Isaiah 66

Isaiah 66 is the final chapter of the Book of Isaiah. Taking up the promise of new heavens and a new earth proclaimed in chapter 65, it speaks of both restoration and judgment as it brings the book to a close.

Outline

• Verses 1–4 God declares that heaven is His throne and the earth His footstool, and asks what house anyone could build for Him. He looks with favor on the one who is poor and of a contrite spirit and who trembles at His word, but He regards sacrifices offered without sincerity of heart as abominable.
• Verses 5–6 The brethren who hated and cast out those who tremble at His word will be put to shame.
• Verses 7–14 Zion gives birth before she is in labor, and a nation is born in a single day. As a mother comforts her child, God comforts His people in Jerusalem.
• Verses 15–17 The LORD executes judgment by fire and by sword, and those who follow pagan rites in the gardens perish.
• Verses 18–21 God gathers the nations to see His glory. He sends those who escape to distant lands to declare His glory, and from among them He appoints priests and Levites.
• Verses 22–24 As the new heavens and the new earth will remain, so will the seed and name of God's people. From one new moon (the first day of each month) to another and from one Sabbath to another, all flesh will come to worship, and they will look upon the carcasses of those who have transgressed.

Key Verses

• Isaiah 66:1 "The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool" — quoted by Stephen in Acts 7:49–50.
• Isaiah 66:22 "the new heavens and the new earth" — carried forward into the hope expressed in 2 Peter 3:13 and Revelation 21:1.
• Isaiah 66:24 "their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched" — used by Jesus when speaking of hell in Mark 9:48.

People and Places

• Tarshish: a distant port in the western Mediterranean, thought to have been located in the region of Spain.
• Pul, Lud, Tubal, and Javan: distant Gentile regions. Many scholars identify Javan with the region of Greece and Tubal with eastern Asia Minor.

Points for Reflection

• Verse 24 is widely read as a basis for the doctrine of eternal punishment in hell. Some evangelical scholars, however, interpret it as referring to the eventual annihilation of the wicked.
• In synagogue readings of this chapter, there is reportedly a custom of rereading verse 23 after verse 24 so that the reading does not end on verse 24.
• Interpretations of "of them" in verse 21 are divided: some take it to refer to Gentiles, others to the returning children of Israel.
• Some dispensationalist interpreters connect "shall a nation be born at once?" in verses 7–8 with the founding of the State of Israel in 1948. Other interpreters understand it as referring to the restoration after the exile or to the church.
• Critical scholarship often treats chapters 56–66 as a separate unit known as "Third Isaiah" (Trito-Isaiah). Conservative scholars hold that the entire book was written by Isaiah himself.