Tremper Longman

Isaiah 65:17–25

What is true today was true for the time of Isa 65. Many believe that the prophet of this oracle lived during the relatively hopeful postexilic period. Israel had been freed from Babylonian captivity, but nevertheless was still living under the watchful eye of the Persian government. The glory days of an independent kingdom were long since gone. The context of the passage suggests that people of the day thought that God was deliberately absent (64:12). The divine response to this terrifying prospect is that God is is not only present but also is prepared to be so in ways heretofore hardly imaginable, the result of which would mean punishment for the wicked (65:6-7).