Isaiah

Isaiah 65: God preserves servants and creates joy

Begin in prayer

Before we hear God answer rebellion with judgment and promise joy to His servants, let us seek Him in prayer. Ask Him to expose the false worship we defend and bring our family to Jesus for mercy and hope.

Yahweh reigns! Let the earth rejoice! Let the multitude of islands be glad!

Psalm 97:1

Father in heaven, please open our eyes as we read Your Word. Make us ready to hear Your warnings and receive Your mercy. Lead us to Christ and the hope of Your promised new creation. Make us more like Jesus. And please bless our family as we worship You together. In Jesus' name, Amen.

See where we're going

God reveals Himself to people who did not seek Him while stretching out His hands to a rebellious people following their own thoughts. They worship in gardens, seek the dead, eat forbidden foods and claim a holiness that keeps others away. He will repay their sins and their fathers’ sins, yet preserve His servants like a cluster that still contains good wine. Those who prepare offerings for Fortune and Destiny and refuse His call will fall by the sword. His servants will eat, drink and rejoice while the rebels suffer hunger, thirst, shame and death. God promises new heavens and a new earth, rejoicing in Jerusalem where crying gives way to joy. He describes long lives, secure homes and harvests, answered prayer and animals living without hurt or destruction on His holy mountain.

As you read Isaiah 65, look for the answers:

Reflect together

Key truth

God repays stubborn rebels, and He makes a new creation for His servants.

God’s outstretched hands expose the stubborn refusal of people who keep choosing their own ways. Garden sacrifices, incense on bricks and visits among graves seek worship or guidance apart from Him, while forbidden foods defy His commands. Their claim to superior holiness adds pride to disobedience, and He will repay this continuing rebellion. The good cluster pictures the servants He preserves rather than destroying everyone together. His promises then replace grief, stolen labor and threatened children with joy, security and care. Verse 20 describes a child dying at a hundred and an aged sinner under a curse, retaining death and judgment alongside abundant life. The final peace rests on God’s work and ready answer, with nothing hurting or destroying on His holy mountain.

How does Isaiah 65 show us that God repays stubborn rebels, and He makes a new creation for His servants?

God’s patient call must not be answered with rebellion.

He stretches out His hands while the people follow their own thoughts. They seek idols and forbidden guidance, then claim to be holier than others. He knows these sins and promises to repay them.

God distinguishes His servants from those who forsake Him.

A cluster with good wine pictures people He will preserve. Those choosing Fortune and Destiny refuse His voice and face the sword. Their hunger and shame stand against His servants’ provision and joy.

God will create joy and peace for His people.

He promises new heavens and a new earth with a rejoicing Jerusalem. Homes and harvests will no longer be lost to others. He will answer His people, and nothing will hurt or destroy on His holy mountain.

Memorise

But be glad and rejoice forever in that which I create; for, behold, I create Jerusalem to be a delight, and her people a joy.

Isaiah 65:18

Looking to Jesus in my life

Ask yourself in your heart, what stubborn refusal must I leave as I seek mercy and lasting joy in Jesus?

God promises, “I create Jerusalem to be a delight, and her people a joy.” The same chapter exposes the stubborn rebellion He will repay. His servants’ hope depends on His mercy and creating power, with no safety promised to those who keep refusing His voice.

Jesus brings guilty people into that hope. He paid for His people’s sins to bring them to God, and the Father raised Him from the dead. His work is finished once for all, so their forgiveness and acceptance will last. Revelation later shows the new heaven and earth where God dwells with His people and death is no more (Revelation 21 verses 1 to 5).

Turn from sin and trust Jesus. Everyone who believes receives mercy and the hope of life with God. Do not defend false worship or despise His call because judgment seems distant. The God who creates new heavens and a new earth is the Savior who gives peace to all who trust Him.

Parent's note

Tell your children that verse 20’s long life, death and curse language must be taught without a timetable. The promises distinguish God’s servants from rebels and do not promise every child present safety. Please do not tell them they are saved just because they grew up in a Christian home. Call each child to turn from sin and trust Jesus, and pray that God would give them a new heart.

Pray together

Now please close your time together in prayer. Thank God that He preserves His servants and will create lasting joy and peace, and bring the heart question to Him. Every child can pray, so let each one say a short prayer if they want to.

But, according to his promise, we look for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.

2 Peter 3:13

God of truth, thank You for preserving a people and promising a creation filled with joy. Please turn us from stubborn refusal and lead us to trust Jesus for forgiveness. Expose our proud and false worship. Help us hear Your Word, seek Your mercy and wait with hope for the peace You will complete. Amen.