Isaiah 65:25

The present natural habits of animals will also completely change (see Isaiah 11:6-9).

Lord ~ God’s name in the Bible. In the original language, God’s names mean ‘head over all’ and ‘God always’.
Zion ~ the mountain in Jerusalem where God’s holy Temple was.
Jerusalem ~ at the time of David and Solomon, the capital of the country called Israel. During the time of Isaiah, Jerusalem was the capital of the country called Judah.
Temple ~ special building in Jerusalem where Jews praised God and offered him prayers and gifts.
Jew ~ a person who belongs to the 12 tribes of Israel.
tribe ~ group of the later family of one father.
idol ~ home-made image of a god.
incense ~ see frankincense, above.
frankincense ~ substance to burn for its sweet smell to give honour to God (or, to a false god).
ancestor ~ member of one’s family in the past.'Old Testament ~ the first part of the Bible. It contains 39 books, all from the time before Jesus was born.
Israelites ~ Jews; people who belong to the 12 tribes of Israel.
Jew ~ a person who belongs to the 12 tribes of Israel.
tribe ~ group of the later family of one father.
worship ~ to praise God (or a false god) and to pray to him.
Gentile ~ a person who is not a Jew.
Messiah ~ Old Testament title for Christ.

Old Testament ~ the first part of the Bible. It contains 39 books, all from the time before Jesus was born.
sacrifice ~ a gift of value to God (or, to a false god).
descendant ~ member of the later family of one father.
destroy ~ to carry out the most severe punishment possible.
grapes ~ small sweet fruit of the vine; the fruit makes wine.
vine ~ plant whose fruit makes wine.
Temple ~ special building in Jerusalem where Jews praised God and offered him prayers and gifts.
Jerusalem ~ at the time of David and Solomon, the capital of the country called Israel. During the time of Isaiah, Jerusalem was the capital of the country called Judah.
Jew ~ a person who belongs to the 12 tribes of Israel.
tribe ~ group of the later family of one father.
curse ~ a word that describes an evil fate.
Jerusalem ~ at the time of David and Solomon, the capital of the country called Israel. During the time of Isaiah, Jerusalem was the capital of the country called Judah.
vineyard ~ field where vines grow.
vine ~ plant whose fruit makes wine.
wolf ~ wild animal, like a large dog, that eats meat.'New Testament ~ the final part of the Bible. It contains 27 books from the time of the first Christians.

1. Isaiah: New *Heavens and a New Earth

God’s *Messiah Beats God’s Enemies

Isaiah Chapter s 56 to 66

Gordon Churchyard

The words in square brackets, […], are not in the *Hebrew Bible. They make the book easier to understand in English. Isaiah wrote his book in the *Hebrew language. The words in round brackets (…) are explanations.

Chapter 65

1. The New Earth

v1 ‘I introduced myself to people who did not ask for me. People who did not look for me found me. I said, “Here I [am], here I [am]!” [I said it] to a nation not called by my name.’

v2 ‘All day long I hold my hands out to people who will not listen [to me]. They continue to walk in ways that are not good. They still do what their thoughts [tell them to do].

v3 They are people that continue to annoy me. [They do it] in front of me! They offer gifts in [their] gardens [to false gods]. They burn them on bricks.

v4 They sit among the graves and they watch all night in secret places. They eat meat from pigs and dishes of soup [that they made] from *unclean meat.

v5 They are people that say, “Keep away from me, and do not come near me. I am too *holy for you!” Such people are like smoke in my nose! [They are like smoke] from a fire that burns all day.

v6 Look! The words are [in a book] in front of me. I will not remain silent. But I will give to them a punishment that is completely equal [to their *sin]. I will pay (give) that equal punishment to them completely, into their hands.

v7 [I will punish] both your *sins and the *sins of your fathers’, says the *LORD. ‘[I will do that] because they burned gifts [to false gods] on the mountains. And they insulted me on the hills. And, firstly, I will measure into their hands complete payment (punishment) for what they have done.’

v8 This is what the *LORD says. ‘Sometimes people find juice in a heap of *grapes. Then men say, “Do not destroy it, because there is something good in it.” I will do something like this on behalf of my servants. I will not *destroy them all.

v9 I will make sure that there are still *descendants in Jacob’s family. There will be people in Judah to possess my mountains. The people that I have chosen will possess them. And my servants will live there.

v10 And Sharon will become a field for groups [of sheep]. Also, groups [of cows] will rest in the Valley of Achor. [They will be places] for my people who are looking for me.’

v11 ‘[This will happen] to you [people] who go away from the *LORD. And [it will happen to you people] that forget my *holy mountain. Also, [it will happen to people] who put food on a table for [the false god called] Luck. And [it will happen to people] who fill bowls of wine for Fate.

v12 Your “luck” will be that a sword [will kill you]. And you will all bend down for death. Because I called, but you did not answer. I spoke, but you did not listen. You did evil things in front of me, where I could see them. And you chose [to do things] that did not please me.’

v13 Therefore the *LORD [who is] Master says this. ‘Look! My servants will eat [food], but you will be hungry. Look! My servants will [have something to] drink, but you will have nothing to drink. Look! My servants will be very happy, but you will be ashamed.

v14 Look! My servants will sing because there is so much joy in their hearts. But you will cry because there is so much pain in your hearts. You will weep because your spirits are so sad.

v15 And you will leave your name as a *curse to the people that I have chosen. And the *LORD [who is] Master will kill [each one of] you. But he will give to his servants another name.

v16 Whoever asks for a *blessing in the land will do it by the God of Truth. Whoever makes a promise in the land will do it by the God of Truth. [This is because God] will forget former troubles. Really, [something] will hide them from my eyes.’

v17 ‘Listen, because I will create new *heavens and a new earth. And [people] will not remember the former things. They will not even [be ideas that] come to their minds.

v18 But rather, be glad! And always, [yes], always be very happy about what I will create! [Do this], for these reasons.

• The Jerusalem that I will create will be a delight [to me].

• The people that live there will be a joy [to me].

v19 Then, I will be very happy with Jerusalem and I will have great delight in my people. [People] will not hear the sound of crying [in Jerusalem]. People will not weep there again.

v20 There will never again be [in Jerusalem] a baby that only lives for a few days. [Nor will there be] an old man that does not live a long life. But [if] a man dies at a hundred [years old], people will call [him] a youth. And [maybe] a man does not live to be a hundred [years old]. Then they will consider that a *curse is upon him.

v21 People [in Jerusalem] will build houses and they will live in them. They will plant *vineyards and they will eat the fruit from them.

v22 They will not build houses for other people to live in. They will not plant things for other people to eat [the fruit]. [This is] because the days of my people will be as the days of a tree. The people that I have chosen will enjoy the works of their hands for a long time.

v23 They will not work in vain. Neither will they have children that will have bad experiences. [This is the reason.] They are the [special] *descendants that the *LORD will *bless. [He will *bless] them and their *descendants with them.

v24 Before they call [me], I will answer [them]. While they are still speaking, I will hear [them].

v25 The wolf (animal like a large wild dog) and the young sheep will feed together. And the lion will eat straw like the cow. But the food of the snake will be dust. They will neither hurt nor destroy [anything] on all my *holy mountain’, says the *LORD.

2. Notes

Verse 1 ‘Introduced’ means that these people could now know God. These people were not *Jews. They were not called by God’s name. They were from other nations in the world. Some Bible students change Isaiah’s words, ‘not called by my name’. They change them to ‘did not call my name’. That makes these people into *Jews! These Bible students say that it links better with verses 2-7 like this. But Isaiah’s own words link well with Isaiah 66:18-21. Isaiah’s message is that God wants people from every country in the world to know him.

Verse 2 This verse starts a section (verses 2-7) about the *Jews. ‘Hold my hands out’ is what the *Jews did during prayer to God. Now God is praying to them! Or, perhaps we should say that he is ‘appealing’ to them. But they will not change their minds. They continue to do bad things. In other words, ‘they follow their own thoughts’. They ‘do what their thoughts tell them to do’.

Verse 3 As long as God ‘prays’ (appeals) to them, verse 2, they continue to annoy him, verse 3. Exodus 20:25 says that they must burn gifts on stones, not bricks. Also, they probably should not do it in their gardens, Leviticus 17:5.

Verse 4 They are doing other things that they should not do. These two things are more serious.

• Deuteronomy 18:9-14 is a list of what people do in some false religions. Some people ask the spirits of dead people what will happen in the future.

• Leviticus 11:7 says that they must not eat meat from pigs. *Unclean meat means meat that the religion of the *Jews does not allow them to eat, for example Leviticus 19:7.

Verse 5 These people think that their (false) religion makes them better than everybody else. To God, they are like the nasty smell of smoke!

Verse 6 The words are probably those of verses 6 and 7. The punishment for the *sin that the people did will be as serious as the *sin itself. The *Hebrew word for ‘hands’ here and in verse 7 really means ‘laps’. A ‘lap’ here is part of long clothing like a dress. People fold it in a special way so that they can carry things in it. At the time when Isaiah was alive, both men and women wore long clothes.

Verse 7 Notice the change in how Isaiah refers to the people. Verse 6 has ‘give to them a punishment’ and verse 7 has ‘your *sins’. That is part of Isaiah’s technique. He does it here to emphasise that people are guilty. Read Isaiah 1:29 where you will find the same technique. You will also find another reference to gardens, as in verse 3 above. ‘*Sins’ are the wrong and evil things that people do. Many places in the *Old Testament tell the *Jews not to serve false gods on mountains. For example, Leviticus 26:30; Jeremiah 7:31; Numbers 33:52.

Verse 8 People make wine from *grapes. To do this, they squeeze the juice from the *grapes. Then, the sugar in the juice slowly changes into alcohol. But sometimes, in Judah, when they picked the *grapes, the juice was already changing into alcohol! That is what the word ‘juice’ means in this verse. They thought that this juice made a very special wine. They did not destroy (or squeeze) the *grapes. They just collected the juice! Perhaps ‘Do not destroy it’ was a *grape-harvest song. Several psalms have ‘Do not destroy it’ in their titles. We think that this was an instruction about their music. They are Psalms 57; Psalms 58; Psalms 59 and 75. Here, it is a word-picture of God and his people. Before he *destroys them, he picks out some of them. They are the people that have not done the things in verses 2-5. They are the *remnant, or the people that will remain.

Verse 9 For ‘*descendants’, the *Hebrew text has the word ‘seed’. It is a technical word here. It does not mean everybody in Jacob’s family. It means the *remnant in verse 8 and many other verses in Isaiah. Look at our note on verse 23.

Verse 10 Sharon was in the west of the country, and Achor in the east of it. So, these two include the whole country. There would be places for the *remnant and their animals.

Verses 11-12 Notice the reference to ‘my *holy mountain’. This was *Zion, a hill in Jerusalem. It contrasts with the mountains and hills of verse 7. ‘Luck’ was the name of the false god called Gad. The word is in both verses: but their ‘luck’ would be death. They would bend down to allow the sword to kill them. The *Hebrew word for ‘fate’ is ‘meni’. It is similar to the *Aramaic word that Daniel used in Daniel 5:25.

Verses 13-14 Notice the four words, ‘Look!’ They are there to emphasise the difference between God’s people and his enemies. God’s people are his servants. They are the people that he has not *destroyed, verses 8-10. God’s enemies are the people in verses 2-5 and verses 11-12. They are people that have gone away from the *LORD. They now serve false gods.

Verse 15 A *curse is a bad prayer that you make about somebody. You ask for something bad to happen to them. The name of God’s enemies will be as a bad prayer to God’s servants! Some Bible students think that the new name for God’s people here will be ‘*Jews’. People did not use the word ‘*Jews’ before the *exile to Babylon. Notice that ‘you’ in verses 13-15a is plural. But in 15b it is not plural. This reminds us that God is judge of nations (plural ‘you’) and of each separate person. 15a is the first part of verse 15; 15b is the second part.

Verse 16 A ‘*blessing’ means ‘good things that God does to you’. Here, the ‘land’ probably means the whole world. In the *Hebrew language, the word for ‘Truth’ here is ‘Amen’. So God is the ‘God of Amen’. People say often the word ‘Amen’ at the end of their prayers. It means ‘We agree!’ Paul also tells us that one of God’s qualities is ‘Amen’, 2 Corinthians 1:20. He is the God that likes to say ‘Yes!’ God will do what he has promised to do. ‘By the God of Truth’ means that God will actually give the *blessing by his great power.

Verse 17 In the *Old Testament, only God creates things. People make but God creates. ‘*Heavens and earth’ mean everything, as they do in Genesis 1:1. The ‘former things’ are the ‘former troubles’ of verse 16. As God forgets the bad things, so will his people! Verse 23 says who these people are.

Verse 18 ‘Always’ comes twice in this verse. This helps to contrast the permanent new *heavens and earth with the old ones. The old ones are not permanent. Notice that the words ‘I will create’ come three times in verses 17-18. They are words that God loves to use!

Verse 19 Notice the change from ‘the people’ in verse 18 to ‘my people’ here. The note on verse 23 explains who these people are. What God creates will satisfy him.

Verse 20 There will be no *sin nor death in the new *heavens and earth. God calls this new earth ‘Jerusalem’ in verses 18 and 19. We have added it in verses 20 and 21. It really means the place where God’s people will live. It does not mean the actual city of Jerusalem. We cannot understand a world without *sin or death. So in verse 20 we have a picture. It uses ideas we do understand. People live in a city, a ‘Jerusalem’. Children will not die, and people will live for a very long time. If there were *sinners there, the *curse would find them! A ‘*curse’ means that bad things will happen to a person. Here, the ‘*curse’ means death. But as there is no death there, there can be no *sinners there!

Verse 21 A ‘vineyard’ is a field where people grow ‘*vines’. ‘*Vines’ are plants. *Grapes grow on them. People make wine from *grapes.

Verse 22 ‘The days of’ is a special *Hebrew way to say ‘how many days a person will live’. In other words, it means ‘length of life’. A tree can live 1000 years or more. Again, here is a special description of something that we cannot understand very well otherwise. It emphasises what verse 20 tells us.

Verse 23 Our translation says, ‘They are [special] *descendants that the *LORD will *bless’. ‘*Descendants’ means ‘children, children’s children, and so on’. Again, it is a special description. In the new earth, people will not marry and have children, Matthew 22:30. But because life will have no end, there will always seem to be children!

A more accurate translation than the word ‘*descendants’ would be the word ‘seed’. ‘Seed’ is a very special word in the Bible. We could translate this part of the verse like this. ‘They are the people whom the *LORD will *bless’. But that does not tell us who these people are. Verse 19 tells us that they are ‘my people’, or ‘God’s people’. But the word seed tells us more about them. Here are some important verses about ‘the seed’.

Genesis 17:7-8. ‘I will establish my *covenant between me and you and your seed after you, for all of time. It will be a *covenant that will never end. I will be God to you and to your seed after you. And I will give to you and to your seed after you the land where you are a foreigner. [I will give you] all the country called Canaan. You will always possess it. And I will be their God.’

God spoke these words to Abraham. His name was Abram until Genesis 17:5-6. Here, seed does not mean all Abraham’s children. It did not include other sons that Abraham had with Hagar and Keturah, Genesis 16:15-16 and 25:1-4.

Genesis 21:12-13. ‘And God said to [Abraham], “Do not be sad because of the boy (Ishmael) and your servant (Hagar). Listen to everything that Sarah has said to you. [Do this], because Isaac’s [children] will be called your seed. Also, I will make a nation of your servant’s son, because he is your seed.” ’

Here, we find two meanings for the word ‘seed’. The son of Abraham’s servant, Hagar, is Abraham’s seed. Here it means child. But Isaac’s seed, or child, is that special sort of seed that Genesis 17:7-8 refers to. Hebrews 11:18 and Romans 9:7 support this. Romans 9:7 says this. ‘Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children. But Isaac’s (children) will be called your seed.’ Even Isaac’s son Esau was not part of Isaac’s seed in this way.

Isaiah 53:10 refers to this special sort of seed as the seed of the *LORD’s servant. It says this. ‘[The *LORD] caused [him] to suffer. And although the *LORD made his life an offering for *sin, he (the servant) will see his seed.’ This makes it clear that the special sort of seed has a connection with the special servant of the *LORD, Jesus.

Romans 9:8. ‘The seed means the children of the promise.’ The promise is the words of the *covenant in Genesis 17:7 above. The special sort of seed are the people that believe God. They put their trust in him. They do not have to be *Jews. They can come from any country in the world! Isaiah chapter 53 describes Jesus’ death. That death makes everybody that wants it one of the ‘children of the promise’.

Galatians 3:16. ‘Now [God] gave the promises to Abraham and to his seed. [The Bible] does not say, “And to the seeds”, as if there were many. But it [says it] about one. “And to your seed”, who is Christ.’ So here is a very special sort of seed, Jesus Christ. Christians also believe Genesis 3:15 is only about Jesus Christ. It says, ‘And I will make you and the woman enemies, and your seed and her seed. He (the seed) will bruise your head and you will bruise his foot.’ Again, like Genesis 21:13, here seed means two things. But the promise that God made to Abraham in Genesis 17:7-8 was really to Jesus Christ. So we can only claim the promise for ourselves if we are ‘in Jesus Christ’. ‘In Jesus Christ’ means ‘Christian’.

But what does seed mean in Isaiah? Here is a story to help us to understand it. Many years ago, there was a farmer. He grew a field of wheat. There was a good crop. He made bread from most of the corn. But he kept the best corn. Next year, he used the best corn as seed and he grew another field of wheat. He did this every year! Isaiah meant ‘the best corn’ when he wrote about ‘seed’. For centuries there would be people that obeyed God. There may not be many of them, but there would always be some. In other parts of his book, Isaiah called them ‘the *remnant’, as in Isaiah 1:9.

Verse 25 This verse is like Isaiah 11:6-9. That passage also describes the rule of God’s *Messiah. He brings peace between enemies. On the New Earth, even the weakest person or animal has no reason for fear, because the *Messiah is ruling there.

19. heavens ~ another word for ‘skies’. It can also mean the place where God lives and the skies above us.
    messiah ~ a leader such as a king. With a capital M (that is, ‘Messiah’), it means Jesus for Christians.
    Hebrew ~ the language that Isaiah spoke.
    unclean ~ not acceptable for the purposes of religion; unable to worship God in his temple; foods that God did not allow the Jews to eat.
    worship ~ to tell God (or a false god) that he is wonderful; and also, to tell him that you love him.
    temple ~ God’s house in Jerusalem. False gods also had temples.
    Jews ~ the people that lived in Judah (which sounds like ‘Jew-dah’) and Israel.
    holy ~ very, very good. Only God is really holy. He is so holy that he is separate from everybody else.
    sin ~ not to obey God. Or, what you do when you do not obey God.
    LORD ~ LORD is a special name of God. In the Hebrew language, it is YHWH. It may mean ‘always alive’. So LORD is a sign that the Hebrew word is YHWH.
    lord ~ master. When it has a capital L (that is, ‘Lord’), it is a name for God.
    Hebrew ~ the language that Isaiah spoke.
    grape ~ a fruit that grows on a vine.
    vine ~ grapes grow on vines. People make wine from grapes.
    destroy ~ to carry out a very serious punishment against a person or nation. If the punishment is against a person, that person will die. If it is against a nation, that nation will not still exist.
    descendants ~ future members of a family.
    curse ~ a bad prayer that you make about somebody.
    blessing ~ the good things that God does for someone.
    heavens ~ another word for ‘skies’. It can also mean the place where God lives and the skies above us.
    vineyard ~ a field where people grow grapes.
    grape ~ a fruit that grows on a vine.
    vine ~ grapes grow on vines. People make wine from grapes.
    bless ~ to declare good things for someone; to show that person special kindness.
    Jews ~ the people that lived in Judah (which sounds like ‘Jew-dah’) and Israel.
    unclean ~ not acceptable for the purposes of religion; unable to worship God in his temple; foods that God did not allow the Jews to eat.
    worship ~ to tell God (or a false god) that he is wonderful; and also, to tell him that you love him.
    temple ~ God’s house in Jerusalem. False gods also had temples.
    Jews ~ the people that lived in Judah (which sounds like ‘Jew-dah’) and Israel.
    sin ~ not to obey God. Or, what you do when you do not obey God.'Old Testament ~ the earlier part of the Bible.
    remnant ~ a small part of something that is larger. In Isaiah, it often means the few people that still obeyed God.
    Zion ~ a name for Jerusalem.
    Aramaic ~ the official language in ancient Syria. It was the language that government officials used.
    exile ~ a person whom enemies force to live away from his own home or country. Or, the place where that person has to live.
    vine ~ grapes grow on vines. People make wine from grapes.
    grape ~ a fruit that grows on a vine.
    vine ~ grapes grow on vines. People make wine from grapes.
    grape ~ a fruit that grows on a vine.
    grape ~ a fruit that grows on a vine.
    vine ~ grapes grow on vines. People make wine from grapes.
    descendants ~ future members of a family.
    covenant ~ the agreement between God and his people. In this agreement God agrees to help and to protect his people. His people agree to love and to serve God. Or, an agreement between nations.