Isaiah 65

Isaiah 65 is the first of the final two chapters of the Book of Isaiah. It can be read as God's answer to the people's prayer of lament that continues through Isaiah 64. The chapter sets the fate of those who have forsaken God alongside that of his "servants," and then moves on to the promise of a new creation.

Outline

• Verses 1–7 God declares that he has been found by a nation that did not seek him. He then indicts a people who sacrifice in gardens, remain among the graves, and eat swine's flesh while saying, "I am holier than thou," and he announces their recompense.
• Verses 8–10 Just as a cluster of grapes with new wine in it is not thrown away, God will not destroy all his servants. He promises to bring forth a seed out of Jacob and Judah, who will possess Sharon and the valley of Achor.
• Verses 11–16 Those who forsake the LORD and prepare a table for Gad and Meni will be numbered to the sword and will hunger and thirst. His servants, by contrast, will eat, drink, and rejoice, and will be called by another name.
• Verses 17–25 God promises to create new heavens and a new earth, so that the voice of weeping will no longer be heard in Jerusalem. There, one who dies at a hundred years old will be regarded as a child, God will answer before his people call, and the wolf and the lamb will feed together.

Key Verses

• Isaiah 65:1 "I am found of them that sought me not." Paul quotes this verse in Romans 10 in connection with the salvation of the Gentiles.
• Isaiah 65:17 "For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth." This is the first occurrence in Scripture of the expression "new heavens and a new earth."
• Isaiah 65:25 "The wolf and the lamb shall feed together." This echoes the vision of peace in Isaiah 11.

People and Places

• Jacob: Here the name refers to the people of Israel as a whole.
• Sharon: A fertile plain along the Mediterranean coast, symbolizing pastureland.
• Valley of Achor: A valley near Jericho where Achan was punished (Joshua 7:24–26).
• Gad and Meni: Understood to be pagan deities of fortune and destiny.
• Jerusalem: Depicted as the place God will create anew as a city of rejoicing.

Points for Reflection

• Verse 20 describes the new world as though death still exists there. For this reason premillennialism, and dispensationalism in particular, reads Isaiah 65:17–25 as a picture of the millennial kingdom. Amillennialism regards the passage as a poetic portrayal of the eternal new creation in the language of long life and abundance.
• Paul applies verse 1 to the Gentiles and verse 2 to Israel (Romans 10:20–21).
• The promise of new heavens and a new earth is taken up again in 2 Peter 3:10–13 and Revelation 21.