In my last post, we concluded the examination of The Lord’s Day of Vengeance ~ Part 2 in Yesha’yahu 64:1-12. In this post, explore Adonai’s Judgement and Salvation in Yesha’yahu 65:1-16.

¹ “I made Myself accessible to those who didn’t ask for Me; I let Myself be found by those who didn’t seek Me. I said, ‘Here I am! Here I am!’ to a nation not called by My name.

Sha’ul quotes this verse in Romans 10:20 as a reference to Gentiles. Because the Jews were not interested in Him, Adonai sovereignly reached out to those who were not seeking Him at all. Aren’t you glad He did?

² I spread out My hands all day long to a rebellious people who live in a way that is not good, who follow their own inclinations;

In the previous and the following verses, Adonai responded to the people’s prayer uttered by Yesha’yahu in Chapter 64. Adonai first described His total openness and accessibility to the people. Even more, He sought them out, though they should be the ones who were seeking Him. Adonai would spread out His hands in welcome to people who had passed by Him.

³ a people who provoke Me to My face all the time, sacrificing in gardens and burning incense on bricks.

Gardens in the ancient Near East were often parks of fruit and shade trees, arboretums serving as outdoor shrines or providing comfortable surroundings for sacred enclosures. Sacred trees played a significant role in the popular religion of the day. Most incense altars were made of limestone. These were standard features in the high places where illegitimate worship took place. [1]

⁴ They sit among the graves and spend the night in caverns; they eat pig meat, and their pots hold soup made from disgusting things.

Many individuals who practiced necromancy (contacting the spirits of the dead in the ancient Near East spent the night in the graveyards, waiting for communication from the dead. Assyrian wisdom literature calls the pig unholy, unfit for the temple, and an abomination to the gods. The attitude toward the pig in Israel is apparent here in Yesha’yahu, showing close connection to worship of the dead. It is very possible then that sacrificing a pig was synonymous with sacrificing to demons or the dead. [2] As we know from Leviticus 11:7, Adonai had declared that pigs were unclean food and were not to be eaten. Even today in Isra’el, anyone who raises pigs has to keep them on one-foot platforms, so they do not touch the land.

⁵ They say, ‘Keep your distance, don’t come near me, because I am holier than You.’ These are smoke in My nose, a fire that burns all day!

Ironically, these sinful people claimed to be holy, which Adonai considered extremely irritating.

⁶ See, it is written before Me; I will not be silent until I repay them; I will repay them to the full, ⁷ your own crimes and those of your ancestors together,” says Adonai. “They offered incense on the mountains and insulted Me on the hills. First, I will measure out their wages and then repay them in full.”

Adonai accused His people of reproaching Him on the mountains and hills. False worship in such places was condemned in the Tanakh (see Duet. 12:2 as an example).

I will measure out their wages and then repay them in full. Our actions are determined by our thinking. If you want to experience spiritual victory, you need to be kingdom-minded. You need to adopt Adonai’s thinking about the issues of life. As Rabbi Sha’ul writes, we must be “transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Rom 12:2). By tending to the soil of our minds and sowing our thoughts with the Word of Adonai, we will make it possible to bear good fruit in what we say and in what we do.

⁸ Here is what Adonai says: “As when juice is found in a cluster of grapes, and people say, ‘Don’t destroy it, there is still some good in it,’ so I will do likewise for the sake of My servants, and not destroy them all.

Using the analogy of a bunch of grapes, Adonai announced that He would not destroy the good grapes out of the bunch but would use them to make new wine. The analogy presents the idea that Adonai will preserve a faithful remnant of His people after the judgment. Remember the issue of Avraham questioning the Adonai if He found 5 faithful believers in Sodom? Just as there are good grapes in bad clusters, so there are good people in a nation that wasn’t doing very well at all. Spiritually, Isra’el was rotten. But there were individuals who loved the Adonai. It was because of them that He didn’t destroy the entire cluster.

⁹ I will bring forth descendants from Ya’akov, heirs of My mountains from Y’hudah; My chosen ones will possess them, and My servants will live there. ¹⁰ The Sharon will be a pasture for flocks, the Akhor Valley, a place for cattle to rest, for My people who have sought Me.

Sharon was a coastal plain verging on the Judean hill country in the east and the Mediterranean Sea on the west. The valley was known for its beauty, desolation, and pastureland. It was about thirty-two miles in length and was, on average, eleven miles in width. The Valley of Akhor was probably located on Judah’s northern border and is identified with the modern El Buqe’ah, a small plain in the northern Judean wilderness in the vicinity of Jericho. [3] Even during judgment, though, Adonai promised to spare His righteous remnant, those who were faithful to Him amid the perverse generations.

¹¹ “But as for you who abandon Adonai, who forget my holy mountain, who prepare a table for Gad, a god of luck, and fill bowls of mixed wine for Meni, a god of destiny – ¹² I will destine you to the sword, you will all bow down to be slaughtered; because when I called, you did not answer; when I spoke, you did not hear, but did what was evil from My point of view and chose what did not please Me.”

Gad (fortune) and Meni (destiny) are personified as objects of false worship. While Adonai had good things in store for the faithful remnant, those among His people who continued to worship false deities would meet a horrible end.

In the following verses, God continues the distinction between those who followed Him and were His servants and those who rejected Him. The former will enjoy life; the latter will suffer.

¹³ Therefore this is what Adonai Elohim says: “My servants will eat, while you go hungry; My servants will drink, while you go thirsty. My servants will rejoice, while you will be ashamed. ¹⁴ Yes, My servants will sing for joy from their hearts, but you will cry out from the pain in your heart and howl from an anguished spirit. ¹⁵ My chosen will use your name as a curse – ‘May Adonai Elohim strike you dead!’ But to His servants, He will give another name.

Those who forsook the Adonai and chased after other gods would be slain, and God’s servants would be called by another name. What would that name be? It was in Antioch that believers were called Christians for the first time (Acts 11:26). It is a name we who know Him should wear with great humility and responsibility. Adonai helps us to live up to it by behaving like Yeshua, by showing the love and grace He showed.

¹⁶ Thus someone on earth who blesses himself will bless himself by the God of truth, and someone on earth who swears an oath will swear by the God of truth; for past troubles will be forgotten, hidden from My eyes. ~ Isaiah 65:1-16 (CJB)

Regardless of the hardships, one may face in life by following the Adonai; the result is worth it: for past troubles will be forgotten, hidden from My eyes.

In my next post, we learn about The New Heavens and A New Earth in Yesha’yahu 65:17-25.

Click here for the PDF version.

 

[1] Bible Background Commentary – Old Testament.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Ibid.