65:1 I am sought by [them that] a asked not [for me]; I am
found by [them that] sought me not: I said, Behold me,
behold me, to a nation [that] was not called by my name.
(a) Meaning, the Gentiles who know not God, would seek him,
when he had moved their heart with his Holy Spirit,
(Ro 10:20).
65:2 I have b spread out my hands all the day to a rebellious
people, which walketh in a way [that is] not good, after
their own c thoughts;
(b) He shows the reason for the rejection of the Jews,
because they would not obey him or any admonition of
his prophets, by whom he called them continually and
stretch out his hand to draw them.
(c) He shows that to delight in our own fantasies is the
declining from God and the beginning of all
superstitions and idolatry.
65:3 A people that provoketh me to anger continually to my face;
that sacrificeth in d gardens, and burneth incense upon
altars of e brick;
(d) Which were dedicated to idols.
(e) Meaning their altars, which he thus named by contempt.
65:4 Which remain among the f graves, and lodge in the
monuments, which eat g swine's flesh, and broth of
abominable [things is in] their vessels;
(f) To consult with spirits, and to conjure devils, which
was forbidden.
(g) Which was contrary to God's commandment,
(Le 11:7, De 14:8).
65:5 Which say, h Stand by thyself, come not near to me; for I
am holier than thou. These [are] a smoke in my nose, a fire
that i burneth all the day.
(h) He shows that hypocrisy is always joined with pride and
contempt of others.
(i) Their punishment will never have an end.
65:6 Behold, [it is] k written before me: I will not keep
silence, but will recompense, even recompense into their
bosom,
(k) So that the remembrance of it cannot be forgotten.
65:7 Your iniquities, and the iniquities of your fathers l
together, saith the LORD, who have burned incense upon the
mountains, and blasphemed me upon the hills: therefore will
I measure their former work into their bosom.
(l) Will be both punished together: and this declares how
the children are punished for their fathers faults,
that is, when the same faults or like are found in
them.
65:8 Thus saith the LORD, As the new wine is found in the
cluster, and [one] saith, Destroy it not; for a m
blessing [is] in it: so will I do for my servants' sake,
that I may not destroy them all.
(m) That is, it is profitable: meaning that God will not
destroy the faithful branches of his vineyard, when he
destroys the rotten stocks, that is, the hypocrites.
65:10 And n Sharon shall be a fold of flocks, and the valley
of Achor a place for the herds to lie down in, for my
people that have sought me.
(n) Which was a plentiful place in Judea to feed sheep, as
Achor was for cattle.
65:11 But ye [are] they that forsake the LORD, that forget my
holy mountain, that prepare a table for that o troop,
and that furnish the drink offering to that number.
(o) By the multitude and number he means their innumerable
idols of whom they thought they could never have
enough.
65:12 Therefore will I p number you to the sword, and ye shall
all bow down to the slaughter: because when I called, ye
did not answer; when I q spoke, ye did not hear; but did
evil before my eyes, and did choose [that] in which I
delighted not.
(p) Seeing you cannot number your gods, I will number you
with the sword.
(q) By my prophets, whom you would not obey.
65:13 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, my servants
shall r eat, but ye shall be hungry: behold, my servants
shall drink, but ye shall be thirsty: behold, my servants
shall rejoice, but ye shall be ashamed:
(r) By these words, eat and drink, he means the blessed
life of the faithful, who have always had consolation
and full contentment of all things in their God,
though sometimes they lack these corporal things.
65:15 And ye shall leave your name for a curse to my s chosen:
for the Lord GOD shall slay thee, and call his servants by
t another name:
(s) Meaning, that he would call the Gentiles, who would
abhor even the very name of the Jews for their
infidelities sake.
(t) Than by the name of the Jews.
65:16 That he who blesseth himself in the u earth shall bless
himself in the God of truth; and he that sweareth in the
earth shall swear by the God of truth; because the former
x troubles are forgotten, and because they are hid from
my eyes.
(u) By blessing, and by swearing is meant the praising of
God for his benefits, and the true worshipping of him,
who will not be only in Judea, but through all the
world.
(x) I will no longer permit my Church to be desolate as in
times past.
65:17 For, behold, I create y new heavens and a new earth: and
the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.
(y) I will so altar and change the state of my church,
that it will seem to dwell in a new world.
65:20 There shall be no more from there an infant of days, nor
an old man that hath z not filled his days: for the
child shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner
[being] a an hundred years old shall be accursed.
(z) Meaning, in this wonderful restoration of the Church
there would be no weakness of youth, nor infirmities
of age, but all would be fresh and flourishing: and
this is accomplished in the heavenly Jerusalem, when
all sins will cease, and the tears will be wiped away.
(a) By which he shows that the infidels and unrepentant
sinners have no part of this benediction.
65:21 And they shall b build houses, and inhabit [them]; and
they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them.
(b) He proposes to the faithful the blessings which are
contained in the law, and so under temporal things
comprehends the spiritual promises.
65:25 The c wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the
lion shall eat straw like the ox: and dust [shall be] the
serpent's food. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my
holy mountain, saith the LORD.
