Isaiah 65:3

A people that provoketh me to anger continually to my face; that sacrificeth in gardens, and burneth incense upon altars of brick; A PEOPLE THAT PROVOKETH ME TO ANGER CONTINUALLY - answering to "all the day" (). God was continually inviting them, and they continually offending Him (). TO MY FACE. They made no attempt to hide their sin (). Compare "before me," . THAT SACRIFICETH IN GARDENS - (note, ; ;...

3._A people that provoketh me. _Here he describes and illustrates more largely in what respects the Jews were rebellious against God. It was because they had forsaken the command of God, and had polluted themselves by various superstitions. He had said a little before, (Isaiah 63:17,) that the Jews had estranged themselves from God, because they wandered after their inventions; and now he points out the fruit of that licentiousness, that, by giving a loose rein to their thoughts, they overturned the pure worship of God. And undoubtedly this is the origin of all superstitions, that men are delighted with their own inventions, and choose to be wise in their own eyes rather than restrain their senses in obedience to God. In vain do men bring forward their devotions, as they call them, and their good intentions, which God holds in such abhorrence and detestation that they who have follo

1-7 The Gentiles came to seek God, and find him, because they were first sought and found of him. Often he meets some thoughtless trifler or profligate opposer, and says to him, Behold me; and a speedy change takes place. All the gospel day, Christ waited to be gracious. The Jews were bidden, but would not come. It is not without cause they are rejected of God. They would do what most pleased them. They grieved, they vexed the Holy Spirit. They forsook God's temple, and sacrificed in groves. They cared not for the distinction between clean and unclean meats, before it was taken away by the gospel. Perhaps this is put for all forbidden pleasures, and all that is thought to be gotten by sin, that abominable thing which the Lord hates. Christ denounced many woes against the pride and hypocrisy of the Jews. The proof against them is plain. And let us watch against pride and self-preference,...

Verse Isaiah 65:3. _THAT SACRIFICETH IN GARDENS, AND BURNETH INCENSE UPON_ _ALTARS OF BRICK_ - "Sacrificing in the gardens, and burning incense on the tiles"] These are instances of heathenish superstition, and idolatrous practices, to which the Jews were immoderately addicted before the Babylonish captivity. The heathen worshipped their idols in groves; whereas God, in opposition to this species of idolatry, commanded his people, when they should come into the promised land, to destroy all the places wherein the Canaanites had served their gods, and in particular to burn their groves with fire, Deuteronomy 12:2. These apostate Jews sacrificed upon altars built of bricks; in opposition to the command of God in regard to his altar, which was to be of unhewn stone,...

A PEOPLE - This verse contains a specification of the reasons why God had rejected them, and brought the calamities upon them. THAT PROVOKETH ME TO ANGER - That is, by their sins. They give constant occasion for my indignation. CONTINUALLY - (תמיד _tâmı̂yd_). It is not once merely, but their conduct as a people is constantly such as to excite my displeasure. TO MY FACE - There is no attempt at concealment. Their abominations are public. It is always regarded as an additional affront when an offence is committed in the very presence of another, and when there is not even the apology that it was supposed he did not see the offender. It is a great aggravation of the guilt of the stoner, that his offence is committed in the very presence, and under the very eye, of God....

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 ...

A PEOPLE THAT PROVOKETH ME TO ANGER CONTINUALLY TO MY FACE,.... They committed their sins openly, without any fear of the divine Being, and in defiance of him, not at all awed by his omniscience and omnipresence; they committed them in the open streets, and even in the temple, the place of the divine residence; and these they did constantly, which provoked him to anger and wrath against them; particularly the following sins: THAT SACRIFICETH IN GARDENS; to idols, as the Targum, placed there, as they were under every green tree; or in groves, where idols were worshipped. Fortunatus Scacchus h thinks this refers to their having their sepulchres in their gardens, where they consulted the dead; which is favoured by a clause in the next verse: AND BURNETH INCENSE ON ALTARS OF BRICK: or, "upon bricks" i. Kimchi says, when they made bricks, they put upon them incense for idols; or, "upon tile...

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

RETRIBUTION AWAITS THOSE WHO CLING TO THE OLD RITUAL PRACTICES AND REFUSE TO ADHERE TO THE REFORMED RELIGION. Yahweh declares His readiness to respond to this people, but they would not approach Him or call upon (_mg., cf._ VSS) His name. I made, He says, unceasing entreaty to them, unruly as they were, but they steadfastly adhered to their own evil ways, insulting Me in My own holy city by their grove-worship and incense-burning. They pass the night among the tombs and recesses (to obtain dream-oracles from the dead). They eat the flesh of, and drink - magical hell-broth-' made from, forbidden animals that they sacrifice. Having acquired in these mystic rites a - taboo-' holiness physically contagious they caution others to shrink away lest they too should be made - taboo-' (read in Isaiah 65:5, - lest I make thee holy-': - am holier than-' is an impossible translation). Such men are to...

PROVOKETH ME TO ANGER. Reference to Pentateuch (Deuteronomy 32:21, the same word, though not the same form). App-92. THAT SACRIFICETH IN GARDENS. Reference to Pentateuch (Leviticus 17:5). UPON ALTARS OF BRICK. upon the bricks: i.e. not on the golden altar of incense....