Isaiah 66:1-6 - Where Is My House
Where Is My House: A Chiasmus (Isaiah 66:1-6)
- A Thus saith the Lord, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest?
- B For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the Lord: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.
- C He that killeth an ox is as if he slew a man; he that sacrificeth a lamb, as if he cut off a dog’s neck; he that offereth an oblation, as if he offered swine’s blood; he that burneth incense, as if he blessed an idol. Yea, they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delighteth in their abominations.
- D I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears upon them; because when I called, none did answer;
- D’ when I spake, they did not hear:
- C’ but they did evil before mine eyes, and chose that in which I delighted not.
- B’ Hear the word of the Lord, ye that tremble at his word; Your brethren that hated you, that cast you out for my name’s sake, said, Let the Lord be glorified: but he shall appear to your joy, and they shall be ashamed.
- A’ A voice of noise from the city, a voice from the temple, a voice of the Lord that rendereth recompence to his enemies.
Where Is the House that Ye Built Unto Me?
Isaiah saw the Lord in his holy house when he was called as the Lord's mouthpiece. "I saw the Lord sitting up a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple". At that time, Isaiah poetically paralleled the Lord's temple to his house, "And one [seraph] cried unto another and said, Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of Hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke" (Isaiah 6:1, 3-4; emphasis added).
We see above that the two passages are linked (A and A'), the "house" and the "temple", for the Lord asks where the house is that "ye built unto me", a place of rest. What other buildings or houses do men build unto the Lord other than those structures that are most holy to man: a temple of the Lord. The Lord speaks from heaven asking where his dwelling is. How ironic is it that we have temples dotting the earth and the Lord is asking where he can rest. One would think that he has many options to choose from, yet he is seeking and not finding.
The last chapter of Isaiah mirrors the first chapter in his book, like book ends. The Lord exclaims in Isaiah chapter 1, "How is the faithful city become an harlot...! Thy silver has become dross" (verses 21-22, emphasis added). When his voice is heard from his throne in the heavens, he is looking down on a fallen city, a fallen people. Yet there is hope for his city and his people. The Lord continues, "I will...purge away thy dross... and I will restore thy judges as at first, and thy counsellors as at the beginning: Afterward thou shalt be called, The city of righteousness, the faithful city" (Isaiah 1:25-26, emphasis added). When the Lord calls to "render recompence" to all his enemies, he will at that time speak from his house, his temple, his faithful city.
Where Is the Place of My Rest?
Here is the curious thing about this passage. The Lord asks where he can find rest (though temples dot the earth today). Then he adds this statement: "for all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been." Notice his use of the word "those" things. I almost picture him pointing at those temples that dot the earth and saying, I made all of those things, not you. I created them. Notice he does not say these things, as if he has not embraced them. He planted the trees and grew the wood; he laid the marbles and the stones in the earth; all things in the temples are his works. And in the end, when the temple is completed, it is only a building of brick and mortar. It has no life unless the Lord breathes his spirit upon it.
So if that's not what he is looking for, what does he seek? He answers the question in the very next statement: "but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word." The Lord is not looking for a temple of bricks and mortar, stone and lumber. He cares not for these things. He is looking for temples of flesh and bone, body and spirit. Doesn't Paul say, "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are" (1 Corinthians 3:16-17).
He Shall Appear to Your Joy
Now, take a look at the chiasmic parallel Isaiah makes when he describes his humble and contrite people, those that "tremble at his words" (B and B'). Those for whom he is looking are also those who are hated and cast out by the very people who should be their shepherds, their leaders, their brethren. How intriguing that these brethren "cast you out for my name's sake" and even afterward say, "Let the Lord be glorified"! The brethren believe they are doing this for the Lord and in his name, yet they have no idea that they are removing the righteous from themselves, "none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come" (Isaiah 57:1).
Yet despite they do this in the Lord's name, they shall eventually be ashamed. "Hear the word of the Lord," he says, "he [the Lord] shall appear to your joy, and they [the brethren that cast you out] shall be ashamed." The Lord shows this pattern similarly when he calls unto the House of Israel: "Hearken, O ye house of Israel, all ye that are broken off and are driven out because of the wickedness of the pastors of my people; yea, all ye that are broken off, that are scattered abroad, who are of my people, O house of Israel" (1 Nephi 21:1, see also Isaiah 49). How tempting it is to look at ancient Israel and apply this to them. Yet, in our day, we fail to see how these very scriptures are fulfilled as those who believe differently from their leaders are cast out of the fold, despite the purity of their hearts and intent.
One of the most puzzling things for me in Isaiah is his imagery of the temples of God. Here he states, "He that killeth an ox is as if he slew a man; he that sacrificeth a lamb, as if he cut off a dog’s neck; he that offereth an oblation, as if he offered swine’s blood; he that burneth incense, as if he blessed an idol." (Now keep in mind Isaiah is using ancient temple worship to represent modern temple worship.) I thought we were supposed to sacrifice, pray, and serve in the Lord's holy temples. Yet here Isaiah is saying that it is abominable to the Lord.
Isaiah makes another parallel to this in Isaiah 1. In that chapter, he addressed the rulers of his people as Sodom and the people themselves as Gomorrah (see verse 10). Then he asks, "To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me, saith the Lord. I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats.... Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting. Your new moons and your appointment fests my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them" (verses 11-14). Those are pretty powerful words of disgust and reproof.
Why would the Lord be so angry that his people are worshiping in his temples? He answers this in the middle of his rebuke: "When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand to tread my courts" (Isaiah 1:12, emphasis added). The entire crux of the temple is to point us to Christ. If we are not going to the temple to see the Lord, then we ought not to go at all. If we are driven to the temple because of self image, pride, persuasion of our leaders, or guilt, then we have missed the point. The temple is a beautiful tutorial on how we make our temples (the flesh and blood) sanctified so that we can pass through the veil in life and come to the presence of the Lord.
Yet the Lord always allows us to choose our own ways. He will never force us to be righteous, but instead invites us to make righteous sacrifices. "Yea, they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delighteth in their abominations." The Lord links this to the statement "they did evil before mine eyes, and chose that in which I delighted not." Yet the whole time, they are doing the rituals and rites they believe bring them to God. Isaiah 58 describes this interaction well when the people say, "Wherefore have we fasted...and thou seest not? Wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge?" The Lord answers, "Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and a exact all your labours" (verse 3). We do it because it is what we are supposed to do, a task list to check off. It is not enough to do good or even righteous things. We have to become righteous. Our worship comes down to where our hearts are and why we do the things we do, not what we do.
When I Called, None Did Answer
The climax of this chiasmus is the root of the Lord's disdain. Because he called and none answered, the Lord will bring our fears upon us. "Therefore will I number you to the sword, and ye shall all bow down to the slaughter: because when I called, ye did not answer; when I spake, ye did not hear, but did evil before mine eyes, and did choose that wherein I delighted not" (Isaiah 65:12). Again, "Wherefore, when I came, there was no man; when I called, yea, there was none to answer" (2 Nephi 7:2, see also Isiah 50:2).
This seems to be a consistent message we hear throughout scripture. The Lord calls to his people and then he waits for us to answer, with our whole hearts. "Behold," Joseph Smith wrote, "there are many called, but few are chosen" (D&C 121:34). The Lord has called unto many. Many have accepted this call yet never come to be chosen of the Lord. Jesus Christ taught this during his ministry in the parable of the sower and the parable of the wheat and tares (Matthew 13). Only very few are chosen. Joseph continued, "We have learned by sad experience that it is the nature and disposition of almost all men, as soon as they get a little authority, as they suppose, they will immediately begin to exercise unrighteous dominion. Hence, many are called, but few are chosen” (D&C 121:39-40).
In all of the chiasmus structures the ancient prophets write, there is always a lesson to be learned or a point to get across, and it usually falls at the crux of the chiasm. What I take away from this poetic passage is this question: When the Lord calls, will I hear?