Isaiah 65:17-25

3. CREATED

TEXT: Isaiah 65:17-25

17

For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former things shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.

18

But be ye glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create; for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy.

19

And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people; and there shall be heard in her no more the voice of weeping and the voice of crying.

20

There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days; for the child shall die a hundred years old, and the sinner being a hundred years old shall be accursed.

21

And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them.

22

They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree shall be the days of my people, and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands.

23

They shall not labor in vain, nor bring forth for calamity; for they are the seed of the blessed of Jehovah, and their offspring with them.

24

And it shall come to pass that, before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.

25

The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the ox; and dust shall be the serpent's food. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith Jehovah.

QUERIES

a.

Is this a prediction of the end of time?

b.

Why speak of longevity of life in Isaiah 65:20?

c.

Does Isaiah 65:25 mean the same as Isaiah 11:6-9?

PARAPHRASE

And when this refining takes place I will also create a whole new age or order of things; the former order or age will be considered by the Lord and His new people as no longer valid. None of the Lord's people will regret the passing away of the old; they will be eternally grateful for His new creation. The Lord says, I am going to create a new Jerusalem which will be characterized by and inhabited by a people filled with joy. This new Jerusalem and her joyful people will bring Me joy, too, says the Lord. There will be no more occasions for sorrow and mourning in My new Jerusalem. There will be no more limited life in My new Jerusalemneither among the very young nor the very old. Every citizen of new Zion will live in eternal joy. The sinner is also going to live forever, but in accursedness and not in new Zion. The citizens of new Jerusalem will no longer labor in vain; whatever they do will prosper and they shall know eternal satisfaction in their service to Jehovah. Nothing shall be able to separate them from their heavenly Father; they shall be the children of God and enjoy eternal fellowship with Him. They shall live in eternal dependence upon Him and He will hear and answer their requests before they even make them! In new Zion man and his environment will be at harmony with one another. There will be nothing to harm the citizen of new Zionall will be safe and secure. The devil, that old serpent, will be ground into humiliating defeat, and peace shall reign supreme.

COMMENTS

Isaiah 65:17-19 PERSONALITY: In Isaiah 65:16 Isaiah promised new Zion, the former troubles are forgotten. Now the prophet shows why the former troubles will be forgotten; Jehovah is going to create an entirely new order. The Hebrew verb bara is translated create and is used in the Hebrew gal stem only with God as the subject, because it means bringing into existence something absolutely new. This creation is not speaking of a literal, physical new heavens and earth, but of a new era, a new age or a new order in which God will create His spiritual kingdom on the present earth. Young puts it, ... heaven and earth are employed as figures to indicate a complete renovation or revolution in the existing course of affairs. It is the new Jerusalem, the new covenant, and the old will not be remembered (cf. Jeremiah 3:15-17). In Hebrews 2:5-9 we are told that Christ came to restore man to the dominion over the world to come which man lost when he sinned in Eden. God cursed that creation because of man's sin. But Jesus, partaking of human nature, conquered sin in the flesh and has potentially given man's dominion back to him. This was done at the first advent of Christ (not the second). What God has done by Christ's redemptive work and establishment of the church is, therefore, the new creation. Hebrews 12:27 indicates that the old order (Judaism, or Mosaic covenant) was shaken (destroyed) in order that what cannot be shaken may remain. That which cannot be shaken is the new order or the kingdom of Christ (Hebrews 12:28) which is the church. Paul indicates that the new covenant relationship is the new creation (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:16-21; Galatians 6:15-16, etc.). The Bible also teaches a consummation of the new creation at the second advent of the Messiah (cf. 1 Thessalonians 4:13 to 1 Thessalonians 5:11; 2 Peter 3:7-18, etc.).

The Jewish Apocrypha (see our comments on Chapter s 53 and 61), especially those works written after the Maccabean era, speak of the new age as being ushered in by cataclysmic events, brought about by supernatural powers, taking the form of a cosmic drama in which divine and demonic forces are at work, and involving a remaking of the heavens and earth to form a new beginning free from the corruption which had all along affected creation. It was, of course, to include the judgment of most of the Gentiles and the reign by power and wealth of the Jewish nation over the world. The apocryphal writers were interpreting the prophetic passages of the new order (such as we have here in Isaiah 65) colored by and relative to the persecution and oppression the Jews were having to endure at the hands of Gentile empires. Thus they pictured the messianic age beginning with a great supernatural deliverance of the Jewish nation from its oppressors involving cosmic warfare between God and Satan and demons, followed by creation of a new world order with headquarters in a new Jerusalem. It is easier, in the light of this materialistic interpretation of the prophets, to understand why the Jewish rulers kept insisting that Jesus show supernatural signs and wonders to verify His claims to be the Messiah!

What Jehovah is going to create will be eternal because Isaiah exhorts, ... be ye glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create. Jerusalem, the focus of the new creation, is characterized as both a subject of rejoicing and an object of joy. The new Jerusalem (the Jerusalem that is from above, i.e., the church in Galatians 4:26 is ano in Greek which means preeminent) will be filled with rejoicing as opposed to the sorrow and mourning which will fill old Jerusalem (the physical city). The new Jerusalem will also be the exclusive object of God's rejoicing. Calvin wrote, So great is his love toward us, that he delights in our prosperity not less than if he enjoyed it along with us. Thus the personality of God's newly created Jerusalem is characterized as joyful (cf. comments on Isaiah 35:10).

Isaiah 65:20 PERPETUITY: This verse is portraying in figurative language the immortality of the citizens of new Zion. It is not as clear as the statement in Isaiah 25:8, but nevertheless, in context, is teaching the concept of immortality. The idea of eternal life is taught in the Old Testament (cf. comments Isaiah 25:8), but vaguely and gradually. Actually, immortality for both the believer and the sinner is taught here; the believer will enjoy eternal blessedness, the sinner eternal accursedness. The basic idea is, on a level of spirituality commensurate with their immaturity, greatly increased longevity of life will be one of the blessings of the new Jerusalem. As we have it in our paraphrase, There will be no more limited life in My new Jerusalemneither among the very young nor the very old. Every citizen of new Zion will live in eternal joy. The sinner is also going to live forever, but in accursedness and not in new Zion.

Isaiah 65:21-25 PROSPERITY: The Lord kept telling His people that when they disobeyed Him, everything they attempted (physically or psychologically) would not reach full fruition or bring them satisfaction (cf. Deuteronomy 28:30; Zephaniah 1:13; Micah 6:14-16; Amos 8:9-12, etc.). But in the new order (the messianic age of man's reconciliation to Jehovah) the exact opposite will prevail. Everything the citizen of new Zion does, as he conforms to the image of Christ, will produce fruit to Jehovah's glory and satisfaction to the heart of the doer (cf. 1 Corinthians 15:58; Romans 8:28; Romans 8:37; 2 Corinthians 9:8-11; Ephesians 3:20; 1 Thessalonians 1:2-10; 1 Thessalonians 4:9-12, etc.). The picture is one of security, satisfaction and enjoyment. Whatever the citizen in God's new kingdom labors at will glorify God (cf. Ephesians 6:5-9; Colossians 3:17; Colossians 3:22-25; 2 Thessalonians 3:6-13). Anything done honestly and within the will of God will be honored by Him and rewarded. Nothing the Christian does (if God can be thanked for it, 1 Timothy 4:4) will be in vain; nothing he does will be destroyed. The works of the citizen of new Jerusalem follow after him (cf. Revelation 14:13).

Those who have been refined and recreated as God's new Israel will call upon Jehovah and He will hear them. In fact, new Israel will be such a joy to Him He will eagerly answer their prayers before they are uttered! Daniel exemplified the faith that such a member of the new Israel would have. While he was still praying (Daniel 9:1-19), the Lord sent an angel to answer his prayer (Daniel 9:20-23). Daniel had hardly begun his prayer before the Lord answered it! Old Jerusalem complained (Isaiah 64) Jehovah was not listening to their prayers. It will not be so in the new Jerusalem. He will not only send His angels to minister to new Zion (Hebrews 1:14), He will give His Spirit to utter prayers for new Zion when she cannot find adequate ways to express herself to God (cf. Romans 8:26-27). He knows before we ask what we need (Matthew 6:8). If men know how to answer the requests of others, how much more does a divinely-caring Father know how to answer His children (cf. Luke 11:5-13; Luke 18:1-8).

Isaiah 65:25 is a fitting summation to this chapter. Nothing hurtful will be permitted in new Zion. In God's holy mountain (Zion, cf. Hebrews 12:22), the place where He dwells, there will be peace, joy and festivity (cf. our comments Isaiah 11:6-9; Isaiah 25:6-9).

QUIZ

1.

Is there N.T. teaching to substantiate the interpretation here that the first coming of the Messiah brought a new creation?

2.

How, according to Jewish apocrypha, did many of the Jews interpret the new creation passages in the prophets?

3.

How much teaching is there in the O.T. concerning immortality?

4.

What will be the end of the labors of citizens of new Zion?

5.

What will be the reaction of God to the prayers of citizens of new Zion?