Isaiah 65:6

The Bible says in Isaiah 65:6-8, “Behold, it is written before me: I will not keep silence, but will recompense, even recompense into their bosom, Your iniquities, and the iniquities of your 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. 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.” Once again we have a passage of scripture where the Lord pronounces judgment against the children of Israel, but at the same time God makes it very clear that He will not utterly destroy them. That is because God has such infinite mercy and patience. Even when people and nations deserve God’s judgment against them, sometimes He withholds that judgment for generations.

God said to the Israelites in Isaiah 65:6, “I will not keep silence, but will recompense, even recompense into their bosom.” This is the immutable law of retribution. We reap what we sow because God exists. He is the righteous judge of the whole world. He treats everyone equally. But the righteous demands for justice are always held in check somewhat by God’s tremendous love and mercy. We know that Jesus died on the cross for the sins of the world. God has a plan to save us when we accept salvation through faith in Christ. He does not desire to destroy us. Even though the Israelites deserve to be destroyed because of their great wickedness, the Lord said in Isaiah 65:8, “will I do for my servants' sakes, that I may not destroy them all.”

God promised to Abraham that there would be a “seed” who would be a blessing to the whole earth and who would come from the lineage of Abraham. God said in Genesis 17:19, “And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him.” Remembering His promises, the Lord says in Isaiah 65:9-10, “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. 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.” The Lord had to finally punish the Israelites. The glory of their nation was taken away, and it will not be restored until Jesus returns to rule from the throne of David. But even though they suffered greatly because of their iniquities, the Lord still used them as He promised. That is why the Lord said in Isaiah 65:9, “And I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob.” That seed is Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ was a Jew born in the lineage of Abraham and in the lineage of King David.

But notice carefully the requirement given in Isaiah 65:10 to be able to enter into the benefits of the coming of Christ. It says, “for my people that have sought me.” Jesus said in Matthew 7:7-8, “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.” Every person is seeking something. Some people are seeking money, others are seeking pleasure. Still others are seeking power or control. The Bible says in Isaiah 55:6, “Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near.”

The Lord says in Isaiah 65:11-12, “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. 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.” It is interesting to notice that these two verses make it very clear that human beings make very important spiritual decisions throughout the course of their lives. Make sure that you make the right decisions concerning your relationship with Jesus Christ. According to these two verses, the Israelites made three very bad decisions. First they did “forsake the Lord” according to verse 11. Then according to verse 12, they “did not answer” when the Lord called. And also they made bad decisions: in verse 12 the Lord says that they “did choose that wherein I delighted not.”

The Lord said to the children of Israel in Isaiah 65:11, “But ye are they that forsake the LORD, that forget my holy mountain.” If you once were close to the Lord Jesus and walked in fellowship with Him, and now are no longer close to the Lord or in fellowship with Him, the problem is not with the Lord. Jesus did not forsake you, but you did forsake Him. The Lord did not go away from you, you went away from Him. You are the problem. When a person forsakes the Lord, usually something else has happened that contributes to that problem. For example Isaiah 65:11 says, “They forget my holy mountain.” One of the important responsibilities for every believer is to remember what the Lord has done for him or her. To remember really means to call to one’s mind, and to forget really means to put out of one’s mind. What a terrible thing if a believer would put out of his own mind good thoughts about the Lord and His Word. You have control of your own mind and what you think about. Make sure that you think about the Lord: who He is and what He has done for you, and what He has promised you from His Word. Use your mind in the right way, and you will not “forget” the Lord or His holy mountain.

In Isaiah 65:12 the Lord said to the children of Israel, “when I called, ye did not answer; when I spake, ye did not hear.” This is a very serious condemnation. God does the calling, and then the person who is called must respond to the Lord. What happens at some point in the life of every person is the same thing that happened in the lives of the disciples. One day Jesus came by them and He called them. It says in Matthew 4:18-20, “And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers. And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. And they straightway left their nets and followed him.” How wicked a heart we have if the Lord calls us, and we do not answer and say, “Here am I Lord, send me.”

The Lord said in Isaiah 65:12 that the children of Israel “did choose that wherein I delighted not.” Every person makes choices: choices that determine their eternal destiny and choices that determine many of the details of their lives on this earth. The person that you have become is due in many regards to the choices that you have made. Some of the important circumstances of your life are due to the choices that you have made. One fact that is true about these choices is that it is critical that we choose what pleases God instead of what pleases ourselves. The Bible says in Joshua 24:15, “Choose you this day whom ye will serve….but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

There are terrible consequences to making the wrong choices concerning believing in Jesus and serving the Lord or not. Some of those consequences concerning the Israelites are given in Isaiah 65:13-15 that says, “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: Behold, my servants shall sing for joy of heart, but ye shall cry for sorrow of heart, and shall howl for vexation of spirit. And ye shall leave your name for a curse unto my chosen: for the Lord GOD shall slay thee, and call his servants by another name.” There are two important promises that God makes to His believers in Isaiah 65:13. He promises to supply our material needs, and He promises to give us joy. Human beings tend to worry too much about everything, including their material needs.

It is nice to know that for believers in this world the Lord has promised to always take care of us. The only requirement to being taken care of is to be one of the Lord’s servants. Of course, we want to make sure that we are doing the practical requirements of life: working hard, planning, and saving when possible. But in the final analysis the Lord decides what happens to people. He is God and there is none else. And when He makes a promise, His promise will be kept. Every single day He keeps this promise. He provides for the material needs of His children. Jesus said in Matthew 6:31-34, “Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.”

The Lord said in 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.” Sin has consequences. One of the consequences has to do with the sorrow, and the regret, and the guilt, and the unhappiness that sin will surely cause. A wise preacher once said, “All of Satan’s apples have worms.” The temptations of the world are enticing on the surface, but if you turn from the Lord and reach out to them, they will cause you “sorrow of heart” and “vexation of spirit.”

It is interesting that it says in Isaiah 65:15, “for the Lord GOD shall slay thee, and call his servants by another name.” This was spoken to the children of Israel: to the Jewish people. A new name has been given to the believers in the Lord: the name of Jesus Christ. The servants of God in the Old Testament were called Israelites, but now we are called Christians. If you are not serving God, then you need to get back to where God’s care and God’s blessings will be a part of your life. You need to confess your sins to the Lord Jesus Christ, and walk in fellowship with Him, and serve Him.

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