Yahweh Comforts Those Who Fear Him Truly In The Face Of Their Treatment By The Formalists. He Tells Them A New Day Is Coming, A Day Of Great Change (Isaiah 66:5-9).
“Hear the word of Yahweh,
You who tremble at his word,
Your brothers who hate you,
Who cast you out for my name's sake,
Have said, ‘Let Yahweh be glorified,
That we may see your joy.'
But they will be ashamed.”
Yahweh now speaks to the remnant who tremble at His word, whose hearts are true towards Him. These would include Isaiah' disciples. He tells them that He knows that their fellow-countrymen hate them and cast them out, that they are not welcome in their company or in their homes, or to take part in conversation and discussion. They are looked on as obscurantists. Rather they mock them and mock their message. Sarcastically they say ‘let Yahweh be glorified that we may see your joy'. Let this ridiculous thing you are talking about happen.
These faithful servants of God have been witnessing to Isaiah's message of hope, and to the coming glory. So the cynical and jocular reply comes, ‘well, let us see this remarkable event. Then we can watch your joy'. But they do not believe it for a moment. They are just making fun. However, in the end they will be put to shame. For Yahweh immediately assures His own that the day of His activity is imminent, and it will surely come.
This conflict existed all the time that Isaiah was prophesying (see Isaiah 5:18-19; Isaiah 8:11-20), indeed always exists in a godless world, even when only simmering, between the world and God's people, but the reign of Manasseh had no doubt brought it to the fore. These men mocked the true people of God for their expectations and engaged in their formal activity, bowing to Assyria and its gods for political reasons, and carrying out the ritual of Yahwism, and hating those who cast doubts on the efficacy of what they were doing. They no doubt thought that their compromises were the best way for all the people. Faithfulness to Yahweh came second. And they disliked being told otherwise.
The sarcastic cry of these people, ‘Let Yahweh be glorified that we may see your joy' is Isaiah's introduction to its fulfilment. For one day it will suddenly become a reality. One day Yahweh will step in to act. And he now describes it.