Words in italic type have been added for clarity. They are not found in the original Hebrew or Aramaic.
Isaiah 66
What should we learn from this chapter?
- God’s agenda for the Jews:
True Worship and False Worship
Isaiah 66:1 Thus says the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ):
“Heaven is My throne,
And earth is My footstool.
Where is the house that you will build Me?
And where is the place of My rest?
- God cannot be contained in anything that He alone created.
Isaiah 66:2 For all those things My hand has made,
And all those things exist,”
Says the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ).
“But on this one will I look:
On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit,
And who trembles at My word.
Isaiah 66:3 “He who kills a bull is as if he slays a man;
He who sacrifices a lamb, as if he breaks a dog’s neck;
He who offers a grain offering, as if he offers swine’s blood;
He who burns incense, as if he blesses an idol.
Just as they have chosen their own ways,
And their soul delights in their abominations,
- Killing a man is as if that man is nothing more than killing an animal.
- The sacrifice of a holy animal is nothing more than just breaking a dog’s neck.
- The grain offering is nothing more than pouring out the blood of a swine.
- The holy incense is nothing more than worshiping an idol.
Where is the honor and respect for the Sacred things of God?
Isaiah 66:4 So will I choose their delusions,
And bring their fears on them;
Because, when I called, no one answered,
When I spoke they did not hear;
But they did evil before My eyes,
And chose that in which I do not delight.”
The Lord Vindicates Zion
Isaiah 66:5 Hear the word of the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ),
You who tremble at His word:
“Your brethren who hated you,
Who cast you out for My name’s sake, said,
‘Let the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ) be glorified,
That we may see your joy.’
But they shall be ashamed.”
Isaiah 66:6 The sound of noise from the city!
A voice from the temple!
The voice of the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ),
Who fully repays His enemies!
Isaiah 66:7 “Before she was in labor, she gave birth;
Before her pain came,
She delivered a male child (the promised Jewish Messiah, Jesus).
- Jesus was born ~1AD
- Revelation 12:5
She bore a male Child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron (The Millennium). And her Child was caught up to God and His throne. - Revelation 12:13 The Woman Persecuted
Now when the dragon (Satan) saw that he had been cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male Child.
- Revelation 12:5
- Israel was born in one day on May 14,1948.
- However, the seven year tribulation is in her future, the time of her sorrows of labor.
Isaiah 66:8 Who has heard such a thing?
Who has seen such things?
Shall the earth be made to give birth in one day?
Or shall a nation be born at once?
For as soon as Zion was in labor,
She gave birth to her children.
- Before the Holocaust, before May 14, 1948, Jews began to return to Israel, buying land from absentee Arab landowners.
Isaiah 66:9 Shall I bring to the time of birth, and not cause delivery?” says the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ).
“Shall I who cause delivery shut up the womb?” says your God (‘ĕlōhîm).
Isaiah 66:10 “Rejoice with Jerusalem,
And be glad with her, all you who love her;
Rejoice for joy with her, all you who mourn for her;
Below: Pictures of the Transformation of the Land
Today ~2024
Isaiah 66:11 That you may feed and be satisfied
With the consolation of her bosom,
That you may drink deeply and be delighted
With the abundance of her glory.”
Isaiah 66:12 For thus says the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ):
Jesus’ 1,000 year Reign on Earth from Jerusalem (following the seven year tribulation of prophecy)
“Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river,
And the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream.
Then you shall feed;
On her sides shall you be carried,
And be dandled on her knees.
Isaiah 66:3 As one whom his mother comforts,
So I will comfort you;
And you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.”
The Return of Jesus (Immediately after the seven year tribulation) to set up His kingdom in Indignation and His Reign
Isaiah 66:14 When you see this, your heart shall rejoice,
And your bones shall flourish like grass;
The hand of the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ) shall be known to His servants,
And His indignation to His enemies.
- The Time of Indignation is the coming prophesied Seven-Year Tribulation, when the Jews will be close to annihiliation.
Isaiah 66:15 For behold, the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ) will come with fire
And with His chariots, like a whirlwind,
To render His anger with fury,
And His rebuke with flames of fire.
- Zechariah 12:10 Mourning for the Pierced One
“And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn. - Hosea 5:15
I will return again to My place Till they acknowledge their offense. Then they will seek My face; In their affliction they will earnestly seek Me.”
Isaiah 66:16 For by fire and by His sword
The Lord (Yᵊhōvâ) will judge all flesh;
And the slain of the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ) shall be many.
- The Battle of Armageddon
Isaiah 66:17 “Those who sanctify themselves and purify themselves,
To go to the gardens
After an idol (Lit. After one) in the midst,
Eating swine’s flesh and the abomination and the mouse,
Shall be consumed together (come to an end),” says the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ).
- A return to God’s Law and a new dispensation.
- The Tribulation is the 70th week of Daniel which is specifically Jewish.
- Then the thousand-year Millennium when Jesus rules over the earth from Jerusalem.
Isaiah 66:18 “For I know their works and their thoughts. It shall be that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come and see My glory.
Isaiah 66:19 I will set a sign among them; and those among them who escape I will send to the nations: to Tarshish and Pul (or Put cf. Jeremiah 46:9) and Lud, who draw the bow, and Tubal and Javan, to the coastlands afar off who have not heard My fame nor seen My glory. And they shall declare My glory among the (remaining) Gentiles.
Isaiah 66:20 Then they shall bring all your brethren for an offering to the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ) out of all nations, on horses and in chariots and in litters, on mules and on camels, to My holy mountain Jerusalem,” says the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ), “as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house of the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ).
- The “regathering of the Jews” from all nations:
- Nehemiah 1:9 but if you return to Me, and keep My commandments and do them, though some of you were cast out to the farthest part of the heavens, yet I will gather them from there, and bring them to the place which I have chosen as a dwelling for My name.’
- Isaiah 49:22-23 Thus says the Lord God: “Behold, I will lift My hand in an oath to the nations, And set up My standard for the peoples; They shall bring your sons in their arms, And your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders; Kings shall be your foster fathers, And their queens your nursing mothers; They shall bow down to you with their faces to the earth, And lick up the dust of your feet. Then you will know that I am the Lord, For they shall not be ashamed who wait for Me.”
- Jeremiah 23:3 “But I will gather the remnant of My flock out of all countries where I have driven them, and bring them back to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase.
- Jeremiah 31:8 Behold, I will bring them from the north country, And gather them from the ends of the earth, Among them the blind and the lame, The woman with child And the one who labors with child, together; A great throng shall return there.
- Jeremiah 32:37 Behold, I will gather them out of all countries where I have driven them in My anger, in My fury, and in great wrath; I will bring them back to this place, and I will cause them to dwell safely.
- Ezekiel 28:25
Israel’s Future Blessing
‘Thus says the Lord God: “When I have gathered the house of Israel from the peoples among whom they are scattered, and am hallowed in them in the sight of the Gentiles, then they will dwell in their own land which I gave to My servant Jacob. - Ezekiel 34:13 And I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land; I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, in the valleys and in all the inhabited places of the country.
- Ezekiel 37:21 “Then say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Surely I will take the children of Israel from among the nations, wherever they have gone, and will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land;
- Ezekiel 38:8 After many days you will be visited. In the latter years you will come into the land of those brought back from the sword and gathered from many people on the mountains of Israel, which had long been desolate; they were brought out of the nations, and now all of them dwell safely.
- Ezekiel 39:25-29 “Therefore thus says the Lord God: ‘Now I will bring back the captives of Jacob, and have mercy on the whole house of Israel; and I will be jealous for My holy name— after they have borne their shame, and all their unfaithfulness in which they were unfaithful to Me, when they dwelt safely in their own land and no one made them afraid. When I have brought them back from the peoples and gathered them out of their enemies’ lands, and I am hallowed in them in the sight of many nations, then they shall know that I am the Lord their God, who sent them into captivity among the nations, but also brought them back to their land, and left none of them captive any longer. And I will not hide My face from them anymore; for I shall have poured out My Spirit on the house of Israel,’ says the Lord God.”
- Hosea 1:10-11 The Restoration of Israel – “Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, Which cannot be measured or numbered. And it shall come to pass in the place where it was said to them, You are not My people,’ There it shall be said to them, ‘You are sons of the living God.’ Then the children of Judah and the children of Israel Shall be gathered together, And appoint for themselves one head; And they shall come up out of the land, For great will be the day of Jezreel!
- Hosea 8:10 Yes, though they have hired among the nations, Now I will gather them; And they shall sorrow a little, Because of the burden of the king of princes.
- Joel 3:2 I will also gather all nations, And bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat; And I will enter into judgment with them there On account of My people, My heritage Israel, Whom they have scattered among the nations; They have also divided up My land.
- Micah 2:12 – Israel Restored – “I will surely assemble all of you, O Jacob, I will surely gather the remnant of Israel; I will put them together like sheep of the fold, Like a flock in the midst of their pasture; They shall make a loud noise because of so many people.
- Micah 4:12 But they do not know the thoughts of the Lord, Nor do they understand His counsel; For He will gather them like sheaves to the threshing floor.
- Zephaniah 3:8 – A Faithful Remnant – “Therefore wait for Me,” says the Lord, “Until the day I rise up for plunder; My determination is to gather the nations To My assembly of kingdoms, To pour on them My indignation, All My fierce anger; All the earth shall be devoured With the fire of My jealousy.
- Zephaniah 3:19 Behold, at that time I will deal with all who afflict you; I will save the lame, And gather those who were driven out; I will appoint them for praise and fame In every land where they were put to shame.
- Zechariah 10:8 I will whistle for them and gather them,
For I will redeem them; And they shall increase as they once increased. - Matthew 25:32 All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats.
- Nehemiah 1:9 but if you return to Me, and keep My commandments and do them, though some of you were cast out to the farthest part of the heavens, yet I will gather them from there, and bring them to the place which I have chosen as a dwelling for My name.’
Isaiah 66:21 And I will also take some of them for priests and Levites,” says the Lord.
- A priest is a religious leader who performs sacred rituals and offers sacrifices on behalf of the people. A Levite is a member of the tribe of Levi, who were responsible for assisting the priests in their duties and maintaining the temple. All priests were to be Levites, according to the Law, but not all Levites were priests.
Priest vs Levite: When To Use Each One In Writing? (thecontentauthority.com)
Isaiah 66:22 “For as the new heavens and the new earth
Which I will make shall remain before Me,” says the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ),
“So shall your descendants and your name remain.
- This verse makes it clear that the “replacement theorists” are absolutely incorrect when they say that the church replaces the Jews.
- A new heavens and a new earth requires the destruction of the old heavens and old earth by fire.
- Peter 3:7 But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
- Will the present universe be swallowed up by the fire of a black hole?
- Astronomers using Chandra have discovered evidence for thousands of black holes located near the center of our Milky Way galaxy.
Isaiah 66:23 And it shall come to pass
That from one New Moon to another,
And from one Sabbath to another,
All flesh shall come to worship before Me,” says the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ).
The Corpses of Armageddon
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