NOTES for Isa 65:1-25
We already know that the Lord keeps faith with those He has chosen, even when they are unfaithful, but on that basis one should not grow calm and suppose that He is obligated to keep faith. No, His good will does not depend on our whims. He has the right to turn away from those who have turned away from Him. Neither belonging to a group that imagines itself privileged, nor traditions, nor scrupulous performance of rites detached from the essence of spiritual life will help or save. The Lord Himself saves. The prophecy reveals to us that the Lord can reveal Himself even to those who did not seek Him, and in this way He shows once more that no one has a right to privileges. They do not flow either from the length of one's "church experience" or from one's place in the hierarchy. Several centuries later, Christ will tell the parable of the workers of the last hour...
The first thing that comes to mind at the mention of the wolf and the lamb grazing together is that before us is a parable about the reconciliation of once deadly enemies. Yes, the Lord wants to establish His peace on earth, and such a reading is fair. But what if it does not exhaust the full meaning of the prophecy, and before us is an indication of a coming change in the character of living nature itself, that not only human society will be guided by different laws? For, in the apostle's words, "creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God" (Rom. 8:19)...