Isaiah 65:11

But ye are they that forsake the LORD, that forget my holy mountain, that prepare a table for that troop, and that furnish the drink offering unto that number. BUT YE (ARE) THEY THAT ... FORGET MY HOLY MOUNTAIN - Moriah, on which the temple was. THAT PREPARE A TABLE FOR THAT TROOP - rather, Gad, the Babylonian god of fortune, the planet Jupiter answering to Baal or Bel. The Arabs called it 'the Greater Good Fortune;' and the planet Venus, answering to Meni, 'the Lesser Good Fortune,' (Gesenius, Kimchi, etc.) [So the Syriac and Vulgate translate, 'Fortunae;' the Septuagint, too daimonioo; the Chaldaic, to idols.] Tables were laid out for their idols with all kinds of viands (called by the Romans in subsequent ages lectisternia), and a cup containing a mixture of wine and honey, in Egypt especially on the last day of the year (Jerome). The Apocryphal book of Bel and the Dragon ...

11._But ye forsakers of Jehovah, who forget the mountain of my holiness. _That hypocrites may not abuse these promises, or think that what is said about the restoration of the people relates to them, he again addresses them by these words, and calls them “forsakers,” (208) because they “have forgotten” Mount Zion; that is, have revolted from the true worship of God. By “the mountain of holiness” he denotes figuratively the rule of a holy life which had been laid down in the word of the Lord; for the temple had been built by the command of the Lord, that these men might call upon him; and likewise the altar on which the Lord wished that sacrifices should be offered. Thus those sacrifices and oblations were impure which were offered in other places, or to other gods, or in any way different from the strict observance of the ceremonies of the Law. It is not lawful for men to undertake anyth...

11-16 Here the different states of the godly and wicked, of the Jews who believed, and of those who persisted in unbelief, are set against one another. They prepared a table for that troop of deities which the heathen worship, and poured out drink-offerings to that countless number. Their worshippers spared no cost to honour them, which should shame the worshippers of the true God. See the malignity of sin; it is doing by choice what we know will displease God. In every age and nation, the Lord leaves those who persist in doing evil, and despise the call of the gospel. God's servants shall have the bread of life, and shall want nothing good for them. But those who forsake the Lord, shall be ashamed of vain confidence in their own righteousness, and the hopes they built thereon. Wordly people bless themselves in the abundance of this world's goods; but God's servants bless themselves in...

Verse Isaiah 65:11. _THAT PREPARE A TABLE FOR THAT TROOP_ - "Who set in order a table for Gad"] The disquisitions and conjectures of the learned concerning Gad and Meni are infinite and uncertain: perhaps the most probable may be, that Gad means good fortune, and Meni the moon. "But why should we be solicitous about it?" says Schmidius. "It appears sufficiently, from the circumstances, that they were false gods; either stars, or some natural objects; or a mere fiction. The Holy Scriptures did not deign to explain more clearly what these objects of idolatrous worship were; but chose rather, that the memory of the knowledge of them should be utterly abolished. And God be praised, that they are so totally abolished, that we are now quite at a loss to know what and what sort of things they were." Schmidius on the place, and on...

BUT YE ARE THEY THAT FORSAKE THE LORD - Or rather, ‘Ye who forsake Yahweh, and who forget my holy mountain, I will number to the sword.’ The design of this verse is to remind them of their idolatries, and to assure them that they should not escape unpunished. THAT FORGET MY HOLY MOUNTAIN - Mount Moriah, the sacred mountain on which the temple was built. THAT PREPARE A TABLE - It was usual to set food and drink before idols - with the belief that the gods consumed what was thus placed before them (see the notes at Isaiah 65:4). The meaning here is, that the Jews had united with the pagan in thus ‘preparing a table;’ that is, setting it before the idols referred to, and placing food on it for them. FOR THAT TROOP - Margin, ‘Gad.’ Perhaps

SECTION XI.—GOD'S ANSWER TO THE EXILES' PRAYER (Isaiah 65:1.) EXPOSITION ISAIAH 65:1 ISRAEL'S SUFFERINGS THE JUST MEED OF THEIR SINS. God's mercy is such that it even overflows upon those who are outside the covenant (Isaiah 65:1). It has been offered to Israel, but Israel has rejected it. Their rebellion, their idolatries, and their pride have caused, and must continue to cause, their punishment ...

BUT YE ARE THEY THAT FORSAKE THE LORD,.... Here the Lord returns to the body of the people again, the unbelievers and rejecters of the Messiah, who turned away from him, would not hear his doctrine, nor submit to his ordinances; they forsook the worship of the Lord, as the Targum; yea, some that professed to be his disciples, and followed him for a while, left him, and walked no more with him, John 6:60: THAT FORGET MY HOLY MOUNTAIN; Mount Zion, the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, the Gospel church, to which the seed or heirs, the chosen of God, and the servants of the Lord among the Jews, came, and enjoyed the immunities of it, and worshipped the Lord there; but these men forgot it, and either never came, or, if any of them did, they soon forsook the assembling of themselves together, as the manner of some was,...

CHAPTER 65 Jehovah's Answer: The Rebellious and Their Judgment, the Faithful and Their Blessings 1. _The divine rebuke to the apostates (Isaiah 65:1) _ 2. _The elect seed (Isaiah 65:9) _ 3. _The judgment of the apostates (Isaiah 65:11) _ 4. _The blessings of Jehovah's servants and the contrast (Isaiah 65:13) _ 5. _The glories and blessings of the future (Isaiah 65:17) _ The first eight verses give a description of the iniquities practiced by apostate Israel. Judgment will overtake them in the day of veng

THE RIGHTEOUS SHALL INHERIT THE LAND, BUT THEIR OPPONENTS SHALL BE SLAUGHTERED. Yahweh says, Even as the vintagers say when they see a cluster with only a few sound grapes in it, - Destroy it not, for a blessing is in it,'so for the sake of those who are faithful to Me I will not utterly destroy My people. The righteous survivors shall possess the holy land. From Sharon (p. 28) the maritime plain between Joppa and Carmel to the valley of Achor in the neighbourhood of Jericho the plains shall teem with cattle. But you who deliberately ignore My Temple and its ritual, spreading instead a meal for the gods Fortune and Destiny you will I destine (a terrible jest) to destruction, because ye were deaf to all My appeals, defying My will. ISAIAH 65:8. DESTROY... IN IT: possibly the opening words of a popular vintage song....

THAT TROOP. Hebrew Gad, the well-known Syrian god of "Fate". FURNISH THE DRINK OFFERING. fill up the MIXED WINE. Hebrew. _mimsak._ App-27. Compare Jeremiah 7:18. THAT NUMBER. Hebrew. _m'ni._ Same as the god _Manu_ (= Destiny) of the Assyrian inscriptions....