Reflections on Isaiah 65

Isaiah 65 (Contemporary English Version)
1. I, the LORD, was ready answer even those who were not asking and to be found by those who were not searching. To a nation that refused to worship me, I said, "Here I am!"
   
2. All day long I have reached out to stubborn and sinful people going their own way.
   
3. They keep making me angry by sneering at me, while offering sacrifices to idols in gardens and burning incense to them on bricks.
   
4. They spend their nights hiding in burial caves; they eat the meat of pigs, cooked in sauces made of stuff unfit to eat.
   
5. And then they say to others, "Don't come near us! We're dedicated to God." Such people are like smoke, irritating my nose all day.
   
6. I have written this down; I won't keep silent. I'll pay them back just as their sins deserve.
   
7. I, the LORD, will make them pay for their sins and for those of their ancestors-- they have disgraced me by burning incense on mountains.
   
8. Here is what the LORD says: A cluster of grapes that produces wine is worth keeping! So, because of my servants, I won't destroy everyone.
   
9. I have chosen the people of Israel and Judah, and I will bless them with many descendants. They will settle here in this land of mountains, and it will be theirs.
   
10. My people will worship me. Then the coastlands of Sharon and the land as far as Achor Valley will turn into pastureland where cattle and sheep will feed and rest.
    
11. What will I, the LORD, do if any of you reject me and my holy mountain? What will happen to you for offering food and wine to the gods you call "Good Luck" and "Fate"?
    
12. Your luck will end! I will see to it that you are slaughtered with swords. You refused to answer when I called out; you paid no attention to my instructions. Instead, you did what I hated, knowing it was wrong.
    
13. I, the LORD God, will give food and drink to my servants, and they will celebrate. But all of you sinners will go hungry and thirsty, overcome with disgrace.
    
14. My servants will laugh and sing, but you will be sad and cry out in pain.
    
15. I, the LORD God, promise to see that you are killed and that my chosen servants use your names as curse words. But I will give new names to my servants.
    
16. I am God! I can be trusted. Your past troubles are gone; I no longer think of them. When you pray for someone to receive a blessing, or when you make a promise, you must do it in my name. I alone am the God who can be trusted.
    
17. I am creating new heavens and a new earth; everything of the past will be forgotten.
    
18. Celebrate and be glad forever! I am creating a Jerusalem, full of happy people.
    
19. I will celebrate with Jerusalem and all of its people; there will be no more crying or sorrow in that city.
    
20. No child will die in infancy; everyone will live to a ripe old age. Anyone a hundred years old will be considered young, and to die younger than that will be considered a curse.
    
21. My people will live in the houses they build; they will enjoy grapes from their own vineyards.
    
22. No one will take away their homes or vineyards. My chosen people will live to be as old as trees, and they will enjoy what they have earned.
    
23. Their work won't be wasted, and their children won't die of dreadful diseases. I will bless their children and their grandchildren.
    
24. I will answer their prayers before they finish praying.
    
25. Wolves and lambs will graze together; lions and oxen will feed on straw. Snakes will eat only dirt! They won't bite or harm anyone on my holy mountain. I, the LORD, have spoken!

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Chapter 64 records the prayer of a faithful remnant of Israel petitioning God to demonstrate His power against their enemies. This chapter is God's response to that prayer. In summary, God tells them that Israel's longstanding sin of rejecting Him must be punished, but a faithful remnant will be spared.

God had offered a special relationship to Israel along with abundant blessings, but she had continually rejected His offer. Therefore, God will be "found by those who did not seek Me," (65:1)  that is, by the Gentiles. Israel had continually been stubborn, independent, and evil in response to God's continual readiness to help them. Their sins of worshiping in pagan gardens, involvement in necromancy (consulting the dead), disregard of God's dietary laws, and being religious snobs, must be dealt with. However, even in an otherwise bad vineyard, there are a few good grapes. But So the good grapes of Israel, that is, the faithful remnant, will be spared, and through them, God will "produce descendants from Jacob." (65:9) But for the rest of Israel, because when God "called and you did not answer, I spoke and you did not hear; you did what was evil in My sight and chose what I did not delight in,"  they were destined "for the sword, and all of you will kneel down to be slaughtered." (65:12)

Then a contrast is drawn between the faithful and the rebellious who have abandoned the Lord. The faithful will eat, drink, and rejoice while the rebellious will be hungry, thirsty, and put to shame. The faithful will "shout for joy from a glad heart," while the rebellious will "lament out of a broken spirit." (65:13-14) Eventually, through the faithful remnant, a new Israel will be raised up and will enjoy the blessings of the millenial age. Then, there will be no weeping, life will be extended many years, the people will prosper, and they will live in peace, including the wild animals who will be domesticated.

During the millenial age life will be as God intended it. But in the meantime, sin continues to subvert that life as man continually pursues his idea of the 'good life,' which is persistently evasive, consistently leading to the same outcome experienced by the rebellious Israelites - hunger, thirst, and shame.