“But ye are they that forsake the LORD, that forget my holy mountain, that prepare a table for that troop , and that furnish the drink offering unto that number.”
My Notes
What Does Isaiah 65:11 Mean?
God indicts those who have forsaken him specifically: "ye are they that forsake the LORD, that forget my holy mountain, that prepare a table for that troop, and that furnish the drink offering unto that number." The accusation names four failures: forsaking the LORD (abandoning the relationship), forgetting the holy mountain (Zion — the location of God's chosen dwelling), and preparing feasts for pagan deities ("that troop" — Gad, the god of fortune; "that number" — Meni, the god of destiny).
The word "forsake" (azav — to leave, to abandon, to desert) means active departure: these people didn't accidentally drift. They walked away. The "forget" (shakach — to cease remembering, to let slip from consciousness) of the holy mountain means the sacred center of their faith has vanished from their awareness. Zion no longer occupies their attention.
The table prepared and drink offering furnished describe worship meals for the gods of fortune and destiny — pagan alternatives to trusting the God who actually controls fortune and destiny. The irony: they worship the god of fortune while the God who determines all fortune stands forsaken.
Reflection Questions
- 1.How does the four-step departure (forsake → forget → set table → pour drinks) describe the progression of apostasy?
- 2.What does worshipping the god of 'fortune' while forsaking the God who controls fortune reveal about the absurdity of idolatry?
- 3.Where have routine alternative practices replaced your relationship with God?
- 4.What 'table' have you set for something that can't deliver what its name promises?
Devotional
You forsook the LORD. Forgot his mountain. Set a table for the god of fortune. Poured drinks for the god of destiny. God names the four-step departure with clinical precision: abandoned the relationship, lost the sacred center, and replaced both with pagan alternatives.
The forsaking is active: not a passive drifting but a deliberate walking away. The forgetting is a consequence of the forsaking: once you leave the relationship, the sacred mountain fades from memory. Zion — the hill where God chose to dwell, the center of Israel's worship life, the geographic anchor of the entire faith — becomes forgettable when the relationship with its resident is abandoned.
The table for Gad (fortune) and drink offering for Meni (destiny) identify the specific replacements: Israel has traded the God who controls all fortune for a deity named after fortune. They've exchanged the God who determines all destiny for a god named after destiny. The substitution is absurd: you're worshipping the label while ignoring the reality. The god called 'fortune' has no fortune to give. The God you abandoned has all of it.
The meal-preparation detail (table set, drink poured) means the worship of fortune and destiny is intentional, organized, and domestic. This isn't a momentary lapse. It's a household practice. The table is set. The drinks are poured. The worship has become routine. The forsaking of God has been replaced by the routine worship of gods that can't deliver what their names promise.
What 'table' have you set for fortune or destiny — what routine worship of alternatives has replaced the relationship with the God who actually controls both?
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
But ye are they that forsake the Lord,.... Here the Lord returns to the body of the people again, the unbelievers and…
But ye are they that forsake the Lord - Or rather, ‘Ye who forsake Yahweh, and who forget my holy mountain, I will…
That prepare a table for that troop "Who set in order a table for Gad" - The disquisitions and conjectures of the…
Here the different states of the godly and wicked, of the Jews that believed and of those that still persisted in…
A renewed threat against the apostates, with a further allusion to their idolatry.
But ye are they that forsake &c.…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture