Isaiah 66 no.1

 [Isaiah 66:1] THUS SAITH THE LORD, THE HEAVEN IS MY THRONE, AND THE EARTH IS MY FOOTSTOOL: WHERE IS THE HOUSE THAT YE BUILD UNTO ME? AND WHERE IS THE PLACE OF MY REST?
God wants us to endeavor to rebuild the Temple as numerous verses indicate BUT He does not want us to forget the major principle: We must give our heart to God.

 [Isaiah 66:2] FOR ALL THOSE THINGS HATH MINE HAND MADE, AND ALL THOSE THINGS HAVE BEEN, SAITH THE LORD: BUT TO THIS MAN WILL I LOOK, EVEN TO HIM THAT IS POOR AND OF A CONTRITE SPIRIT, AND  TREMBLETH AT MY WORD.
God made the heavens and earth and all that is in it. Man can remake himself, improve himself, subdue his nature and commit himself to God as an offering: Man can thus give something of himself back to God.

 [Isaiah 66:3] HE THAT KILLETH AN OX IS AS IF HE SLEW A MAN; HE THAT SACRIFICETH A LAMB, AS IF HE CUT OFF A DOG'S NECK; HE THAT OFFERETH AN OBLATION, AS IF HE OFFERED SWINE'S BLOOD; HE THAT BURNETH INCENSE, AS IF HE BLESSED AN IDOL. YEA, THEY HAVE CHOSEN THEIR OWN WAYS, AND THEIR SOUL DELIGHTETH IN THEIR ABOMINATIONS.
If someone offers sacrifices but does not fear God it is as if they sinned rather than did a good deed. God wants righteous behavior and good intention. He also wants sacrifices but righteous behavior and good intention take priority.

 [Isaiah 66:4] I ALSO WILL CHOOSE THEIR DELUSIONS, AND WILL BRING THEIR FEARS UPON THEM; BECAUSE WHEN I CALLED, NONE DID ANSWER; WHEN I SPAKE, THEY DID NOT HEAR: BUT THEY DID EVIL BEFORE MINE EYES, AND CHOSE THAT IN WHICH I DELIGHTED NOT.
Someone who disregards the will of God is liable also to be disregarded when they need His help.

 [Isaiah 66:5] HEAR THE WORD OF THE LORD, YE THAT TREMBLE AT HIS WORD; YOUR BRETHREN THAT HATED YOU, THAT CAST YOU OUT FOR MY NAME'S SAKE, SAID, LET THE LORD BE GLORIFIED: BUT HE SHALL APPEAR  TO YOUR JOY, AND THEY SHALL BE ASHAMED.

 [Isaiah 66:6] A VOICE OF NOISE FROM THE CITY, A VOICE FROM THE TEMPLE, A VOICE OF THE LORD THAT RENDERETH RECOMPENCE TO HIS ENEMIES.
God will take vengeance against those who disregarded Him and against those who desecrated the Temple and Temple site.

 [Isaiah 66:7] BEFORE SHE TRAVAILED, SHE BROUGHT FORTH; BEFORE HER PAIN CAME, SHE WAS DELIVERED OF A MAN CHILD.
Zion will be delivered suddenly. There will be no preparatory period warning of the approaching event as there is when a woman gives birth.

 [Isaiah 66:8] WHO HATH HEARD SUCH A THING? WHO HATH SEEN SUCH THINGS? SHALL THE EARTH BE MADE TO BRING FORTH IN ONE DAY? OR SHALL A NATION BE BORN AT ONCE? FOR AS SOON AS ZION TRAVAILED, SHE BROUGHT FORTH HER CHILDREN.
This may be referring to the return and reconciliation with the Lost Ten Tribes and "Captive" Jews who were assimilated amongst the nations. They will be revealed suddenly as to who they are and at once accepted as if they had never been estranged.

 [Isaiah 66:9] SHALL I BRING TO THE BIRTH, AND NOT CAUSE TO BRING FORTH? SAITH THE LORD: SHALL I CAUSE TO BRING FORTH, AND SHUT THE WOMB? SAITH THY GOD.
Everything has a purpose. All that we do is leading up to something. The Almighty has a PLAN and there is no reason why at the last minute He should not complete his PURPOSE!

 [Isaiah 66:10] REJOICE YE WITH JERUSALEM, AND BE GLAD WITH HER, ALL YE THAT LOVE HER: REJOICE FOR JOY WITH HER, ALL YE THAT MOURN FOR HER:
Jerusalem represents re-union and reconciliation.

 [Isaiah 66:11] THAT YE MAY SUCK, AND BE SATISFIED WITH THE BREASTS OF HER CONSOLATIONS; THAT YE MAY MILK OUT, AND BE DELIGHTED WITH THE ABUNDANCE OF HER GLORY.
We  have to seek the good of Jerusalem since this is the will of God and ultimately will be our good.

 [Isaiah 66:12] FOR THUS SAITH THE LORD, BEHOLD, I WILL EXTEND PEACE TO HER LIKE A RIVER, AND THE GLORY OF THE GENTILES LIKE A FLOWING STREAM: THEN SHALL YE SUCK, YE SHALL BE BORNE UPON HER SIDES, AND BE DANDLED UPON HER KNEES.
"THE GLORY OF THE GENTILES": The word translated here as "glory" is "kavod". This usually means "honor" but Amos Chocham points out that in Genesis 31;1 it means riches:
"AND HE HEARD THE WORDS OF LABAN'S SONS, SAYING, JACOB HATH TAKEN AWAY ALL THAT WAS OUR FATHER'S; AND OF THAT WHICH WAS OUR FATHER'S HATH HE GOTTEN ALL THIS GLORY" [Genesis 31:1] .
"Glory" in Hebrew "kavod" meaning wealth and riches in this case. Amos Chocham (in the Commentary "Daat Mikra") explains the verse to mean that Jerusalem as the capital of the world will receive the riches of the nations. This will come streaming unto her as a flowing river.

 [Isaiah 66:13] AS ONE WHOM HIS MOTHER COMFORTETH, SO WILL I COMFORT YOU; AND YE SHALL BE COMFORTED IN JERUSALEM.
Through Jerusalem Israel will be comforted.

 [Isaiah 66:14] AND WHEN YE SEE THIS, YOUR HEART SHALL REJOICE, AND YOUR BONES SHALL FLOURISH LIKE AN HERB: AND THE HAND OF THE LORD SHALL BE KNOWN TOWARD HIS SERVANTS, AND HIS INDIGNATION TOWARD HIS ENEMIES.
Those who believed in God and the Bible and did the best they could will rejoice at the sight.

 [Isaiah 66:15] FOR, BEHOLD, THE LORD WILL COME WITH FIRE, AND WITH HIS CHARIOTS LIKE A WHIRLWIND, TO RENDER HIS ANGER WITH FURY, AND HIS REBUKE WITH FLAMES OF FIRE.

 [Isaiah 66:16] FOR BY FIRE AND BY HIS SWORD WILL THE LORD PLEAD WITH ALL FLESH: AND THE SLAIN OF THE LORD SHALL BE MANY.

Isaiah 66 no.2
 [Isaiah 66:17] THEY THAT SANCTIFY THEMSELVES, AND PURIFY THEMSELVES IN THE GARDENS BEHIND ONE TREE IN THE MIDST, EATING SWINE'S FLESH, AND THE ABOMINATION, AND THE MOUSE, SHALL BE CONSUMED  TOGETHER, SAITH THE LORD.
“ONE TREE IN THE MIDST”: In Hebrew it only says: “Echad [or “Echat”]  BeTevach”, i.e.  “one transfixed” or  “one crucified”. The word “tree” used in the KJ translation  is not there in the Hebrew.
“THE MOUSE”: in Hebrew “akbar” which is mouse but it could also conceivably apply to porcupine or hedgehog.  These animals are still eaten by the Druse in Israel and the hedgehog was eaten in Scotland.  
Isaiah (66;17) condemned pagan practitioners AMONGST THE EXILED ISRAELITES and predicts that they will be rebuked: The eating of mice was practiced in the cult of Apollo. This cult was adapted by the Greeks from the Hittites. It had connections with the cities of Philistia and with the Tribe of Dan in Israel.  Donald A. MacKenzie ("Scottish Folk‑Lore And Folk Life. Studies in Race, Culture, And Tradition", London & Glasgow, 1935) traces the influence of the Apollo cult to Scotland. He reports an occasion when the King of Alba (Scotland) forces his guests (Lugaid and company) from Ireland to eat mice. The ingestion of the mice <takes the place of the blood covenant which obtained in Ireland…Lugaid and his men became “mouse brothers” to the king of Alba and his subjects.> (MacKenzie p.77). Isaiah linked swine with mice. In Scotland two different traditions prevailed, one (like many of the Celts) regarded the pig as sacred while the other considered it taboo and also usually avoided eating any of the animals forbidden in the Mosaic Code.
Adapted from “Ephraim”:
Crucifixion (a crucified god) was known to the ancient world and was an attribute of several pagan deities4, such as Osiris. Lempriere ("Lempriere's Classical Dictionary", 1788) stated that the Egyptian Osiris was the model upon which the ritual mouse-eating cult of Apollo was based and the same verse quoted from Isaiah mentions ritual eating of mice. Other authorities point out that Osiris was identified with Tammuz who was also known as Adonis. Ezekiel condemns the women of Jerusalem for weeping for Tammuz, who (like other gods) had been crucified and whose death and resurrection were celebrated every year.

Ezekiel 8;14: "AND HE BROUGHT ME TO THE DOOR OF THE GATE OF THE LORD'S HOUSE, WHICH WAS TOWARDS THE NORTH; AND BEHOLD, THERE SAT WOMEN  WEEPING FOR TAMMUZ.

8;15 "AND THEN HE SAID UNTO ME, HAVE YOU SEEN THIS, SON OF MAN? TURN YET AGAIN, AND YOU SHALL SEE GREATER ABOMINATIONS THAN THESE.

In other words within the Land of Judah at that time there existed a cult who worshipped a crucified god who died and was resurrected. This cult was popular with women and had penetrated the Temple precincts, which suggests a possible synthesis with Judaic beliefs and the penetration of a pagan god‑who‑dies and‑is‑resurrected idea amongst more susceptible elements of Judaic society.
What prevailed in Judah would also have held in northern Israel. Pagan gods tended to acquire aspects of sun idols and their separate identities in the eyes of devotees seem to have intermerged so that one god would become identifiable with aspects of another. The pagan world saw no problem in synthesizing aspects of one idol with those of others. Plutarch said that Adonis equalled Dionysus (Bacchus)‑, whereas at Phoenician Byblos, Adonis was identified as Osiris5. Bacchus, Adonis, and Apollo were all said to have been born in a cave6. Jeronomius (Patrologia Graeca 22,581) speaks of a cult of Tammuz-Adonis at Bethlehem7. Adonis (like Osiris) was depicted in some accounts as having been crucified as was Horus, Prometheus, Iao, and Tammuz, though the latter two (Tammuz and Iao) were more usually regarded as aspects of, and therefore identical with, Adonis8. The names "Adonis" and "Iao" are forms of appellations originally given by the Hebrews to God Himself! "Adon" in Hebrew means, “master.” The Phoenicians (Canaanites) called Tammuz “Adon.” The name is synonymous with the primary meaning of "Baal" which is, "lord." Iao is derived from the four-lettered name of God, which it was later forbidden to utter since it was being misused. Iao and Adonis and all the rest were pagan synthetic cults that may have had Hebraic origins or have been influenced by Hebrew practices!

[Isaiah 66:18] FOR I KNOW THEIR WORKS AND THEIR THOUGHTS: IT SHALL COME, THAT I WILL GATHER ALL NATIONS AND TONGUES; AND THEY SHALL COME, AND SEE MY GLORY.

 [Isaiah 66:19] AND I WILL SET A SIGN AMONG THEM, AND I WILL SEND THOSE THAT ESCAPE OF THEM UNTO THE NATIONS, TO TARSHISH, PUL, AND LUD, THAT DRAW THE BOW, TO TUBAL, AND JAVAN, TO THE ISLES AFAR OFF, THAT HAVE NOT HEARD MY FAME, NEITHER HAVE SEEN MY GLORY; AND THEY SHALL DECLARE MY GLORY AMONG THE GENTILES.

Isaiah is referring to the exiled who were scattered out of Judah or to the Lost Ten Tribes or to some future scattering of Israelites. This may be seen from the context of the verses that precede this one and those that follow.
“TO TARSHISH”, originally Spain, and probably also Gaul and Britain. Later applied to Atlantic area in general including North America.
“PUL”, some say Poland and the Ukraine. If so, the reference is to Judah many of whom dwelt in those areas for a very long time and on the whole suffered greatly there whilst reaching a high stage of religious and spiritual development at times.
“AND LUD”,  - Lydia in Anatolia (present day Turkey) but one Irish account traces their ancestors to Lydia.
“THAT DRAW THE BOW”, “Moshkei-keshet” identified by some with the Scythians. Red Indians?
“TO TUBAL”, oringinally an area north of Syria, also identified with areas in Russia and with Spain. The Abarbanel says that Tubal here means England but I fail to see his reasoning or the source he uses.
“AND JAVAN”,  Yavan is Greece but descendants of Yavan were also to be found elsewhere. Craig White (based on ancient traditionsand other sources) identified the people of southern France as descendants of Yavan.
“TO THE ISLES AFAR OFF”, The British Isles?

 [Isaiah 66:20] AND THEY SHALL BRING ALL YOUR BRETHREN FOR AN OFFERING UNTO THE LORD OUT OF ALL NATIONS UPON HORSES, AND IN CHARIOTS, AND IN LITTERS, AND UPON MULES, AND UPON SWIFT BEASTS, TO MY HOLY MOUNTAIN JERUSALEM, SAITH THE LORD, AS THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL BRING AN OFFERING IN A CLEAN VESSEL INTO THE HOUSE OF THE LORD.                      

 [Isaiah 66:21] AND I WILL ALSO TAKE OF THEM FOR PRIESTS AND FOR LEVITES, SAITH THE LORD.
Abarbanel (1437-1509): <<From those childen of Israel who will be brought from distant lands,  who were immersed among the Gentiles and intermixed with them. From these Israelites will also be taken individuals for Priests and Levites. These will be they who [oringinally] came from Priestly and Levitical families. It will not matter if they had once been sold as slaves and against their will had become Gentiles. How will it be known what family they came from? Doubtless it will be through Divine Inspiration as predicted by Malachi: “AND HE SHALL SIT AS A REFINER AND PURIFIER OF SILVER: AND HE SHALL PURIFY THE SONS OF LEVI, AND PURGE THEM AS GOLD AND SILVER, THAT THEY MAY OFFER UNTO THE LORD AN OFFERING IN RIGHTEOUSNESS.
“THEN SHALL THE OFFERING OF JUDAH AND JERUSALEM BE PLEASANT UNTO THE LORD, AS IN THE DAYS OF OLD, AND AS IN FORMER YEARS” : [Malachi 3:3-4]. >>                    

Note the Talmud also says:
“Said Rabbi Hama Bar Hanina: When God decides to let it be known who belongs to which Tribe, he clarifies firstly who belongs to the Tribe of Levi, as it says, “And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi...” ([Malachi 3;3); (Talmud, Kiddushin 70;a).

Maimonides (1135-1204) says:
“In the days of the Messianic King: When his kingdom shall be settled and all of Israel gather unto him, he shall then give the Tribal-genealogy of each one. He shall do this through Divine inspiration. As it says, HE SHALL SIT AS A REFINER AND PURIFIER ([Malachi 3:3). He will purify the Tribe of Levi first….as it says, ‘…till there be stood up a priest with Urim and with Thumim’ (Ezra 2;63)…He gives the genealogy of Israel only concerning which tribe each one belongs to..” (Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, The Laws of Kings, ch. 12, no.3).

Rashi (1040-1105): << “AND I WILL ALSO TAKE OF THEM FOR PRIESTS” [Isaiah 66:21]: He will take from the peoples who bring them [i.e. the Children of Israel] back  and from those [Israelites] who are brought back as Priests and Leivtes. At present these have been forcibly assimilated amongst the Gentiles. Before me [i.e. God] it is clear those amongst them  who are Priests and Levites. I will separate them out and they will serve before me, says God. Where did God first speak of this? “THE SECRET THINGS BELONG UNTO THE LORD OUR GOD”  [Deuteronomy 29:29]> This is what is explained in the Midrash on Psalms.>>   
Note: These sources are speaking from the orientation of Judah. The British and Americans were responsible in some degree for enabling the return of Jews to the land of Israel. They were the ones who can be described as “Gentiles” who brought “Israel” (i.e. the Jews in this case) back and from them too will Priests and Levites be chosen out.

[Isaiah 66:22] FOR AS THE NEW HEAVENS AND THE NEW EARTH, WHICH I WILL MAKE, SHALL REMAIN BEFORE ME, SAITH THE LORD, SO SHALL YOUR SEED AND YOUR NAME REMAIN.
Israel and Judah will always exist and continue onward.

 [Isaiah 66:23] AND IT SHALL COME TO PASS, THAT FROM ONE NEW MOON TO ANOTHER, AND FROM ONE SABBATH TO ANOTHER, SHALL ALL FLESH COME TO WORSHIP BEFORE ME, SAITH THE LORD.

]Pesikta Rabati A:abg] << “SHALL ALL FLESH COME TO WORSHIP BEFORE ME”, “Even Gentiles, but not all Gentiles, rather only those who did not oppress Israel [the Jews] will be received  by the Messiah”>>.

 [Isaiah 66:24] AND THEY SHALL GO FORTH, AND LOOK UPON THE CARCASES OF THE MEN THAT HAVE TRANSGRESSED AGAINST ME: FOR THEIR WORM SHALL NOT DIE, NEITHER SHALL THEIR FIRE BE QUENCHED; AND THEY SHALL BE AN ABHORRING UNTO ALL FLESH.

Some (e.g. Abarbanel) say that this is referring to a future punishment to befall the wicked after the Ressurection of the Dead. This is beyond our sphere.

Our Preliminary Study Of Isaiah is Completed.
HOme
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