Isa 65.8-10 tells us that just as a cluster of grapes is plucked from an otherwise unfruitful branch, so the Lord will have a”remnant” of true believers. God will bring forth offspring who are believers from Israel, elect ones, who will inherit the land. In this chapter, this message will go back and forth. You will have judgment, accusation and a prediction all is going to fall. At the same time, there is a promise of what is to come.
Isa 65.11-12 are two of the most profound and informative verses in Scripture. We are going to spend some time in these verses because they are so informational. Two books that are a help with these verses in “The Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible” and another is “Unger’s Bible Dictionary.” You will be able to look up the names mentioned in these verses. These two verses are going to be unique because we have where the Bible certainly condemns idolatry. We have seen that this not only applies to the Jews, but also to the non-Jews that join themselves to Israel, in that, they were not to eat things offered to idols and so on.
What is unique is, this festival is the only festival that has an origin out of paganism that is still being practiced today, as we shall see. We are not saying that the people who follow this are “pagan” but we are saying that the origin of this festival is pagan. In addition, the people participating in it have no concept that it is pagan. In other words, the people doing it actually believe they are serving the Lord as they do it.
“But you who forsake the Lord” (v 11) is not a good way to start off. In actuality, they are not serving the Lord, but other “gods” or “powers” which can be anything we think has “power” like the sun. The sun has immense “power” and the commandment says we are not to have “any powers before Me.” Now remember, the context of these verses is the coming of the Messiah. Whoever this verse is referring to is in trouble when the Lord comes.
“Who forget my holy mountain” refers to Mount Moriah, where the Temple stood. The Temple is called the “Beit Ha Mikdash” which means the “House of Kedusha.” Kedusha means “to set apart, to be designated for the service of God by formal and legal restrictions and limitations.” Kedusha relates to the Temple because the temple is the perfect picture of the Lord, it is like a portrayal of the Lord. Commandments that are “holy” will relate to the temple, like tithing, the contributions (terumah), the korbanot and the people coming into the Temple.
In the Book of Genesis, we have the word “Kodesh” used for the first time in Gen 2.3. It is talking about the Sabbath and it is translated as “sanctified.” We do not see it again until Exo 3.5 where the Lord tells Moses to remove his sandals because the place he is standing “is holy ground” (kedosh adumat). When man was created, he had a “kedusha” upon him but when he sinned, he lost it. He had to be driven from the garden. Eventually, man lost the concept of kedusha. Israel came to Mount Sinai after leaving Egypt for two reasons: to receive the Torah and to receive the Mishkan (Tabernacle). In order to meet with God, they would have had to continually come to Mount Sinai. But, when he gives them the Mishkan, the dwelling place of God, they don’t need to go to Mount Sinai. The kedusha that was on Mount Sinai now fell on the Mishkan, the “House of Kedusha.” As a result, when the people moved, the kedusha of God moved with them in the Mishkan. The kedusha would move again, and found a permanent place in the Temple on Mount Moriah. So, to “forget my holy mountain” not only means to forget the Torah commands, but it also means to forget the Temple and the kedusha (Isa 14.13; Rev 16.16).
“Who set a table for Gad (or “Fortune”) is very interesting phrase. People want to say “God” when they say “Gad” here because it sounds like “Gad” in Hebrew. One of the tribes was “Gad” so it is not a bad name. We know that some Israelis are called by this name. Just because a pagan god was called Gad does not make it bad. This word also means “troop” or “fortune.” To “set a table” means “to keep a festival.” From paganism, we can get more details on this god called “Gad.”
“Who fill cups with mixed wine for Destiny” or “Meni” and it means the “numberer.” It is related to the word in Dan 5.25, “Mene, Mene.” This verse in Isa 65.11 is basically saying the same thing as “keeping a festival for Gad (Fortune) and Meni (Destiny).” So we have Gad (Fortune) and Meni (destiny/numberer), and these are pagan gods. Gad is a male deity and Meni is a female deity. Isa 65.12 says in a play on words that God is going to “destine” and “number” those that “keep a festival” to these deities to the sword. Most people are not aware of the pagan origin of the festivals that are done today, or where that festival came from, along with its practices. It is done in ignorance. Ignorance can fixed by the knowledge of God.
Isa 65 is told in the context of the second coming of the Messiah, and he is bringing charges against the people. While this relates to something centuries ago, it also relates to something in the world today. The people are “destined” (play on words) for slaughter because the Lord called, but they did not answer. God spoke, but they did not not hear. They chose evil and what God did not delight in. God delights in the Torah (Isa 56.4).
In the ancient world, you had the borrowing of deities. The Romans borrowed from Greece, and in Greece the “head” of the deities was Zeus. In Rome, it was Jupiter. In Greece, Aries was the god of war, but in Rome it was Mars. Not only did they borrow from the Greeks, they also borrowed from the Egyptians, the Babylonians, who borrowed from the Persians, who borrowed from the Medes, who borrowed from the Hittites and so on. You had a cohesion of these gods in these cultures, and this was called a “pantheon” and the only difference was they were called by different names (but the same “gods” in “function”).
In Part 46, we are going to pick up here with more detail on these two verses. We are going to start with the god Fortune (Gad), and show how this relates to a festival that is celebrated today.
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