die than to eat swine's flesh, as Eleazar and the seven brethren in the story of the Maccabees; but it is probable that many ate of it, especially when it came to be a condition of life. In our Saviour's time we read of a vast herd of swine among them, which gives us cause to suspect that there were many then who made so little conscience of the law as to eat swine's flesh, for which they were justly punished in the destruction of the swine. And the broth, or pieces, of other forbidden meats, called here abominable things, was in their vessels, and was made use of for food. The forbidden meat is called an abomination, and those that meddle with it are said to make themselves abominable,Leviticus 11:42; Leviticus 11:43. Those that durst not eat the meat yet made bold with the broth, because they would come as near as might be to that which was forbidden, to show how they coveted the forbidden fruit. Perhaps this is here put figuratively for all forbidden pleasures and profits which are obtained by sin, that abominable thing which the Lord hates; they loved to be dallying with it, to be tasting of its broth. But those who thus take a pride in venturing upon the borders of sin, and the brink of it, are in danger of falling into the depths of it. But,

      Secondly, The most provoking iniquity of the Jews in our Saviour's time was their pride and hypocrisy, that sin of the scribes and Pharisees against which Christ denounced so many woes, Isaiah 65:5; Isaiah 65:5. They say, "Stand by thyself, keep off" (get thee to thine, so the original is); "keep to thy own companions, but come not near to me, lest thou pollute me; touch me not; I will not allow thee any familiarity with me, for I am holier than thou, and therefore thou art not good enough to converse with me; I am not as other men are, nor even as this publican." This they were ready to say to every one they met with, so that, in saying, I am holier than thou, they thought themselves holier than any, not only very good, as good as they should be, as good as they needed to be, but better than any of their neighbours. These are a smoke in my nose (says God), such a smoke as comes not from a quick fire, which soon becomes glowing and pleasant, but from a fire of wet wood, which burns all the day, and is nothing but smoke. Note, Nothing in men is more odious and offensive to God than a proud conceit of themselves and contempt of others; for commonly those are most unholy of all that think themselves holier than any.

      (2.) The controversy God had with them for this. The proof against them is plain: Behold, it is written before me,Isaiah 65:6; Isaiah 65:6. It is written, to be remembered against them in time to come; for they may not perhaps be immediately reckoned with. The sins of sinners, and particularly the vainglorious boasts and scorns of hypocrites, are laid up in store with God, Deuteronomy 32:34. And what is written shall be read and proceeded upon: "I will not keep silence always, though I may keep silence long." They shall not think him altogether such a one as themselves, as sometimes they have done; but he will recompense, even recompense into their bosom. Those basely abuse religion, that honourable and sacred thing, who make their profession of it the matter of their pride, and the jealous God will reckon with them for it; the profession they boast of shall but serve to aggravate their condemnation. [1.] The iniquity of their fathers shall come against them; not but that their own sin deserved whatever judgments God brought upon them, and much heavier; and this they owned, Ezra 9:13. But God would not have wrought so great a desolation upon them if he had not therein had an eye to the sins of their fathers. Therefore in the last destruction of Jerusalem God is said to bring upon them the blood of the Old-Testament martyrs, even that of Abel,Matthew 23:35. God will reckon with them, not only for their fathers' idols, but for their high places, their burning incense upon the mountains and the hills, though perhaps it was to the true God only. This was blaspheming or reproaching God; it was a reflection upon the choice he had made of the place where he would record his name, and the promise he had made that there he would meet them and bless them. [2.] Their own with that shall bring ruin upon them: Your iniquities and the iniquities of your fathers together, the one aggravating the other, constitute the former work, which, though it may seem to be overlooked and forgotten, shall be measured into their bosom. God will render into the bosom, not only of his open enemies (Psalms 79:12), but of his false and treacherous friends, the reproach wherewith they have reproached him.