Isaiah Chapter 65
[Isaiah 65:1] I AM SOUGHT OF THEM THAT ASKED NOT FOR ME; I AM FOUND
OF THEM THAT SOUGHT ME NOT: I SAID, BEHOLD ME, BEHOLD ME, UNTO
A NATION THAT WAS NOT CALLED BY MY NAME.
Referring to the Lost Ten Tribes.
A NATION THAT WAS NOT CALLED BY MY NAME: This must mean “Joseph” i.e. the
Lost Ten Tribes since the Jews of Judah are recognized as the People of God:
They may not always act accordingly but nevertheless they are recognized
as the People of the Book whereas “Joseph” is not so recognized.
[Isaiah 65:2] I HAVE SPREAD OUT MY HANDS ALL THE DAY UNTO A REBELLIOUS
PEOPLE, WHICH WALKETH IN A WAY THAT WAS NOT GOOD, AFTER THEIR OWN THOUGHTS;
“ALL THE DAY”: God is calling us all the time.
[Isaiah 65:3] A PEOPLE THAT PROVOKETH ME TO ANGER CONTINUALLY TO MY
FACE; THAT SACRIFICETH IN GARDENS, AND BURNETH INCENSE UPON ALTARS OF BRICK;
GARDENS, i.e. groves as the ancient Druids used to do.
[Isaiah 65:4] WHICH REMAIN AMONG THE GRAVES, AND LODGE IN THE MONUMENTS,
WHICH EAT SWINE’S FLESH, AND BROTH OF ABOMINABLE THINGS IS IN THEIR VESSELS;
“LODGE IN THE MONUMENTS”: the word translated as “monuments” is “natzurim”,
literally (perhaps) “covered up places”. The word “Natzurim” however
is linked with a type of worship that once prevailed amongst the ancient
Israelites. This is connected to Christianity and indications that
the prophets foresaw that the Lost Ten Tribes would be Christians in the
End Times. This is explained in detail in our work “Ephraim”, chapter nine.
[Isaiah 65:5] WHICH SAY, STAND BY THYSELF, COME NOT NEAR TO ME; FOR
I AM HOLIER THAN THOU. THESE ARE A SMOKE IN MY NOSE, A FIRE THAT BURNETH
ALL THE DAY.
[Isaiah 65:6] BEHOLD, IT IS WRITTEN BEFORE ME: I WILL NOT KEEP SILENCE,
BUT WILL RECOMPENSE, EVEN RECOMPENSE INTO THEIR BOSOM,
[Isaiah 65:7] YOUR INIQUITIES, AND THE INIQUITIES OF YOUR FATHERS TOGETHER,
SAITH THE LORD, WHICH HAVE BURNED INCENSE UPON THE MOUNTAINS, AND BLASPHEMED
ME UPON THE HILLS: THEREFORE WILL I MEASURE THEIR FORMER WORK INTO THEIR
BOSOM.
[Isaiah 65:8] THUS SAITH THE LORD, AS THE NEW WINE IS FOUND IN THE
CLUSTER, AND ONE SAITH, DESTROY IT NOT; FOR A BLESSING IS IN IT: SO WILL
I DO FOR MY SERVANTS' SAKES, THAT I MAY NOT DESTROY THEM ALL.
[Isaiah 65:9] AND I WILL BRING FORTH A SEED OUT OF JACOB, AND OUT OF
JUDAH AN INHERITOR OF MY MOUNTAINS: AND MINE ELECT SHALL INHERIT IT, AND
MY SERVANTS SHALL DWELL THERE.
“A SEED OUT OF JACOB, AND OUT OF JUDAH AN INHERITOR”, i.e. the Lost Ten Tribes and Judah together.
[Isaiah 65:10] AND SHARON SHALL BE A FOLD OF FLOCKS, AND THE VALLEY
OF ACHOR A PLACE FOR THE HERDS TO LIE DOWN IN, FOR MY PEOPLE THAT HAVE SOUGHT
ME.
[Isaiah 65:11] BUT YE ARE THEY THAT FORSAKE THE LORD, THAT FORGET MY
HOLY MOUNTAIN, THAT PREPARE A TABLE FOR THAT TROOP, AND THAT FURNISH THE
DRINK OFFERING UNTO THAT NUMBER.
“THAT FORGET MY HOLY MOUNTAIN” i.e. Israelites who abandoned the Temple in Jerusalem and everything connected with it.
“PREPARE A TABLE FOR THAT TROOP”: The word translated as “Troop” is Gad.
Gad was the name of an Israelite Tribe. It also can mean “luck”. It can also
connote a particular pagan deity. The Medieval Commentator Radak (Kimchi)
quotes (“Safer HaShorashim”) another authority (Rabbi Moshe Cohen) as saying
that “Gad” was the name given by the Arabs to the planet Jupiter. Gad could
be pronouncedas “God” and is the source of the word “god” in English.
AND THAT FURNISH THE DRINK OFFERING UNTO THAT NUMBER.
“NUMBER”: in Hebrew “Mani” which was also the name of a god, i.e. they were
preparing a table for the god “Gad” and drink for the god “Mani”.
Cf. Alexander Hislop, “The Two Babylons”, chapter three:
<<The name of the Lord Moon in the East seems to have been Meni, for
this appears the most natural interpretation of the Divine statement in Isaiah
lxv. 11, "But ye are they that forsake my holy mountain, that prepare a temple
for Gad, and that furnish the drink-offering unto Meni."[15] There is reason
to believe that Gad refers to the sun-god, and that Meni in like manner designates
the moon-divinity.[16] Meni, or Manai, signifies "The Numberer," and it is
by the changes of the moon that the months are numbered: Psalm civ. 19, "He
appointed the moon for seasons: the sun knoweth the time of its going down."
The name of the "Man of the Moon," or the god who presided over that luminary
among the Saxons, was Mané, as given in the "Edda",[17] and Mani,
in the "Voluspa."[18] That it was the birth of the "Lord Moon" that was celebrated
among our ancestors at Christmas, we have remarkable evidence in the name
that is still given in the lowlands of Scotland to the feast on the last
day of the year, which seems to be a remnant of the old birth festival for
the cakes then made are called Nûr-cakes, or Birth-cakes. That name
is Hogmanay.[19] Now, "Hog-Manai" in Chaldee signifies "The feast of the
Numberer;" in other words, the festival of Deus Lunus, or of the man of the
Moon. To show the connection between country and country, and the inveterate
endurance of old customs, it is worthy of remark that Jerome, commenting
on the very words of Isaiah already quoted, about spreading "a table for
Gad," and "pouring out a drink-offering to Meni," observes that it "was the
custom so late as his time [in the fourth century], in all cities especially
in Egypt and at Alexandria, to set tables, and furnish them with various
luxurious articles of food, and with goblets containing a mixture of new
wine, on the last day of the month and the year, and that the people drew
omens from them in respect of the fruitfulness of the year."[20] The Egyptian
year began at a different time from ours; but this is as near as possible
(only substituting whisky for wine), the way in which Hogmanay is still observed
on the last day of the last month of our year in Scotland. I do not know
that any omens are drawn from anything that takes place at that time, but
everybody in the south of Scotland is personally cognisant of the fact, that,
on Hogmanay, or the evening before New Year's day, among those who observe
old customs, a table is spread, and that while buns and other dainties are
provided by those who can afford them, oat cakes and cheese are brought forth
among those who never see oat cakes but on this occasion, and that strong
drink forms an essential article of the provision. >>
We see from the quote of Hislop that the worship of Mani was practised amongst
the Scandinavians (Edda), Saxons and Scottish as well as amongst other peoples.
Christianity and Prophecy:The followers of Jesus were first called Christians
in Antioch (Acts 11:26) in ca.50 c.e. Before that time they had been
known as Nazarenes which in the Middle East is pronounced the same as, or
at least very similarly to, "Nosairi". In local Arabic the very name "Nosairi"
is a diminutive for Christian!
Verses in Isaiah indicate that the exiled Israelites will be
adherents of a form of worship whose ideas parallelled those later adopted by mainstream Christianity:
Isaiah 49:6 " ..Raise up the Tribes of Jacob and the preserved
[Hebrew: "Notseri"] of Israel to return for I have given you as a light unto
the Gentiles for my salvation to reach unto the ends of the earth.
The word "NOTSERI" (translated in the KJ above as "Preserved") also
connotes "enclosed" or "locked away", sometimes it is translated as
"watchman"..In the verse above "notseri of Israel" refers to the Ten
Tribes. As indicated the name "Notseri" hints at a form of Hebraised
semi-pagan religion which may then have been extant and from which one form
of Christianity may have developed. In Hebrew "Notsri" was the name given
to a Christian and is derived from the appellation they called themselves
in the beginning. Whatever one thinks of Christianity, this interpretation
and related expressions indicate that the Lost Ten Tribes at the time of
their return (or just before it) will be practising a form of Christianity.
HEBREW VERBAL ROOTS: In Hebrew every single word may be considered
as derived from a verbal root of three letters. All words based on
the same three letters in the same order are assumed to have a similar internal
meaning. The root "n-ts-r" is that from which the word "notsri" meaning Christian
is derived allegedly in honour of Natsareth (Nazareth) which was considered
the home-town of Jesus. It was suggested above that "notsri" had previously
been the name for a type of religious practice ultimately perhaps derivable
from the Lost Ten Tribes.
The above mentioned words "Nosairi", "Nasaraioi", "Nazareth", "Nazerini",
"Nazarine", and so on (though transliterated differently) all are based on
the same Semitic "n-ts-r" word root.
THE MEANING OF THE HEBREW ROOT "N-ts-r".
"N-ts-r" and its derivatives generally connotes preservation
or guarding. The sprig (shoot) of a young tree is called a "n-ts-r" since
it preserves and continues qualities of the parent. "N-ts-r" may therefore
be applied to an heir or descendant.
A rod will come forth from Jesse and a "NeTSeR" (English: "branch")
shall grow out of his roots (Isaiah 11:1); meaning the future Messiah who
will be a descendant of David son of Jesse.
Isaiah (ch.19) speaks of Hillel Ben Shacher whose name
is translated as "Lucifer, son of the morning". Whoever this person was,
or will be, his image seems to be based upon that either of the King of Tyre
or of the King of Babylon. This man (i.e. "Lucifer") claimed to be like God
(Isaiah 19:13-14) yet he will be thrown out of his grave like an abominable
"NeTSeR" (English: "branch" , Isaiah 14;19)*k.
There was a god named “Netser” worshipped by the Ancient Israelites. An inscription
from about 750 BCE concerning this god has been found east of the Jordan
in what was the former territory of Gad. Netser is described as descending
to hell. The inscription is in a mixed hebrew-Aramaic dialect.
It is described and translated in the book “Ephraim”.
The Children of Israel in the future will be the "NeTSeR" (English:
"branch") of God's planting (Isaiah 60;21).
God promises that the Tribes of Jacob (according to the
context, meaning the Lost Ten Tribes in their places of exile) will be raised
up, and the "NaTSuRi" (English: "preserved") of Israel restored; they shall
be a light to the gentiles and salvation unto the end
of the earth (Isaiah 49:6).
Isaiah, chapter 65, speaks mainly concerning the Ten Lost Tribes.
"I was sought of them that asked not for me;
I made myself found to those who did not request me; I said, I am here, I
am here, to a people who did not call my name (Isaiah 65:1).
"I spread my hand out all day long to a deviating people (65;2)
"...a people who were angering me...sacrificing in the gardens and offering incense...(65:3).
"Which remain among the
graves and lodge in NoTSRim [English (KJ): "Monuments(*l)] who eat the flesh
of swine and dishes made of improperlyslaughtered [i.e. non kosher] meat..(Isaiah
65:4).
Isaiah continues
his description and depicts the northern Ten Tibes as eating bread and wine
in a religious ceremony:
" ...for the sake
of my servant I will not destroy all of them (Isaiah 65;8).
"I will bring seed out of
Jacob and an inheritor of my mountains from Judah and he who
is my chosen will inherit them and my servant shall inhabit
there....(Isaiah 65:9).
" And you who abandoned
The LORD, who forget my holy mountain, who lay out a table for God (*) and
for Mani(*m) fill the glass with consecrated wine
(Isaiah 65:11).
Isaiah, Chapter 66, is addressed
to, and speaks of the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel, the Jews of Judah, individual
Jews and Israelites whose ancestors were assimilated amongst the Gentiles,
and the Gentiles themselves.
The root "n-ts-r" as mentioned connotes preservation
and lends itself to the formation of words that are somehow connected with
each other. Amongst these words is the Hebrew "notser" applied in the sense
of "guard" or "watchman" since both are occupied with preservation:
Jeremiah (31:6) later again talks of "Notsrim" and in this case both the
simple sense of the passage as well as the opinion of most major
commentators (e.g. Yehonathan, Rashi, Radak, etc.) says that those spoken
of are the exiled of Israel. Jeremiah predicts that these Lost Israelite
"NoTSRim" (English: "watchmen") upon the mount of Ephraim,
"Shall cry, Arise ye, and let us go
up to Zion unto the LORD our God" (Jeremiah 31:6).
The only Commentator who does not think that this verse refers to the
returnees of Israel is Don Isaac Abarbanel (1437-1508) who interprets it
differently. Even so, the opinion of Don Abarbanel is interesting since he
also suggests that the word "Notsrim" used here refers to members of the
Christian faith as it was received by the Romans of old:
"The Prophet foresaw
through Divine Inspiration that the Roman descendants of Edom would believe
[in that faith] and therefore they would be called by name Notsrim"30.
Don Abarbanel therefore at least supports our opinion that the appellation
"Notsrim" was used by the prophets as referring to Christians.
The name "Notsrim" and its derivatives was later applied to the
Christians who at least superficially held parallel notions.
References in Isaiah (and Jeremiah?) to "Notsrim" in connection with the
Lost Israelites together with other passages also in Isaiah (such as described
religious practices, etc.) leave room to suppose
that the Lost Ten Tribes right up unto the End Times will be of a Christian
persuasion and therefore must be searched for amongst the "Christian" nations.
The fact is that the Lost Ten Tribes are amongst these peoples so why should
the prophets have not mentioned it?
[Isaiah 65:12] THEREFORE WILL I NUMBER YOU TO THE SWORD, AND YE SHALL
ALL BOW DOWN TO THE SLAUGHTER: BECAUSE WHEN I CALLED, YE DID NOT ANSWER;
WHEN I SPAKE, YE DID NOT HEAR; BUT DID EVIL BEFORE MINE EYES, AND DID
CHOOSE THAT WHEREIN I DELIGHTED NOT.
[Isaiah 65:13] THEREFORE THUS SAITH THE LORD GOD, BEHOLD, MY SERVANTS
SHALL EAT, BUT YE SHALL BE HUNGRY: BEHOLD, MY SERVANTS SHALL DRINK, BUT YE
SHALL BE THIRSTY: BEHOLD, MY SERVANTS SHALL REJOICE, BUT YE SHALL BE ASHAMED:
[Isaiah 65:14] BEHOLD, MY SERVANTS SHALL SING FOR JOY OF HEART, BUT
YE SHALL CRY FOR SORROW OF HEART, AND SHALL HOWL FOR VEXATION OF SPIRIT.
[Isaiah 65:15] AND YE SHALL LEAVE YOUR NAME FOR A CURSE UNTO MY CHOSEN:
FOR THE LORD GOD SHALL SLAY THEE, AND CALL HIS SERVANTS BY ANOTHER NAME:
[Isaiah 65:16] THAT HE WHO BLESSETH HIMSELF IN THE EARTH SHALL BLESS
HIMSELF IN THE GOD OF TRUTH; AND HE THAT SWEARETH IN THE EARTH SHALL SWEAR
BY THE GOD OF TRUTH; BECAUSE THE FORMER TROUBLES ARE FORGOTTEN, AND BECAUSE
THEY ARE HID FROM MINE EYES.
[Isaiah 65:17] FOR, BEHOLD, I CREATE NEW HEAVENS AND A NEW EARTH: AND
THE FORMER SHALL NOT BE REMEMBERED, NOR COME INTO MIND.
[Isaiah 65:18] BUT BE YE GLAD AND REJOICE FOR EVER IN THAT WHICH I
CREATE: FOR, BEHOLD, I CREATE JERUSALEM A REJOICING, AND HER PEOPLE A JOY.
[Isaiah 65:19] AND I WILL REJOICE IN JERUSALEM, AND JOY IN MY PEOPLE:
AND THE VOICE OF WEEPING SHALL BE NO MORE HEARD IN HER, NOR THE VOICE OF
CRYING.
[Isaiah 65:20] THERE SHALL BE NO MORE THENCE AN INFANT OF DAYS, NOR
AN OLD MAN THAT HATH NOT FILLED HIS DAYS: FOR THE CHILD SHALL DIE AN HUNDRED
YEARS OLD; BUT THE SINNER BEING AN HUNDRED YEARS OLD SHALL BE ACCURSED.
[Isaiah 65:21] AND THEY SHALL BUILD HOUSES, AND INHABIT THEM; AND THEY
SHALL PLANT VINEYARDS, AND EAT THE FRUIT OF THEM.
[Isaiah 65:22] THEY SHALL NOT BUILD, AND ANOTHER INHABIT; THEY SHALL
NOT PLANT, AND ANOTHER EAT: FOR AS THE DAYS OF A TREE ARE THE DAYS OF MY
PEOPLE, AND MINE ELECT SHALL LONG ENJOY THE WORK OF THEIR HANDS.
[Isaiah 65:23] THEY SHALL NOT LABOUR IN VAIN, NOR BRING FORTH FOR TROUBLE;
FOR THEY ARE THE SEED OF THE BLESSED OF THE LORD, AND THEIR OFFSPRING WITH
THEM.
[Isaiah 65:24] AND IT SHALL COME TO PASS, THAT BEFORE THEY CALL, I
WILL ANSWER; AND WHILE THEY ARE YET SPEAKING, I WILL HEAR.
[Isaiah 65:25] THE WOLF AND THE LAMB SHALL FEED TOGETHER, AND THE LION
SHALL EAT STRAW LIKE THE BULLOCK: AND DUST SHALL BE THE SERPENT'S MEAT. THEY
SHALL NOT HURT NOR DESTROY IN ALL MY HOLY MOUNTAIN, SAITH THE LORD.
“THE WOLF AND THE LAMB SHALL FEED TOGETHER”: Some say this is literal that
the nature of man and beast will change. Others say it is allegorical and
refers to an improved state in human affairs.
Isaiah 65 no.2
[Isaiah 65:25] THE WOLF AND THE LAMB SHALL FEED TOGETHER, AND THE LION SHALL
EAT STRAW LIKE THE BULLOCK: AND DUST SHALL BE THE SERPENT'S MEAT. THEY SHALL
NOT HURT NOR DESTROY IN ALL MY HOLY MOUNTAIN, SAITH THE LORD.
“THE WOLF AND THE LAMB SHALL FEED TOGETHER”: Some say this is literal that
the nature of man and beast will change. Others say it is allegorical and
refers to an improved state in human affairs.
Similarly we had a similar verse previously:
[Isaiah 11:6] THE WOLF SHALL DWELL WITH THE LAMB, AND THE LEOPARD SHALL LIE
DOWN WITH THE KID, AND THE CALF AND THE LION AND THE FATLING TOGETHER, AND
A LITTLE CHILD SHALL LEAD THEM.
“THE WOLF SHALL DWELL WITH THE LAMB” Some take this literally others see
it as a metaphor just meaning that things will be better and there will be
peace on earth. No more war, oppression, or violence.
It is worth quoting Maimonides (1135-1204 CE) on this passage:
[Free Translation] <<Do not imagine that in the Times of the Messiah
anything of this world will be abolished or that anything new will occur
in the way of creation. On the contrary the world will continue as it always
has done. That which it says in Isaiah
“THE WOLF AND THE LAMB SHALL FEED TOGETHER” [Isaiah 11:6] is a parable
and allegory. The truth of the matter is that Israel will be settled securely
alongside the evildoers of the world who are compared to a wolf and a leopard,
as it says,
“A WOLF OF THE EVENINGS SHALL SPOIL THEM, A LEOPARD SHALL WATCH OVER
THEIR CITIES” [Jeremiah 5:6]. Everyone of them will return to the true faith.
They will not steal or destroy but rather eat permitted food with Israel.
As it says,
“ THE LION SHALL EAT STRAW LIKE THE OX” [Isaiah 11:7]. Similarly everything
said in connection with these matters concerning the Messiah are parables.
In the Times of the Messiah it will be made known to all what subject each
parable was referring to and what was hinted about it. >> (Maimonides,
Mishnah Torah, Laws of Kings, Chapter 12, Halachah 1).
Chapter Sixty-Six
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