The Book of Isaiah

Hebrew Study

Explanation

God answers the prayer, and He begins with grace: "I am sought of them that asked not for me; I am found of them that sought me not." God reveals Himself even to those who were not looking for Him, saying, "Behold me, behold me," offering Himself freely. Meanwhile He has been endlessly patient with His own covenant people: "I have spread out my hands all the day unto a rebellious people", the gesture of an appeal, hands open all day long. But they walk "after their own thoughts" and "provoketh me to anger continually to my face." Their sins are catalogued: pagan sacrifice "in gardens," occult practices among "the graves," eating "swine's flesh" and "abominable things," all forbidden. And crowning it, a grotesque self-righteousness: "Stand by thyself... for I am holier than thou." People steeped in uncleanness fancied themselves too holy to be touched. God's verdict is vivid: "These are a smoke in my nose, a fire that burneth all the day." Such hypocrisy provokes rather than pleases Him, and He declares He "will not keep silence" but will "recompense" their iniquity.

Gospel Focus

Verse 1 is one of the clearest Old Testament statements of grace reaching beyond Israel to the nations, and Paul quotes it exactly that way. In Romans 10 he writes, "Esaias is very bold, and saith, I was found of them that sought me not; I was made manifest unto them that asked not after me" (Romans 10:20), applying it to the Gentiles who found God through Christ, while verse 2, "I have stretched forth my hands... unto a disobedient and gainsaying people" (Romans 10:21), he applies to Israel's rejection. This is the mystery of the gospel: God is found by those who were not even seeking Him. If you have come to Christ, it is because God sought you first, "we love him, because he first loved us" (1 John 4:19). And the sharp rebuke of the self-righteous, "I am holier than thou", is a warning Jesus repeated against those who "trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others" (Luke 18:9). God is not impressed by religious pride; He is found by the humble who did not even know to seek Him. Grace always takes the first step.

Hebrew Study

Explanation

God will not sweep everyone away in judgment, and He explains why with a vineyard image. "As the new wine is found in the cluster, and one saith, Destroy it not; for a blessing is in it: so will I do for my servants' sakes, that I may not destroy them all." A grape cluster may look mostly spoiled, yet if there is good juice in it, no one throws it out. Just so, for the sake of the faithful remnant, God spares the whole from total destruction. He will "bring forth a seed out of Jacob... mine elect shall inherit it, and my servants shall dwell there." The land will be restored for "my people that have sought me", green pastures in Sharon and the valley of Achor. But the chapter keeps its sharp division. "Ye are they that forsake the LORD... that prepare a table for that troop" (worshiping the pagan gods of Fortune and Destiny). For them the sentence is grave: "I will number you to the sword." The reason is repeated and personal: "when I called, ye did not answer; when I spake, ye did not hear... did choose that wherein I delighted not." Judgment falls not arbitrarily but because they refused God's persistent call.

Gospel Focus

The image of the spared cluster, "Destroy it not; for a blessing is in it", reveals how God relates to a world under judgment: He preserves it for the sake of the faithful. The presence of "my servants" holds back destruction, exactly as Abraham pleaded for Sodom, "wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked?" (Genesis 18:23), and as Jesus called His people "the salt of the earth" (Matthew 5:13), a preserving presence in a corrupt world. But the chapter also draws the solemn line that runs through the gospel: between "my servants" who answer God's call and those who "did not answer... did not hear." God calls, and the response, or refusal, is decisive. "To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts" (Hebrews 3:15). The difference between the blessed and the judged is not that one earned favor, God is found by those who sought Him not, but that one answered His call and the other refused it. Are you among "my servants" who answer when He calls?

Hebrew Study

Explanation

God now lays out the two destinies in a striking series of contrasts, each introduced with "Behold." "My servants shall eat, but ye shall be hungry... shall drink, but ye shall be thirsty... shall rejoice, but ye shall be ashamed... shall sing for joy of heart, but ye shall cry for sorrow of heart." The gulf between those who serve God and those who reject Him grows starker with each line: satisfaction against hunger, joy against shame, singing against howling. The rebels will even leave "your name for a curse", a byword, an example of what not to be. But God's servants receive the opposite: "call his servants by another name", a new name, a new identity marking their new life. And in this new order, blessing and truth are anchored in God Himself, "the God of truth" (the God of the Amen), the faithful and reliable One. Best of all, the painful past is erased: "the former troubles are forgotten, and because they are hid from mine eyes." God will put the old sorrows out of sight, even out of His own remembrance. A clean slate and a new name await His servants.

Gospel Focus

The promise that God will "call his servants by another name" is fulfilled in Christ. God's people receive a new identity, "if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away" (2 Corinthians 5:17), and the followers of Jesus received a new name, "the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch" (Acts 11:26). The hungry-versus-satisfied contrast is exactly Jesus' beatitude and woe, "Blessed are ye that hunger now: for ye shall be filled... Woe unto you that are full! for ye shall hunger" (Luke 6:21, 25). And the promise that "the former troubles are forgotten... hid from mine eyes" points to the gospel's clean slate: God says of the new covenant, "their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more" (Hebrews 8:12). Everything anchors in "the God of truth," the faithful God who is Himself "the Amen" in Christ. For the believer, this is the promise: a new name, a satisfied soul, a song of joy, and a past that God Himself has hidden from sight. The rebels' hunger and shame need not be your portion; become one of "my servants," and receive the new name and the clean slate.

Hebrew Study

Explanation

The chapter soars to its climax with a promise of total renewal: "behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered." God will make everything new, and the pains of the old order will fade from memory. He calls His people to endless joy: "I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy. And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people." Astonishingly, God Himself rejoices. In this new world, "the voice of weeping shall be no more heard... nor the voice of crying." Life will be full and secure: people will build and actually live in their houses, plant and eat their own fruit, no more having their labor stolen. "They shall not labour in vain." And the intimacy with God will be perfect: "before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear", the opposite of the rebels who would not answer God. Finally, even creation's violence ends: "The wolf and the lamb shall feed together... They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain." The curse is undone, and peace fills the whole created order.

Gospel Focus

"Behold, I create new heavens and a new earth." This is the great hope that runs to the very end of the Bible. Peter says, "we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness" (2 Peter 3:13), and John sees it fulfilled, "I saw a new heaven and a new earth" (Revelation 21:1), where "God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying" (Revelation 21:4), the very promise of Isaiah 65:19 that "the voice of weeping shall be no more heard." This is where the whole story is heading for those who belong to Christ: a renewed creation of unbroken joy, where God Himself rejoices over His people. The promise "before they call, I will answer" is the intimacy of a restored relationship, and the peaceable kingdom, "the wolf and the lamb shall feed together", picks up the vision of Isaiah 11, fulfilled under the reign of the Messiah, the Prince of Peace. For the believer weighed down by weeping and labor and loss, this chapter lifts the eyes to the certain future Christ secured: a new heavens and new earth where sorrow is forgotten, prayer is answered before it is spoken, and nothing hurts or destroys anymore. Set your hope fully on it.