Season 6, Podcast 125, Isaiah 65:1-15, “And I Will Bring Forth a Seed out of Jacob.”

Season 6, Podcast 125, Isaiah 65:1-15, “And I Will Bring Forth a Seed out of Jacob.”

Isaiah 65 can clearly be divided into two parts. For example, verses 1-15 address the period of time prior to the Second Coming of Jesus Christ when the tribes of Israel are still in rebellion against accepting Christ as their Savior. They are in a state of apostasy. Verses 16-25 address the restoration of the House of Israel, the final gathering, and the Millennial era. 

Isaiah 65:1

I am sought of them that asked not for me; I am found of them that sought me not: I said, Behold me, behold me, unto a nation that was not called by my name. 

The pronoun ‘I’ refers to Jehovah of the Old Testament or Jesus Christ of the New Testament. They have not sought the Lord; they have not asked for him; they have not called upon his name.

Isaiah 65:2

I have spread out my hands all the day unto a rebellious people, which walketh in a way that was not good, after their own thoughts;

Even though Christ has continually opened his arms to invite them back, they remained rebellious. They followed idols and they followed their own way.

Isaiah 65:3

A people that provoketh me to anger continually to my face; that sacrificeth in gardens, and burneth incense upon altars of brick;

They continually provoke the Lord by sacrificing to idols and burning incense to false Gods. “Altars of brick” are pagan alters to their idols. It is a direct affront to Christ. From the beginning they were commanded to offer sacrifices only on natural rocks, not “hewn stones” or man-made stones such as bricks. 

Exodus 20:24-25

An altar of earth thou shalt make unto me, and shalt sacrifice thereon thy burnt offerings, and thy peace offerings, thy sheep, and thine oxen: in all places where I record my name I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee. And if thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone: for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it.

In addition, they follow other pagan practices. 

Isaiah 65:4

Which remain among the graves, and lodge in the monuments, which eat swine’s flesh, and broth of abominable things is in their vessels;

Graves suggest necromancy and communing with the dead which was explicitly forbidden.

Deuteronomy 18:10-14

There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do these things are an abomination unto the Lord: and because of these abominations the Lord thy God doth drive them out from before thee. Thou shalt be perfect with the Lord thy God. For these nations, which thou shalt possess, hearkened unto observers of times, and unto diviners: but as for thee, the Lord thy God hath not suffered thee so to do.

They were also forbidden to eat swine, shellfish, rabbit, eagles, owls buzzards, etc.

Leviticus 11: 4-31

Nevertheless these shall ye not eat of them that chew the cud, or of them that divide the hoof: as the camel, And the coney, And the hare, And the swine, though he divide the hoof, and be clovenfooted, yet he cheweth not the cud; he is unclean to you…

And all that have not fins and scales in the seas, and in the rivers, of all that move in the waters, and of any living thing which is in the waters, Whatsoever hath no fins nor scales in the waters, …