{"id":26087,"date":"2023-04-27T22:00:13","date_gmt":"2023-04-28T05:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/isaiah-65_17-25-copy\/"},"modified":"2023-04-18T11:45:14","modified_gmt":"2023-04-18T18:45:14","slug":"isaiah-66_1-24","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/isaiah-66_1-24\/","title":{"rendered":"The Unboxable God and Where You\u2019ll Be In The End"},"content":{"rendered":"

Isaiah 66:1-24\u00a0<\/strong> Click here for Bible Verses<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs!<\/p>\n

Today we\u2019re finishing the book of Isaiah with the final chapter, Isaiah 66:1-24.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Isaiah 66:1-2 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n1\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0This is what the\u00a0LORD\u00a0says: “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. Where is the house you will build for me? Where will my resting place be?
\n2\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Has not my hand made all these things, and so they came into being?” declares the\u00a0LORD. “This is the one I esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 1-2:\u00a0 In the final chapter of Isaiah 66, God has a number of messages to tell His people.\u00a0 He begins this last chapter by going back to the very beginning, reminding them of who He is: He is the Creator, the reason this world came into existence.\u00a0 Because God made it all,\u00a0God can\u2019t be contained by any man-made structure. He\u2019s too big.\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0So don\u2019t try to box God into a building.\u00a0 He won\u2019t fit.<\/p>\n

What God is interested in, however, is living in those who are humble and contrite in spirit and who tremble at His Word.<\/strong>\u00a0 As Isaiah 57:15 says, \u201cFor this is what the high and lofty One says– he who lives forever, whose name is holy: \u2018I live in a high and holy place, but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.\u2019\u201d\u00a0\u00a0If there\u2019s anywhere God wants to live, it\u2019s not in a physical building but in our hearts.\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0That is why our bodies and Christ\u2019s church \u2013 i.e. the people of God \u2013 are called a temple of the Holy Spirit (see 1 Corinthians 3:17 and 6:19-20).<\/p>\n

Here God is also possibly alluding to the fact that, having promised that He will create a new heaven and a new earth (see Isaiah 65:17), only God is truly fit to build a house for Himself.<\/p>\n

Isaiah 66:3-4 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n3\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0But whoever sacrifices a bull is like one who kills a man, and whoever offers a lamb, like one who breaks a dog’s neck; whoever makes a grain offering is like one who presents pig’s blood, and whoever burns memorial incense, like one who worships an idol. They have chosen their own ways, and their souls delight in their abominations;
\n4\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0so I also will choose harsh treatment for them and will bring upon them what they dread. For when I called, no one answered, when I spoke, no one listened. They did evil in my sight and chose what displeases me.”<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 3-4:\u00a0 Since God is interested in living in human hearts, what angers God and displeases Him is when people give heartless sacrifices, when they give offerings but their hearts are elsewhere.\u00a0 Here God is rebuking those who content themselves on a lifestyle where they offer something to God but then live the rest of their lives for themselves as if God is not in the picture (doing evil, choosing what displeases God and worshiping idols).\u00a0 They might show up to church and offer a sacrifice but there is no relationship, no responsiveness to God, no humility and no obedience\u00a0(“when I called, no one answered, when I spoke, no one listened” -v4).\u00a0 It\u2019s similar to when God says in Isaiah 29:13, \u201c\u2026 \u2018These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men.\u2019\u201d\u00a0 God says in verse 4 that He will treat such people harshly and bring upon them what they dread (v4).<\/p>\n

Isaiah 66:5-6 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n5\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Hear the word of the\u00a0LORD, you who tremble at his word: “Your brothers who hate you, and exclude you because of my name, have said, ‘Let the\u00a0LORD\u00a0be glorified, that we may see your joy!’ Yet they will be put to shame.
\n6\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Hear that uproar from the city, hear that noise from the temple! It is the sound of the\u00a0LORD\u00a0repaying his enemies all they deserve.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 5-6:\u00a0 Here God speaks to those \u201cwho tremble at his word\u201d, that is, who trust in God.\u00a0 God says that He sees the way that their unspiritual peers hate them, exclude them and mock them for their faith (v5).\u00a0 God says that these mockers will be put to shame one day (v5).\u00a0 These mockers have been given a great spiritual heritage, having grown up hearing God\u2019s Word, but though they go to church they simply don\u2019t take that heritage seriously and mock those who do.\u00a0 They live more like enemies of God and of God\u2019s people.\u00a0 So verse 6 paints the picture of God repaying these \u201cenemies\u201d all they deserve.\u00a0 Notice that the noise of God\u2019s retribution is coming \u201cfrom the temple!\u201d (v6), meaning that God is going after those who superficially worship at the temple but whose hearts are far from Him.\u00a0 He considers them His enemies.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n

What can we learn from this?\u00a0\u00a0 As Pastor David Pawson observes, in just the first 6 verses, God is rebuking people for three ways that they can dangerously compartmentalize their faith and box God in.\u00a0 Verses 1-2 is when people box God into a little bit of room, living as if God is in the temple but nowhere else.\u00a0 Verses 3-4 is when people box God into a little bit of time, sacrificing to God one small part of their week but living the rest of the week for themselves.\u00a0 Verses 5-6 is when people box God into one small part of their hearts; rather than loving God with all their heart, soul, mind and strength, they settle for giving God half-hearted devotion and mock those who seem to give too much.\u00a0 This is the problem of compartmentalizing one\u2019s faith.\u00a0 You can\u2019t box God in.\u00a0 Either God is Lord of all or He\u2019s not Lord at all.<\/p>\n

Isaiah 66:7-9 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n7\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“Before she goes into labor, she gives birth; before the pains come upon her, she delivers a son.
\n8\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Who has ever heard of such a thing? Who has ever seen such things? Can a country be born in a day or a nation be brought forth in a moment? Yet no sooner is Zion in labor than she gives birth to her children.
\n9\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Do I bring to the moment of birth and not give delivery?” says the\u00a0LORD. “Do I close up the womb when I bring to delivery?” says your God.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 7-9:\u00a0 God says that in a shockingly fast way, like a mother giving birth even before she goes into labour or experiences contractions, so God is going to cause Jerusalem to rise up and be reborn, all of a sudden (v7-8).\u00a0 After promising repeatedly in other parts of Isaiah that He would exalt Jerusalem again, God says that of course He will deliver on His promise (v9).\u00a0 For whatever God promises, He will do.<\/p>\n

Concerning this fast ascension of Jerusalem, what historical period is God referring to?\u00a0 Some think this is referring to the return of the Jewish exiles back to Jerusalem from Babylon in 538 B.C.\u00a0 But the context of Isaiah 66 seems to fit something much more \u201cend times\u201d-ish and eternal.\u00a0 I believe the better interpretation is to see these verses and the remainder of Isaiah 66 as referring to the New Jerusalem that God will create at the end of time, which God had just talked about at the end of Isaiah 65 as well as in Isaiah 60-62.<\/p>\n

Isaiah 66:10-13 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n10\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad for her,\u00a0all you who love her<\/strong>; rejoice greatly with her, all you who mourn over her.
\n11\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0For you will nurse and be satisfied at her comforting breasts; you will drink deeply and delight in her overflowing abundance.”
\n12\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0For this is what the\u00a0LORD\u00a0says: “I will extend peace to her like a river, and the wealth of nations like a flooding stream; you will nurse and be carried on her arm and dandled on her knees.
\n13\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you; and you will be comforted over Jerusalem.”<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 7-14: \u00a0\u201cAll you who love Jerusalem\u201d (v7) \u2013 who is that?\u00a0 That includes all those who love the LORD and His people.\u00a0\u00a0 These lovers of Jerusalem will experience great comfort when they see the New Jerusalem rising up and her spiritual peace and material wealth flourishing.<\/p>\n

Isaiah 66:14-21 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n14\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0When you see this, your heart will rejoice and you will flourish like grass; the hand of the\u00a0LORD\u00a0will be made known to his servants,\u00a0 but his fury will be shown to his foes.
\n15\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0See, the\u00a0LORD\u00a0is coming with fire, and his chariots are like a whirlwind; he will bring down his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire.
\n16\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0For with fire and with his sword the\u00a0LORD\u00a0will execute judgment upon all men, and many will be those slain by the\u00a0LORD.
\n17\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“Those who consecrate and purify themselves to go into the gardens, following the one in the midst of those who eat the flesh of pigs and rats and other abominable things–they will meet their end together,” declares the\u00a0LORD.
\n18\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“And I, because of their actions and their imaginations, am about to come and gather all nations and tongues, and they will come and see my glory.
\n19\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“I will set a sign among them, and I will send some of those who survive to the nations–to Tarshish, to the Libyans and Lydians (famous as archers), to Tubal and Greece, and to the distant islands that have not heard of my fame or seen my glory. They will proclaim my glory among the nations.
\n20\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0And they will bring all your brothers, from all the nations, to my holy mountain in Jerusalem as an offering to the\u00a0LORD–on horses, in chariots and wagons, and on mules and camels,” says the\u00a0LORD. “They will bring them, as the Israelites bring their grain offerings, to the temple of the\u00a0LORD\u00a0in ceremonially clean vessels.
\n21\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0And I will select some of them also to be priests and Levites,” says the\u00a0LORD.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 14-21:\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>Throughout Isaiah 56-66 God is making distinctions between those who truly trust in Him and those who don\u2019t, between God\u2019s \u201cservants\u201d and God\u2019s \u201cfoes\u201d (see v14).\u00a0 Those distinctions are never stronger than here in the final chapter of Isaiah.\u00a0 God says that He will come with fire (v15) and judge all people (v16).\u00a0 His enemies will meet their end (v17), while God will gather to Himself people from all nations and tongues (v18) who have trusted in Him.\u00a0 This aligns very much with the idea in the New Testament that when Jesus Christ comes again, He will come not as a suffering servant but as a conquering king.\u00a0 He will judge the world, establish His kingdom, gather His people and put an end to His enemies.\u00a0 Isaiah says that among \u201cthose who survive\u201d (v19) this time of tribulation, they will put their trust in God, bring the message of God and His glory to the nations (v19), and gather the rest of God\u2019s family from the nations to be part of the New Jerusalem (v20) and to serve as priests and Levites (v21).<\/p>\n

Here we see in verses 18-21 God\u2019s heart for the nations, how God\u2019s kingdom and God\u2019s priests will consist of people from every nation and tongue.\u00a0 It is one of the big recurring themes in the book of Isaiah.<\/p>\n

Isaiah 66:22-24 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n22\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“As the new heavens and the new earth that I make will endure before me,” declares the\u00a0LORD, “so will your name and descendants endure.
\n23\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0From one New Moon to another and from one Sabbath to another, all mankind will come and bow down before me,” says the\u00a0LORD.
\n24\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“And they will go out and look upon the dead bodies of those who rebelled against me; their worm will not die, nor will their fire be quenched, and they will be loathsome to all mankind.”<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 22-24:\u00a0 Isaiah ends with this picture: those who trust in the LORD will endure forever, together with the new heavens and new earth that God will create (v22-23).\u00a0 Meanwhile, those who persist in rebellion against God will perish and suffer everlasting torment (\u201ctheir worm will not die, nor will their fire be quenched\u201d \u2013 v24).\u00a0 In fact, Jesus\u00a0quotes Isaiah 66:24 when he describes hell (Mark 9:47-48), which is further evidence that Isaiah 66 is not talking so much about the end of the Jewish exile in Babylon but about the end of the world.<\/p>\n

What a powerful picture to end Isaiah\u2019s incredible book.<\/p>\n

Isaiah 66 effectively summarizes the biggest themes of Isaiah 56-66:
\n–\u00a0\u00a0The kind of worship God truly desires;
\n–\u00a0\u00a0God\u2019s heart to include those who are far away from Him (eunuchs, foreigners, nations);
\n–\u00a0\u00a0God is holy and will not tolerate evil forever, but He is also merciful and compassionate toward the contrite in heart;
\n–\u00a0\u00a0God distinguishes His servants (those who truly trust Him) from His foes (those who give Him lip service);
\n–\u00a0\u00a0God takes the initiative to reach for us (\u201cwhen I called, no one answered, when I spoke, no one listened\u201d -v4) yet people have a tendency to push God away;
\n–\u00a0\u00a0Sin breaks God\u2019s heart and alienates us from Him;
\n–\u00a0\u00a0Everlasting torment awaits those who persist in rebellion against God while everlasting joy and life await those who trust in Him;
\n–\u00a0\u00a0God will create for those who trust in Him a new heaven, a new earth and a new Jerusalem where they can live together forever.<\/p>\n

That brings our look at the book of Isaiah to a close.\u00a0 Has our study of Isaiah been a blessing to you?\u00a0 We would love to hear from you.\u00a0 Click\u00a0HERE<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>to send us your feedback on our series \u201cWaiting for Sunrise: Learning to Keep Your Hope Alive Through the Book of Isaiah\u201d.<\/p>\n

Father, thank You for every lesson we can learn from the powerful and game-changing book of Isaiah.\u00a0 Thank You for the hope that we can have, knowing that You are both holy and compassionate, just and merciful, the Saviour that we need and the King that we serve.\u00a0 Thank You for Your promise that one day You will make a new heaven, a new earth and a new city for us to live with You one day.\u00a0 In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs!<\/p>\n

Today we\u2019re finishing the book of Isaiah with the final chapter, Isaiah 66:1-24.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Isaiah 66:1-2 (NIV)
\n1\u00a0\u00a0This is what the\u00a0LORD\u00a0says: “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. Where is the house you will build for me? Where will my resting place be?
\n2\u00a0\u00a0Has not my hand made all these things, and so they came into being?” declares the\u00a0LORD. “This is the one I esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word.
\n\u00a0
\nOn verses 1-2:\u00a0 In the final chapter of Isaiah 66, God has a number of messages to tell His people.\u00a0 He begins this last chapter by going back to the very beginning, reminding them of who He is: He is the Creator, the reason this world came into existence.\u00a0 Because God made it all,\u00a0God can\u2019t be contained by any man-made structure. He\u2019s too big.\u00a0\u00a0So don\u2019t try to box God into a building.\u00a0 He won\u2019t fit.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26089,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26087","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26087","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26087"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26087\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26095,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26087\/revisions\/26095"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26089"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26087"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26087"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26087"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}