There are many reasons people give for their success. It might be their education or their natural intelligence or ability or fortune or destiny as these in Isaiah 65:11 “who forsake Yahweh”. And for these “who set a table for fortune”, there awaits the fire of God. Real wisdom and success though, comes to those that seek the Lord, to those that keep the Sabbath, to those that follow after righteousness. For these, the Lord says, “before they call, I myself will answer”. For these the Lord says in Isaiah 65:19 “I will shout in exultation over Jerusalem, I will rejoice over my people”.
You Who Set a Table for Fortune
Isaiah 65:9–16
It is the Lord that controls the fortunes and destiny of man and He, in his time, will bring his servants to his mountain as it says in Isaiah 65:9-10 “I will bring descendants out … my chosen ones … my servants … my people who have sought me”. Then the Lord sets a different future for those in
Isaiah 65:11 “But you who forsake Yahweh, forgetting my holy mountain, who set a table for Fortune, and who pour out a jug of mixed wine for Destiny”
This reference is to those that follow after their own way. They celebrate “The god of fortune in both Syrian and Phoenician language and worship whose name was also used to express good fortune or good luck (Isa 65:11) … The worship of both Gad and Meni took the form of a ritualistic meal that included food and drink placed on a table”.1
The Lord says of them in Isaiah 65:12 “I will remit you to the sword … I called, but you did not answer; I spoke, but you did not listen”. Then we find the future of these two groups, “those who have sought me” and those he called “but you did not answer” in
Isaiah 65:13 Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Look! My servants shall eat but you, you shall be hungry. Look! My servants shall drink but you, you shall be thirsty. Look! My servants shall rejoice but you, you shall be ashamed.
But note the goodness of God, he didn’t just leave those that weren’t seeking him, he reached out to them to try to bring them in and still they would not answer, they would not listen.
Before They Call, I Myself Will Answer
Isaiah 65:17–25
In the former times, there were those that sought the Lord and those that did evil. Those that did evil have been consumed in the fire of Gods judgement and for those that remain there is first, a new heaven and earth in
Isaiah 65:17 “For look! I am about to create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered, and they shall not come to mind”.
But he also said, the former things would not be remembered. You might say, they will not be memorialized. There won’t be anything to remind us of those things. But it isn’t just that we won’t be reminded, it is that people will live in the blessing that God had always wanted for us. The Lord says in Isaiah 65:19 “I will shout in exultation over Jerusalem, I will rejoice over my people”. The Lord goes on in Isaiah 65:19-23 saying no more tears, no premature death, no birth defects, no slavery or oppression through labor. Then the Lord adds one more thing in
Isaiah 65:24 “And this will happen: before they call, I myself will answer; while still they are speaking, I myself will hear”.
The Lord will be there, not for us to seek to see if we can find him, but actively anticipating, “before they call, I myself will answer”.
Your Brothers Who Hate You Shall be Ashamed
Isaiah 66:1–6
Rejoice With Jerusalem
Bring All Your Countrymen From All the Nations
Isaiah 66:14–24
On the day of judgement, in Isaiah 66:15 the Lord “will come in fire” and in Isaiah 66:16 “enters into judgment on all flesh with fire and his sword”. But then, the Lord says in Isaiah 66:19 “I will send survivors from them to the nations … the faraway coastlands that have not heard of my fame, and have not seen my glory”.
Isaiah 66:19b–21 “And they shall declare my glory among the nations, 20 and bring all your countrymen from all the nations as an offering to Yahweh … to my holy mountain, Jerusalem,” says Yahweh, “just as the sons of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel to the house of Yahweh. 21 And indeed, I will take some of them as priests and the Levites,” says Yahweh”.
And from this time on, salvation has come to all, not just to Jerusalem in Isaiah 66:23 “From new moon to new moon and from Sabbath to Sabbath all flesh shall come to bow in worship before me,” says Yahweh”.
Study Verses
- Isaiah 65:9–16 You Who Set a Table for Fortune
- Isaiah 65:17–25 Before They Call, I Myself Will Answer
- Isaiah 66:14–24 Bring All Your Countrymen From All the Nations
Today’s Reading
- Isaiah 65:9-25
- Isaiah 66:1-24
References
- 1. Costanzo, E. P. (2016). Gad, God of the Canaanites. In J. D. Barry, D. Bomar, D. R. Brown, R. Klippenstein, D. Mangum, C. Sinclair Wolcott, … W. Widder (Eds.), The Lexham Bible Dictionary. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.