Isaiah 66: The Birth of an Age: Chapter 21: Joys of Childbirth

A woman experiences great joy once her child has been born. It is the same with Zion’s delivery of her sons. Hence, we read in Isaiah 66:10-12,

¹⁰ “Be joyful with Jerusalem and rejoice for her, all you who love her; be exceedingly glad with her, all you who mourn over her, ¹¹ that you may nurse and be satisfied with her comforting breasts, that you may suck and be delighted with her bountiful bosom.” ¹² For thus says the Lord, “Behold, I extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream; and you will be nursed, you will be carried on the hip and fondled on the knees.”

Because there are two Jerusalems, we must first know which city was to give birth to the sons of God. Paul tells us in Gal. 4:24 that the earthly Jerusalem can give birth only to slaves, “but the Jerusalem above is free; she is our mother” (Gal. 4:26). Isaiah was describing the latter.

Isaiah 66:13 continues,

¹³ “As one whom his mother comforts [nacham], so I will comfort [nacham] you; and you will be comforted [nacham] in Jerusalem.”

What was promised in Isaiah 40:1, “Comfort, O comfort My people,” reaches its climax with the birth of the sons of God, who are comforted by Mother Jerusalem. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the “Comforter” (John 14:26, KJV) is thus pictured as a mother comforting her son in her arms, i.e., “in Jerusalem.” This is the New Jerusalem.

The Contrast with God’s Enemies

Isaiah 66:14 says,

¹⁴ “Then you will see this, and your heart will be glad, and your bones will flourish like the new grass; and the hand of the Lord will be made known to His servants, but He will be indignant toward His enemies.”

A glad heart is associated with the new wine, for “wine makes life merry” (Eccl. 10:19). In regard to bones flourishing, “good news puts fat on the bones” (Prov. 15:30). The “good news” in this verse is not basar, which is “good tidings, gospel,” but it means the same thing. The gospel of Christ (Isaiah 61:1) is the ultimate good news that heals and strengthens us.

We also know from Gen. 2:23 that the woman was said to be “bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh.” The flourishing of Jerusalem’s “bones,” then, fulfilled the prophecy about Eve, the archtype of the bride of Christ. She flourishes through the gospel, the good news of the New Covenant promise of God being fulfilled. Hence, the earthly Jerusalem (prophetic Hagar), who remains in slavery, cannot fulfill Isaiah’s prophecy, for she represents the Old Covenant.

Furthermore, Paul says that the children of the flesh (prophetic Ishmael) persecute the children (the Isaac company) who are “born according to the Spirit” (Gal. 4:29). Though Paul was speaking specifically of the children of the earthly Jerusalem who persecuted the heirs—Sarah’s children—the principle can be extended to all children of the flesh.

No doubt this is what is meant in Isaiah 66:14, where we read of God’s “enemies.” Enemies are those who are not in harmony with God.

The Destruction of Jerusalem

Isaiah 66:15, 16 continues,

¹⁵ “For behold, the Lord will come in fire and His chariots like the whirlwind, to render His anger with fury, and His rebuke with flames of fire. ¹⁶ For the Lord will execute judgment by fire and by His sword on all flesh, and those slain by the Lord will be many.”

God first appeared “in fire” upon Mount Sinai. Exodus 19:18 says,

¹⁸ Now Mount Sinai was all in smoke because the Lord descended upon it in fire, and its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked violently.

Forty years later, Moses recounted the scene in his second speech. Deut. 4:15, 24 says,

¹⁵ So watch yourselves carefully, since you did not see any form on the day the Lord spoke to you at Horeb from the midst of the fire… ²⁴ For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.

Later, Moses spoke of “the fiery law” (Deut. 33:2, KJV), which was His word that was spoken on the Mount. That word reflected the divine nature and set the standard of righteousness that was to measure all sin and righteousness. To those who had ears to hear, the fire was His glory; to those who could not hear, it was a consuming fire, burning all that was fleshly.

Isaiah drew attention to God’s first appearance on Mount Sinai, comparing it to His coming at the end of the age to render justice. Isaiah was speaking to an audience in the earthly Jerusalem, so it is clear that the city was not exempt from divine justice. The “comfort” given to the children of the heavenly Jerusalem was contrasted with the “rebuke” given to the children of the earthly Jerusalem.

Unfortunately, many Christians erroneously declare that Isaiah was contrasting the earthly Jerusalem with foreign “enemies.” But as we have already seen in Isaiah 29, God said that He would lead foreign armies against “Ariel” (Jerusalem), calling the inhabitants of the city His “enemies” (Isaiah 29:5). Hence, the prophet says that the city was to be “brought low” (Isaiah 29:4) and destroyed by “the flame of a consuming fire” (Isaiah 29:6).

Hence, Isaiah 66:15, 16 should be understood as a final prophecy of Jerusalem’s destruction at the end of the age to make way for the comfort shown to the sons of the heavenly city.

Children of the Flesh

The children of the flesh, children of Hagar-Jerusalem, are then described in Isaiah 66:17,

¹⁷ “Those who sanctify and purify themselves to go to the gardens, following one in the center, who eat swine’s flesh, detestable things and mice, will come to an end altogether,” declares the Lord.

No doubt the people in Isaiah’s time were doing this literally as a violation of the law in Lev. 11:4 and 7. Yet the deeper meaning is that the people were attempting to cleanse themselves by eating unclean food. They should have eaten Christ’s flesh (John 6:53), which is to say, they should have believed and digested the gospel of Christ. Jesus told His disciples in John 15:3,

³ You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.

But the people in Jerusalem remained unclean, because they heard and obeyed the bad news coming from the temple—teachings which could never sanctify or purify them. In Jesus’ day, the people thought they were being loyal to Moses and the law, when in fact, they put away the law by their own traditions. Moses wrote of Christ, but the people did not believe Moses. Jesus said in John 5:45-47,

⁴⁵ Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father; the one who accuses you is Moses, in whom you have set your hope, ⁴⁶ for if you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote about Me. ⁴⁷ But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?

By rejecting Jesus Christ, they made themselves enemies of God, for Moses wrote in Lev. 26:40, 41, 42,

⁴⁰ If they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their forefathers, in their unfaithfulness which they committed against Me, and also in their acting with hostility against Me— ⁴¹ I also was acting with hostility against them, to bring them into the land of their enemies—or if their uncircumcised heart becomes humbled so that they can then make amends for their iniquity, ⁴² then I will remember My covenant…

The bottom line is that they were eating swine’s flesh and mice, not necessarily in a literal fashion, but because they were eating unclean spiritual food. They were eating fleshly teachings. Swine’s flesh is unclean because it lacks a cloven hoof and thus pictures people accepting the teachings of their religious leaders without a double witness from the Holy Spirit. The law says that all truth stands on two or three witnesses (Deut. 19:15).

Secondly, swine’s flesh is unclean because pigs do not chew the cud. When people accept teachings without meditating upon the word, it is unclean to them. Meditation (chewing the cud) is necessary to move the “grass” from one stomach to another, that is, to transform flesh into spirit. Men’s fleshly understanding of the law is the grass that must be transformed into the spirit of the law, because “the law is spiritual” (Rom. 7:14). Those who think they are spiritual because they have put away the law are pursuing spirituality in a wrong manner.

As for mice, the law includes them among the “swarming things” that are unclean (Lev. 11:29). Lev. 11:27 forbids men to eat “whatever walks on its paws.” In other words, they walk on flesh as a way of life. God’s people are to walk in the Spirit. So Rom. 8:4-8 says,

⁴ so that the requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit… ⁶ For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, ⁷ because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, ⁸ and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

The fleshly mind “is hostile toward God.” Why? “It does not subject itself to the law of God.” Hence, children of the flesh put away the law, while those who are truly spiritual consume the law, meditate upon it, and allow the Holy Spirit to transform it into food that nourishes their spirit. This is done through the gospel (basar, gospel), Christ’s “flesh,” and the New Covenant, which is Christ’s blood (Matt. 26:28).

The people in Isaiah’s day did not do what God required, and their descendants rejected Jesus as the Christ. So the prophet tells them that they “will come to an end altogether” (Isaiah 66:17).