You Can Read the Bible

“What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams… bring no more vain offerings; incense is an abomination to me. New moon and Sabbath and the calling of convocations – my soul hates; they have become a burden to me… Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause.” Isaiah 1:10-17

A crescendo has been building; perhaps you’ve felt it. Like a great sermon this book of Isaiah achieves a climax that is both earth-shattering and utterly predictable. It will feel like a surprise that you knew was coming. Chapter 64 concludes the prayer that began yesterday, and in chapter 65 the LORD proves – simply by giving a response – His total distinction from the idols He’s been dismissing.

The LORD answers, but also reveals that His plans are more profound and universal than Israel’s temporal concerns. When He announces “Behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered…” He is answering and exceeding the prophet’s prayer that the LORD would rend the heavens. Israel will not simply be restored, but the world itself will be reordered: people “shall build houses and inhabit them, they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.” No longer shall they “build and another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat.” Furthermore, “The wolf and the lamb shall graze together; the lion shall eat straw like an ox… they shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain.”

And the upheaval is not complete. In chapter 66 the LORD asks, “What is the house that you would build for me, and what is the place of rest?” for “Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool.” The LORD compares the one who would slaughter an ox to one who would kill a man, the one “who sacrifices a lamb” to “one who breaks a dog’s neck.” For when the LORD called, “no one answered; when I spoke, they did not listen; but they did what was evil in my eyes, and chose that in which I did not delight.” “But this is the one to whom I look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.” In the end, we find the beginning.

Try to listen as an Israelite sitting in the shadow of Solomon’s abandoned temple; or as an exile standing on the banks of the Euphrates. The LORD’s answer to his prayer is to rewrite the patterns of history and nature and worship itself. Is this comfort?

Our verse for this week is Acts 1:8: But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.

Isaiah 64 through 66. Now let’s read it!

Isaiah 64 - 66

Oh that you would tear the heavens, that you would come down, that the mountains might quake at your presence-- as when fire kindles the brushwood, and the fire causes the water to boil. Make your name known to your adversaries, that the nations may tremble at your presence! When you did awesome things which we didn't look for, you came down, and the mountains quaked at your presence. For from of old men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, nor has the eye seen a God besides you, who works for him who waits for him. You meet him who rejoices and does righteousness, those who remember you in your ways. Behold, you were angry, and we sinned. We have been in sin for a long time. Shall we be saved? For we have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteousness is like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away. There is no one who calls on your name, who stirs himself up to take hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us, and have consumed us by means of our iniquities. But now, Jehovah, you are our Father. We are the clay and you our potter. We all are the work of your hand. Don't be furious, Jehovah. Don't remember iniquity forever. Look and see, we beg you, we are all your people. Your holy cities have become a wilderness. Zion has become a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation. Our holy and our beautiful house where our fathers praised you is burned with fire. All our pleasant places are laid waste. Will you hold yourself back for these things, Jehovah? Will you keep silent and punish us very severely? "I am inquired of by those who didn't ask. I am found by those who didn't seek me. I said, 'See me, see me,' to a nation that was not called by my name. I have spread out my hands all day to a rebellious people, who walk in a way that is not good, after their own thoughts; a people who provoke me to my face continually, sacrificing in gardens, and burning incense on bricks; who sit among the graves, and spend nights in secret places; who eat pig's meat, and broth of abominable things is in their vessels; who say, 'Stay by yourself, don't come near to me, for I am holier than you.' These are smoke in my nose, a fire that burns all day. "Behold, it is written before me: I will not keep silence, but will repay, yes, I will repay into their bosom your own iniquities and the iniquities of your fathers together", says Jehovah, "who have burned incense on the mountains, and blasphemed me on the hills. Therefore I will first measure their work into their bosom." Jehovah says, "As the new wine is found in the cluster, and one says, 'Don't destroy it, for a blessing is in it:' so I will do for my servants' sake, that I may not destroy them all. I will bring offspring out of Jacob, and out of Judah an inheritor of my mountains. My chosen will inherit it, and my servants will dwell there. Sharon will be a fold of flocks, and the valley of Achor a place for herds to lie down in, for my people who have sought me. "But you who forsake Jehovah, who forget my holy mountain, who prepare a table for Fortune, and who fill up mixed wine to Destiny; I will destine you to the sword, and you will all bow down to the slaughter; because when I called, you didn't answer. When I spoke, you didn't listen; but you did that which was evil in my eyes, and chose that in which I didn't delight." Therefore the Lord Jehovah says, "Behold, my servants will eat, but you will be hungry; behold, my servants will drink, but you will be thirsty. Behold, my servants will rejoice, but you will be disappointed. Behold, my servants will sing for joy of heart, but you will cry for sorrow of heart, and will wail for anguish of spirit. You will leave your name for a curse to my chosen, and the Lord Jehovah will kill you. He will call his servants by another name, so that he who blesses himself in the earth will bless himself in the God of truth; and he who swears in the earth will swear by the God of truth; because the former troubles are forgotten, and because they are hidden from my eyes. "For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former things will not be remembered, nor come into mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in that which I create; for, behold, I create Jerusalem to be a delight, and her people a joy. I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and delight in my people; and the voice of weeping and the voice of crying will be heard in her no more. "No more will there be an infant who only lives a few days, nor an old man who has not filled his days; for the child will die one hundred years old, and the sinner being one hundred years old will be accursed. They will build houses and inhabit them. They will plant vineyards and eat their fruit. They will not build and another inhabit. They will not plant and another eat; for the days of my people will be like the days of a tree, and my chosen will long enjoy the work of their hands. They will not labor in vain nor give birth for calamity; for they are the offspring of Jehovah's blessed and their descendants with them. It will happen that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear. The wolf and the lamb will feed together. The lion will eat straw like the ox. Dust will be the serpent's food. They will not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain," says Jehovah. Jehovah says: "Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build to me? Where will I rest? For my hand has made all these things, and so all these things came to be," says Jehovah: "but I will look to this man, even to he who is poor and of a contrite spirit, and who trembles at my word. He who kills an ox is as he who kills a man; he who sacrifices a lamb, as he who breaks a dog's neck; he who offers an offering, as he who offers pig's blood; he who burns frankincense, as he who blesses an idol. Yes, they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delights in their abominations. I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears on them, because when I called, no one answered; when I spoke, they didn't listen, but they did that which was evil in my eyes, and chose that in which I didn't delight." Hear Jehovah's word, you who tremble at his word: "Your brothers who hate you, who cast you out for my name's sake, have said, 'Let Jehovah be glorified, that we may see your joy;' but it is those who shall be disappointed. A voice of tumult from the city, a voice from the temple, a voice of Jehovah that repays his enemies what they deserve. "Before she travailed, she gave birth. Before her pain came, she delivered a son. Who has heard of such a thing? Who has seen such things? Shall a land be born in one day? Shall a nation be born at once? For as soon as Zion travailed, she gave birth to her children. Shall I bring to the birth, and not cause to be delivered?" says Jehovah. "Shall I who cause to give birth shut the womb?" says your God. "Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad for her, all you who love her. Rejoice for joy with her, all you who mourn over her; that you may nurse and be satisfied at the comforting breasts; that you may drink deeply, and be delighted with the abundance of her glory." For Jehovah says, "Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream, and you will nurse. You will be carried on her side, and will be dandled on her knees. As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you. You will be comforted in Jerusalem." You will see it, and your heart shall rejoice, and your bones will flourish like the tender grass. Jehovah's hand will be known among his servants; and he will have indignation against his enemies. For, behold, Jehovah will come with fire, and his chariots will be like the whirlwind; to give his anger with fierceness, and his rebuke with flames of fire. For Jehovah will execute judgment by fire and by his sword on all flesh; and those slain by Jehovah will be many. "Those who sanctify themselves and purify themselves to go to the gardens, following one in the middle, eating pig's meat, abominable things, and the mouse, they shall come to an end together," says Jehovah. "For I know their works and their thoughts. The time comes that I will gather all nations and languages, and they will come, and will see my glory. "I will set a sign among them, and I will send those who escape of them to the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, who draw the bow, to Tubal and Javan, to far-away islands, who have not heard my fame, nor have seen my glory; and they shall declare my glory among the nations. They shall bring all your brothers out of all the nations for an offering to Jehovah, on horses, in chariots, in litters, on mules, and on camels, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, says Jehovah, as the children of Israel bring their offering in a clean vessel into Jehovah's house. Of them I will also select priests and Levites," says Jehovah. "For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me," says Jehovah, "so your offspring and your name shall remain. It shall happen that from one new moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, all flesh will come to worship before me," says Jehovah. "They will go out, and look at the dead bodies of the men who have transgressed against me; for their worm will not die, nor will their fire be quenched, and they will be loathsome to all mankind."

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