Isaiah 66:2 describes one who is Spirit filled, for God has indwelt the one who is humble, contrite, and takes the word of God seriously. Isaiah 66:3, 4 then describes how God viewed most of the religious people in that day,

³ “But he who kills an ox is like one who slays a man; he who sacrifices a lamb is like the one who breaks a dog’s neck; he who offers a grain offering is like one who offers swine’s blood; he who burns incense is like the one who blesses an idol. As they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delights in their abominations, ⁴ so I will choose their punishments and will bring on them what they dread. Because I called, but no one answered; I spoke, but they did not listen. And they did evil in My sight and chose that in which I did not delight.”

When men refuse to hear the word of the Lord, God sees their sacrifice of an ox as if they had murdered a man. Sacrificing a lamb is no better than breaking a dog’s neck. Their meal offerings are as unclean as if they had offered swine’s blood. There is no doubt that most of the people disagreed with this prophetic word in Isaiah’s day, for having already rejected the law in favor of their own understanding and traditions, why would they have ears to hear that God had rejected their sacrifices?

Being soulish, the people had no spiritual understanding. Paul explains in 1 Cor. 2:11, 14,

¹¹ For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. ¹⁶ But a natural [psuchikos, “soulish”] man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.

In Paul’s understanding there are two inner “men.” Unbelievers and carnal believers obtain their understanding by means of the soul (psuche), personified as the old man, which was passed down in a fleshly manner from Adam, the first “living soul.” This is the soulish (psuchikos) man.

On the other hand, those who have been given the Spirit of God have a spiritual man within, a new creation man, who understands all that the Spirit of God reveals. The people in Isaiah’s time—and in our time as well—were soulish, not spiritual. They were religious, but not spiritual. Most likely, they thought that their soul was spiritual, when, in fact, Paul says that it is carnal and mortal and has been sentenced to death.

The Manifestation of the Sons of God

The prophet must have taught that the sons of God would manifest God’s glory in their faces, even as His glory had been seen in Moses’ face many years earlier. Most of the people rejected the sonship message, as seen in Isaiah 66:5,

⁵ Hear the word of the Lord, you who tremble at His word: “Your brothers who hate you, who exclude [nada, “banish, cast out, remove, shun”] you for My name’s sake, have said, ‘Let the Lord be glorified, that we may see your joy.’ But they will be put to shame.”

These religious people hated Isaiah and anyone who took the word of the Lord to heart. Their response to his sonship message was, “Ok, then, go ahead and manifest the glory of God, that we may see your joy. Prove it to us!”

But the time of the manifestation of the sons of God had not yet arrived. The prophet knew the promise of God and accepted it by faith, but he had not yet experienced it. The Apostle Paul too had to wait with patience, for he wrote in Rom. 8:23, 24, 25,

²³ And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. ²⁴ For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? ²⁵ But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.

Adam lost the glory of God when he sinned. For this reason, he was found naked and had to be reclothed with earthly garments until such time that he could regain that which was lost. Scripture progressively reveals the way to regain that glory. The feast days reveal the path from justification to sanctification and finally to glorification. The tabernacle of Moses reveals the “Highway of Holiness,” taking us from outside the camp into the Most Holy Place.

Moses himself gives us the prime example of the glory of God seen in his face. Although that glory faded in time (2 Cor. 3:7), those with faith are given hope for permanent glory, when the feast of Tabernacles is fulfilled historically in the overcomers.

In the end, God says, the mockers “will be put to shame.” They will be proven wrong, and their pride will be demolished by the truth. Isaiah 66:6 describes that day, saying,

⁶ A voice of uproar from the city, a voice from the temple, the voice of the Lord who is rendering recompense to His enemies.

The picture that Isaiah paints is of the voice of God being heard from the temple in the city, much like when God spoke the Ten Commandments from the Mount. However, we should not understand this to mean that God will speak from a third temple in the earthly Jerusalem. We are the temple of God that is being built upon Jesus Christ (Eph. 2:20-22). This is the temple from which men will hear God’s voice.

The Unusual Birth of the Sons of God

God then reveals more about the manifestation of the sons of God. Isaiah 66:7-9 says,

⁷ “Before she travailed, she brought forth; before her pain came, she gave birth to a boy. ⁸ Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Can a land be born in one day? Can a nation be brought forth all at once? As soon as [ki] Zion travailed, she also brought forth her sons. ⁹ Shall I bring to the point of birth and not give delivery?” says the Lord. “Or shall I who gives delivery shut the womb?” says your God.

Normally, a woman goes into labor (“travail”) for a season before giving birth to the baby. But the birth of the sons of God occurs first, and the travail follows afterward.

This prophecy has more than one layer of meaning. If we consider the “boy” in question to be Jesus Christ, then we can say that He was born prior to the travail (i.e., tribulation) of Jerusalem (70 A.D.) that Jesus described in Matt. 24:4-31.

Yet the destruction of Jerusalem was not final in 70 A.D., for it was rebuilt later and exists to this day. Jer. 19:10, 11 indicates that the city will be destroyed “as one breaks a potter’s vessel, which cannot again be repaired.” It is self-evident that this has not yet been fulfilled. If Isaiah was speaking of this “travail,” then it appears that the manifestation of the sons of God must occur prior to Jerusalem’s destruction.

In fact, the voice of the Lord coming from the New Jerusalem and from the true Temple is what brings judgment upon the earthly Jerusalem and any fleshly temple that they may build. The voice of God judges all flesh, and His verdict determines who is called and who is not. Just as the mockers in Isaiah’s time had cast out (nada) the prophet and his disciples, so will God cast out the mockers (Gen. 21:9). Hence, God’s word says, “cast out the bondwoman and her son” (Gen. 21:10-12; Gal. 4:30).

The “boy” being born is not just Christ. Isaiah 66:8 shows us that the child is also “a land” and “a nation.” Further, we read, “as soon as Zion travailed, she also brought forth her sons.” This latter statement seems to indicate that the birth occurs at the same time as the travail, rather than before the travail. This seems to contradict the main point that was made in verse 7.

The apparent contradiction is resolved when we look more closely at the Hebrew word ki, which the NASB renders, “as soon as.” The word ki has a broad meaning and can be rendered “that, because, since.” When translated this way, it could read, “Because Zion travailed, she brought forth.” However, that rendering contradicts verse 7, “Before she travailed, she brought forth.” So there must be a way to avoid that contradiction.

Gesenius’ Lexicon tells us that when ki is applied to time, it should be translated “when” or “if.” This reverses the cause and effect, reading, “When or if Zion travailed, she also brought forth her sons.” We could understand this to say that when we see Zion’s travail, that will be evidence that “she also brought forth her children.” This would resolve the apparent contradiction.

The children being brought forth are the sons of God, those who will manifest His presence with joy. Collectively, they are the glorified “land” and “nation” in verse 8. The prophet implies that it takes much more time to give birth to a land or nation than to give birth to a boy. In this way he answers the mockers in verse 5, who wanted the prophet to prove his revelation by showing forth the glory of God immediately.

In Isaiah 66:9 God says, “Shall I bring to the point of birth and not give delivery?” In other words, the delivery will surely come, even though it takes a long time to do this.

God says again, “shall I who gives delivery shut the womb?” No, of course not, for God’s main purpose for creating mankind was to bring forth the sons of God. That is, in fact, the purpose of the Fruitfulness Mandate in Gen. 1:28. The promise of God is the basis of our hope, or expectation, to be changed into His likeness and to manifest the glory of God in our face.