Isaiah 65 They Shall Not Hurt The
wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the
ox, but dust will be the serpent’s food. They will neither harm nor
destroy in all my holy mountain, says the LORD.—Isaiah
65:25, NIV A
verse-by-verse study of Isaiah 65 (by Wade Austin) God,
through the prophet Isaiah, spoke concerning both the development of the
spiritual phase of God’s kingdom during the Gospel age and the
establishment of the earthly phase of his kingdom in the Millennial age. God
assured the nation of Israel that he would remain faithful to his promises
to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob concerning them as the natural seed. But,
because of their unfaithfulness, the heavenly kingdom would be found by and
given to “a nation that was not called by my name” (Isaiah 65:1; Romans
10:20). A
thorough study of Isaiah reveals Scriptures
that are applicable: 1) to the nation of Israel alone; 2) to the world of
mankind through the nation of Israel; and 3) to spiritual Israel (the
church). The prophet Isaiah also wrote of essential characteristics and
principles of God’s kingdom that apply to both natural and spiritual
Israel. A verse-by-verse study of Isaiah 65 reveals the intertwined process
of God’s creative work containing a promise concerning the new creation of
the Gospel age, as well as the Millennial age promise to bless Israel and
all the families of the earth during God’s kingdom of peace. Gospel
Call—verse 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. In
this verse God speaks of revealing himself to the seed of faith among the
gentiles (“a nation that was not called by my name”). Paul quotes this
verse in Romans 10:20,21 as part of his documentation of the grace of God
which he eloquently expounded on throughout Romans. Paul argued that
Christ was the ultimate demonstration of God’s grace and that he put an
end to any notion that righteousness could be attained through keeping the
law. Those who accept this revelation of God’s grace (his unmerited favor)
find God by faith and are called by his name. Paul
used the words of both Isaiah and Moses to teach the Jews of his day that
God had prophesied of a time when God’s grace would be revealed to a seed
of faith, and with the
advent of Jesus that day had come (Romans 10:18-21). Paul and
Barnabas spoke forcefully to the Jews of their day: “When the Jews saw the
crowds, they were filled with jealousy and talked abusively against what
Paul was saying. Then Paul and Barnabas answered them boldly: We had to
speak the word of God to you first. Since you reject it and do not consider
yourselves worthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles. For this is
what the Lord has commanded us: I have made you a light for the Gentiles,
that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth” (Acts 13:44-47, NIV). Disobedient
Rejected—verses 2, 3 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; A people that
provoketh me to anger continually to my face; that sacrificeth in gardens,
and burneth incense upon altars of brick. God
informs Israel that he offered his grace to them “all day long” (NIV),
but they remained disobedient and obstinate. God describes the specific
types of sins of Israel and warns of punishment for them. These sins
included rebelliousness, a sinful walk, provoking God, sacrificing in
gardens (a reference to idol worship and possibly tree worship), brick
incense altars, lodging among graves and monuments (worshiping the dead),
eating swine and other forbidden meat, and being self-righteous (specially
their spiritual leaders, the scribes and the Pharisees). Finally God
says: “Behold, it is written before Me, I will not keep silent, but I will
repay; I will even repay into their bosom, both their own iniquities and the
iniquities of their fathers together, says the LORD.
Because they have burned incense on the mountains, and scorned Me on the
hills, therefore I will measure their former work into their bosom”
(Isaiah 65:6-7, NAS). Punishment
would be inflicted upon them for their fathers’ sins and for their own. To
“repay into their bosom” means to deposit their sins in the folds of
their robes about their breast where they carried their most precious
possessions. Modern men carry their valuables in their pockets. Were this
the custom with Israel, God would have repaid them in their pockets. Paul
may have captured the thought of this symbolism when he wrote, “Men
committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due
penalty for their perversion. Furthermore, since they did not think it
worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved
mind, to do what ought not to be done. … Although they know God’s
righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only
continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice
them” (Romans 1:27-32, NIV). When
one is a slave to his own lusts, how great is that slavery. God in Isaiah
informed Israel that if they are consumed by their lusts, by
what they hold near and dear to their bosom, he will repay them with
more of the same. They will get what they desire together with the fruits of
that desire. Jacob
not Destroyed—verses 8-10. 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. And I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob, and out of Judah an
inheritor of my mountains: and mine elect shall inherit it, and my servants
shall dwell there. And 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. God
says he will not destroy Jacob (natural Israel) for his servant’s sake.
Instead, a seed is to be brought forth and “mine elect shall inherit it,
and my servants shall dwell there.” Paul refers to these elect servants
when he poses
and then answers the question, “Did God reject his people? By no
means!” (Romans 11:1 NIV).
He then clarifies his answer to his rhetorical question with the words,
“So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. And if by
grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be
grace” (Romans 11:5,6, NIV). Isaiah
65:10-16 contrasts the faithful seed with the unfaithful seed in respect to
both their behavior and their rewards. Sharon, a level plain, will be a
pastureland for sheep, and Achor, a word that means “trouble,” will
become a place for herds to lie down. Both pictures imply a time of dwelling
peacefully without fear of enemies. In contrast, verses 11 and 12 again
refer to the natural seed that “forgot” God’s “holy mountain.”
“But you who forsake the LORD,
who forget and ignore My holy Mount [Zion], who prepare a table for [the
Babylonian God of fortune] Gad, and who furnish mixed drinks for [the
goddess of destiny] Meni; I will destine you [says the Lord] to the sword,
and you shall all bow down to the slaughter; because when I called, you did
not answer; when I spoke, you did not listen or obey; but you did what was
evil in My eyes; and you chose that in which I did not delight”
(Isaiah 65:11,12, Amplified). Because
Israel sacrificed to the God of destiny, God destines that they will fall by
the sword, and because they “prepared a table” (i.e., banquet),
“you shall bow down to the slaughter.”
Here “slaughter” (Strong’s #2876 and related to #2873) carries
the thought of slaying for a banquet. Cast-Off
Israel—verses 13-15 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 shall howl for 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. The
condition of cast-off Israel is being contrasted with that of spiritual
Israel. Jesus used similar imagery when he said, “Blessed are those who
hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled” (Matthew
5:6, NIV). This was indeed
contrary to the attitude of the natural seed: “Since they did not know the
righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own, they
did not submit to God’s righteousness” (Romans 10:3, NIV).
Likewise we
have Jesus’ words, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me
will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty. But
as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe” (John
6:35,36, NIV). The
“howl for vexation of spirit” (verse 14) is reminiscent of the
“weeping and gnashing of teeth” mentioned in the New Testament. “My
servants shall sing for joy of heart” refers to the spiritual seed as
servants. Jesus said, “Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will
be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit”
(Matthew 21:43, NIV). The
first part of Isaiah 65 closes with the words, “So shall ye leave your
name for an oath, to my chosen ones—So then My Lord Yahweh will slay thee,
and his servants will he call by another name: so that he who blesseth
himself in the earth will bless himself in the God of faithfulness, and he
who sweareth in the earth will swear by the God of faithfulness, because the
former troubles have been forgotten, and because they are hid from mine
eyes” (Isaiah 65:15,16, Rotherham). Rotherham
more correctly translates Strong’s
#7621 as “oath” instead of “curse” as it is in the King James.
Spiritual Israelites (“my chosen ones”) do not go about using Israel as
a curse word. Rather, God’s servants, his chosen ones, are known by
another name, “the sons of God.” Israel’s name is an oath or covenant
to the sons of God that what God has sworn to do he will perform. The
apostle Paul explains: “These things happened to them as examples and were
written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has
come” (1 Corinthians 10:11,12, NIV). In
verse 16, the word translated truth in the King James, and faithfulness in
Rotherham, is the word for Amen. That is to say, “the God of Amen.”
Typically “amen” is used when one confirms the word of another in the
sense, “let it be so.” By saying “amen” one affirms an intent to be
faithful to the words just spoken or the covenant just entered into. God is
a God of his
word. He will faithfully perform what he says he will do. He will
fulfill his promise to both the natural and the spiritual seeds of Israel. The
“earth” (verse 16) is not the Law age earth (the natural seed) under
the Law age heavens (the Aaronic priesthood administering the Law
Covenant). It refers to the Gospel age earth (the spiritual seed) under the
Gospel age heavens (Christ, our high priest after the order of Melchisedek
and the firstfruit of the promise made to Abraham through Sarah—see Galatians
3:16-29; 4:24-31). Verse 16 assures Jews whose eyes are opened and
who approach God by faith as a God of faithfulness, that they will be
blessed because “I ignore the troubles of the past, I shut mine eyes to
them” (Isaiah 65:16, Moffat). A
New Topic?—verse 17 For,
behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be
remembered, nor come into mind. Verses
17-25 form a unified context. Do these verses connect to the subject of
verses 16 and preceding, or do they introduce a new thought? Certainly
the picture language of Isaiah 65:17-25 suggests a time of blessing and
peace such as has not existed among mankind. Just as certainly, the
principles upon which the peaceful conditions there described are founded
will be the basis of peace during the Millennial age reign of Christ and his
church. Nevertheless the symbolism of “earth” begun in verse 16 applies
not only to mankind in the kingdom, it also applies to God’s chosen people
(Gospel age earth, the church) with whom he has made a covenant (the Sarah
feature of the Abrahamic Covenant) under the Gospel age heaven (Christ, our
high priest). Paul used the same symbolism when he wrote, “Now Hagar
stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present city of
Jerusalem, because she is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem
that is above is free, and she is our mother” (Galatians 4:25-27, NIV). The
similarity of the last phrase of verse 16 and the last phrase of verse 17
strongly suggests a continuity of the author’s message and not a switching
of subjects. “The former shall not be remembered nor come into mind”
(verse 16) refers to the Law age heavens and earth (the priesthood
administering the Law Covenant and the nation of Israel under that
covenant). “For behold me! Creating new heavens and a new earth, and the
former shall not be mentioned, neither shall they come up on the heart”
(verse 17, Rotherham) speaks to the Jews at the beginning of the Gospel age.
Then God began to create his new creation and he gave the first opportunity
to Jews. “The former shall not be remembered” poetically describes the
freedom of all who came into Christ, especially Jews, who would no longer be
in bondage to the law because they had died to it through baptism into
Christ. Jerusalem—verses
18, 19 But
be glad and rejoice forever in what I will create, for I will create
Jerusalem to be a delight and its people a joy. I will rejoice over
Jerusalem and take delight in my people; the sound of weeping and of crying
will be heard in it no more. (NIV) Understanding
the symbolism of Jerusalem assists the reader to understand the dual
application of these and the succeeding verses of this chapter. Research on
the name Jerusalem results in some differences of opinion, but consensus
seems to center around “city of peace,” with “habitation of peace”
and “possession of peace” being alternate versions. Certainly such
meanings contribute to the picture painted by the remaining verses of Isaiah
65, and they are equally accurate descriptions of the Gospel age church
and the New Jerusalem (the Bride of Christ) that comes down from God
out of heaven in the next age (Revelation 21:1-4). Symbolic
Blessings—verse 20 (and onward) Never
again will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man
who does not live out his years; he who dies at a hundred will be thought a
mere youth; he who fails to reach a hundred will be considered accursed. (NIV) Trying
to understand Isaiah 65:20 literally causes great confusion. Picture
language is never meant to be understood literally and the whole chapter of
Isaiah 65 is filled with such language. This verse, rather than referring to
a literal child, man, or “a hundred years,” is a collection of idioms
conveying the thought that in Jerusalem every person, young and old, will
have a full opportunity to come into peaceful harmony with God. This is true
of God’s sons during this age and it will be true of all mankind in the
kingdom. After such a full opportunity, if any one dies, it will be for his
own sins in spite of the abundant grace of God. (Compare
the use of the number 100 in Ecclesiastes 6:3 and 8:12, “If a man beget an
hundred children, and live many years,” “Though a sinner do evil an
hundred times.” 100 is not intended literally in either case.) Picturesque
Description—verses 21-25 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
my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands. They
shall not labour 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. The wolf
and the lamb shall feed together, 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. These
texts continue the picturesque description
of Jerusalem, the “habitation of peace” enjoyed by God’s children now
and assuredly to be enjoyed by all nations of the earth when the King of
Peace, Jesus Christ together with his church, reigns in righteousness during
the next age. The
Israelites were used to building homes, planting vineyards, and toiling to
improve their lives only to have the work of their hands destroyed by
invading armies. They yearned for peace but it never lasted because of their
unfaithfulness.
But the true children of God neither make war nor suffer destructive
assault, nor will the resurrected people of the world in the coming kingdom.
God hears the prayers of his people now before they call on him and this
principle will exist in the kingdom to come. Likewise, former enemies
(pictured by the wolf and the lamb, the lion and the ox, and the serpent)
will dwell together in harmony and will continue to do so. “They
shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain,” proclaims a blessed
assurance fully understood now only by those who by faith lay hold upon the
promises of the “God of faithfulness.” Most assuredly it will be
understood by all when “he will wipe every tear from their eyes. There
will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things
has passed away” (Revelation 21:4, NIV). |