11 August

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Isaiah 64-66

Isaiah 64

The praise and confession merge into a prayer in which the sore need of the people is first described, and then a cry full of intense anguish is lifted for the dawning of the day when Jehovah will act in judgment.

Again the prophet strengthens his own faith as he remembers how God had wrought on behalf of His people in the past. This memory of His faithfulness produces a new sense of their unfaithfulness, and he confesses sin and failure. Out of the midst of desolation and destruction he appeals to Jehovah to act on behalf of His people.

Isaiah 65

In this chapter we have a graphic description of the working of the principle of discrimination, the sifting of the people by God. There is first a contrast between the false and the true. The rebellious people are described as those who, in spite of all Jehovah's patience, still persist in idolatrous and evil practices. Against these Jehovah is compelled to proceed in strict and severe judgment. Then follows a description of the remnant, the holy seed, those who are described as the servants of Jehovah. These are not to be destroyed by the wicked, but are to be led out of the places of difficulty into inheritance and prosperity.

The sifting process is next described, and the life of the servants of God and the life of the rebellious are placed in striking contrast: eating as against hunger, drinking as against thirst, rejoicing as against shame, singing as against crying and howling. The result of the sifting of judgment is the establishment of the new order, that establishment of the Kingdom of God which is to be one of joy and justice, of prosperity and peace.

Isaiah 66

This last chapter is admittedly difficult to interpret. Here, the prophet seems to look beyond all that he has previously described, and to deal with destiny. He first announces anew the fact of the established government of God, and then proceeds to show how that for those who had chosen their own ways He will choose delusions, and that because when He called they did not answer. Those who had trembled at His word He will deliver, in spite of all difficulties.

In the final message the prophet describes the coming of Jehovah with fire, when His chariots will be like the whirlwind. It is a picture of righteous vengeance, proceeding to the establishment of the new heavens and the new earth which are to remain before the Lord.

The last declaration of the great prophecy is one which reminds those who read of the sure and terrible judgment of God on evil, of the one fact which must never be lost sight of, that there can be no peace to the wicked.