Isaiah 66:22 Kommentar

The scope of this chapter is much the same as that of the foregoing chapter and many expressions of it are the same; it therefore looks the same way, to the different state of the good and bad among the Jews at their return out of captivity, but that typifying the rejection of the Jews in the days of the Messiah, the conversion of the Gentiles, and the setting up of the gospel-kingdom in the world. The first verse of this chapter is applied by Stephen to the dismantling of the temple by the planting of the Christian church (Act 7:49, Act 7:50), which may serve as a key to the whole chapter. We have here, I. The contempt God puts upon ceremonial services in comparison with moral duties, and an intimation therein of his purpose shortly to put an end to the temple, and sacrifice and reject those that adhered to them (Isa 66:1-4). II. The salvation God will in due time work for his people out of the hands of their oppressors (Isa 66:5), speaking terror to the persecutors (Isa 66:6) and comfort to the persecuted, a speedy and complete deliverance (Isa 66:7-9), a joyful settlement (Isa 66:10, Isa 66:11), the accession of the Gentiles to them, and abundance of satisfaction therein (Isa 66:12-14). III. The terrible vengeance which God will bring upon the enemies of his church and people (Isa 66:15-18). IV. The happy establishment of the church upon large and sure foundations, its constant attendance on God and triumph over its enemies (Isa 66:19-24). And we may well expect that this evangelical prophet, here, in the close of his prophecy, should (as he does) look as far forward as to the latter days, to the last day, to the days of eternity.

INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 66 This chapter treats of the same things as the former, the rejection of the unbelieving Jews, and the regard had to them that did believe; the conversion of that people in the latter day; the calling of the Gentiles, and the happy state of the church in the last times. The causes of the rejection of the Jews were their unworthy notions of God, as if he was confined to the temple of Jerusalem, and to be pleased with external sacrifices, now both at an end under the Gospel dispensation; a better sacrifice being offered, and a more spiritual worship set up everywhere; which notions are considered, Isa 66:1, and because they were set upon their ways and works, and rejected the Gospel of Christ, they are threatened with ruin, Isa 66:3 and the disciples of Christ, whom they excommunicated and persecuted, have a promise of divine appearance for them, while vengeance shall be taken on their enemies, their city and temple, Isa 66:5, nevertheless, in the latter day, there will be a large and sudden conversion of this nation of the Jews, which is signified by the birth of them, which will be matter of great joy to all the true lovers of the interest of Christ, Isa 66:7 and what will add to the prosperity, joy, and comfort of the church of Christ at this time, will be the bringing in of the fulness of the Gentiles, Isa 66:12 at which time the vials of God's wrath will be poured out upon antichrist and his followers, Isa 66:15 and the chapter is concluded with a fresh account of large conversions of men of all nations, and of the union of Jews and Gentiles in one church state, which shall long remain, and be undisturbed by enemies, who will be all slain, and their carcasses looked upon with contempt, Isa 66:18.

For as the new heavens, and the new earth, which I will make,.... Not "have made"; for this is not to be understood of the heavens and the earth made new in the beginning, and which continue so without any change or alteration; though sometimes the perpetuity of the church, which is here predicted, is set forth by the duration of those, Psa 89:36 but either of the new state of things under the Gospel dispensation, which still continues, promised Isa 65:15, or rather, since that would be an illustration of it by the same thing in different words, it may be interpreted literally of the new heavens and the new earth, which will be made when the present ones shall wax old and perish, and be no more, as in the New Jerusalem state, Pe2 3:10, shall remain before me, saith the Lord; these shall continue, not only throughout the Millennium, or thousand years' reign, but for ever: so shall your seed and your name remain; not the natural seed of believers; all have not such seed, and they that have, they are not all converted persons; but the spiritual "seed" of the church, born in her, and brought up by her; which shall continue in successive generations to the end of time, notwithstanding the persecutions of men, and the craft of false teachers, and the reproaches and banters of a vain world, Psa 22:30, and their "name" also; the name of Christ they name and confess, and that is called upon them, and from whence they are called Christians; this shall endure as long as the sun, Psa 72:17 or the new name of sons and daughters of the Almighty; or their fame and glory, the memory of them; they shall be had in everlasting remembrance, Psa 112:6.

“ ‘And I will take from them priests and Levites,’ says the Lord,” so that those who will be saved can preach to the Gentiles.” Concerning this, one author said, “Thus a person should regard us as ministers of Christ and dispensers of the mysteries of God,” and the Evangelist Luke wrote, “just as they delivered to us, who saw from the beginning and were ministers of the word.” We, too, read above about this very matter: “But you will be for me priests of the Lord.” For just as he who is circumcised by the Spirit is a Jew in hiding, of whom it is written “we are the circumcision who serve the Spirit of God and offer spiritual sacrifices pleasing to God and sing psalms with the Spirit and with the mind,” so also they are priests and Levites in hiding who follow not a genealogy but the order of faith. It is certain, at least, that this does not speak of the apostles or of apostolic men, who were the princes of the church from the people of the Jews, but it speaks instead of those Gentiles enumerated above, from the sea, from Africa, from Lybia, from Cappadocia, from Italy, from Greece, and from all the islands, the inhabitants of which have not yet had an opportunity to hear the Lord for the first time or to see his glory and afterward to be made priests, such that those who were the tail may become the head and those who were the head may become the tail.“For, like the new heaven and the new earth that I will cause to stand before me,” says the Lord, “so shall your seed and your name stand. From month to month and from sabbath to sabbath, all flesh will come to adore the Lord in my presence in Jerusalem.” When the Lord says, “I will take from them priests and Levites,” he shows the old priesthood to have passed away, which was bound to the tribe of Levi, where there was no choice but only a succession by the order of nature in family posterity. For “when there is a change in the priesthood, it is necessary that there be a change in the law as well” and that election to the priesthood be conferred by no means according to blood lineage but according to merits and virtues, choosing people who will come from the islands of the Gentiles and proclaim the glory of the Lord.

(Vers. 22, 23.) For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make to stand before me, saith the Lord: so shall your seed stand, and your name. And there shall be month after month, and sabbath after sabbath: all flesh shall come to adore in my sight, saith the Lord. LXX: For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make to remain before me, saith the Lord: so shall your seed and your name remain. And there shall be month after month, and sabbath after sabbath: all flesh shall come to adore in my sight in Jerusalem the Lord. When he says: 'Assume from among them priests and Levites,' he indicates that the old priesthood was passed over, which was owed to the Levitical tribe, where there is not an election, but a natural order, and it is a succession of a family descending through offspring. For with the translation of the priesthood, it is necessary that both the translation of the Law be made, and the election pertain to those to whom priesthood is conferred, not according to blood, but according to merits and virtues, who will come from the islands of the Gentiles and announce the glory of the Lord. And they shall be brought in on horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and on mules, and in wagons. But as for the new heaven and the new earth, and the new Jerusalem, that it may not be said: The heaven and the earth shall pass away (Matt. XXIV, 35). And again: The heaven shall be folded up like a book: and the earth shall be dissolved by its corruption (Apoc. VI, 14): so in all things new, the people of God shall be made new, as scripture says: The old things have passed away: behold all things are made new (Isa. XLIII, 19). And in another place: If any man be in Christ a new creature (II Cor. V, 17) . And there shall be a new people; for Christ is the firstfruits, then they that are Christ's, at his coming: and there shall be a new heaven and a new earth, whereof it is said among the eight beatitudes: Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are the meek, for they shall possess the land (Matth. V, 3, 4) . For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him that made it subject, in hope (Rom. VIII). But they will be set free from the slavery of corruption into the glory of the children of God, who will be made sons of him through men, and they will stand before him forever, and their name will always remain so that no other nation may succeed them, as happened among the Jews; but they shall remain forever. And, he says, month by month there will be a month, and Sabbath after Sabbath: so that from carnal Sabbaths and months, delicate spiritual Sabbaths may be made, which is the Sabbath of God reserved for the people. The spiritual month, when it is completed from one point to another by the moon, and follows its own order, in order to make a month, that is, the kalends, which in Greek are called 'neomeniai', that is, the beginning of the new month. Among them, the beginning of the kalends does not start and end according to the course of the sun and the different spans of the months, but according to the circuit of the moon. This is the moon about which in praise of the true Solomon it is said: 'It shall endure as long as the sun and before the moon throughout all generations' (Psalm 72:5). She who is called the chosen one in the Song of Songs: Who is this that comes forth like the dawn, beautiful as the moon, bright as the sun, awe-inspiring? (Song of Songs 6:9) Physicists, who are concerned with discussing celestial matters, say that the moon does not have its own light, but is illuminated by the rays of the sun. It is always filled and shines by a part of it, from which it is closer to the sun, and it is not hidden by the shadow of the earth, as the poet also demonstrated in a single verse (Virgil, Georgics Book I). Nor does the moon rise under the rays of her brother. If this is true, and we can also say in a metaphorical sense, that the Church which grows and diminishes in times of peace and persecution, and once again takes on its original light, shining with the radiance of the sun of justice, and this is what is meant by: 'The moon will shine like the sun' (Isai. XXX, 26); and its inhabitants will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their father. And during these months, the seed of the Lord, which is renewed forever, comes to its solemnities, which the holy one proclaimed with mystical words, saying: 'I have considered the eternal years, and I have meditated' (Psal. LXXVI, 6). But on the Sabbath, which signifies rest, we have treated extensively in the sermon (On Chapter LVI), about the prophecy of the eunuch strangers. And now it must be said briefly that they come on the new moons and on the Sabbaths, those who, having passed and left behind the six days in which the world was made, hasten to the seventh day, that is, the Sabbath, in which true rest is found. Concerning these solemnities, the believing Apostle Paul instructs, saying: For the law having a shadow of the good things to come (Hebrews X, 1). And again: Therefore let no one judge you in food, or in drink, or regarding a festival, or a new moon, or Sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come (Colossians II, 16). But if these have preceded in the shadow of future goods, and in an image, then the whole law must be understood spiritually, of which the same Apostle said: We know that the law is spiritual (Romans VII, 14), the mysteries of which David desired to know: Open my eyes, and I will contemplate the wonders of your law (Psalm CXVIII, 18). For the things that are seen are temporal; but the things that are not seen are eternal. (II Corinthians IV). To quickly run through a discussion about these things is not of this time. For if the eye has not seen, nor the ear heard, neither has it entered into the heart of man, what things God has prepared for those who love him (I Corinthians II), how can we attempt to show the summary of the entire Law and the world in a short tablet? And what follows: All flesh shall come to adore in my sight in Jerusalem, it should be known that it is not written in Hebrew, Jerusalem, so that we may deride the pride of the Jews, but only 'in my sight', so that the word of the Lord may be fulfilled, saying in the Gospel: Amen, amen, I say to you, that the hour comes when you shall neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem adore the Father (John IV, 21). And again: The Spirit is God. And those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth (John, 4:24). And the Apostle also said: Lifting up holy hands in every place (I Tim. II, 8). But all flesh does not signify the Jewish people, but every kind of people, according to what was said above: All flesh shall see your salvation (Isaiah, 40:5). And in Joel: I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and daughters will prophesy (Joel, 2:28). And in Zechariah: Let all flesh fear before the Lord (Zech. II, 13). And in the Psalms: To you all flesh will come (Ps. LXIV, 2). Which in other words is said in another psalm: All the nations you have made shall come and worship before you, O Lord, and shall glorify your name (Ps. LXXXV, 9). They interpret from month to month, and from Sabbath to Sabbath, when all flesh will come to worship God, the "chiliasts," who we can call the Milestones: so that those who are nearby come to Jerusalem every Sabbath; those who are far away come through months, that is, completing the cycle of the calendar; those who are very far away come through individual years, that is, on the days of Passover or Tabernacles, according to what is said in Zechariah: And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles (Zech. XIV, 16). And to provide greater laughter to the hearers, which is written in the last volume of the same prophet: 'And there will no longer be a merchant in the house of the Lord of hosts on that day,' thus they interpret, that merchants will cease to exist for a thousand years, because everything will be produced in all places, so that neither will we need the leaf of amomum and pepper, nor will the Indians desire pennyroyal from us.

This is the immovable hope that Christ promises in all goodness to those who love him and who acknowledged his epiphany. As it says, “When I remake the heaven and the earth, I will allow them to remain, and no passing of time will destroy them.” So your seed and your name will stand before me. For we are the new heaven and the new earth and his promised things, just as they are written about. For the hope of the saints will stand forever and endures, as Paul confirms. …

Second, as to the preservation of their seed: for as the new heavens, as above, so shall your seed stand (Isa 65:17), forever: if these ordinances shall fail before me, says the Lord: then also the seed of Israel shall fail (Jer 31:36); or the saints will stand eternally renewed as heaven and earth.

This chapter treats of the same subject with the foregoing. God, by his prophet, tells the Jews, who valued themselves much on their temple and pompous worship, that the Most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; and that no outward rites of worship, while the worshippers are idolatrous and impure, can please him who looketh at the heart, Isa 66:1-3. This leads to a threatening of vengeance for their guilt, alluding to their making void the law of God by their abominable traditions, their rejection of Christ, persecution of his followers, and consequent destruction by the Romans. But as the Jewish ritual and people shadow forth the system of Christianity and its professors; so, in the prophetical writings, the idolatries of the Jews are frequently put for the idolatries afterwards practiced by those bearing the Christian name. Consequently, if we would have the plenitude of meaning in this section of prophecy, which the very content requires, we must look through the type into the antitype, viz., the very gross idolatries practiced by the members of Antichrist, the pompous heap of human intentions and traditions with which they have encumbered the Christian system, their most dreadful persecution of Christ's spiritual and true worshippers, and the awful judgments which shall overtake them in the great and terrible day of the Lord, Isa 66:4-6. The mighty and sudden increase of the Church of Jesus Christ at the period of Antichrist's fall represented by the very strong figure of Sion being delivered of a man-child before the time of her travail, the meaning of which symbol the prophet immediately subjoins in a series of interrogations for the sake of greater force and emphasis, Isa 66:7-9. Wonderful prosperity and unspeakable blessedness of the world when the posterity of Jacob, with the fullness of the Gentiles, shall be assembled to Messiah's standard, Isa 66:10-14. All the wicked of the earth shall be gathered together to the battle of that great day of God Almighty, and the slain of Jehovah shall be many, Isa 66:15-18. Manner of the future restoration of the Israelites from their several dispersions throughout the habitable globe, Isa 66:19-21. Perpetuity of this new economy of grace to the house of Israel, Isa 66:22. Righteousness shall be universally diffused in the earth; and the memory of those who have transgressed against the Lord shall be had in continual abhorrence, Isa 66:23, Isa 66:24. Thus this great prophet, after tracing the principal events of time, seems at length to have terminated his views in eternity, where all revolutions cease, where the blessedness of the righteous shall be unchangeable as the new heavens, and the misery of the wicked as the fire that shall not be quenched. This chapter is a continuation of the subject of the foregoing. The Jews valued themselves much upon their temple, and the pompous system of services performed in it, which they supposed were to be of perpetual duration; and they assumed great confidence and merit to themselves for their strict observance of all the externals of their religion. And at the very time when the judgments denounced in Isa 65:6 and Isa 65:12 of the preceding chapter were hanging over their heads, they were rebuilding, by Herod's munificence, the temple in a most magnificent manner. God admonishes them, that "the Most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands;" and that a mere external worship, how diligently soever attended, when accompanied with wicked and idolatrous practices in the worshippers, would never be accepted by him. This their hypocrisy is set forth in strong colors, which brings the prophet again to the subject of the former chapter; and he pursues it in a different manner, with more express declaration of the new economy, and of the flourishing state of the Church under it. The increase of the Church is to be sudden and astonishing. They that escape of the Jews, that is, that become converts to the Christian faith, are to be employed in the Divine mission to the Gentiles, and are to act as priests in presenting the Gentiles as an offering to God; see Rom 15:16. And both, now collected into one body, shall be witnesses of the final perdition of the obstinate and irreclaimable. These two chapters manifestly relate to the calling of the Gentiles, the establishment of the Christian dispensation, and the reprobation of the apostate Jews, and their destruction executed by the Romans. - L.

THE HUMBLE COMFORTED, THE UNGODLY CONDEMNED, AT THE LORD'S APPEARING: JERUSALEM MADE A JOY ON EARTH. (Isa. 66:1-24) heaven . . . throne . . . where is . . . house . . . ye build--The same sentiment is expressed, as a precautionary proviso for the majesty of God in deigning to own any earthly temple as His, as if He could be circumscribed by space (Kg1 8:27) in inaugurating the temple of stone; next, as to the temple of the Holy Ghost (Act 7:48-49); lastly here, as to "the tabernacle of God with men" (Isa 2:2-3; Eze 43:4, Eze 43:7; Rev 21:3). where--rather, "what is this house that ye are building, &c.--what place is this for My rest?" [VITRINGA].

(Isa 65:17; Pe2 3:13; Rev 21:1).

"For as the new heaven and the new earth, which I am about to make, continue before me, saith Jehovah, so will your family and your name continue." The great mass of the world of nations and of Israel also perish; but the seed and name of Israel, i.e., Israel as a people with the same ancestors and an independent name, continues for ever, like the new heaven and the new earth; and because the calling of Israel towards the world of nations is now fulfilled and everything has become new, the former fencing off of Israel from other nations comes to an end, and the qualification for priesthood and Levitical office in the temple of God is no longer merely natural descent, but inward nobility. The new heaven and the new earth, God's approaching creation (quae facturus sum), continue eternally before Him (lephânai as in Isa 49:16), for the old ones pass away because they do not please God; but these are pleasing to Him, and are eternally like His love, whose work and image they are. The prophet here thinks of the church of the future as being upon a new earth and under a new heaven. But he cannot conceive of the eternal in the form of eternity; all that he can do is to conceive of it as the endless continuance of the history of time.