Isaiah Chapter 65 "The Answers Given." This Bible Study is written by Roger Christopherson, and it's transcription/ location is provided by http://www.theseason.org 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 Word of God is where you look when you want to find the Lord. There are many that have found the Lord that are not of the tribes of Israel. 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;" Your own thoughts are the traditions of men, those created in times past, meaning just because your Grandparents, and Parents did or said something it is held in your mind to be truth. Now when those thoughts go against the Word of God, then they become traditions of men. The only standard that we are to take for living as God would have us live, are the Words that God gave the Prophets and Apostles that are written in His Word. So God is telling us here to stop and take a close look at His Word and see what He wants from you. Though the generations before us were rebellious, what is important to us, is that we know the truth. Remember the silly questions that were asked in the last chapter? Where did you make us go wrong God? That is the type of questions that the church world is asking God today, like they have no blame in themselves, and only God is the fault for their faults. They act like a small child who likes to blame everything on someone else and not himself for their troubles. 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;" This word "provoketh" is better translated "insults" from the Hebrew text. God is saying they continue to insult me to the point of my anger, right to my face. When you choose to avoid the teaching of God's Word, and follow the traditions of men, then blame God for having the blessings of God taken from you, it is an insult to Him. The "altars of brick" are the brick houses that you go to for burning your incense, which is the forms of worship that is practiced at the church houses. The reason for going to church in the first place is to study God's Word, and as a house of prayer. Today the church has become, and is used for everything but that. 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;" God is saying that there is no life in those "altars of brick", those church houses, their focus is upon death and fairy-tails of flying away. The monuments are the great structures that people build to worship in. Those people don't even care enough about My ways and laws to even read the health laws, and follow them for their own good health. They try to present to God a body to serve Him that is fattened on swine flesh. This is adding insult upon insult in the face of God, and in their innocence they have no idea what they are doing. They do all this because of their biblical illiteracy. Isaiah 65:5 "Which say, "Stand by thyself, come not near to me; for I am holier than thou." "These are a smoke in My nose, a fire that burneth all the day." God is saying that these people that go to the little brick houses and offer their praises, and are filled with swines flesh then they cry out to Me. They break my health laws, and then insult Me to My face. They stuff their mouths with all the things that I told them to stay away from, and then they feel that I should heal them when the poisons take over their bodies. When you say that Christ cleanses all things in the New Testament, you show your ignorance of His Word. What God said in Timothy was this. "Don't let any one judge you in those things that I created to be taken of." God did not create swine to be partaken of. Certain animals do not have sweat glans and its body stors up poisons. If you continually get sick, and you don't follow God's plan of instructions for you physical body, don't blame God for your own ignorance. God considers this a mockry of His Word. Isaiah 65:6 "Behold, it is written before Me: I will not keep silence, but will recompense, even recompense into their bosom," "Recompense" in the Hebrew text means "punish". God is promising you that He will see to it that you get everything that you have coming to you. When you break any of God's laws, whether it be eating swine, practicing in Sodomy, or adultry, God will make it His duty to see that you receive the rewards for your violation of His laws. Today the sickness AIDS is sweeping across the world, and yet from our top political leaders down they mock God's Word and continue to endorse those filthy practices. When you break God's law, you pay the price for that sin. The price for eating those things that the health laws speak against is desease and poor health. You get what earn, whether in the spiritual life, or the flesh body. God is also speaking against those "holier then thou" people that feel that they are just a little better than the others. "Don't touch me, I'm a christian." When you reach that point in your mind, you have become a miserable creacher. When you claim to be a christian and in your mind you are biblical illiterate, you become a disgrace to Him. God expects you to read and study His Word, and know exactly what is expected of you. When you know His Word you understand that your duty is, you go to that lost soul and witness to him, and plant those seeds of truth. No lost sinner is going to listen to one word spoken by a snob, and take it as being any authority of God. God is telling you that His Word has been right before you all the days of your life, now what have you done with it? He is telling you that His Word is your ticket to success in this world. Today it prepares us for the events of the day and the times that we are living in for our health. It instructs us as to why things are the way that they are today. Isaiah 65:7 "Your iniquities, and the iniquities of you fathers together," saith the Lord, "which have burned incense upon the mountains, and blasphemed Me upon the hills: therefore will I measure their former work into their bosom." For all the sins that you committed, and those of the generations before you, each person or soul will be paid back to them exactly what they have earned, and deserve. For some it will be their rewards, as heirs of our Lord Jesus Christ's kingdom and eternal life; but for many others, their ignorance will pay them back for each insult that they have committed before our Heavenly Father. If you don't love our Father and the mercy that He gives to us, why would you look forward to any part of His heavenly kingdom? God is telling you that you will receive the "full measure" for those sins you have committed. Isaiah 65:8 "Thus saith the Lord, "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." God has always had His remnant that carried His Word, and took a stand when it was necessary. When you go to a vineyard and see the first grapes of the season, full and ripe, ready to be picked, the firstfruits of the crop, that is how God is comparing His elect or remnant to. There has always been the remnant that cared enough about our Father's Word, to teach it as it ought to be taught, to be applied to the races, and to each person. God has a beautiful plan for salvation, and there can be no reason for jealousy, or fear because our Heavenly Father loves all His children. Keep in mind that you did not have fresh fruit all the time, like we have today. So the desire for fresh fruit meant something good, and caused a certain excitement. That first new cluster of fresh ripe grapes meant something special. The first tasty, sweet fruit of the year, and it was looked upon as something special over all the other grapes that would come later. That is the example of how our heavenly Father looks at this remnant that has taken special pride and care in the handling of His Holy Word. That is how precious you are to Him when you are one of the remnant. Isaiah 65:9 "And I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob, and out of Judah an inheritor of My mountains: and Mine elect shall inherit it, and My servants shall dwell there." When Jacob is used in reference to the tribes, it means all the natural tribes of sons of Jacob. There are thirteen total tribes, when you consider that Joseph was given a double portion through His two sons Ephraim and Manasseh. Now considering all these tribes of Jacob, God is setting Judah aside as the "inheritor" or "king line" of all of God's mountains, or nations, that came out of the seed of Jacob. Each of the nations that are made up of the offspring of the House of Israel shall have an offspring of the king line ruling over them. Spiritually speaking the king that shall rule over all nations would also come from the household of an offspring of Judah, and this is documented in Luke 3:23-38. Though the term, "(as was supposed)" is used, and then at the beginning of each verse it starts, "which was (supposed)", in the Hebrew tongue means "by law". Today we call that relation, "inlaws", such as mother in law, father in law, son in law and so on. Luke 3: is telling us the inlaw heritage or lineage of Joseph's wife Mary, which is his inlaws. Isaiah 65:9 is telling us that the inheritance that His elect shall inherit, or Jesus Christ, shall come through the natural seed of Jacob, of the seed of Judah. In Luke 3:33 "Which was the son of Aminadab, which was the son of aram, which which was the son of Esrom, which was the son of Phares, which was the son of Juda," These are all the Greek form of Hebrew names. Isaiah 65:10 "And 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." "Sharon" in the Hebrew tongue means "plain". That is where you get the best production for increasing your flocks. This is saying that they are going to be at peace where they are. The "valley of Achor" is in reference to what happened when the children of Israel, when they went in to take the promise land, some 1450 years before the time of Christ. Joshua was the commander leading the people in their military action, and after they had taken Jericho, they moved on to other battles, however when they reached the tiny village of Ai, which is beside "Beth-aven", the children of Israel were stopped in their tracks, and suffered a great loss. They camped in the valley and stopped to consider why God had turned His back on them, that they should suffer such a loss, and of course they discovered that one amongst them had sinned, and taken something that God told them to destroy. That man's name was Achan and he sinned by taking the spoils of battle to himself, when God said to destroy all of it. When the people found out the cause was Achan, they took Achan and all his family and killed them and purged themselves of all that he had, to get right with God. The term "valley of Akor" comes from what was done in that valley as we read in Joshua 7:24-26. Joshua 7:24 "And Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver, and the garment, and the wedge of gold, and his sons, and his daughters, and his oxen, and his assis, and his sheep, and his tent, and all that he had: and they brought them unto the valley of Achor." Joshua 7:25 "And Joshua said, "Why hast thou troubled us? the Lord shall trouble thee this day." And all Israel stoned him with stones and burned them with fire, after they had stoned them with stones." They purged themselves of the sin that was within their camp. Today we purge our sins from us through repentance to the Father in Jesus name. Joshua 7:26 "And they raised over him a great heap of stones unto this day. So the Lord turned from the fierceness of His anger. Wherefore the name of that place was called, the valley of Achor, unto this day." Are you getting the picture of what God is saying back in Isaiah 65:10? There is a condition that is placed on the flock resting and multiplying on the plains of Sharon. That condition lies in the term, "my people that have sought me." When things don't go right they search out the reason for God hiding Himself from them, just like the Israelites did in seeking out their problem, which was Achan and his sinning ways. There is work that must be done on your part, and you have to seek out the "Achor", in the Hebrew "trouble" that has caused their downfall. However, God is telling you that when you are in the valley that is trouble for every-one else, you can lie down and graze in peace. God is saying that you can prosper spiritually and in your physical life where everyone else is finding nothing but trouble. Whenever the modern day preachers come out with all their latest ideas, we must all rely on what is said in Isaiah 65:6; "Behold, It is written before me, I will not keep silent, but will recompense, even recompense into their bosom." When you have the Word of God, there is your instructions, it is written there. Why would you take any man's word over what is written in God's Word. Remember that, there is no need of getting twisted out of shape over what man is saying, when we have the understanding from God Himself. Isaiah 65:11 "But ye are they that forsake the Lord that forget my holy mountain, that prepare a table for that troop, and that furnish the drink offering unto that number." Remember how the last verse ended; "...that sought me"? This is talking about the rest of those people that did not seek the Lord. These people have forsaken God's Holy mountain, mount Zion and what was taught there. Lets go back into the Massorah and see what the meaning of this is that these people are giving their daily sacrifice to. They are not giving that sacrifice to God, so what are they worshipping? The word "troop" in the text is "gad", the well known Syrian god of "Fate". It is "a prime root word, and is used in the sense of distributing fortunes." It is the promotion of "good luck", fortune cookies and any thing else that deals with gaining and distrubiting wealth through through the use of "luck" or "fate". It deals not only in the realm of lottos and gambling, but also in fortune telling. The gain that is achieved through the realm of luck is attributing your blessings to this heathen god of luck, troop, numbers, or gad. "Fate" is a heathen god, just like an idol that is made by hands and bowed to, and if you are not very careful in your playing around with these gods of destiny, God will hide Himself from you. Today many see nothing wrong in playing the numbers, seeking their future through the seers, and playing their luck at the tables. Those fortunes are by illgotten gains and you had better not attribute that gain to God, for you are attributing something of Satan to God. Those that seek God our Heavenly Father can only seek Him through His Word. If you were only to read this verse in the English tongue, "as a troop and a number", there is no way you would know what this is referring to; it requires study to know the truth of His Word. It is important that when we read His Word that we keep in mind the emotions of our Father, He is jealous over you when you claim to be His. When you whore after another religion it is like having your bride become a prostitute, and that is exactly what you are doing in chasing the troop, and the numbers. God created everyting, and when you are His, God will take care of you and He expects you to look to Him for your help and not to some other heathen religion. When you seek pleasure and gain, who do you seek? Friend, there is nothing new under the sun, and the same games of chance that exist today were going on in Isaiah's day and long before. Now that you know what it is, what are you going to do about it? This is what the entire book of Ecclesiastes is about, finding pleasures for living in this flesh body in the manner that God has designed for you. Be one of those that "sought after Him", and not those referred to in this verse. Isaiah 65:12 "Therefore will I number you to the sword, and ye shall all bow down to the slaughter: because when I called, ye did not answer; when I spake, ye did not hear; but did evil before mine eyes, and did choose that wherein I delighted not." This is God using a little humor in speaking of those that seek their destiny in the the numbers and fate. God is saying, if you look for a distany, then I will give you a destiny with my sword. God is calling everyone through His Word, and when people turn their back on His Word, they are turning their back on God. Every thing that God had to say is written right here in His Word, "It is written..", and then it is you choose to close your ears to that His Word, you choose evil for yourself. The reason they did not hear is that they were fooling around with some new religion. As we saw in the prior verse, even the form of numbers and chance is a form of religion in God's sight, and that goes for anything that you look to inplace of relying on our heavenly Father. God is a jealous God. What happens to you in this life, and the eternity is not of God's choosing, but each person chose the destiny that will come upon them. Then after they chose it, then He put the sword to them. Isaiah 65:13 "Therefore thus saith the Lord God, "Behold, my servants shall 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:" God is saying, "Behold", pay attention to what I am going to say. You may get away with things here in the flesh for awhile, but on the first day of the Millennium all things will be made right. The hunger and thirst is for the truth of God's Word, and then God's elect will receive their full inheritance. God gives you what you thirst for in life when you obey Him. God blesses those that serve Him, and seek to please Him. Isaiah 65:14 "Behold, my servants shall sing for joy of heart, but ye shall cry for sorrow of heart, and shall howl for vexation of spirit." God is saying that when you trust in Him, He will supply all your needs, however those that rely on chance and the seeking of seers and other forms of evil spirits, will get exactly what they are asking for. When you take test your luck, you are worshipping the god of chance, and in a form you are confiding in evil spirits. Why in the world would you put your life in the hand of the "fate god", when we have our Heavenly Father that is will to provide your every need, for the asking. What kind of choice is that. With Satan waiting to trip you up at every turn, you just won't make it. Isaiah 65:15 "And ye shall leave you name for a curse unto my chosen: for the the Lord God shall slay thee, and call His servants by another name:" When you consider yourself a Christian and named amongst God's chosen, and you go out and do those things, it is you that have chosen the judgment that shall come upon you. You will not be named and called by that other name of God's elect. That new name of God's elect was given in Isaiah 62:4, and it is "Hephzibah", which means "My delight is in her", referring to the bride of Christ. God is telling you that when you follow those other gods, you are not considered one of the bride of Christ. If it is in your life now, then it is time for repentance in Jesus name, and it is time to come out of that practice. Isaiah 65:16 "That he who blesseth himself in the 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 troubles are forgotten, and because they are hid from mine eyes." The subject here is "the blessing that is in the earth", and it is directed to the man that is walking under the sun in this flesh body. God is asking you if you want a blessing while living in your flesh body, then listen to what He has to say. If you want the blessings of God here on this earth, then you will swear, or live by the words of the God of truth. You will look to the God of truth, and not some religion of numbers, chance, or something built by the traditions of men. God is telling you, don't trust it to fate, but seek God's will and trust Him to supply your needs. This is telling you that those sins that you have committed, when you repent of them to the God of truth, our Heavenly Father, in Jesus name, He will remember them no more. They are gone and out of His sight forever. He is telling you to forget about them, for He doesn't want to even hear about them. We have a loving and forgiving Father. Isaiah 65:17 "For, "Behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind." There are three earth ages, the former we discussed earlier in Isaiah 64, and the second is the age of the flesh. After the coming of Jesus Christ and the Millennium age kingdom, there will be a third earth age, and that third earth age is what is referred to here. Today we think that the things of the flesh are so very important, however in that third earth age the things of this age of the flesh will be erased from all memory of those saints of God that have not been judged to hell fire with Satan. Upon the judgment of the great white throne judgment even your close loved ones that refused the salvation of God, will be as if they had never existed, they will be blotted out of your mind. They will be blotted out of the book of life because they are dead, physically, and spiritually their soul has been turned to ashes. They do not exist in eternity in any form, not even in memory. This is why there will be no tears in that third and heavenly age. Revelation 21:4 "And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away [completed blotted out]." Those things of this earth system of today will not even be remembered in eternity. This age of the flesh is a time of testing of each soul because of the falling away and rebellion that Satan caused in that first earth age. The test is here and now, and the choice is up for each soul whether he or she will choose God or Satan. One third fell in the first earth age, and those that made a stand then are called the elect. They were judged and found worthy then, yet they also had to be born of woman in the flesh, just as the free-will souls must. Those souls that refused to be born of woman, and followed Satan in that first earth age, are the "sons of God" spoken of in Jude 1-6, and Genesis 6:1-5. On judgment day, satan and all his followers will be judged and cast into hell fire, and their remembrance will be no more. Revelation 20:14 "And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death." The second death is the death of your soul, whereas the first death is the death of your flesh body. Revelation 20:15 "And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire." Are you getting the picture of this verse in Isaiah? It is your choice whether your name is written in the book of life by the choices you make in this life. Though your physical body may die in this age of the flesh, you soul will not die unto after judgment day. The Millennium age is for those that did not have the opportunity for one reason or another to hear the Word and see with understanding so they could make the choice. However, in the Millennium age salvation will not come by faith and grace, or unmerited favor, but by the works of that soul during the thousand year period. Then salvation will come by their works only. Those works which they performed in the Millennium age when they had the full understanding of God's Word will be what places their name in the Lamb's book of life. Remember that at the seventh trumpet the flesh body will be changed in the wink of an eye into the incorruptible body and each soul will not age nor get sick in the Millennium. They will have complete understanding of God's Word, because God will place that in their memory. God will sentence no one to hell fire but that they have had the choice of choosing, and they knew exactly what they chose. Isaiah 65:18 "But be ye glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create: for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy." In that New Jerusalem there is going to be joy everywhere. Isaiah 65:19 "And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people: and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying." Every thing and person that would cause one to weep will be gone forever. They will be as if they had never been created in the first place. If you had a relative, a wife, husband, or daughter and they didn't make it, you could be sad about it, however God will wipe every thought of them from your memory. It is like you having four kids and one wasn't saved, that thought of that one will be erased from every family members mind, it will be like that son or brother never existed. This is why there will be no crying and weeping, but a continual time of rejoicing. This verse goes back to verse seventeen. Isaiah 65:20 "There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days: for the child shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed." This verse is a little twisted in the English, from what it reads in the Massoretic text. This is saying that no longer will a child die when it is only a few days old, and no longer will a person be considered old when they are an hundred days old. Why is this? We are in the eternity, there are no births and deaths, and every soul is in its incorruptible and immortal bodies. God is saying also that the sinner, no matter what his or her age will be blotted out, no longer in existance. The sinner will be gone, ashes forever. Isaiah 65:21 "And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them." This verse is talking about the Millennium age, and if you wanted to know what it will be like, this is it. Friend, the ways of this flesh world, with all of its cunning and wickness will not exist in the Millennium age. The ways of the Kenites, and their cheating and stealing through false scales, tricky laws, and their taking wealth through high interest rates will be gone. All evil will be removed from the earth. Isaiah 65:22 "They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree are the days of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands." This means that there will be no usery, one of the biggest snags of your generation. The trees that existed at this time were very ancient, and lived for centuries. God is telling us that there is not going to be any such thing as age in the Millennium kingdom. However it will be a time of discipline. All souls in that age will look exactly as they do in the prime of their life, at the age of the mid thirties. You can choose the age of thirty three and be accurate, because we will all be as Christ is, and He was thirty three at His crucifixion. Isaiah 65:23 "They shall not labour in vain, nor bring forth for trouble, for they are the seed of the blessed of the Lord, and their offspring with them." This is saying that the Millennium age will be as God planned life to be, when you don't work, you don't eat, and when you work you enjoy the fruits of your labor. You are going to work for your food, you will create it, and then you will eat what you have grown. This applies to what ever the spiritual body of that age consumes for life. God is saying also that you are not going to bring forth a bunch of children that are nothing but trouble to you. Remember that there are not going to be any children born, and all souls that have been born are all the same age in their incorruptible bodies. From umbilical cord to umbilical cord, generation after generation the remnant that sought after God will join themselves to the families to which they belong. They will know who they are, and which tribe, or family is theirs. They will know who they belong to, and those that will not be there in the eternity, or in the Millennium age will not be missed. They won't be missed because they won't be remembered. Isaiah 65:24 "And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear." Do you want to know what heaven in the eternity is like? Before you even know that you have a need, God will answer that need, and provide it for you. That is living better then an earthly king. Before it could even be considered in your mind, God knows what is best for you, and He will tend to those needs. God is telling you that every thought that you are thinking, He will know before you even have the time to form them in your mouth. Isaiah 65:25 "The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent's meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the Lord." This is in the eternity, and we see that there will be no eating of flesh, because there shall be no flesh. There will be no more of the things that are used by one animal to catch another, in the gathering of its prey. The serpent moves in the dust and hypnotizes its prey into subjection, and then devours it. There shall be no creature consuming another in God's Holy kingdom. This chapter flows right into Isaiah 66, with the same thought and time being continued.
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