Isa_60-66

Isaiah 60 – The Future Glory of Zion

Read Isaiah 60:1

V.1 – Arise and sit on the throne.

Isaiah 60:1 (ESV)
¹  Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you.

Read Isaiah 60:11-12

V.11-12 – Jerusalem will receive both the service and the wealth of the nations and their monarchs, and no opposition to her will be tolerated by her God.

Isaiah 60:11-12 (ESV)
¹¹  Your gates shall be open continually; day and night they shall not be shut, that people may bring to you the wealth of the nations, with their kings led in procession.
¹²  For the nation and kingdom that will not serve you shall perish; those nations shall be utterly laid waste.

Read Isaiah 60:19-21

Isaiah 60:19-21 (ESV)
¹⁹  The sun shall be no more your light by day, nor for brightness shall the moon give you light; but the LORD will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory.
²⁰  Your sun shall no more go down, nor your moon withdraw itself; for the LORD will be your everlasting light, and your days of mourning shall be ended.
²¹  Your people shall all be righteous; they shall possess the land forever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I might be glorified.

Quote:  Expositor’s Bible Commentary:

The verses supply important background for Revelation 21–22. Genesis 1:14–19—probably deliberately attacking pagan worship of the heavenly bodies (see G. Von Rad, Commentary on Genesis [London: SCM, 1961], in loc.)—describes the sun and the moon as mere lamps made by God for lighting the earth. The Lord himself, whose glory set over the city gives the latter its special glory in this chapter, is in fact replacing his creatures—the sun and the moon—with himself. This symbolizes the fact that God’s people, in his community, will always know his presence and the revelation and joy that come from him. This constant fullness of divine light will transform everything, including all the imperfections (“sorrows”) of life.^[1]

V.21 – That only those cleansed of sin may have any part in God’s city.  His promise to Abraham (Gen. 17:8) will be fulfilled.

Isaiah 61 – The Year of the Lord’s Favor  (5^th servant song):

Read Isaiah 61:1-3

Isaiah 61:1-3 (ESV)
¹  The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
²  to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn;
³  to grant to those who mourn in Zion— to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he may be glorified.

Expositor’s Bible Commentary says about Chapter 61:

It could also be significant that this passage clearly reflects, as we shall show, the Year of Jubilee legislation, and that that year began on the Day of Atonement (Lev 25:9). This would provide a link with the sacrificial teaching of 52:13–53:12. Kidner (“Isaiah,” in loc.) says, “Our Lord could quote this passage at the outset of His career because He had already accepted, in His baptism and temptation, the role of suffering Servant, and with it the cross. Those are the ‘benefits of His passion’; His miracles spoke the same language.” We will therefore take it that there is a theological development here that makes this passage rest on Isaiah 53, just as the preaching of the gospel in Acts rested on the atoning sacrifice presented in the Gospels.

The laws of inheritance, so closely linked to the Jubilee regulations, provided for a double inheritance for the firstborn (Deut 21:17). Previously, perhaps because privilege brings greater responsibility, Israel had received double punishment (40:2); now, as God’s “firstborn” among the nations (Exod 4:22–23; cf. Ps 89:27), she has a double portion in her land (v.7). Probably this means that the “land flowing with milk and honey” (Exod 3:8, 17 et al.) was itself reckoned to be of double value.

The final verse of the chapter (v.11) reminds us of 55:10–11. If it is an intentional allusion, then it will support the theme of God’s faithfulness (v.8). God’s faithful word will secure the growth of righteousness and praise in his people, which will be publicly displayed, as at a bridal feast, before all the nations.^[2]

Read:  Isaiah 61:11

61:11 causes what is sown in it to sprout up An allusion to the messianic title of “branch,” “shoot,” or “sprout.” See 4:2; 11:1.

Isaiah 63 – The Lord the Avenger   Read V. 1-6   of (Isa. 63:1-19)

Isaiah 63:1-6 (ESV)
¹  Who is this who comes from Edom, in crimsoned garments from Bozrah, he who is splendid in his apparel, marching in the greatness of his strength? “It is I, speaking in righteousness, mighty to save.”
²  Why is your apparel red, and your garments like his who treads in the winepress?
³  “I have trodden the winepress alone, and from the peoples no one was with me; I trod them in my anger and trampled them in my wrath; their lifeblood spattered on my garments, and stained all my apparel.
⁴  For the day of vengeance was in my heart, and my year of redemption had come.
⁵  I looked, but there was no one to help; I was appalled, but there was no one to uphold; so my own arm brought me salvation, and my wrath upheld me.
⁶  I trampled down the peoples in my anger; I made them drunk in my wrath, and I poured out their lifeblood on the earth.”

1. 1-6 – God returns from his work of judgment with the stains of the blood of his enemies. It was a lone feat of righteous wrath.

Expositor’s Bible Commentary:

The oracle is most dramatic.The only OT passage that in any way resembles it is the account of Joshua’s encounter with the angelic captain of the Lord’s host (Josh 5:13–6:5). There too, as here, there are two questions and two answers; and there is a similar anxious inquiry: “Are you for us or for our enemies?” Westermann (in loc.) comments on the “consummate artistry” in our present passage. The city watchman or sentry peers anxiously out at a solitary and majestic figure who appears on the scene, his garment spattered with crimson (v.1). When he first comes into view, it is clear that he is coming from the direction of Bozrah, Edom’s capital. That Edom means “red” (cf. Gen 25:30 n.) is particularly apt in this context. Is this fearsome figure who has been executing judgment on Edom now coming to judge Jerusalem (cf. Amos 1:11–12; 2:4–5)? The answer makes it clear, albeit indirectly, that this is the Lord himself. In fact, the element of indirectness, with its overtones of mystery, if anything underlines the divine nature of the warrior (cf. 59:17–18). It is clear too that he comes to his people, not as their judge, but as their righteous Savior.^[3]

Isaiah 63:7 – 64:12 – A Psalm of Praise and Lamentation

Read Isaiah 63:7-8:  –  The Lord’s Mercy Remembered

Isaiah 63:7-9 (ESV)
⁷  I will recount the steadfast love of the LORD, the praises of the LORD, according to all that the LORD has granted us, and the great goodness to the house of Israel that he has granted them according to his compassion, according to the abundance of his steadfast love.
⁸  For he said, “Surely they are my people, children who will not deal falsely.” And he became their Savior.
⁹  In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them; in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.

1. 7-9 – Isaiah cries out to God to have mercy on his people. He has been so good to Israel in the past, caring for them in person.

READ

Isaiah 64:1-7 (ESV)
¹  Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains might quake at your presence—
²   as when fire kindles brushwood and the fire causes water to boil— to make your name known to your adversaries, and that the nations might tremble at your presence!
³  When you did awesome things that we did not look for, you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence.
⁴  From of old no one has heard or perceived by the ear, no eye has seen a God besides you, who acts for those who wait for him.
⁵  You meet him who joyfully works righteousness, those who remember you in your ways. Behold, you were angry, and we sinned; in our sins we have been a long time, and shall we be saved?
⁶  We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
⁷  There is no one who calls upon your name, who rouses himself to take hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us, and have made us melt in the hand of our iniquities.

Expositors Isa. 64:1-7

64:1–7 The longing for renewed blessing expressed in the closing verses of the previous chapter is now poured out in the passionate outburst of v.1. The Exodus had been followed by the great revelation at Sinai, when the mountain trembled at the presence of God (Exod 19:16–19). …

What was God like, this God of the Exodus and Sinai who revealed himself to his people? He was the God of the unexpected (v.3), for in so many of the plagues the ordinary course of nature was interrupted. He was a unique God, for all other so-called deities are impotent. … It is this ethical quality in him—and therefore an element of his nature as true to that early revelation as his saving grace manifested in the Exodus—that is revealed over against the sins of his people.

Verses 5–7 present a many-sided doctrine of sin, remarkably full for an OT passage. Sin is a continual practice; it is defiling, it is destructive, and it creates a barrier between God and man—both from man’s side, for we do not want to pray, and from God’s, because he will not hear us. It is God himself who has determined that it shall have these results (cf. v.7 with 63:17). No wonder the people cry out, “How then can we be saved?” (v.5).

The final verse (v.12) implores God to intervene and bring to his people that forgiveness and salvation that has been promised over and over again in this book, especially since chapter 40. What response did God make to this prayer? The two closing chapters of the prophecy will show us.^[4]

Isaiah 65 – Judgment and Salvation…   The Great Final Issues

1. 1 – 2 – God says that he has been open to those who haven’t looked for him (65:1). The apostle Paul understands this to refer to non-Jews (Romans 10:20). Equally, God has held out his hands to people who did know him, but were rebellious (65:2)—which Paul takes to mean Israel (Romans 10:21).

V.3-4 – The sins which have offended God and provoked his punishment are pagan offerings and attempts to commune with the dead (65:3–4).

1. 4-5 – The stench of incense and disgusting foods offends him (65:4–5).
2. 6-7 – God has promised that he will pay back these outrages—and he will do so (65:6–7).
3. 8 – And yet, even in his judgment, God will spare a remnant—like a few good grapes that deserve to survive (65:8).
4. 9 – He will retrieve some descendants of Israel to reoccupy his promised land (65:9).
5. 10 – The pastureland of Sharon will once again have flocks. The Valley of Achor (‘bitterness’) will be a place of peace (65:10).

V.11 – However, God will sentence to death all who worship the Syrian gods of fortune and destiny (65:11).

1. 13-16 – There will be a world of difference between the fate of those who turn to God and those who rely on idols (65:13–16).^[5]

Read Isa. 65:17-25  –  God’s New Creation:

God describes the new world that he is creating—so wonderful and different that the present pain will be completely forgotten (65:17).

Jerusalem, which has seen so much suffering and destruction, will become a community of joy and delight (65:18–19). Bereavement and early deaths will be things of the past: to live to 100 will be quite normal (65:20)!

There will be peace and stability. Families will be able to build and plant—enjoying the fruits of their labour through many generations (65:21–23). There will be a new closeness to God and a readiness to speak with him (65:24). The animal world will be at rest, with natural enemies feeding side by side—rather than one eating another (65:25). Only the serpent, the ancient symbol of evil, will continue to be cursed (65:23).^[6]

Isaiah 66 – New Heavens and a New Earth

God’s judgment and salvation

(66:1–24)

God announces himself. He is the One who has heaven as his throne and the earth as his footstool (66:1) What significance, then, does this ‘house’, the temple, have? Everything comes from God anyway (66:2).

What God looks for in worship is the obedient response of a humble heart (66:2, 4). Without the offering of the heart, a sacrifice is just mindless pagan butchery (66:3). God has no pleasure in receiving worship which is a pretence. He feels mocked—and will mock in return (66:4–5).

Isaiah describes a miracle: a woman gives birth to a son without going into labour. It is unheard of, and yet God is going to bring his new nation to birth in an instant (66:7–9).

Isaiah calls all those who love Jerusalem (and have grieved over her) to rejoice (66:10). She will suckle and nurture her children (66:11). She is the mother of all, giving wealth and well-being, support and comfort to her people (66:12–13).

The other side of God’s blessing is that he will punish and destroy his enemies (66:14). He loathes the eating of unclean foods (66:17).

God is drawing people from the far reaches of the earth: Tarshish in Spain, Put and Lud in Ethiopia, Tubal in the north and Javan, which is Greece (66:18–19). They are bringing the Israelites with them—like an offering—on every kind of transport (66:20–21). They will form an enduring community—the worshipping nucleus of the entire world (66:22–23).

At the last, God’s restored people will look at the corpses of their enemies—and see the sad and sickening fate of those who resisted God to the end (66:24).^[7]

These two chapters are not only the end of the book but also its climax. In them the eschatology reaches its zenith, for the promise of new heavens and a new earth (65:17; 66:22) not only goes beyond anything else in the book but even the speculative imagination could not conceive any greater reality. At the same time, the spiritual challenge to the reader and the ultimate issues of destiny are presented with great power.

It must also be said however that the Christian reader sometimes leaves a perusal of these chapters with a sense of disappointment. So much of the book has ministered Christ to him, but where is his beloved Savior in these closing chapters? Surely here if anywhere he would be set forth in all his glory! Yet he does not seem to be present in a single verse here. If, however, the chapters be read, not in isolation from the rest of the book, but as a concluding study, it will appear that there are a number of passages that call to mind the earlier strongly christological passages. In fact, Christ is as truly present here as God is in the Book of Esther.^[8]

^[1] Grogan, G. W. (1986). Isaiah. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel (Vol. 6, p. 331). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.

^[2] Grogan, G. W. (1986). Isaiah. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel (Vol. 6, p. 334). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.

^[3] Grogan, G. W. (1986). Isaiah. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel (Vol. 6, p. 339). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.

^[4] Grogan, G. W. (1986). Isaiah. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel (Vol. 6, p. 344). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.

^[5] Knowles, A. (2001). The Bible guide (1st Augsburg books ed., p. 294). Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg.

^[6] Knowles, A. (2001). The Bible guide (1st Augsburg books ed., p. 294). Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg.

^[7] Knowles, A. (2001). The Bible guide (1st Augsburg books ed., pp. 294–295). Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg.

^[8] Grogan, G. W. (1986). Isaiah. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel (Vol. 6, pp. 348–349). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.