Isaiah 65

 God’s bible can speak to us especially when we are feeling overwhelmed at the trials we are forced to go through in this life. It was written during ancient times, but it is applicable in every generation. The bible has the power not only to communicate God’s thoughts and ways, but it still has the power to rescue and save us. Because God’s bible is eternal, it will be the basis of our judgment when we die, no matter when it was written. The bible is like a precious mine, where we can find priceless gems and minerals. It might seem like a daunting task to discover the truths found in it, but I assure you, it is one of the ways God still speaks to his children today.  The bible isn’t just a truth book, it is the very words of God, and with the right attitude and spirit we can understand God’s plan of salvation, and what God’s will for our lives are in all generations. Here is a portion of the bible found in Isaiah 65. Isaiah was a real person and a prophet of God that lived in the Old Testament times. He literally spoke for God to the people of His day. Whatever God said through him was real and came to pass, either then or in the future. There are no prophets now like there was before Jesus came to the earth, Jesus fulfilled all the Old Testament prophets, even though what they said still holds true today and some hold prophesies that are yet to happen!

Judgment and Salvation

Isaiah 65 

“I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me;

    I was found by those who did not seek me.

To a nation that did not call on my name,

    I said, ‘Here am I, here am I.’

2 

All day long I have held out my hands

    to an obstinate people,

who walk in ways not good,

    pursuing their own imaginations—

3 

a people who continually provoke me

    to my very face,

offering sacrifices in gardens

    and burning incense on altars of brick;

4 

who sit among the graves

    and spend their nights keeping secret vigil;

who eat the flesh of pigs,

    and whose pots hold broth of impure meat;

5 

who say, ‘Keep away; don’t come near me,

    for I am too sacred for you!’

Such people are smoke in my nostrils,

    a fire that keeps burning all day.

6 

“See, it stands written before me:

    I will not keep silent but will pay back in full;

    I will pay it back into their laps—

7 

both your sins and the sins of your ancestors,”

    says the Lord.

“Because they burned sacrifices on the mountains

    and defied me on the hills,

I will measure into their laps

    the full payment for their former deeds.”

8 This is what the Lord says:

“As when juice is still found in a cluster of grapes

    and people say, ‘Don’t destroy it,

    there is still a blessing in it,’

so will I do in behalf of my servants;

    I will not destroy them all.

9 

I will bring forth descendants from Jacob,

    and from Judah those who will possess my mountains;

my chosen people will inherit them,

    and there will my servants live.

10 

Sharon will become a pasture for flocks,

    and the Valley of Achor a resting place for herds,

    for my people who seek me.

11 

“But as for you who forsake the Lord

    and forget my holy mountain,

who spread a table for Fortune

    and fill bowls of mixed wine for Destiny,

12 

I will destine you for the sword,

    and all of you will fall in the slaughter;

for I called but you did not answer,

    I spoke but you did not listen.

You did evil in my sight

    and chose what displeases me.”

13 Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says:

“My servants will eat,

    but you will go hungry;

my servants will drink,

    but you will go thirsty;

my servants will rejoice,

    but you will be put to shame.

14 

My servants will sing

    out of the joy of their hearts,

but you will cry out

    from anguish of heart

    and wail in brokenness of spirit.

15 

You will leave your name

    for my chosen ones to use in their curses;

the Sovereign Lord will put you to death,

    but to his servants he will give another name.

16 

Whoever invokes a blessing in the land

    will do so by the one true God;

whoever takes an oath in the land

    will swear by the one true God.

For the past troubles will be forgotten

    and hidden from my eyes.

New Heavens and a New Earth

17 

“See, I will create

    new heavens and a new earth.

The former things will not be remembered,

    nor will they come to mind.

18 

But be glad and rejoice forever

    in what I will create,

for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight

    and its people a joy.

19 

I will rejoice over Jerusalem

    and take delight in my people;

the sound of weeping and of crying

    will be heard in it no more.

20 

“Never again will there be in it

    an infant who lives but a few days,

    or an old man who does not live out his years;

the one who dies at a hundred

    will be thought a mere child;

the one who fails to reach[a] a hundred

    will be considered accursed.

21 

They will build houses and dwell in them;

    they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.

22 

No longer will they build houses and others live in them,

    or plant and others eat.

For as the days of a tree,

    so will be the days of my people;

my chosen ones will long enjoy

    the work of their hands.

23 

They will not labor in vain,

    nor will they bear children doomed to misfortune;

for they will be a people blessed by the Lord,

    they and their descendants with them.

24 

Before they call I will answer;

    while they are still speaking I will hear.

25 

The wolf and the lamb will feed together,

    and the lion will eat straw like the ox,

    and dust will be the serpent’s food.

They will neither harm nor destroy

    on all my holy mountain,”

says the Lord.