Isaiah 65:1
Verse of the Day Devotion. Isaiah 65:1
“I permitted Myself to be sought by those who did not ask for Me; I permitted Myself to be found by those who did not seek Me. I said, ‘Here am I, here am I,’ To a nation which did not call on My name.” – Isaiah 65:1
This is a continuation of the prophesy of Christ. Our focus verse speaks about God permitting the Gentiles to come to Him. This is somewhat in answer to the ending verses of Chapter 64. “Do not be angry beyond measure, O LORD, Neither remember iniquity forever; Behold, look now, all of us are Thy people. Thy holy cities have become a wilderness, Zion has become a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation. Our holy and beautiful house, Where our fathers praised Thee, Has been burned by fire; And all our precious things have become a ruin. Wilt Thou restrain Thyself at these things, O LORD? Wilt Thou keep silent and afflict us beyond measure?” Isaiah 64:9-12. In these verses Israel is asking God why He is not watching over them. They ask God not to be angry with them or remember their sins. And they point out how their temple has been destroyed, and their land has become a wilderness. Then, in essence, they ask Him if He is going to do anything about it. Paul declared the Gentiles will hear. “But I ask, have they not heard? Indeed they have, for Their voice has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world. But I ask, did Israel not understand? First Moses says speaking for God, I will make you jealous of those who are not a nation; with a foolish nation I will make you angry. Then Isaiah is so bold as to say, I have been found by those who did not seek me; I have shown myself to those who did not ask for me. But of Israel he says, All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people.” Romans 10:18-21.
Then in the next couple of verses, we see God laying out the problem. “I spread out my hands all day to a rebellious people, who walk in a way that is not good, following their own devices; a people who provoke me to my face continually, sacrificing in gardens and making offerings on bricks; who sit in tombs, and spend the night in secret places; who eat pig’s flesh, and broth of tainted meat is in their vessels; who say, “Keep to yourself, do not come near me, for I am too holy for you.” These are a smoke in my nostrils, a fire that burns all day.” Isaiah 65:2-5. It wasn’t that the LORD had ignored the Jewish exiles in Babylon, and others like them. He stretched out His hands all day long to them. Some responded, such as Daniel and those praying in Israel, but most were a rebellious people who walked in their own way, according to their own thoughts.
But God says this will be addressed. “Behold, it is written before Me, I will not keep silent, but I will repay; I will even repay into their bosom, Both their own iniquities and the iniquities of their fathers together,” says the LORD. “Because they have burned incense on the mountains, And scorned Me on the hills, Therefore I will measure their former work into their bosom.” Isaiah 65:6-7. The word bosom here refers to a custom among the Orientals of making the bosom or front of their garments large and loose, so that articles could be carried in them, much like the purpose of our pockets. The sense here is that God would abundantly punish them for their sins; that they would carry their sins they would be punished for.
We need to be very careful that we do not find ourselves in the same situation as the Jews, who as Isaiah put it, “who walk in the way which is not good, following their own thoughts”. We are not to conform to this world’s ways. “I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” Romans 12:1-2. It has been over 2000 years since Christ went to Heaven, promising to come back for the righteous. Let us not become complacent and fail to give our all to God because He has not come back yet. What God promises, He will fulfill. Continue to believe and walk in His ways and all will go well.
William Funkhouser MDiv, ThD, Founder and President of True Devotion Ministries,