Paul Kretzmann Commentary - Isaiah 65:8 - 65:16

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Paul Kretzmann Commentary - Isaiah 65:8 - 65:16


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A Remnant Saved

v. 8. Thus saith the Lord,
in a parable setting forth His mercy upon His chosen people, As the new wine is found in the cluster, as one, upon examining imperfect, unripe grapes, still finds juice in some of the berries, and one saith, Destroy it not, for a blessing is in it, a wholesale destruction would include the good with the evil, so will I do for My servants' sakes, for those who are still in truth His children in faith, that I may not destroy them all, the wheat with the tares, Mat_13:29.

v. 9. And I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob,
reserve to Himself out of the people taken away into the Babylonian exile the nucleus of a Church of the New Testament, and out of Judah an inheritor of My mountains, since the Messiah, the Ruler of His Church, would be a descendant of this tribe, Cf Mic_5:1; and Mine elect shall inherit it, and My servants shall dwell there, all the believers being united in the spiritual Jerusalem under the government of the Prince of Peace.

v. 10. And Sharon,
the fruitful plain along the Mediterranean, shall be a fold of flocks, rich meadow-land, and the Valley of Achor, near the city of Jericho, sloping toward the Dead Sea, a place for the herds to lie down in, where caravans might find a resting-place, for My people that have sought Me, the entire section picturing the happy condition of the believers as recipients of the Lord's blessings. But the Lord now once more turns to the apostates with a further rebuke.

v. 11. But ye are they that forsake the Lord, that forget My holy mountain,
the place of His habitation, where He was worshiped, that prepare a table for that troop, for Gad, the idol of happiness and good fortune, and that furnish the drink-offering unto that number, to Meni, who may have been the corresponding goddess. The exiles had been addicted to the service of these idols during their captivity at Babylon amid had brought the idolatrous practices connected with their cult back with them to Judea, as the prophet saw in spirit.

v. 12. Therefore will I number you to the sword,
deliver them to the extremity of a violent death, and ye shall all bow down to the slaughter, to the slaughtering-bench instead of to the loaded banquet-table at the feast of idols; because, when I called, ye did not answer, when the Lord sought out those who ignored Him, they continued in their attitude of indifference; when I spake, ye did not hear, setting aside His Word with an utter disregard of His rights, but did evil before Mine eyes and did choose that wherein I delighted not. In other words, they proved themselves the enemies of the Lord in every way.

v. 13. Therefore, thus saith the Lord God,
the all-powerful Ruler of the universe, Behold, My servants, the believers, shall eat, enjoy the fullness of God's blessings, but ye shall be hungry; behold, My servants shall drink, but ye shall be thirsty; behold, My servants shall rejoice, but ye shall be ashamed, being deprived of all advantages which pertain to the children of God;

v. 14. behold, My servants shall sing for joy of heart,
in the happiness which goes with the certainty of being children of a gracious Father, but ye shall cry for sorrow of heart, when despair takes hold of them, and shall howl for vexation of spirit, when their courage fails them altogether.

v. 15. And ye shall leave your name for a curse unto My chosen,
so that the Lord's people would pronounce curses upon the name of the idolaters whenever they think of it; for the Lord God shall slay thee and call His servants by another name, so that they would no longer be obliged to bear the name of the apostates to their reproach,

v. 16. that he who blesseth himself in the earth,
calling down some blessing upon his head, shall bless himself in the God of truth, literally, "in the God of Amen," in Him who fulfils all His promises to His children and executes His threats upon His enemies; and he that sweareth in the earth shall swear by the God of truth, because the former troubles are forgotten, with all the doubts which they tended to create in the hearts of the believers, and because they are hid from Mine eyes, so that they have disappeared entirely. This thought fitly introduces the next paragraph, where the new order of things is described in language which is both beautiful and majestic.