66:1 This is what the LORD says:
“The heavens are my throne
and the earth is my footstool.
Where then is the house you will build for me?
Where is the place where I will rest?

Where else is God’s throne? –

‘It is also said, that a humble heart is his throne. Isa 57:15. The humble heart is his throne, in regard to his gracious presence; and heaven is his throne, in regard to his glorious presence; and yet neither of these thrones will hold him, for the heaven of heavens cannot contain him.’ (Thomas Watson)

Cf. Acts 17:24.

66:2 My hand made them;
that is how they came to be,” says the LORD.
I show special favor to the humble and contrite,
who respect what I have to say.

“He who is humble” – See Rom 1:30 for the contrast.

66:3 The one who slaughters a bull also strikes down a man;
the one who sacrifices a lamb also breaks a dog’s neck;
the one who presents an offering includes pig’s blood with it;
the one who offers incense also praises an idol.
They have decided to behave this way;
they enjoy these disgusting practices.
66:4 So I will choose severe punishment for them;
I will bring on them what they dread,
because I called, and no one responded,
I spoke and they did not listen.
They did evil before me;
they chose to do what displeases me.”
66:5 Hear the word of the LORD,
you who respect what he has to say!
Your countrymen, who hate you
and exclude you, supposedly for the sake of my name,
say, “May the LORD be glorified,
then we will witness your joy.”
But they will be put to shame.
66:6 The sound of battle comes from the city;
the sound comes from the temple!
It is the sound of the LORD paying back his enemies.
66:7 Before she goes into labor, she gives birth!
Before her contractions begin, she delivers a boy!
66:8 Who has ever heard of such a thing?
Who has ever seen this?
Can a country be brought forth in one day?
Can a nation be born in a single moment?
Yet as soon as Zion goes into labor she gives birth to sons!
66:9 “Do I bring a baby to the birth opening and then not deliver it?”
asks the LORD.
“Or do I bring a baby to the point of delivery and then hold it back?”
asks your God.
66:10 Be happy for Jerusalem
and rejoice with her, all you who love her!
Share in her great joy,
all you who have mourned over her!
66:11 For you will nurse from her satisfying breasts and be nourished;
you will feed with joy from her milk-filled breasts.
66:12 For this is what the LORD says:
“Look, I am ready to extend to her prosperity that will flow like a river,
the riches of nations will flow into her like a stream that floods its banks.
You will nurse from her breast and be carried at her side;
you will play on her knees.
66:13 As a mother consoles a child,
so I will console you,
and you will be consoled over Jerusalem.”
66:14 When you see this, you will be happy,
and you will be revived.
The LORD will reveal his power to his servants
and his anger to his enemies.
66:15 For look, the LORD comes with fire,
his chariots come like a windstorm,
to reveal his raging anger,
his battle cry, and his flaming arrows.
66:16 For the LORD judges all humanity
with fire and his sword;
the LORD will kill many.
66:17 “As for those who consecrate and ritually purify themselves so they can follow their leader and worship in the sacred orchards, those who eat the flesh of pigs and other disgusting creatures, like mice—they will all be destroyed together,” says the LORD. 66:18 “I hate their deeds and thoughts! So I am coming to gather all the nations and ethnic groups; they will come and witness my splendor. 66:19 I will perform a mighty act among them and then send some of those who remain to the nations—to Tarshish, Pul, Lud (known for its archers), Tubal, Javan, and to the distant coastlands that have not heard about me or seen my splendor. They will tell the nations of my splendor. 66:20 They will bring back all your countrymen from all the nations as an offering to the LORD. They will bring them on horses, in chariots, in wagons, on mules, and on camels to my holy hill Jerusalem,” says the LORD, “just as the Israelites bring offerings to the LORD’s temple in ritually pure containers. 66:21 And I will choose some of them as priests and Levites,” says the LORD. 66:22 “For just as the new heavens and the new earth I am about to make will remain standing before me,” says the LORD, “so your descendants and your name will remain. 66:23 From one month to the next and from one Sabbath to the next, all people will come to worship me,” says the LORD. 66:24 “They will go out and observe the corpses of those who rebelled against me, for the maggots that eat them will not die, and the fire that consumes them will not die out. All people will find the sight abhorrent.”

‘Verse 24 describes the horrible sight of decaying carcasses of the people whom God has judged in 66:15–16.’ (Smith)

According to Harper’s Bible Commentary,

‘the harshness of the final verse was recognized by the Masoretes (rabbinic scribes), who directed that, when it was read in the synagogue, v. 23 was to be read again so that the book would end on a hopeful and merciful note.’

“They will go out and observe the corpses of those who rebelled against me” – ‘Remarkably there is a cemetery by the city, and when ‘all flesh’ comes to worship they make a point to go out and look at the fate from which they have been rescued.’ (Motyer)

A church cemetery serves as silent reminder:

‘Even today many churches have cemeteries beside them which function as a silent reminder that every individual needs to make the right choices before their end comes.’ (Smith)

“The fire that consumes them will not be put out” – An unexpected way for the book to finish:

‘While this burning may go on continually, it is hardly equivalent to the medieval notion of people suffering the pain of burning in hell forever. Nevertheless, it may seem strange that the book should ultimately close with this picture. In synagogue worship verse 23 is repeated after verse 24, while in Christian worship the problem is “solved” by not reading the passage at all.’ (Goldingay, UBCS)

“Abhorrent” – What should be our reaction to this? –

‘The purpose of visiting the cemetery is not to gloat (it is too awful for that), nor even to pity (though who could restrain pity?), but rather to register again something loathsome (dērā’ôn, cf. Dan. 12:2), to be repelled and revolted; that is to say, to see again the wages of sin and the fruit of rebellion, and thereby to be newly motivated to obedience and love of the word of God.’ (Motyer)

Motyer adds:

‘it is part of the saints’ sense of the reality of their security to be assured that the Lord has dealt, finally and fully, with everything that could ever threaten or blight their eternal joy.’

The text seems to imply annihilation rather than everlasting torment:

‘The eternal torment interpretation faces a contradictory text with the most famous, classic “hell” text: Isa 66:24. In this verse, cited by Jesus in Mark 9:43– 48, the final destiny of God’s enemies is depicted as death. The undying worm and ever-burning fire do not torment live enemies, but consume the bodies of slain enemies. B. Webb comments: “As it stands, it seems to depict annihilation rather than eternal torment. The bodies are dead.”’

(Bowles, in Christopher M. Date, Gregory G. Stump, Joshua W. Anderson. Rethinking Hell: Readings in Evangelical Conditionalism (p. 154). Cascade Books, an Imprint of Wipf and Stock Publishers. Kindle Edition.)

There is a ‘depart’, as well as a ‘come’:

‘It is a terrible ending, but it is the same as upon the same floor Christ set to His teaching, the gospel net cast wide, but only to draw in both good and bad upon a beach of judgment; the wedding feast thrown open and men compelled to come in, but among them a heart whom grace so great could not awe even to decency; Christs gospel preached, His Example evident, and Himself owned as Lord, and nevertheless some whom neither the hearing nor the seeing nor the owning with their lips did lift to unselfishness or stir to pity. Therefore He who had cried, Come all unto Me, was compelled to close by saying to many, Depart.

‘It is a terrible ending, but one only too conceivable. For though God is love, man is free, free to turn from that love; free to be as though he had never felt it; free to put away from himself the highest, clearest, most urgent grace that God can show. But to do this is the judgment.

‘Lord, are there few that be saved? The Lord did not answer the question but by bidding the questioner take heed to himself: Strive to enter in at the strait gate.’ (G.A. Smith)

Harman notes that:

‘the contrast here is the same as is set out more fully in New Testament teaching. The Lord is coming ‘to be glorified in his saints and to be admired among all those that believed’, while ‘those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ … will be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord’ (2 Thess. 1:8–10).’