November 11, Isaiah 65
Therefore thus says the LORD GOD, "Behold,
my servants shall eat, but you shall be hungry;
behold, my servants shall drink, but you shall be
thirsty; behold, my servants shall rejoice, but
you shall be put to shame; behold, my servants
shall sing for gladness of heart, but you shall cry
out for pain of heart and shall wail for breaking
of spirit." - Isaiah 65:13-14
One of the first and clearest lessons the Bible teaches is that what God says shall be, will be. It's on page one: "God said, 'Let there be light,' and there was light." Throughout the Bible, God keeps all his promises and fulfills all his prophecies. The disciples learned that from experience. When Jesus told them how a situation would be, it was always just as he told them.
Before the Israelites entered Canaan, God reminded them through Moses of the blessings that would come from obeying him and the curses that would come if they disobeyed. And as the sun was going down on what was left of the nation, God reminded the Israelites of the double-edged certainty of the sword of his word.
In the prayer in Chapter 64, Isaiah said that God had hidden his face from them. God's reply to that is that he had been ready the whole time to be sought, but they hadn't asked. He was ready to be found, but they had not sought. He told them, "Here I am, here I am," and spread out his hands in entreaty to the hardhearted rebels. But they were entrenched in their idolatry and all the associated sordid sins that went with worshiping idols. They feigned a higher holiness, but they were really corrupt. God assured them that his word was good, and that he would repay their iniquities.
They had sunk to worshiping the planets. They had forsaken the Lord and set a table for Fortune (Jupiter) and poured wine for Destiny (Venus). Remember that Stephen mentioned the Jewish leaders' ancestors worshiped the host of heaven in the sermon that got him killed. Since they worshiped Destiny, God "destined" them for the sword and slaughter. They had persisted in doing evil in God's sight and choosing what did not delight the Lord. They had refused to hear and heed his calls to return. When God's patience and their time ran out, they met their tragic ruin.
But he would not destroy Israel completely. He knew the righteous ones among them and would save them from the destruction and bless them. Through them he would keep the Abrahamic promises. Messiah would still come.
The last part of Chapter 65 is a description of Messiah's kingdom. God looked ahead to the time when he would create new heavens and a new earth, a total reset of the universe. This seems to point to the end of this present age during which Messiah's kingdom has been established on earth. The Messianic age, or last days as the Bible writers call it, stretches between the first and second advents of Christ. As Peter described it in the New Testament, the new heavens and new earth will come at the end of time when Jesus comes again. Here in Chapter 65, it cannot refer to heaven, because there is still death, and there are still sinners among God's people. It describes the blessings of peace, joy and gladness that should characterize the redeemed in Christ here and now. As in many other passages, spiritual blessings are described in images of material prosperity, probably an accommodation to our limited capacity to grasp spiritual realities.
This new creation has begun as sinful men and women come to Christ and surrender their lives to him. As Paul described it in Romans, when we are baptized into Christ and into his death, we are raised to walk in newness of life. In Christ, we are new creations. The old has gone and the new has come for God's people in Christ, Paul explained in 2 Corinthians. Messiah's kingdom that Isaiah foresaw is here and now in this age. It is also known as the church or the body of Christ. The eternal phase of the kingdom, when we will be raised to live with the Lord forever, is yet to come. But when Jesus comes again and all the redeemed are at home with him forever, temptation, death,
distress and weeping will all be forgotten. There is nothing in this world that is worth having or doing that would keep us from enjoying those eternal blessings our faithful Father has promised his children.
Copyright © 2023 by Michael B. McElroy. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Today in God's Word—November 2023
East Tallassee Church of Christ
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