“Here I am!” In chapter 6, this is what Isaiah said when God was looking for a volunteer. But in chapter 65, it’s God who is saying, “Here I am, here I am,” and He’s speaking to people who were not looking for Him at all (v 1). Isaiah has prayed that God “would rend the heavens and come down,” making His presence known and felt among His people (64:1). Now God says that He is not as distant as Isaiah thinks. Throughout Israel’s history, God was “ready to be sought” and “ready to be found,” but His people did not ask for Him or seek Him. They simply had no interest. They were stubbornly following their own paths and blatantly insulting God by their false worship (v 1-4). In effect, they were saying to God, “Keep to yourself, do not come near me, for I am too holy for You” (v 5). Though people would not likely put it in those crass terms, this is how God sees it! There is a human tendency to justify our own behavior rather than submit to His Word. We consider ourselves to be spiritual as we follow a light within us, imagining ourselves to be wiser than God. We prefer our own instincts and ideas over God’s revelation. God has resolved to judge all such idolatry (v 6-7). Yet He will be careful to preserve His true people, like a harvester separating the good and bad grapes. Judgment will fall on those who have forsaken God to trust in their own luck. But the people accepted by God are those whose authentic faith in Christ has proven itself by listening to His Word and delighting in His pleasure (v 8-12). So each of us is standing at a fork in the road with two possible destinies. Heaven is a place of eating, drinking, and eternal joy. Hell is a place of hunger, thirst, and eternal torment. Many find the very idea of hell to be offensive, reasoning that nice people shouldn’t miss out on heaven simply because they haven’t believed in Jesus. But this way of thinking assumes we are saved by being nice. The gospel offers hope to all people, regardless of their moral attainments. If we would come to “the God of truth,” we must come in the way He has appointed. Our only hope is found in Jesus Christ, who endured hell on the cross for all who turn to Him in faith and repentance (v 13-16). The promised destiny of God’s true people is nothing less than “new heavens and a new earth.” All the pain of our present existence will be gone, and the joy of Christ will overflow from our hearts forever. God’s presence will be fully apprehended, and all of nature itself will be at peace, with all evil subdued and every fear removed (v 17-25). “Here I am,” says God. Will you seek Him? For further meditation: