Isaiah 65:12-25 – Find your Future Here!

Translation and Sermon by Nate Wilson for Christ the Redeemer Church, Manhattan, KS 27 July 2008

Translation
13. Therefore, thus says Lord Jehovah,

“Look, my servants will eat, but you? You will be hungry.

Look, my servants will drink, but you? You will be thirsty.

Look my servants will rejoice, but you? You will be shamed.

14. Look, my servants will sing out from goodness of heart,

            but you? You will cry out from pain of heart and from the breaking of spirit you will wail.

15. You will bring home your name for the curse for my chosen ones,

and Lord Jehovah will cause you to die,

yet He will call His servants another name,

16. such that he who blesses himself in the earth will bless himself in the God of Truth,

and he who swears in the earth will swear by the God of Truth,

because the first troubles have been forgotten and

because they have been hidden from my eyes.

17.  For, look at me, creating new heavens and the new earth,

and the first things will not be remembered, nor will they come up upon the heart.

18. Instead, be glad and rejoice until forever in that which I am creating,

for look at me creating Jerusalem to be a joy and her people a gladness!

19. So I will rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in my people,

and they will not hear again in her a voice of weeping or a voice of crying.

20. There will not again be from there a nursing-child [living merely for] days

or an elderly man who does not fill out his days,

for a centenarian will die and be just a boy,

and the one who falls short of being a centenarian will be a lightweight.

21. And they will build houses where they will dwell,

and they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.

22. They will not build and another dwell;

they will not plant and another eat,

but as the days of the tree will be the days of my people,

and my chosen will wear out the stuff made by their hands.

23. They will not grow tired for nothing

and they will not bear children for dismay,

for they will be the seed of the ones Jehovah has blessed, and their offspring will be with them!

24. And it will be that before they call, even I myself will answer;

while they are still speaking I - even I - will hear.

25. The wolf and the lamb will pasture as one,

and the lion will eat straw like the ox,

and as for the serpent - dust for his food.

They will not cause evil or cause corruption in all the mountain of my holiness,” says Jehovah.

(American Standard Version is used for passages outside Isaiah)

Introduction: Two Possible Futures

An Arab Chief tells the story of a spy who had been captured and sentenced to death by a general of the Persian army. The general had fallen upon a strange custom. He permitted the condemned person to make a choice. He could either face a firing squad or pass through the Big Black Door.

As the moment of execution drew near, the general ordered the spy brought before him for a short, final interview, the primary purpose of which was to receive the answer to the query: "Which shall it be... the firing squad or the Big Black Door?"

This was not an easy question, and the prisoner hesitated, but made it known that he much preferred the firing squad. Not long after, a volley of shots in the courtyard announced that the grim sentence had been fullfilled.

The general, staring at his boots, turned to his aide and said, "You see how it is with men: they always prefer the known way to the unknown. It is characteristic of people to be afraid of the undefined. And yet we gave him his choice."

"What lies beyond the Big Black Door?" asked the aide. "Freedom," replied the general, "and I've known only a few men brave enough to take it." (Source: http://www.nathan.co.za/story.asp?PageID=159)

Last week we looked at the fact that judgment will begin in the house of God.

In the second half of Isaiah 65, God brings up the fact that He will enforce the blessings and the curses of the covenant He made with His people back in the days of Moses.

· In v.13 He uses the word “lord” in His title to emphasize His status as the one in charge of judgment.

· Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28 list the blessings and curses. Compare these passages to the blessings and curses listed in Isaiah 65:13-25

Leviticus 26:3  If ye walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them;  4  then I will give your rains in their season, and the land shall yield its increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.  5  …and ye shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely.  6 … and I will cause evil beasts to cease out of the land, neither shall the sword go through your land…  9  And I will … make you fruitful, and multiply you...  14  But if ye will not hearken unto me, and will not do all these commandments… 16  I also will do this unto you: I will appoint terror over you, even consumption and fever… and make the soul to pine away; and ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.  17  And I will set my face against you, and ye shall be smitten before your enemies: they that hate you shall rule over you…  20  and your strength shall be spent in vain; for your land shall not yield its increase...  26  When I break your staff of bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven … and ye shall eat, and not be satisfied… 32  And I will bring the land into desolation; and your enemies that dwell therein shall be astonished at it… if then their uncircumcised heart be humbled, and they then accept of the punishment of their iniquity;  42  … my covenant with Abraham will I remember; and I will remember the land...  46  These are the statutes and ordinances and laws, which Jehovah made between him and the children of Israel in mount Sinai by Moses.

Deuteronomy 28:2 all these blessings shall come upon thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of Jehovah thy God.  3  Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field.  4  Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground… the increase of thy cattle, and the young of thy flock.  5  Blessed shall be thy basket and thy kneading-trough…  8  Jehovah will command the blessing upon… all that thou puttest thy hand unto; and he will bless thee in the land… 10  And all the peoples of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of Jehovah; and they shall be afraid of thee… 15  But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of Jehovah thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day, that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee...  20  Jehovah will send upon thee cursing, discomfiture, and rebuke…  30 … thou shalt build a house, and thou shalt not dwell therein: thou shalt plant a vineyard, and shalt not use the fruit thereof.  31  Thine ox shall be slain before thine eyes, and thou shalt not eat thereof...  32  Thy sons and thy daughters shall be given unto another people; and thine eyes shall look, and fail with longing for them all the day...  33  The fruit of thy ground, and all thy labors, shall a nation which thou knowest not eat up; and thou shalt be only oppressed and crushed always… 37  And thou shalt become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword, among all the peoples…  47  Because thou served not Jehovah thy God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, by reason of the abundance of all things;  48  therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies that Jehovah shall send against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things: and he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck, until he have destroyed thee… 58  If thou wilt not observe to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that thou mayest fear this glorious and fearful name, JEHOVAH THY GOD…

I. Contrast between the end of true and false Israel/Servants of God (vs.12-15)

Those among His people who have not sought Him and do not know Him personally, even though they may have outwardly performed all the rituals of worshipping God, will be in trouble. There will be a day of reckoning.

But that day will be a gateway to joy and peace and blessing for those He calls “my servants” in v.13.

What characterizes a good servant? According to v.12:

1. A good servant is available and responds when called,
2. A good servant listens carefully and follows instructions well, and
3. A good servant “buys in” to the vision of his/her master and anticipates ahead-of-time what the master will want.

Are you that servant of God?

1. Are you available to Him like Mary who sat at Jesus’ feet when He came to her house, or are you like Martha who had to finish things up in the kitchen before she was available to sit with Him? Cultivate a response of entering into prayer with God in every circumstance throughout the day.
2. Are you a good listener to God? He speaks to us primarily through His word, so we must read the Bible in order to hear God speak. Cultivate the discipline of reading the Bible every day. God also speaks through our thoughts, although we must make sure those thoughts are in line with the Bible. Cultivate quiet time to pray and respond in full repentance when you feel conviction of sin or respond in full obedience when you are impressed to take a particular step of obedience or step out in some new way to minister to others.
3. Have you bought in to God’s vision for world history? Are you on track with His agenda to bless every family on the earth (Gen. 12:3), to fill the earth with the knowledge of His glory (Hab. 2), to deliver the good news of salvation through Jesus and make disciples of every ethnic group (Matt 28)? If it delighted God to bruise His son (Isa 53:10) in order to make a people for Himself that He can delight in (62:4) then let us cultivate a delight in spreading the good news of salvation throughout the world.

Vs. 13-15 tell us that:

• The servants will eat and drink and rejoice and sing out loud and be given another (and better) name.

• But you who serve yourselves or other gods instead of or in addition to me? You will be hungry and thirsty and put to shame, and you will weep and wail, and your name will become a curse, and the Lord will put you – the threat is very personal here as it switches from the plural “y’all” to the singular “you” – He will put you to death.
• Which group are you in? There are only two groups. Don’t go to bed tonight until you know which group you are in.

The curses of the Mosaic covenant in Leviticus and Deuteronomy clearly speak of the conquest and exile of Israel and Judah by Assyria and Babylon, but those curses are merely the first wave.

Here in the prophetic books and throughout the New Testament, God expands on His covenant to make it clear that the curses for not seeking God and following His word are not limited to Jews but apply to the whole world, and beyond the consequences in this life of sin, they carry with them the threat of eternal punishment in hell. Likewise the blessings of the servants of God are not merely temporal blessings but eternal ones in heaven. Now I have revealed my bias on how to interpret this chapter.

Most of the commentaries I read focused upon the here-and-now aspect of the blessings and curses in Isaiah (Calvin, Young, Delitzsch, Soncino). Every one of them, however, had to spiritualize the eating and drinking (as “symbols of the fact that mans spiritual needs will be abundantly supplied” – Young) to make it only relate to the present age of the church and not the world to come, because in this world Christians get hungry and thirsty and are put to shame and have heavy hearts. I am convinced, however, as is the pastor under whom I grew up (Frank Barker), that this passage is speaking primarily of eternity in heaven or hell - and only secondarily of the here-and-now. Here are some reasons why:

• Many of the themes of heaven from Isaiah 62 show up here: 2. nations will see your righteousness, and all the kings your glory , and you will be called a new name… 4 …you will be called “My delight is in her,” and your land, “Married,” … 5 … and [as] the rejoicing of a groom over a bride, your God will rejoice over you… 6 …Those who cause to remember Jehovah, let there be no breaks for y’all. 7.  and do not give Him a break until He will establish and until He will set Jerusalem to be a praise in the land. 8. Jehovah has sworn by His right hand and by the arm of His strength, “I will never again give your grain to be food for your enemies, nor will sons of foreigners drink your grape-juice for which you toiled, 9. for those who gather it will eat it and praise Jehovah, and those who collect it will drink it in the courts of my sanctuary… 11 …Say to the daughter of Zion, “Look, your salvation has come! Look, His reward is with Him, and His work is before His face, 12. and they will be called The People of the Holy One, The Redeemed Ones of Jehovah...”
• The picture of God’s servants eating while those who try to serve both God and something else reminds me strongly of Jesus’ parable of Lazarus and Dives: Luke 16:13-31  “No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”  14  And the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all these things; and they scoffed at him.  15  And he said unto them, “Ye are they that justify yourselves in the sight of men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.  16  The law and the prophets were until John: from that time the gospel of the kingdom of God is preached, and every man entereth violently into it...  19  Now there was a certain rich man, and he was clothed in purple and fine linen, faring sumptuously every day:  20  and a certain beggar named Lazarus...  22  And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and that he was carried away by the angels into Abraham's bosom: and the rich man also died, and was buried.  23  And in Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.  24  And he cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am in anguish in this flame.’  25  But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and Lazarus in like manner evil things: but now here he is comforted and thou art in anguish.  26  And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, that they that would pass from hence to you may not be able, and that none may cross over from thence to us.’”
• We like to think of the life of the servants of God in heaven forever, singing with their harps, “Worthy art thou… for thou was slain, and didst purchase unto God with thy blood men of every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation,” (Rev. 5:9, cf Revelation 14:3; 15:3), but the rest of the world will also exist forever in hell. Their souls are eternal. They will continue to feel deprivation and shame eternally in hell. They will continue to wail “weeping and gnashing teeth”  To the Roman army captain, Jesus said, “many shall come from the east and the west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven:  12  but the sons of the kingdom shall be cast forth into the outer darkness: there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth.” (Matthew 8:11-12, cf Matthew 13:42, 50; 22:13; 24:51; 25:30)
• “he who waits for me will not be put to shame” (49:23) He will sing out because of the goodness of God described in 63:7 “I will remember… the great goodness to the house of Israel which He awarded according to His compassions and according to the greatness of His lovingkindness:” this goodness will fill the heart of the redeemed with gladness so that they will sing out His praises.
• In heaven there will be a new creation, and there will be eating and drinking there according to the book of Revelation: “Blessed are they that are bidden to the marriage supper of the Lamb… (19:9) And he that sits on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new… these words are faithful and true… They have come to pass. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.” (21:5-6)

The last two chapters of Isaiah recap themes of judgment, relationship to God, and blessing from throughout the book of Isaiah moreso than the last 20 chapters did. He’s pulling it all together now.

v.15 Explanation of Naming and cursing

• “Nothing worse could be wished upon others than what has come to the Jewish nation” wrote E.J. Young, and therefore their very name would bring up thoughts of God’s curse.
• Can you speak of the Jewish people without thinking of the Holocaust in Germany or the Arab’s hatred of them in Palestine?
• It was apparently part of the vocabulary of people in South Florida where my mom grew up and where a lot of Jews from the northern states vacationed that to “jew” someone was to cheat them. “You shall leave your name to my chosen for a curse.”

On the other hand we have the “chosen” (this word is used in v.9,15, and 22)

• I’ve touched on this before in chapters 42-45 that this speaks of God’s sovereign choice over whom He will save.
• Here I’d like to point out the similarity for the New Testament word for the church, εκκλησια, “called out ones” and this Old Testament name, “my chosen.”
• What is this “other name” that God’s servants will be called by?
• The concept behind the word “other” is not so much to be “different” as it is to come “after” – it is a “subsequent” name,
• indicating that they started out with one nature with a name appropriate for it, then there was a radical change in nature that warranted a new name. This radical change is the regeneration which God gives to His people 2 Corinthians 5:17  Wherefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature: the old things are passed away; behold, they are become new.
• The wording of this phrase in v.15 is close to the wording of Genesis 4:25 where Adam and Eve experienced the death of their son named Abel (“vapor”) and were given a new son whom they named Seth (“put into place”). The “vapor” became something “fixed.”
• Isaiah has already written of new names for the people of God in chapter 62 – “Beulah/Married” and “Hephzibah/My delight is in her.”
• In the New Testament, a new name appears for God’s people, and that is the name “Christian” (Acts 11:26)
• And then in the book of Revelation (2:17), God also hands out special new names to His people who are also called “overcomers.”

II. God’s New Creation (vs. 16-19)

v.16 In this changed order, blessing and oath-taking and worship will be different:

• “Blesses himself/invokes blessing” has to do with seeking blessing for yourself through worshipping a god. Instead of offering food to the god of fortune (v.11) in order to get good luck for themselves, everyone will turn to God for blessing – the “true” God rather than false gods. There will be no other gods in heaven.
• Likewise, oath-taking will also be done in the name of the one true God, because, not only is He recognized as the only source of good who can give blessing, He is also recognized as the final arbiter of all truth.
• Jeremiah 4:1-2  “If thou wilt return, O Israel,” saith Jehovah, “if thou wilt return unto me, and if thou wilt put away thine abominations out of my sight; then shalt thou not be removed;  2  and thou shalt swear, ‘As Jehovah liveth,’ in truth, in justice, and in righteousness; and the nations shall bless themselves in him, and in him shall they glory.”
• Invoking blessings and taking oaths are part of worship, according to Old Testament terminology (Isa 66:3, Zeph 1:5), and this is saying that all worship will be directed exclusively to God in the new order.
• We can start doing that now, of course. Do you pray for God to bless you? Go for it like Jacob did! “I will not let go unless you bless me!” (Gen 32:26)
• Why will they do this? Because the former troubles will be forgotten by both God and His people.
• 54:4 For you will forget the shame of your youth, and the reproach of your widowhood you will not remember again. 5. For your Maker is your Husband – “Jehovah of Hosts” His name. And the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer, and He is called “God of all the earth.” (cf 43:18-20)
• Notice that God does not “forget” the sins. No, the sins have been “hidden” – hidden by the blood of Christ which covered our sin and paid for it.
• It is on the basis of Christ Jesus’ work on the cross that we have “boldness and confident access [to God] through faith” to pray for blessing! (Eph. 3:12)
• The phrase “in the earth/land” intrigued me, so I did a little research on it and here’s what I found:
• The phrase “blessed in the earth” occurs over and over again in the book of Deuteronomy as a description of prosperity which comes from God (15:4, 23:20, 28:8, 30:16). Taken from this angle, verse 16 could mean, as people get wealthy and prosperous, they will recognize that all these blessings came from the Lord and they will continue to look to Him rather than going off track.
• God’s covenants with mankind specifically mention bringing His blessing to all the earth (Gen 1:22, 9:1, 26:4, Jer. 33:25, Hos. 2:18, Mat. 28:19, Rom. 16:26, Mark 16:15). Taken from this angle, it could be emphasizing the giving of blessing to God’s people in order that they may be a blessing to the whole earth.
• Calvin took it as a designation for the New Covenant period when “neither in this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, shall you worship the Father… [but anywhere on earth] true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth” (John 4:21b, 23a).
• I believe, however that it is beginning to speak of the “new heavens and the new earth,” which, in this chapter, are a concrete place in Isaiah’s mind, mentioned explicitly in the next verse (v.17), then called “Jerusalem… and her people” in the following verse (v.18), then “her” in v.19, and “there” in v.20.

v.17 God directs our attention to His creating of new heavens and a new earth

• From earlier verses in Isaiah, this new creation includes:

o A way of salvation and righteousness45:8b let salvation bear its fruit and let righteousness sprout - together. I, Jehovah created it.

o A new people 43:1 But now, thus says Jehovah, creating you and forming you, Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you belong to me.

o And a new place for God’s people 4:5 Then Jehovah will create over the whole site of Mount Zion and over her assemblies a cloud by day, and smoke and the shining of a flaming fire by night

• Interestingly, the verb for “create” is a participle - the form of a Hebrew present tense. This is a work in progress that God wants His people to watch:
• The new and living way of salvation (Heb 10:20) was inaugurated through Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection.
• The new people of God was brought to light fifty days later at Pentecost as the church was birthed through the Holy Spirit and the preaching of the word. (Acts 2)
• This people of faith is growing throughout the world; watch it and rejoice!
• And the heavenly place for God’s people is being prepared “I go to prepare a place for you.  3  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I come again, and will receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” (John 14:2-3)
• The fulfillment of this prophecy is in the age to come, however:
• The only other places in the Bible that the phrase “new heavens” or “new earth” appears outside of Isa 65 and 66 are:
• 2 Peter 3:12-13  looking for and earnestly desiring the coming of the day of God, by reason of which the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?  13  But, according to His promise, we look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.
• Revelation 21:1-5  And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth are passed away; and the sea is no more.  2  And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven of God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.  3  … and God himself shall be with them…  4  and he shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and death shall be no more; neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain, any more: the first things are passed away.  5  And he that sitteth on the throne said, ‘Behold, I make all things new…’
• This is why I think Isaiah is describing the age to come. Only by calling this an exaggeration (as Calvin does) can you say that this describes the world we are living in now.

III. What are we to do about it? (v. 18)

• The first command in the chapter appears here in v.18: “be glad and rejoice”
• cf v. 13 my servants shall rejoice and v.14 my servants shall sing out from goodness of heart
• Throughout Isaiah, this rejoicing is the result of God’s blessing:

§ 9:3a You have caused the nation to multiply; You have caused its joy to increase. They rejoice before Your face

§ 25:9 And one will say on that day, "Look, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He saved us. This is Jehovah; we have waited for Him; let us be glad and rejoice in His salvation."

§ 35:2 She will blossom abundantly and rejoice, yes even sing out with rejoicing! Lebanon’s glory has been given to her – the majesty of Carmel and Sharon. They themselves will see the glory of Jehovah, the majesty of our God.

§ 41:16 Behold, I make of you a threshing sledge, new, sharp, and serrated; you shall thresh the mountains and crush them, and you shall make the hills like chaff; 16. you shall winnow them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the tempest shall scatter them. And you shall rejoice in Jehovah; in the Holy One of Israel you shall glory.

§ 61:10a I will be extremely glad in Jehovah; my soul will rejoice in my God, for he has caused me to be clothed in garments of salvation, with a cloak of righteousness He has covered me,

• N.T. Parallel in Philippians 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord always [Isaiah: until forever]; again I will say, “Rejoice!” 5 Let your graciousness be known to all people; the Lord is near.
• I create Jerusalem to be a joy and her people to be a gladness:
  Do you as a representative of the new Jerusalem generate joy and gladness in others? This is what you were created for.
• God rejoices in the church (v.19) therefore we should too!
• What does it look like to be glad and rejoice from now until forever in what God is creating?

§ Not giddy mindless happiness

§ Peaceful trust, waiting on God,

§ Attitude of thankfulness for every good thing you notice

§ Understanding of the success of the big picture of what God is doing. Christianity is spreading all over the world faster than any other religion. God is saving people from every language and tribe and nation.

§ Illustration of stressful day Thursday: I had a headache all day, extra correspondence and preparation for Presbytery meeting put me behind on sermon preparation, then when it was time to work on sermon, I ended up having to babysit while Paula was gone for hours, then I got a phone call that Paula’s car died, so I was really frustrated as I drove to pick her up. As the car started, the CD player automatically started up, and the words of a song by Twila Paris cut through my brain fog with a reminder of the truth of the big picture:

This is no time for fear, This is a time for faith and determination
Don't lose the vision here, Carried away by emotion
Hold on to all that you hide in your heart
There is one thing that has always been true, It holds the world together
God is in control. We believe that His children will not be forsaken.
God is in control. We will choose to remember and never be shaken.
There is no power above or beside Him, we know God is in control
He has never let you down Why start to worry now?
He is still the Lord of all we see And He is still the loving Father Watching over you and me

• “Believers, having been redeemed by the hand of Christ must not show themselves unthankful or unmindful or think that it should be lightly passed by, that they carry in their hearts the pledge of eternal life.” - Calvin
• Find your future:

§ Don’t let it happen to you as it may,

§ Which will it be, the “firing squad” or the “big black door”?

§ Find your future in Christ Jesus by receiving Him in faith as the one who paid for your sins through His death.

§ Rejoice in your future with Him in the new heaven and earth and be glad in what He creates in and around you.

Nate Wilson’s website – Isaiah Sermon Expositions

Christ the Redeemer Church website - Sermons