“No, I am your father.”
“Soylent Green is people!”
“I see dead people.”
Each of those motion picture reveals took me completely by surprise.
There are a few surprise reveals in the New Testament, called “mysteries.”
Clarence Larkin explains: “The mysteries are eleven in number, eight of which were revealed to the apostle Paul. Of the remaining three, one was revealed by Jesus, and two were revealed to the apostle John.”
The biblical use of the word, “mystery” refers to some truth that had been hidden in the past, but was eventually revealed by God. In a sense, it is more like what we call a secret. It is a sacred secret until revealed by God at the exact right time.
Romans 11:25 was a sacred secret. “For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.”
- Not made clear in the OT was that an unspecified but temporary period of judicial “blindness” would be a discipline for the nation of Israel rejecting Jesus.
- During that time, God will reach-out to “Gentiles” until their number comes to its “fullness.”
We are tasked to make known the sacred secrets.
I’ll organize my comments around two points: #1 You Have A Share In History’s Greatest Mysteries, and #2 You Are To Share History’s Greatest Mysteries.
#1 – You Have A Share In History’s Greatest Mysteries (v1)
Tucker Carlson is a popular conservative political commentator and author. I caught a few minutes of him being interviewed. Referring to Christians who read & know their Bible, he said, “In the end when it really gets intense, like it is now, it’s Christians, it’s people who actually believe the Bible, who are the only ones with wisdom, who know what’s really going on. They’re not shocked at all.”
I’m not into speculating whether he is saved or unsaved. He is, however, 100% correct about Christians and the End Times. We do know what is going on.
Passages like chapter sixty-five remind us that we are in a flow of divine, providential history. It has its beginning in the Garden of Eden. It is going to never end in a glorious eternity.
Isaiah 65 involves the past and future history of Israel in the plan of God during three biblical dispensations:
- Isaiah 65:1 is set in our present era. Scholars refer to it as the Dispensation of Grace. For one thing, without a physical Temple in Jerusalem, we can’t keep the Mosaic Law per se. We call this era, the Church Age.
- The seven year Great Tribulation will follow the Church Age. Jesus described it as trouble “such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be” (Matthew 24:21). It will affect everyone on Earth, but it is the Time of Jacob’s Trouble in the sense that God uses the tribulation to bring the nation of Israel to salvation. Isaiah 65:2-7 are set in the Great Tribulation.
- Isaiah 65:8-25 are set in the 1000yr Kingdom of God on Earth that follows the Great Tribulation.
One more comment before we get into the text. There are a number of views on the End Times, and views within those views. A few of them have substance in that you can see how scholars arrived at them from the Bible itself. I’ve told you before that, officially, Calvary Chapel’s End Times teaching is PreMillennial PreTribulation Dispensational Futurism.
- PreMillennial – Jesus will return to Earth a second time before the Millennial Kingdom.
- PreTribulation – Jesus will resurrect believers from the Church Age before the seven year Great Tribulation. Almost simultaneously, He will transform all living believers on Earth. This is the rapture. The resurrected & raptured saints are taken to Heaven.
- Dispensationalism identifies various eras, or time periods, that are distinct from each other in the plan of God. The critical point that Dispensationalism makes is that the nation of Israel and the Church are distinct groups in God’s plan, and that they will remain distinct.
- Futurism is our insistence that the Bible is to be read normally. When it contains a prophecy that has not been fulfilled, we understand that it will be fulfilled.
Getting now into the text before us, for better clarity, I want to read verse one in the International Standard Version (ISV).
“I let myself be sought by those who didn’t ask for me; I let myself be found by those who didn’t seek me. I said, ‘Here I am! Here I am!’ to a nation that didn’t call on my name.”
The Lord turns His attention towards the people who were outside of the covenants and promises to the elect nation of Israel.
The word for “nation” is the common word for Gentiles. From God’s point of view, all non-Jews are Gentiles.
This is the mystery, “that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.” The Gospel goes throughout the whole Earth, to Gentiles as well as Jews.
The last chapter in the Book of Acts records Paul, in Jerusalem, gathering together a group he called “leaders of Israel.” He shared with them that Jesus was their Messiah. They again rejected Jesus, and they rejected Paul. He then said, plainly, “Therefore let it be known to you that the salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles, and they will hear it!” (Acts 28:28).
The “fullness of the Gentiles” refers to the finish of the Church Age so that the Great Tribulation can begin. When the last person in this age believes the Lord, there will be a “shout,” the “voice of an archangel,” and a “trumpet” will sound, “the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord” (First Thessalonians 4:16-17).
After announcing that God was going to save Gentiles, Paul “dwelt two whole years in his own rented house, and received all who came to him,
preaching the Kingdom of God and teaching the things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no one forbidding him” (Acts 28:30-31).
It’s an inspiring practical example of our activities in the Church Age: Rent, Receive, and Reveal.
- Rent – Whether or not we own anything in this material world, we should consider ourselves renters, having a light touch. Our ‘carnal footprint’ should be small. By carnal, I don’t mean sinful; I mean it in contrast to being led by the Holy Spirit.
- Receive – We have a commission to receive any and all people God brings to us, directly or indirectly. With the commission, we need the Lord’s compassion.
- Reveal – The Gospel, of course. But note: Paul talked about the Kingdom of God. He emphasized prophecy.
One more thing – perhaps the most important. Paul had “confidence.” In what? Certainly not in Himself! The word translated “confidence” means free and fearless confidence, cheerful courage, boldness, assurance. It means I am empowered by the indwelling God the Holy Spirit.
#2 – You Are To Share History’s Greatest Mysteries (v2-25)
Church Age… Resurrection & Rapture… Great Tribulation.
Isa 65:2 I have 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;
Isa 65:3 A people who provoke Me to anger continually to My face; Who sacrifice in gardens, And burn incense on altars of brick;
Isa 65:4 Who sit among the graves, And spend the night in the tombs [grave soaking?]; Who eat swine’s flesh, And the broth of abominable things is in their vessels; [God wanted them to be separate, because they were special; they wanted to be like the surrounding nations, sinful]
Isa 65:5 Who say, ‘Keep to yourself, Do not come near me, For I am holier than you!’ [Self-righteous superiority] These are smoke in My nostrils, A fire that burns all the day [As opposed to the sweet aroma of true worship]
Isa 65:6 “Behold, it is written before Me: I will not keep silence, but will repay – Even repay into their bosom –
Isa 65:7 Your iniquities and the iniquities of your fathers together,” Says the LORD, [The idea isn’t generational curses of your ancestors falling unfairly on you. It describes the acceleration of sin in a community when each generation becomes increasingly desensitized] “Who have burned incense on the mountains And blasphemed Me on the hills; Therefore I will measure their former work into their bosom.”
The consequences of sin had to be faced; God would pay them back in judgment for their idolatrous worship. The Assyrian threat and the Babylonian Exile were two of the ways He repaid His people. Ultimately it will be by the Great Tribulation.
Has God cast away His people? Certainly not! God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew.
All through her history, God always preserved a remnant of godly Jews. The next verses, 8-16, introduce us to the believing remnant of Israel that shall endure to the end of the Great Tribulation, and inherit the Kingdom of God.
Isa 65:8 Thus says the LORD: “As the new wine is found in the cluster, And one says, ‘Do not destroy it, For a blessing is in it,’ So will I do for My servants’ sake, That I may not destroy them all.
The nation of Israel is compared to a cluster of mostly rotted grapes. Some grapes are still good to make wine. That is the believing remnant within the nation.
Isa 65:9 I will bring forth descendants from Jacob, And from Judah an heir of My mountains; My elect shall inherit it, [In context, the “elect” refers to the nation of Israel] And My servants shall dwell there.
Isa 65:10 Sharon shall be a fold of flocks, And the Valley of Achor a place for herds to lie down, For My people who have sought Me.
Isa 65:11 “But you are those who forsake the LORD, Who forget My holy mountain, Who prepare a table for Gad, And who furnish a drink offering for Meni. [These are proper names of heathen deities]
Isa 65:12 Therefore I will number you for the sword, And you shall all bow down to the slaughter; [i.e., the Time of Jacob’s Trouble] Because, when I called, you did not answer; When I spoke, you did not hear, But did evil before My eyes, And chose that in which I do not delight.”
Isa 65:13 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: “Behold, My servants [the believing remnant] shall eat, But you [the unbelieving Jews] shall be hungry; Behold, My servants shall drink, But you shall be thirsty; Behold, My servants shall rejoice, But you shall be ashamed;
Isa 65:14 Behold, My servants shall sing for joy of heart, But you shall cry for sorrow of heart, And wail for grief of spirit.
Isa 65:15 You shall leave your name as a curse to My chosen; [This may mean that their name would be used proverbially, like that of Sodom]. For the Lord GOD will slay you, And call His servants by another name; [In 62:2, “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”]
Isa 65:16 So that he who blesses himself in the Earth Shall bless himself in the God of truth; And he who swears in the earth Shall swear by the God of truth; Because the former troubles are forgotten, And because they are hidden from My eyes.
I despise every time C3 PO says, “Thank the Maker.” In verse sixteen, the “troubles” of the Great Tribulation are over. To “bless yourself” means to thank God for your blessings. The one, true God of the Bible.
Isa 65:17 “For behold, I create new heavens and a new Earth; And the former shall not be remembered or come to mind.
Think about how wrecked the Earth & stellar heavens will be after the Tribulation:
- The most severe earthquake ever recorded will cause cities to collapse and islands and mountains to disappear (Revelation 16).
- The sun turns black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the moon becomes like blood, and stars fall to the earth as if figs were being shaken from a tree by a strong wind Revelation 6).
- A third of the sun, moon, and stars are struck, turning a third of them dark. This results in a third of the day and a third of the night being without light (Revelation 8).
That’s a minuscule sampling of the destruction.
In 1989 the Exxon Valdez spilled nearly 11mil gallons of crude oil in Alaskan waters. They are still cleaning it up!
It won’t take Jesus long to restore the Earth & heavens.
Because this is a work that only God can perform, the Hebrew term bara, indicating a supernatural act, is used for “create.”
Daniel 12:11-12 reveals that there will be a seventy-five-day interval between the end of the Great Tribulation and the start of the Millennial Kingdom.
But wait. Don’t some Christians like to say, “It’s all going to burn?”
- The Millennial Earth will be restored.
- After the 1000yrs, there will be a complete recreation. The apostle Peter wrote, “The heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the Earth and the works that are in it will be burned up” (Second Peter 3:10).
Isa 65:18 But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create; For behold, I create Jerusalem as a rejoicing, And her people a joy.
Isa 65:19 I will rejoice in Jerusalem, And joy in My people; The voice of weeping shall no longer be heard in her, Nor the voice of crying.
The Millennium is utopian, but not perfect. You don’t need to look far to find an example. In just a moment we will see that there is death in the Millennium. But Jerusalem, with Jesus on its throne, will be a Joy-only zone.
I like the CEV for verse twenty: “No child will die in infancy; everyone will live to a ripe old age. Anyone a hundred years old will be considered young, and to die younger than that will be considered a curse.”
There will be blood in the Kingdom of God on Earth:
- Its inhabitants are mortal Jews & Gentiles who survive the Great Tribulation. Their offspring will be mortal, and therefore, possess sin natures.
- When the Millennium is described in Revelation twenty, Death is not completely defeated until after the thousand years.
No infant mortality; no abortion. No euthanasia or assisted death for seniors. As time passes, lifespans will increase. If you live to 100 today, it is considered amazing. A 100yr old will seem just a child in a thousand year kingdom.
Isa 65:21 They shall build houses and inhabit them; They shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
Isa 65:22 They shall not build and another inhabit; They shall not plant and another eat; For as the days of a tree, so shall be the days of My people, And My elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands [This description applies to Jews in the Promised Land. The Church isn’t looking forward to planting vineyards in the Holy Land]
Isa 65:23 They shall not labor in vain, Nor bring forth children for trouble; For they shall be the descendants of the blessed of the LORD, And their offspring with them. [This has caused some to say that Jews born in the Millennium will all be saved]
Isa 65:24 “It shall come to pass That before they call, I will answer; And while they are still speaking, I will hear.
Isa 65:25 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 shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain,” Says the LORD.
When was the last time the serpent ate “dust?” At the ruin of creation. Things will have come full circle to the restoration of what was ruined.
It’s exciting that the Lord will answer our prayers before we finish speaking. Beyond excitement, there is endearment. In order to answer before we finish speaking, He must be constantly attentive to each one of us. In fact, this reads to me as though He knows us so well that He can complete our sentences
While answered prayer is wonderful, intimacy is more so.