The Lord proceeded to explain that even though He would destroy the ungodly, He would also spare the truly godly among His people (cf. Gen. 18:23-25).
65:8 Yahweh promised not to destroy the whole nation (cluster of grapes) but just the sinners among them (the bad grapes). The whole nation constituted His servants, but most of them were unprofitable servants.
"Reading chs. 40-55 alone might give one the impression that all that is necessary to be part of the remnant is to believe God's promises to deliver. Chs. 56-66 make plain that those who are truly the servants of God are those who believe his promises enough to obey his covenant."719
65:9 God would preserve a godly remnant from among His people who would inherit His promises to the patriarchs concerning His land and kingdom. Messiah was one of these descendants (cf. Mic. 5:2) but not the only one.
65:10 The faithful who truly sought the Lord would inhabit the fertile western coastal plain and the barren eastern area west of Jericho, in other words, the whole land. Those who sought the Lord were not necessarily those who engaged in religious activity but those who obeyed His covenant requirements.
65:11 In contrast to these faithful were those who forsook the Lord, who forgot Jerusalem as the specified place of His worship, and who participated in ritual meals to the gods of fortune and destiny (cf. 1 Cor. 10:21-22). Isaiah was using examples of idolatry that were present in his generation of Israelites to represent the idolatry that would exist after the exile. "Fortune"was an Aramean god (cf. Josh. 11:17; 15:37), and "destiny"means apportionment (of fate) and may have a connection with the goddess Manat of Arabian mythology.720
65:12 These Israelite hypocrites would be the objects of His judgment because when Hehad called theyhad not responded with obedience (cf. 64:12). Far from controlling their own fortune and destiny, Yahweh would control it. They had chosen the things in which the Lord did not delight--they had rebelled--so He would bring discipline on them (cf. Matt. 22:7; 23:37; Luke 19:27; Acts 13:46).
65:13-14 The Sovereign Lord's true servants, those in Israel who obeyed His covenant, would enjoy blessings of body and spirit, all types of blessings, whereas those who rebelled would experience all types of curses.
65:15-16 The reputation (name) of the rebellious Israelites would remain as a curse to all the Israelites, and Sovereign Yahweh would slay them. This is not a replacement of all Israel by the church, but a replacement of all who depended on formal worship for their relationship with God by those who genuinely loved and obeyed God. But those who faithfully served the Lord by keeping His covenant would have another reputation, namely, the reputation of the God of truth (lit. amen). People would bless and swear by this God, whom the godly served. Their godly conduct would give testimony to their solidarity with Him. In contrast to those whom He would slay (v. 15), the faithful would be those whom He had forgiven.
