Bible Study: December 13, 2023

Okay, so last time we've worked through Isaiah 64. It's hard to believe we're coming to the close of the book of Isaiah, but we'll look at Isaiah 65 tonight. That's a very inspiring chapter. Like all, well, like every chapter of the Bible is, these are giving us glimpses into the time when Jesus Christ has returned. We see the Holy Days in chapter 65 represented here as we go through it, and we see God kind of showing people what it is that he expects of them in ways that we might not have expected. We all know that we are expected to live by His law and His commandments, but there are some things in here about people where He specifically says, you're not my people if you do these type things.

We'll talk about those a little bit. And of course in Isaiah 65 we have, you know, verse 20, it talks about a time when the infant and the old man will die at a hundred years. So we'll talk about that a little bit too and see what that means in the context of the chapter that we're in here. So as we closed last time in chapter 64, it closed with a question, if you remember.

In verse 12 there of chapter 64, and as chapter 65 begins, God answers that question. In chapter 64 verse 12 it says, will you restrain yourself because of these things, O Lord? Will you hold your peace and afflict us very severely? And as you remember in chapter 64, people were looking to God and recognizing what they had done and calling Him to come forth and save them. And in chapter 65 then, God answers that question. And again He reminds Israel, His people. Remember we have the My people of the Old Testament, ancient Israel, the people that He created, He says, through those births from through Abraham and the line of miraculous births down through Abraham's line.

And then we have the My people of the New Testament, which you know you and me, the people that He calls from every tribe, tongue, nation, ethnic background, He makes us His people. So in 65, He says, I was sought by those who didn't ask for Me. And He's talking about the Gentiles here. So, looking ahead, we know that Jesus Christ came, He opened the door. He opened the door to many things, and one of them is the Gentiles would be, the Gentiles would have access to God's throne, the Gentiles would be called. The Jews were given the opportunity to follow Christ, but they rejected Him, as you know. I was sought by those who did not ask for Me.

I was found by those who did not seek Me. You know, they weren't there, you know, pleading to God, but as the gospel spread throughout Asia and those Gentile areas, God opened minds, He opened hearts, and they came to God, and and all of a sudden the Gentiles were receiving the Holy Spirit, and they became people of God. And here we had Jews and Gentiles, something that people wouldn't have seen in the Old Testament times, that the two of those would become one family and one people, but God created that that way.

So, here's the Gentiles. I was found by those who did not ask for Me. I was found by those who didn't seek Me. I said, here I am. Here I am to a nation that was not called by My name. Israel was God's people, right? They took upon, they took upon, they took God's name upon them. They were His people. He made a covenant with them. They said, everything you do, everything you say, we will do. They took His name, but they didn't honor that.

They put in the death when Jesus Christ came as the Messiah. And so, here is a people that weren't called by His name that are receiving Him, that are following Him, that are being called by Him, and become grafted in, as it talks about in Romans 10 and 11. In verse 2, He says, I've stretched out My hands all day long.

I've stretched out My hands all day long to a rebellious people. He's talking about Israel. We know the history of Israel. God would ask them to do something. They would do it for a while, but as soon as they saw another way to do things, they would just leave God behind, leave His way behind, and adopt those principles and do what they wanted to do, rather than being loyal and committed to the covenant that they had entered into with Him. I stretched out My hands all day long to a rebellious people who walk in a way that is not good, according to their own thoughts.

Those are five words there that we should remember. When we are walking according to our own thoughts, then we are walking apart from God. Israel would do that. There are Proverbs, and there's Proverbs 14 and 12, so I'm looking correct me if that's not. There is a way that seems right to a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death, according to their own thoughts.

Sometimes people get ideas in their minds. It's like, well, this is the way it should be. This is how it should be. That's My way. You take it to the extreme, what we have in the world today. That's My truth, which when I hear that anymore, it just sends a signal through my brain. But according to their own thoughts, our own thoughts lead us from God. We always have to yield to Him and be following what He would have us do. It says in verse 3, "...a people who provoke Me to anger continually to My face." Well, you know, we can think about God. We can think about those of us who have had children, or even those who haven't, who have countered, who grew up in households with brothers and siblings and whatever.

There are things that you might ask people to do, even in an employment situation, or if you're a teacher, or whatever situation you might have.

And then, you know, when there's someone who just simply will not do what you say, or it's always done a little bit different way, and always there's this attitude that I'm not going to do it the way you want. I'm going to do it the way I want.

And it kind of just causes consternation. And that's what Israel did to God. And we can do that to do God, too. So it says, "...a people who provoke Me to anger continually to My face." He sees everything we do, and He sees the attitudes that we have. We have to stop sometimes and think, what attitude are we showing God?

Are we truly grateful to Him? Are we truly thankful for the calling He's given us? And if we would stop and think about it, and think about what He's preparing us for, we wouldn't continually provoke Him to His face. And then He starts beginning in the next part of verse 3 here to talk about the things that Israel and people do to irritate Him.

And these are referring to some ancient practices, but we still have these things that He lists here in verses 3, 4, and 5 with us today. They're just done a different way. The next part of verse 3, you know, "...people who provoke Me to anger continually to My face, who sacrifice in gardens." Now, the word sacrifice there, well, usually, typically we'll talk about some kind of religious thing. And in ancient times, and we still have them today if we think about it, in ancient times, the pagans would have these beautiful gardens, right?

Flower gardens, whatever they are, tree gardens, you name it. And often in the midst of those gardens, they would have a pagan god, a statue there. And it was their way of worshiping the earth. That god was the one who provided the fruit, the beauty, you know, the vegetation and everything.

And those gardens that they walked into was their way of honoring their god for what he had done. So, you know, we've even seen some of those things. I remember growing up, we were, I grew up in the, you know, outside of Chicago in the Indiana side. It was a very, well, or my in-laws, not my in-laws, my aunts and uncles lid was more of a Catholic neighborhood than the one I grew up in. But you would see these statues of Mary out in front of houses and in the middle of a garden, if there was a flower garden there, and you'd walk out there, and there's this statue of Mary.

And they weren't consciously thinking about worshiping Mary for the garden. But there is a whole group of people on earth that do worship the earth, right? I mean, we've all heard of Mother Earth, and in China and large portions of the earth, they worship the earth. You know, some would even say today, all the attention that is on climate change, a controversial subject, has to do with some people as it becoming a religion in worshiping the earth.

You sacrifice this, you sacrifice that, all to preserve the earth and whatever. And it's a strange way of looking at things, but when you look at what the elements of a religion are, and you put those together, you see what is going on, and you kind of see what's going on in some people's minds.

But here it talks about who sacrifice in gardens, and that is worshiping the earth, having a god and thanking the god, you know, the god of vegetation, the god of whatever it is for that. Anger is God. Anger is God, right? Because he provides everything. He is the soul savior. He is the soul provider. He is the one who provides everything else, and we worship him and give him thanks for everything that we have. Who sacrifice in gardens, and who burn incense and alters a brick.

Now here's another instance of mankind's doing things. You can keep your finger there in Isaiah 65, but if we turn back to Exodus 20, you see a command of God. Again, a very easy command to keep, but Antine will just, you know, do things a little bit differently than what God says, just, I guess, because it's their own way. Not exactly what he said. In Exodus 20, we have the Ten Commandments listed, but then later in the chapter, in chapter 24, he talks about these altars on which Israel, his people, should offer their sacrifices.

In verse 24, it says, an altar of earth you shall make for me, and you shall sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen. In every place where I record my name, I will come to you and I will bless you. And if you make me an altar of stone, you shall not build it of hewn stone. For if you use your tool on it, you have profaned it.

So it's like, don't, don't use brick. Don't use hewn stone. If you're going to make me an altar, and we're going to, you're going to sacrifice on it, don't use hewn stone. So here God is saying, in chapter 65, and you burn incense on altars of brick. I told you how to build that altar. Build it the way I said, but yet you do it your own way. It goes back to according to their own thoughts. Well, brick is easier to lay or whatever, whatever the thought process is.

But again, you know, that's why you will hear the church say, and you'll hear me say a lot, we have to learn to do things exactly the way God says. Pay attention to the detail. There's a lot of detail we don't know, but that's part of the growth that we have as we become more like Christ. To pay attention to the detail and order our lives according to the words of God. Here they didn't. Something as simple as God says is, you're provoking me to anger.

You've made your altars out of brick, out of hewn stone when I said don't do it. Verse 4, they sit among the graves. This is, you know, sit among the graves. I guess it was something they did in ancient times when you look up in the concordances, there were people in the pagan world that when someone would die, they would sit among the graves to be with them. You know, if it was the day or two after they died, there was a belief that the spirit would be there and the spirit would talk to them and that they would be able to feel the spirit of them.

And so they would sit by the graves wanting to feel that spirit of the person who had just died. We have some of that with us today. I don't know of anyone who's ever sat by a grave after someone's been buried, but I have heard people say, I felt their spirit when they died.

I felt their spirit either come into me or I felt their spirit in the room. And it's like, that's kind of strange. I'm sure they're just thinking of the memory and everything like that, but the way some say it, it makes you wonder what they're really thinking. I don't mean anyone in the church that's been other people I've heard say that, but this is what they were doing there. And God says, when the dead are dead, they're dead. They're dead. Look forward to the resurrection. Every man, woman, and child will live again.

They will have the chance to, if they haven't in this life, been called. They will be, and their minds will be open, but don't think you're going to commune with the dead spirits. That is of Satan. That's not what's there. But God says, here are some who sit among the graves. Here's some who spend the night in the tombs for the same reason. They will just stay there because they want to be with it, and they don't want to miss whatever communication might be coming from that dead spirit of their departed one. So you have all these things. I guess today we would have people not doing that, but we have things like séances.

We have things like fortune tellers. Never been to know one. Never will be to one. But I understand that they can conjure up spirits and tell you what Grandma had to say, or your aunt or uncle had to say, or whatever. So it may not be people sitting in the graves, but we still have this element with us in the world today of communicating with the dead.

God is pretty clear. The Bible, don't do that. Don't do that. Saul did that when he went to the witch of Endor and had a demon represent himself as Samuel. God says, don't do that. Understand the truth. You know the truth. Live by it, and don't listen to what the world says, the pagans say, or even begin to think about doing things the way they say.

Going on to verse 4, here's a common one. Who eats swine's flesh.

A few times in the course when I was a pastor, we would talk with people, and that people will remember one case specifically that we were talking to a lady, and she'd been taking the plain truth forever. She wanted to go to church, hadn't been to church before. We talked about fundamental beliefs. We got down to clean and unclean foods, and she kind of looked at us and was like, well, I'm not going to do that. I'm not going to give up pork chops or whatever it was. I'm not going to give up lobster, and that isn't valid. We talked about it as like, no, it is valid.

We honor God by doing what he says, and she never called again. She was like, I'm not giving it up. I thought, well, so your God is lobster, or whatever the pork thing was that she just had to have. I thought, that's pretty weak, but again, what did she choose? People will say that in the world. It's like, what's the difference? What's the difference if you eat pork? We know the truth about what Christ said about washing your hands and purifying all foods. We know what the real truth of Acts 10 and 11 is when Peter saw the sheet descending in there. People will say, what's the difference? Does that really matter? And their own thoughts might not matter, but here's God saying, you anger me. Here's people who put me, who anger me to my face and provoke me to anger, who eat swine's flesh. That's not the only time he says it. He says it in chapter 66 as well. So anyone who claims to be a Christian following God, here's two verses you could say, clearly talking about a time ahead of us, not just Old Testament time, about the foods they eat. Everything God asks us to do is a sacrifice to Him. It is our reasonable service if we really appreciate the calling He's given us to sacrifice. If He says, give it up, we give it up. Just thank Him for everything He's done in our lives. So verse 4, so if you eat swine, and I do have a, you know, you can go back and look at Leviticus 11, where the clean and unclean meats are. I don't think we need to go back there and read all that. Everyone online here is well aware of those verses where God says, these are the foods to eat, and these are the foods that are unclean. You know, don't eat them. So verse 4, yeah, who eats swine's flesh and the broth of abominable things is in their vessels.

Things they eat in soups, whatever it is, you know, I don't even, some of you may know some of those abominable things that are in soups that people eat. The only thing that came to my mind was, you know, I do know in some parts of the world, they have something called blood soup and, and, you know, God says, don't eat blood. And yet, you know, there's something like that in some parts of the world. I'm sure there's other abominable things that people boil to make a broth out of and, well, clam chowder, I guess, would probably fit into that as well. So, so you can kind of see the things God is saying here. Here, his people, people who provoke me to anger, and then he lists these things. Of course, the Ten Commandments are always things. Those are just those, those people obey, we're supposed to obey without even having to mention them, right? I mean, because that's just given. But God is saying these other things here, too, that they've adopted from other cultures. You know, there's this danger in looking at how other religions do things. And ancient Israel was guilty of that often. That's why God says in Deuteronomy 12, verses 29 to 32, don't look and see how the Gentiles worship their gods and think that I'm going to be honored if you apply those things to your worship of me. And so, you know, here in December, where, you know, the world is, you know, celebrating Christmas, obviously, and so many people know that it is based on a pagan festival from way back when. And that they think, oh well, as long as, as long as we're mentioning God, He's okay with it. And He's absolutely not. We could add, you know, add, you know, we could add that into verses 3, 4, 3, and 4 here as well. God's not honored by that. It's an abomination. It provokes Him. It provokes Him to anger, to see people doing those things. So God says, don't look at the way they're doing it out in the world. Just follow me. He's got all the answers. He knows exactly the way Jesus Christ said He's, the way, the truth, the life. Just do it His way. He will lead if we just yield ourselves to Him. We don't need the world's religions giving us clues as to how to worship Him or, or preach His gospel.

Okay, verse 5. Verse 5. Who say, you know, and they probably don't say this to His face, although I'm sure some people do, keep to yourself, God, who say, keep to yourself, God, don't come near me, for I'm holier than you. Well, what are they saying? When we say, oh, this is the way we should do it, you know, we should do bricks. We should all, we could sacrifice on altars of bricks rather than unhewn stone. It's like God looks at that and says, you know more than me. I mean, you, you know better how to worship me than what I tell you to do. Who say, keep to yourself, don't tell us what to do, don't come near me, I'm holier than you.

And sometimes we have to think about our actions, and is that what we're telling God? I, I think I know better than you what to do, and see how God responds to that. And then He says, these are smoke in my nostrils, a fire that burns all the day. It just irritates Him.

You know, very thankful that God is patient with us, that He's merciful with us, that He's long suffering, because He, He really loves all of mankind, and He really wants them to repent, and to receive eternal life. And yet He, and yet, you know, mankind irritates Him, and He understands, He doesn't condone, but He understands what we need, but we all have to, and all mankind is going to have to come to the point where we, you know, where we yield, where we yield to Him. Yeah, I ever, I wrote down here, as I was reading that verse, spiritual pride, right? That, that's the spiritual pride where we know more than God. And He would look at it and say, well, you, you seem to be taking a lot upon yourself if you would, you know, if you would look into my word and remember humility and follow me and tremble at my word, then we're serving God, and then, then we move along well. So God talks about these people, right, who provoke Him to anger in verse 6. He says, Behold, it's written before me. I won't keep silence, but I will repay, even repay into their bosom, your iniquities and the iniquities of your fathers together.

There is a consequence. There is a consequence for sin. There is a consequence for doing things differently than the way God said, for transgressions, iniquities, sins, for the attitudes that we have, and, you know, your iniquities and the iniquities of your fathers together. There will be consequences of it. And then He talks about they burnt incense on the mountains, you know, again, worshiping other gods. And again, the ancient ways of doing things were one way, but we still have gods among us today that we've talked about many times that people will trust in and rely on and sacrifice to, right?

It would be jobs, income, money, power, authority, whatever people, whatever is their God that they're willing to sacrifice to anger God or go against His will because they want what they want so badly. Anyway, so God says, they burned incense on the mountains. They blasphemed me on the hills. You know, they've minimized God. We never want to take God's name in vain. You know, if we have been baptized and we're following God, then we need to be behaving and conducting ourselves exactly the way that the Bible says to, you know, as we're led by His Spirit.

Therefore, I will measure their former work into their bosom. You know, it's like, I'll just hit them in the chest. I'm just gonna knock them down. You know, they're going to feel the consequences of it because sin is not without its consequences.

So, you know, there's no secret that most of mankind and even most of Israel doesn't worship God. Back in Isaiah 6, way back in Isaiah 6, you'll remember when God was calling Isaiah, He talked about there would be a remnant, right? And Isaiah was going to go out and he was going to preach this word. He was going to continue preaching it until the cities were laid waste. We'll go back to Isaiah 6 in a minute. But He said, there will be a remnant.

Ten percent of them, ten percent of them, I won't make a complete end of Israel. They will pay for their sins and for rejecting God, but there would be this group, this group, this remnant that would live over into the kingdom, and that God would grow Israel again from that remnant. He begins to talk about that in verse 8 of Isaiah 65. It says, Thus says the Lord, as the new wine is found in the cluster, yeah, just looking at my notes here, as the new wine is found in the cluster, and one says, Don't destroy it, for a blessing is in it.

So will I do for my servants' sake that I may not destroy them all. So the wording is a little different than we might say it, but we know there's clusters of grapes, and sometimes if you're gathering grapes and harvesting them, you might look at a bunch of grapes and say, Ah, it's just not a good bunch. They're all withered, whatever the things happen with grapes.

So we'll just throw the whole bunch away. But what he's saying in this verse is, there are some good grapes among that bad bunch. You might look at the outside of it and say, Ah, no, they're wilted, they're rotten, they're sour, whatever the thing is, but there are some good grapes on the inside of that.

So as the new wine is found in the cluster, and one says, Don't destroy it. Don't throw away the good with the bad. Just get rid of the bad. Save the good grapes. For a blessing is in it. A blessing is, there will be wine out of that in it.

So look for the good. Kind of reminded me when you unpack that verse and see what God is saying, it reminds you of Abraham back in Genesis 18 when God says, I'm going to destroy God, Sodom and Gomorrah. It's an evil city. They have gotten worse and worse and worse, and the end has come for them. Abraham goes back to God and says, Well, no, if there's 50 righteous in it, he doesn't go there and say, Oh, no, Sodom is a good place. Well, if there's 50 righteous in it, will you destroy the righteous with the wicked?

God says, No, if there's 50 in it, I won't. Then he goes down 50, 40, 30, 20, 10. And God does save Lot and his family out of it. There were good grapes, if you will, in that cluster of Sodom and Gomorrah. But all of it was bad, but God knew where the righteous were, and he took them out of it. And that's what Moses was saying. Don't destroy the whole cluster. There's good in it.

For the righteous, will you save them? And God did. And so we have this thing, the remnant, the remnant that's there. Israel has turned against God. They have angered God. We look at the world around us today, the Israelite nations, moving further and further away from God in every single aspect of life. You know, just ordinary human behavior that's been down through the ages that we move further and further away from it. But we know that in, there is, you know, God has his people in places, and he will watch out for them.

He won't destroy the bad with the good. Let's go back for just a second to Isaiah 6. And just look at that again, because again, here we are on the other side of Isaiah. And we see the same things through Isaiah, the same prophecies, the same patterns that God has talked about.

And, you know, even in chapter 66, we're going to read some of the things that we've been talking about in 65 here tonight. But Isaiah 66 and verse 11, God is calling Isaiah. And he says, you know, basically, I've touched your lips, I've purified you. Isaiah, you can go out and speak my word. And verse 11, Isaiah says, well, Lord, how long? And God answers until the cities are laid waste and without inhabitant, the houses are without a man, and the land is utterly desolate.

That hasn't happened. That will happen again. God's word will be preached until the time that Jesus Christ returns. The Lord has removed men far away, and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land. But yet, but yet a tenth will be in it, and will return and be for consuming as a terra bith tree or as an oak, whose stump remains when it's cut down.

So the holy seed will be its stump. So God says, yeah, Israel is going to suffer. Israel is going to be displaced. Israel is going to be laid waste. But there is a remnant that I will bring back. And throughout Isaiah, we've seen God talking about bringing his people back to the Promised Land. There they're going to be planted. There they're going to worship God. They're going to be people who loathe themselves for what has happened and what they have allowed to happen.

And they turn to God with all their heart and mind. So that God, if you remember from a couple weeks ago, he said, he says, they will be children who won't be untrue. They'll be true to me because now they know who God is.

Now they see what they've done, and they've repented of their wrong, and they will be people who are true to him. So verse 8 is referring back to that, as God uses an agricultural example here, again, for people to understand what he's saying, right? Oh yeah, that's, yeah, well, we gather grapes.

We do that. We look for the good grapes inside those. We just don't throw the whole thing away. And verse 9, if I'm back in chapter 65 now, chapter 65, he talks about something we talked about a couple weeks ago as well. He says, I will bring forth descendants from Jacob, Jacob being Israel, of course, and from Judah and heir of my mountains. My elect shall inherit it, and my servant shall dwell there. He's talking about bringing them back.

I will bring the people back. I'll bring forth descendants from Jacob. My elect shall inherit the land. My servant shall dwell there. Sharon shall be a fold of flocks, and the valley of Acor a place for herds to lie down for my people who have sought me. It's going to be a great place to live.

Now, when God says he'll bring forth descendants back from Jacob and from Judah, it might remind us of Isaiah. Let me see my notes here. Isaiah 16. Isaiah 16.

And verse 21. And here God is talking about the people being brought to their promised land. Verse 21 of chapter 60, he says, "...your people shall all be righteous. They shall inherit the land forever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I, God, may be glorified. A little one shall become a thousand. Out of a very small number he will grow and he will multiply Israel. A little one shall become a thousand. A small one a strong nation. I, the Lord, will hasten it in his time." Hey, John! Comment? Mr. Shaby, in verse 9, where it says, I will bring forth descendants from Jacob and from Judah and heir of my mountains, he then says, my elect shall inherit it. Do you see a link to that elect with the elect over in Matthew chapter 24 and verse 22, that unless those days would be shortened, no flesh would be saved alive, but for the elect's sake those days would be shortened? Is that part of the the reserving or the sparing of the remnant through the end time?

Or do you see a link there? You know, I mean, he's talking about the physical people here. The elect, you know, the first fruits will be spirit beings at that time, right? So, but he does say he does say the elect, there is the inheritance with, yeah, the inheritance of what we co-heirs with Christ. So, I hadn't really thought about that, but that's a good point.

What do you think?

Well, as I mentioned before, the crucial point is that there is a remnant available that Satan here in Matthew 24 is trying to kill, but for the sake of those physical beings that need to be alive for the millennium, it says for their sake the days would be shortened or Satan would have that time cut short. And it just seemed to jump out here. I had not seen this before, this connection, but it seems to jump out here that that elect could be what's being referred to in Matthew 24 since the saints. I mean, we die daily, you know, we've got the first resurrection, but Matthew chapter, I'm sorry, Revelation chapter 20 and verse 5 says that God will not resurrect anybody until after the thousand years are finished except for the firstfruits.

Correct. Yeah, interesting. Yeah, when those words show up, there's a tie, usually. There's a tie to us. That's a good point. So, okay, any other comments on that?

Okay, let's, I guess we read verse 10 here. So, 8, 9, 10, talking about the remnant, the people who will be faithful to God, and the verse 10, for my people who have sought me, right, that'd be a place to live. Verse 11, but then he goes back to the people who forsake God, but you are those who forsake the eternal, who forget my holy mountain, who prepare a table for God, and who furnish a drink offering for many. So, you know, this is what the promise is. This is what's going to happen. This is what I would like to have all of Israel do, but you forget me. You put me out of your mind. Now, God says, remember so many times. We get into the spring holy days, and I always say one of the key words in the spring holy days is remember. Remember what God has done. You know, remember the Sabbath day is the fourth commandment, but this is you are those who forsake. You let him you let him by. You forget my holy mountain. You go out and you prepare a table for God.

Yeah, you're doing something with the gods here, and who furnish a drink offering for many. Therefore, verse 12, I will number you for the sword. These are some pretty strong words from God. Therefore, you know what? You're doing that. So, this is the punishment. I will number you for the sword, and you shall all bow down to the slaughter, because when I called, you didn't answer.

I'll be with you just a minute, Xavier, because when I called, you didn't answer.

And when I spoke, you didn't hear. I gave you warnings. I tried to call you back. I tried to get your attention, but you wouldn't listen. You wouldn't pay attention, but you did evil before my eyes. Interesting in verse 12 there, God says the punishment, and we're going to see him say exactly the same words in chapter 66, verse 4. But we'll get to that in just a second. Xavier?

Brother Shaby, verse 11 there, we were talking about you earlier. This made just reference to the people who God chose to preserve to bring over into the millennia, because here he makes a differentiation between two groups. From our point of the sword, the others will go through all the chaos also, and they will be preserved and brought over as that 10%. It doesn't mean that they were the most faithful people. It just may not, by election, God say, you're going to survive. They may have repented at the end, but they're not in the first resurrection. And then also in verse 11, the word God there is better, most translation, better translated as fortune, and the other word as fate. Those are the two false gods that they were definitely worshiping in this context. In that version. Fortunate fate, yeah. Very good. Good points. And that's an interesting point. That word of lack, the presence of it there, does indicate the true groups of the people in even a slightly different way. So, very good. So, anything else? Okay. So in verse 12, I mean, God says, you know, because you do this, this is what your punishment is going to be. Because when I called, you didn't answer. Again, he will remind us. God will always send the message to us. Our ears have to be in tune to what is being said, whether it's the words that we read in the Bible or someone tells us, you know, you need to look at this, or if our spouse says something, or we hear something in a sermon, pay attention. Pay attention and yield to God. And, you know, because he will get our attention to it, and we don't want to close our minds to it. It's interesting that it repeats those very same words from verse 12 in chapter 65 in verse 4 of chapter 66. And he tells us what the punishment, I guess, for those who are out worshiping other gods and doing those things in verse 12. But if we look over in chapter 66 verse 4, we'll see this again in the next Bible study. But, you know, it says the line before it, they're sold to lights and their abominations. So God says, so I will choose their delusions, right? I will bring their fears on them, because when I called, no one answered. When I spoke, they didn't hear. So we have a sword coming upon. Then we have other people who were doing other things. And, you know, and God says, well, I'll choose their delusions. What they have feared, and that not trusting in me and not looking to me, I'll bring their fears upon them. And I remember, I just remember growing up, you know, I don't remember who, God will bring your fears upon you. If you fear something more than God, he will bring those fears upon you. And I guess that's where that comes from. But anyway, when God says exactly the same words twice, every word of the Bible will pay attention to it. When he says it twice, we really pay attention to it. Okay, so back in chapter 65, verse 13. So we have these two groups of people. One, the elect, as it says in verse 9, the other who are not, who choose to not choose to do what God doesn't delight in, it says the last verse of verse 12. And so then it draws the distinction. Therefore, thus says the Lord God, my servants, those who serve me, those who obey me, those who count important what I say, my servants will eat, but you'll be hungry. My servants shall drink, but you'll be thirsty. My servants shall rejoice, but you will be ashamed.

Pretty clear distinction there. My servants shall sing for joy of heart, but you will cry for sorrow of heart and wail for grief of spirit. So he sends what the thing is. And one thing for us always to remember, it may seem difficult to choose what God wants. The persecution comes and it's like, it'll be so easy to give in. It's always, it's always keep your eyes on the joy God sets before you. Always on the kingdom, always knowing he will deliver. And that what lies ahead of whatever pain or discomfort or tribulation or persecution comes, it's always good to keep your eyes on that.

But we have to use that during our lives and train ourselves on that to keep our eyes focused and develop that trust in God that we absolutely know that and wouldn't let ourselves fall prey to whatever it is that may come our way. And God says that very eloquently here in verses 13 and 14.

In verse 15, verse 15, then he comes to the name. He says, you shall leave your name as a curse, leave your name as a curse to my chosen. So, you know, we've read before that, you know, the people who disobey God, who end up in the lake of fire, and they will be remembered forever and ever and ever. They will be ashamed. They will be a curse. People will realize this is what happens when you don't obey God. You shall leave your name as a curse to my chosen. That's what they'll think of you as. You didn't yield to God. You failed. You blew it in life. You had the opportunity, and you didn't do it. For the Lord God will slay you and call his servants by another name.

And so, that goes to the future again. That God says his servants, he will give them a new name. We'll go to Revelation 3 in a minute, but if we go a couple of chapters back to chapter 62, you know, God said the same thing. Again, in Isaiah, we see these themes continuing as God keeps repeating and drilling into our minds. This is what's going to happen. The consistency throughout the book is incredible, and it can only be of God. Verse 62, it says, The Gentiles shall see your righteousness, and all kings your glory. You shall be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord will name. You'll be called by a new name. So, you know, then in verse 4, he says, You'll no longer be termed forsaken, nor shall your land any more be termed desolate, but you will be called Hasabah, and your land, Bula, for the Lord delights in you, and your land shall be and shall be married. A new, you know, a new name.

If we go back to Revelation 3, you know, Revelation kind of brings together all the prophecies of the Bible, and you know, it's the last book that God inspired to be written, and you see the themes throughout the Old Testament and New Testament all come together in the book of Revelation, when we are in verse chapter 3, and chapter 3 and verse 12. Speaking of the Philadelphia of the church, this is a church that God doesn't really say anything negative about. They wait for God. They're small flock. They let God lead them. They haven't denied His word. In verse 12, they still have to overcome. They're still sinned that we all have to overcome. He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go out no more. I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from my God, and I will write on him my new name. So, as we're in chapter 65, we see the time frame that God has us in here as He's prophesying. It's clear that the time that we're talking about as we go through these verses is the time when Jesus Christ returns as we go through the millennium, as we go into the white throne judgment, as we're going to see in just a couple verses here.

Clearly, the time is back to exactly the time of the white throne judgment in Revelation 21. But let's go back to chapter 65 of Isaiah. I want to hear verse 15.

Your old name is going to be on these people who didn't follow God, who didn't yield to God, who didn't serve Him, but you'll be named a new name. Just like Abraham became Abraham, Jacob became Israel. I'll write a new name on you, God says. In verse 16, he says, so that he who blesses himself in the earth shall bless himself in the God of truth.

When he walks on earth, and he's blessed as he walks through, it'll be because he worships and knows the God of truth. He's not going to be in the gardens worshiping another God, saying, thank you, God of the earth, mother earth, or whatever it is. He will be worshiping the God of truth and giving him the glory. That's where all the glory belongs. And he who swears in the earth shall swear by the God of truth. The God of truth, not looking to any other God. They will know God. And God alone is the Savior. He alone is the provider. He is alone is the Creator, the sustainer, the Savior of all of us. Because the former troubles are forgotten. And because God says they are hidden from my eyes. You know, he says in Isaiah, back in chapter 43, he says, I will blot out all your transgressions, and I won't remember them anymore.

Yeah, let's go back to Isaiah. You don't have to go back there. I'll read it from Isaiah 43.

43 verse 25. God says, I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins. Put me in remembrance, he says, and let us contend together. State your case that you may be acquitted. Be honest with God. Be upfront with him. Let him know and work with the Scriptures. Work with God. Use his Holy Spirit and let him lead you to the peace that comes from yielding to him and acknowledging the sins that we all have, you know, that God will reveal, reveal to us. Hey, Becky. Hey, I think it's really interesting there that he says, for my own sake, it gives some thought to the expression, forgive and forget. Sometimes I think that that's what he wants us to do and to be like a little child. That's what they do. They forgive you and they move on for their own sake. I mean, it's healing to be able to forget about the wrong or the thing. We can't dwell on those things. So it is for our own sake and that's following God's example, I believe. Yeah, and it is really good. I mean, we all run into little problems here or there to just get over it, right? Get over it and don't hold the grudge. Don't get bitter. Just forgive and get on with life and understand we're all God's working for all of us to bring us to who he wants us to be. Okay. So we're okay. Verse 17. Now, 17 is clearly right. I mean, as we read verse 17, our minds go right to Revelation 21. For behold, God says, you know, I'll also give you Psalm 51.9. I mentioned Isaiah 43 where God blots out our sins and Psalm 51.9 in David's Prayer of Repentance. He says, blot out my sins and don't remember them anymore. It's Psalm 51 verse 9. So verse 17, for behold, I create new heavens and a new earth. Completely, you know, at the end of Revelation, after the millennial time, the time of the white throne judgment that we read about there in the second resurrection and then beyond that. For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth and the former shall not be remembered or come to mind. But be glad and rejoice forever.

Here's the eternity. Be glad and rejoice forever in what I create. For behold, I create Jerusalem as a rejoicing and her people a joy forever. That Jerusalem will be forever a city of peace. And we've talked about that before, how God will, you know, how God will, that Jerusalem will be a place that all people go to. They look, they go to the mountain of the Lord. They look for, they look for His law and want to learn it. So we go back to Revelation 21. We have to, just because, just because these words are written here, you know, thousands of years later, as God inspired John with the book of Revelation. Revelation 21, 1 says, Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no more sea. And I, John, verse 2, saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. So we see, we see the time frame we're in, as we're in these verses in chapter 65, as we're approaching the end of Isaiah. Behold, I create new heavens and a new earth. The former shall not be remembered to come to mind. In 1 Peter, 1 Peter 3 or 2 Peter 3, you know, Peter says, when the purpose for the physical earth is done, it will be burned up. It won't be remembered anymore. It'll be placed with a new heaven and new earth where God comes down and makes his place and that he lives there and dwells and dwells with men. Now, in verse 18, just be glad. Be glad forever there will be peace. Forever. All the old is past. All the pain, all the suffering, all the tears, all the agony, all the wars, all the consternation, it's all gone. It's all gone, and it'll be the time of peace and harmony that mankind has always wanted. Verse 19, I will rejoice in Jerusalem and joy in my people, God says. The voice of weeping shall no longer be heard in her, nor the voice of crying. It's the same thing if you want to mark down Isaiah 30, verse 19. It's the same thing he says back in Isaiah 30, verse 19. And Isaiah 30, remember, that's the chapter that says your teachers will not be in a corner anymore. You'll see your teachers and they will say, this is the way. Walk you in it. And we talked about that being a millennial chapter. And here we know the setting we're in here, too, when God is talking about Jerusalem. That'll be a city of peace and a city of rejoicing forever. And then we come to verse 20.

Seeing the context that we're in right now, we're talking about a time clearly that didn't happen in ancient Israel. Clearly not the time we're living right now, but clearly a prophetic time God inspires these verses. No more, no more shall an infant from there live but a few days, nor an old man who has not fulfilled his days. People will have complete lives. You know, you won't have a baby who dies a week old or dies from, you know, this thing that's going on in China and here in Ohio, you know, they're talking about, you know, it's not huge numbers, but three to eight-year-olds who have this white lung disease and whatever, they won't die. They won't die from just a few days. An old man who has not fulfilled his days, he will live out his life.

For the child shall die a hundred years old, but the sinner being a hundred years old shall be accursed. So the church in the past has looked at that and, you know, it could... we don't know exactly what it means, but we know that we all don't live a hundred years today. Mankind has not just lived a hundred years. There are some that say, you know, a generation of the Bible is like a hundred years, and it's got me... the generation will be there. Well, when God says a hundred years, I think he means a hundred years. Could that be a millennial verse? Could it be a white throne judgment verse, right? Because in the second resurrection, all those who weren't resurrected in the first resurrection of the first roots are resurrected. Every man, woman, and child who has ever lived, whether they ever heard the name of Jesus Christ in their lifetime or not, they will be resurrected. And you recall in chapter 20 there, it talks about how books will be opened, that they will understand... they will understand the truth of God, just like God has given us the gift of understanding His truth. That will all... that will all be there, and there will be a time that they will learn and that they will be judged according to what they do with their life and the knowledge that God gives them. And it says there at the end of chapter 20, whoever wasn't written in the book of life will be in the lake of fire. It'll either be eternal life or it'll be eternal death. That's the two choices. Jesus Christ said it in John 5, the resurrection, either to condemnation or to life.

So in that white throne judgment, because there's a time when the purpose of mankind ends. And God knows exactly how He's going to wrap up the physical earth and the end of the plan that He has in mind with Jesus Christ to finish this what it is. So some of what I say here is probably... is speculation for sure, but at some point in time there is no... there will be no more births, right? Life, because things end. Everyone who has been born, everyone... God will judge everyone to give them the time to do that. And it might be that this verse 20 is showing that. The child will live 100 years, the old man will live 100 years, and then everyone who has ever had a chance to live on earth, who has ever been born, will be judged in the book of life or not the book of life.

We don't know. We can't say that that's exactly what that is. As we get closer and closer to the time, God will reveal what it is. But today, you know, we can look at that verse, and it's different and it's in the context of white throne judgment and eighth day, as we would call it, or last great day. There's something that God has in mind, but we don't know yet. But there is... there's come a time when the purpose of physical man... that's all complete. And God wraps it up, and then do heaven and new earth, and the rest of eternity begins. So that's that verse.

It is different than typical life we live in now, so we know there's something in the future that God will, you know, will do there. Yeah, hey Xavier. Hi, brother Shabe. Could we... like most of Isaiah and different prophecies where our Father and Lord have incense of different things, and they don't fall in the back, or it's then they go back to the present. If this was, say, us thinking, we would probably put verse 20 to 25 before verse 17. Yep. Yep. I know, that's why I say it could be a millennial, right? Because the verses follow it are clearly millennial. So it might be something that's talking about what's going to happen in the millennium. We don't know. It comes right there.

Exactly. Hey, John. All right. I'm... that's it. Thank you. I've heard in the past... I remember growing up in Pasadena, this section was assumed to be written in reverse, just as has been mentioned from verse 23. I'm sorry, from verse... the end of the chapter, verse 25, the wolf and the lamb represented a millennium. Verse 23 came back to verse 20, was second resurrection. And verse 19 through 17 was new heavens and new earth. Like these three sections had been written in reverse. Yeah. And that's, that's the way it had been referred to, in my younger days, out of Pasadena. But again, it's kind of speculative, like you said, but it was curious that we would see that sort of written as new heavens and new earth. And before that was second resurrection. And before that was the millennial reign of Christ. Yep. They're all put there. We know it's a future time, so it all happens. Exactly. Only God knows exactly the order, right? Of what all these things... Well, some of them we know are clearly millennial. We'll get into that in verse 21. They shall build houses and inhabit them, plant vineyards and eat their fruit. They shall not build in another inhabit. We can think back to Deuteronomy, where God says, if you don't obey me and you start departing from me, you'll build in another will inhabit. You'll plant in another will reap, right? But here He says, no, not at that time. They shall not build in another inhabit. They shall not plant in another eat. For the days of the trees, so shall be the days of my people. They will live a full life. They will live a full life. And my elect shall... There's that word again. And my elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands.

Hey, Dale. Hi, yeah, it seems like it's all talking about the physical remnant and not the same, right? And I was also wondering about 20 and 21 verses together, if they maybe, again, maybe speculating, maybe they are connected to each other for the same physical remnant during the millennium. Maybe we can't be 100% sure. What are your thoughts?

This says the word and in verse 21, right? This is what I thought it might be connecting because of that. Yeah. Obviously, they're connected together somehow, right? It's all the time after the return of Jesus Christ and the Millennial and whatever, you know? But to point out what was pointed out before, there's that word elect in verse 22. My elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands. They shall not labor in vain. They won't bring forth children for trouble, meaning they won't be sacrificed. They won't die in war, I guess, and everything. For they shall be the descendants of the blessed of the Lord and their offspring with them. So, yeah.

Okay, thanks. We'll live and we'll see exactly what God has in mind.

Okay, verse 24. It shall come to pass. Now, see, this is a Millennial verse 2.

Because we know that Jesus Christ in the Sermon on the Mount, he said, ask and you shall receive. Seek and you shall find. Knock and it will be answered. Or ask, ask, yeah. Matthew 7, verses 7 and 8. So, God expects us in this lifetime, we have to train ourselves that we look to him. When we need something, we call on God. Ask and you will receive. Knock and it will be open. Seek and you will find. But here he says the opposite. It'll come to pass in those days that before they call, I'll answer. Now, why would that be? Because these people have learned to trust God. They have through their life, they call on God. That they, you know, oh, I have this trouble. I have this sickness. I don't know what to say here. There's a situation I don't know how to deal with. What do I do, God? He's always ready to teach and train. When we ask him to teach, train. We don't know how to deal with this situation. We don't know what to do. We have to train ourselves through this lifetime to call on him. And the people in this time, after the return of Jesus Christ, he doesn't have to wait because he knows they're looking to him. Before they call, I'll answer. He knows now what our needs are, but we have to go through the discipline of looking to him and relying on him, letting him give the answer and knowing that. Before they call, I will answer. And while they are still speaking, I will hear. He knows. He already knows what we need. It's a beautiful verse because we will have come to that point in our lives where we just look to God. He has the answer. We can trust him. We know that he knows what to do. He can give us the words. He can give us the thoughts. He can direct us to the Bible where the proper instruction is. And then, of course, 25 is just completely millennial. The wolf and the lamb shall feed together. The lion shall eat straw like the ox. And dust shall be the serpent's food. They won't hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain, says the Lord. A different nature in animals, a different nature in man. Joel 2, 28, he'll pour out his spirit on all flesh.

It'll be a wonderful, wonderful place to live. So chapter 65 is very millennial, very eighth-day, very white throne judgment. But God is also in that showing us the people who will be in that in that time and have the opportunity to experience all the life and good that he wants to give people and others who in this life just choose to reject God will miss out on that opportunity and suffer the things that they suffer. I wanted to get to verse 2 and leave your thought on that because we're not going to have a Bible study the next few weeks because I'm going to be out of town and out of the country. But let me just get to chapter 66 verse 2 to just kind of finish up.

65 is very encouraging, and I think the first two verses of 66 leave a lot for us to think about as well. With all this good that God is showing, how everything's going to be, he says, us as the Lord, coven's my throne, earth is my footstool, where's the house that you will build me? Are you going to give me something just a physical thing? It's all mine, he says. It's wonderful that you put your heart into it. David wanted to build a house for God. He wanted to do that, but God says, where's the house that you'll build for me? And where is the place of my rest? It's good that you want to please me. It's good that you want to serve me. It's good that you want to show your gratitude toward me, but you can't do that with physical things. They all belong to me. And he says, for all those things my hand has made, and all those things exist. And God says, if you want to please me, this is the one on who I will look. On one who is poor or humble, that's Strong's number 6041, this is the one. This is the sacrifice. This is how you can honor me. This is how you can repay me. To this one I will look. On one who is of a humble and of a contrite spirit, and who trembles. Trembles at my word. That when he reads, it moves us to know that this is the Word of God, and that he has given us the very great—and I'm going to use the word honor, because it is an honor that God has called us and opened our eyes to see the truth here, and we should never, never, never discount it. So let's stop there. The next Bible study, we will finish up the book of Isaiah. But it's going to be three weeks before we have another Bible study. Next week. Mr. Sadie. Yeah, so— Mr. Sadie. Yes. Yes, this is Raymond. Yeah, Raymond.

I noticed that in Isaiah 65th chapter verses 13 to 14, it says, My servants shall eat, drink, and rejoice, and there'll be joy. And then you think of Matthew 5th chapter and Luke 6th chapter, where it says, Blesses are those who hunger in thirst and sorrow.

So it seems like there's a tie in there. Yeah, I think you're right. There are friends that go throughout the Bible that tie it all together.

Very good. Well, let me give you the schedule here. So it'll be—I'm looking at my calendar. I was thinking three weeks, but it's going to be the next three weeks we're going to be out of town. We've got the Atlanta Pastors Conference next week. So actually next Wednesday, Daris, Steve Myers, and I will be on a plane and our wives to the Philippines, because that conference begins that weekend on the Sabbath. So we'll be there. We'll be there. And then the next Wednesday—I'm going to be in Italy in our office over there as we deal with some stuff over there. So it'll be four weeks before we have our next Bible study. So the next three Wednesdays, we won't.

That's 66 verse 2 will be, but you can study ahead on chapter 66, and we will finish it up the next time. And the next time we have a Bible study, I'm going to use one of the polling features that are here on Zoom and see what book we go to next. I have a couple books in mind, but if you want to send an email, a book that you would like to go through and study, we'll put some of those up and see what everyone wants, and we'll figure out what we do after we finish Isaiah. But let's open up to any questions or comments or anything that anyone wants to talk about. Hey, Laramie. That gentleman just mentioned, eat, drink, and rejoice. That was really, really insightful. What did you tie it into again in the New Testament? I missed it. He was looking at Isaiah 65 verses 13-14, and you were tying it, Raymond, into Matthew. Where did you say? Matthew 25? Wait a second. Yeah, I was up. Matthew the the fifth chapter and Luke the sixth chapter, where it's like it's almost I can't say it's a prophecy like, you know, or Jesus is saying like, this is what's going to happen to the people that are mourning and thirsting for my word and other things such as that. And it just seems to me like it may be tying into Isaiah 65 chapter verses 13 and 14, that God is turning everything around for beauty.

I'll have to I'll look that up later. That is quite interesting. I never saw that before. Thank you, Raymond.

Okay. Hey, Dale. Yeah, yeah, I just wonder if I if Acts 3 and you know 19 talk about the restitution of all things. If that connects to Isaiah 65 and 17. But God says he creates new and I maybe that's completely new or maybe it's renewed. What are your thoughts on that?

Oh, I think I think that actually is clearly talking about the time that Jesus Christ returns. I think it all it all just begins at that time, right? And we use it around the piece of tabernacles to talk about how the earth will be restored to its glory during that time when people do. Yeah, but I'm sure it has an application beyond that as well. So yeah, sounds good.

Okay, anything else anyone?

Okay, well, one month is going to be a long time. I have a very good, I will miss being there and I would actually I actually had hoped that I was going to be able to do a Bible study while we were away.

But the times are like 11 hours ahead. And in hotel rooms with we don't know what kind of the internet connection will be. But we will every Wednesday night we'll be thinking about this and we will be we'll be missing seeing you but we will look forward to the time we're all back back together again. Okay, but do keep your but do keep your your prayers on these conferences coming up. I you know it is God has something in mind for Asia. We have seen a lot. I have mentioned that a few times in letters and probably the letter that you'll see tomorrow in the update. We'll talk about that again. We've seen things happening in Asia that are just happening in Myanmar and Bangladesh and Pakistan. There's actually supposed to be someone coming from Mizoram, India over to that conference as well. And they had 500 people attend the feast in Mizoram, India, this past so there's a lot going on over there. So I ask God, you know, if it's as well that everyone can be there that that we can all be together and then see what's going on. I will be Sabbath in Hong Kong after the Philadel the Philippines conference and in Hong Kong they you know they've had to move out of a house where they were meeting in into a public place because of the government restrictions over there. Apparently you can still meet in a free area if you're in a public place but they question what's going on if you have any kind of things in your house. But the people over there and Terry Franke who's the director, the kind of the regional director over that area says, you know, they got a website ready to go and they think that church based on what they're saying is poised for growth. So keep all this in your mind, you know, and yeah, in your prayers as God works around the world and as we, you know, have to keep reminding ourselves this is a worldwide work. This is not just a United States and Canada work but a worldwide work. So Mr. Shavey. Yes. Hi Debbie from Panama City. So just a thought, you know, Abraham's second wife, Katura, her five sons, he sent them eastward. So maybe these are some of Abraham's from his second wife. You know, we've been talking about the east in the home office as we prepare this trip and that, you know, like we got to see what's going on over there. We haven't talked about Katura, we talked about a lot of other things. I'm going to mark that down though. We're going to look at that. That's very interesting. So hey, Sherry.

Okay, anything else anyone?

Okay, take care everyone.