Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 65:17
For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.
17. new heavens and a new earth ] i.e. a new universe, Hebrew having no single word for the Cosmos (cf. ch. Isa 66:22; 2Pe 3:13; Rev 21:1). The phrase sums up a whole aspect of the prophetic theology. The idea of a transformation of nature so as to be in harmony with a renewed humanity has met us several times in the earlier part of the book (ch. Isa 11:6-9, Isa 29:17, Isa 30:23 ff., Isa 32:15, 35, &c.), and is a frequent theme of prophecy, but the thought of a new creation is nowhere expressed so absolutely as here. It may have been suggested to the prophet by ch. Isa 51:6, where it is said that the present universe shall be dissolved, although it is doubtful if that verse contains more than a metaphorical expression of the transitoriness of the material in contrast with the spiritual. Here there can be no doubt that the words are to be interpreted literally. At the same time the new creation preserves as it were the form of the old, for the next verse shews that a new Jerusalem is the centre of the renovated earth.
the former ] R.V. the former things. The reference may be specifically to the “former troubles” of Isa 65:16, or generally to the old state of things which shall have vanished for ever.
nor come into mind ] Lit. “come up on the heart,” as Jer 3:16; Jer 7:31, &c.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
17 25. The last sentence of Isa 65:16 inspires the loftiest flight of the prophet’s imagination. The “former troubles shall be forgotten” in the glories of a new creation, in which all things minister to the welfare of Jehovah’s regenerate people.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
For behold – The idea in this verse is, that there should be a state of glory as great as if a new heaven and a new earth were to be made.
I create new heavens – Calamity and punishment in the Bible are often represented by the heavens growing dark, and being rolled up like as a scroll, or passing away (see the notes at Isa 13:10; Isa 34:4). On the contrary, prosperity, happiness, and the divine favor, are represented by the clearing up of a cloudy sky; by the restoration of the serene and pure light of the sun; or, as here, by the creation of new heavens (compare the notes at Isa 51:16). The figure of great transformations in material things is one that is often employed in the Scriptures, and especially in Isaiah, to denote great spiritual changes (see Isa. 11; Isa 51:3; Isa 35:1-2, Isa 35:7; Isa 60:13, Isa 60:17). In the New Testament, the phrase used here is employed to denote the future state of the righteous; but whether on earth, after it shall have been purified by fire, or in heaven, has been a subject of great difference of opinion (see 2Pe 3:13; Rev 21:1).
The passage before us is highly poetical, and we are not required to understand it literally. There is, so far as the language is concerned, no more reason for understanding this literally than there is for so understanding the numerous declarations which affirm that the brute creation will undergo a change in their very nature, on the introduction of the gospel Isa. 11; and all that the language necessarily implies is, that there would be changes in the condition of the people of God as great as if the heavens, overcast with clouds and subject to storms, should be recreated, so as to become always mild and serene; or as if the earth, so barren in many places, should become universally fertile and beautiful. The immediate reference here is, doubtless, to the land of Palestine, and to the important changes which would be produced there on the return of the exiles; but it cannot be doubted that, under this imagery, there was couched a reference to far more important changes and blessings in future times under the Messiah – changes as great as if a barren and sterile world should become universally beautiful and fertile.
For the former shall not be remembered – That is, that which shall be created shall be so superior in beauty as entirely to eclipse the former. The sense is, that the future condition of the people of God would be as superior to what it was in ancient times as would be a newly created earth and heaven superior in beauty to this – where the heavens are so often obscured by clouds, and where the earth is so extensively desolate or barren.
Nor come into mind – Margin, as Hebrew, Upon the heart. That is, it shall not be thought of; it shall be wholly forgotten. On this verse, compare the notes at Isa 51:16.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Isa 65:17-25
For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth
New heavens and a new earth,
New heavens and a new earth, i.a new universe, Hebrew having no single word for the Cosmos. The phrase sums up a whole aspect of the prophetic theology. The idea of a transformation of nature so as to be in harmony with a renewed humanity has met us several times in the earlier part of the book (Isa 11:6-9; Isa 29:17; Isa 30:23 ff, Isa 32:15; Isa 32:35, etc.), and is a frequent theme of prophecy, but the thought of a new creation is nowhere expressed so absolutely as here. (Prof. J. Skinner, D. D.)
The state of the Church during the millennium.
The heavens and the earth mean the New Testament Church. There are beauty and propriety in the figure employed; for, not to speak of the manner in which the state of the world is affected by the state of religion, the dependence of the Church upon spiritual and heavenly influences is as immediate as that which our earth has upon the surrounding atmosphere. When the sky is filled with dark clouds and pours forth incessant rains, or when it emits a continued and scorching heat, the fruits of the field are destroyed; but when it diffuses genial influences, and gives sunshine and rain, in just proportions, fertility and abundance are the results. In like manner the state of the Church depends upon the influences which God is pleased to communicate: should these be rich and gracious, the Church is prosperous-and happy; but should these be scanty and afflictive, the interests of religion languish and decay. When, therefore, it is said that God will create new heavens and a new earth, we are to explain the words as referring to the beneficial change which is to be effected upon the state of the Church. This change will be so great, and so blissful, as to merit the name–a new creation. It will introduce so many bleasings, and unfold so many beauties, and diffuse such universal joy, that the former state of affliction, sorrow, and danger shall not be remembered nor come into mind. To what period in the history of the Church does this prediction (Isa 65:17) refer? Many of the early Christian writers regarded it as descriptive of the state of the Church in heaven, and supported their view by the words of Peter, that after the earth and atmosphere have been destroyed by fire, there will be formed new heavens and a new earth, in which the righteous shall dwell. But the verses assert that, in the time to which this prediction refers, there will be sin and death, and that men shall build houses and inhabit them; and plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them. Others, again, have viewed the predictions as pointing out the change which took place upon the Church and world, when the Jewish State was overthrown, and the Gospel was preached to all nations. At this time the relations which existed between heaven and earth underwent a great alteration. The worship of the sun, moon, and stars was abolished in many places, the false gods with which they had filled heaven were set aside, and just views of the supreme Being were attained by many, while God lifted the covering of darkness which had been spread over all nations, offered Himself to them as their gracious God, and invited them, as His people, to come into the communion of the Church. But though the change which then happened was great–so great as to be set forth by such terms as Gods shaking the heavens and the earth–yet it does not correspond to the magnificence of the scene delineated in the words before us. The seeds of prosperity and coming happiness were then sown. But then judgment kept pace with mercy. The word was received in much affliction; and nearly all the Churches had to endure severe and fiery trials, while on the literal Jerusalem the wrath of God fell and consumed it. We agree, therefore, with those who look upon the text as character izing the state of the Church in the millennium. The glory of the Church will then outshine and eclipse all the happiness that has ever been seen on earth, and exceed the loftiest expectations of the saints.
1. It will be a period of unparalleled gracious communications on the part of God. The heavens will then seem to be opened, and the Divine Persons to smile on man. The whole of that time shall be a season of gracious refreshing from the presence of the Lord.
2. It will be a period of clear and universal knowledge.
3. Of extraordinary holiness. This is the result which sanctified knowledge invariably produces.
4. It will be a period of unprecedented joy. In Isa 65:16 it is said, that the former troubles shall be forgotten; and in Isa 65:18 God says, be ye glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create: for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy. The state of the Church will be so prosperous, and the benefits conferred upon its members so full and so gracious, as to afford to all the highest causes of gladness. There will be a joy derived from clear and exalted views of Divine truth; from sin overcome, grace imparted, and holiness promoted; from realized communion with God, and from heavenly contemplations.
5. It will be a time of cordial union and love.
6. Of universal peace and liberty.
7. Of remarkable outward prosperity,
8. All things shall be subordinated to the interests of religion. The world and its engagements are now too frequently injurious to the growth of piety. But, then, the service of God will be the one grand business that will engage all hearts and all hands. (A. Somerville.)
God rejoicing is the new creation
This passage, like the rest of Isaiahs closing chapters, will have completest fulfilment in the latter days when Christ shall come. But the work which is spoken of is begun already among us. There is to be a literal new creation, but that new creation has commenced already; therefore, even now we ought to manifest a part of the joy. Do you know what this work of creation is, which is here thrice promised in the words, I create . . . I create . . . I create It is evidently a second creation, which is altogether to eclipse the first, and put it out of mind. Concerning the joy to which we are called, we would say–
I. IT IS A JOY IN CREATION. Behold, I create new heavens and a new earth. I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy. It is a most right and excellent thing that you and I should rejoice in the natural creation of God. The man who is altogether bad seldom delights in nature, but gets away into the artificial and the sensual. One of the purest and most innocent of joys, apart from spiritual things, in which a man can indulge, is a joy in the works of God. Much more is there something bright and pure and spiritually exhilarating in rejoicing in Gods higher works, in Gods spiritual works, in Gods new creation. There is no one of the attributes of God which has not its illustration under the economy grace; and blessed shall your whole being be if you can to the full rejoice in that which God creates. There is one reason why you are called upon to rejoice in it, namely, that you are a part of it. When I lay sore sick and tormented in body, it seemed always to be such a joy to me that I myself, my inner self, my spirit, had been new-created, and that my nobler part could rise above the suffering, and soar into the pure heavens of the spiritual realm; and I said of this poor body, Thou hast not yet been new-created; but thou shalt yet be delivered.
II. IT IS A JOY WHICH WILL ECLIPSE ALL THAT HAS GONE BEFORE. And the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind. Gods great new-creating work ought to fill us with such joy as to make us forget the old creation, as though we said to ourselves:–What are the sun and the moon? We shall not have need of these variable lights in the perfection of the new creation, for in heaven, they need no candle, neither light of the sun. What is the sea, though it be the very mirror of beauty In that new creation there will be no more sea, and storms and tempests will be all unknown. What are these luxuries of sight and hearing? We shall not want them when our eyes shall behold the King in His beauty in the land that is very far off. The joy of the spiritual is such that, while it admits the joy of the natural, yet, nevertheless, it swallows it up as Aarons rod swallowed up the rods of the magicians. As an instance of the expulsive powers of a new delight, we all know how the memory of the old dispensation is gone from us. Did any one of you ever weep because you did not sit at the Passover? Did you ever regret the Paschal lamb never, because you have fed on Christ. I want you to feel just the same with regard to all your former life as you now feel towards that old dispensation. The world is dead to you, and you to the world. You have a higher pleasure now which enchants your soul.
III. IT IS A PRESENT AND A LASTING JOY. Be ye glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create. Be glad in anything that the Lord has created in you. Find your joy, also, in the new creation of God, as you see it in others. I think it is very beautiful where John Bunyan represents Christiana and Mercy as admiring each other. They had both enjoyed a wash in that wonderful beauty-giving bath, and Mercy said to Christiana, How beautiful you are! I never saw any one look so lovely as you are. But Christiana said that she was not beautiful at all; she could not see anything about herself to admire, while in Mercy she saw everything to esteem and love. Oh, to have an eye for the work of God in other people, and to rejoice in it! Such an eye sees not itself, and yet it is itself one of Gods loveliest works.
IV. IT IS A JOY WHICH GOD INTENDED FOR US. For, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy. He has made the new city, the new people, the new world to be a source of joy. Take Jerusalem as the emblem of the Church of God. God always intended that His chosen, called, and converted people should be a rejoicing. God intended not only that we should have joy, but that we should spread it among others. As soon as ever we are converted, what is one of the first things that comes of it? Why, joy. But by-and-by, there will be a still greater joy. We shall enter into heaven, and there will be joy among the angels, and joy in our heart over Gods new-creation work, which will proceed at a glorious rate. Then the nations will be converted to Cod. I know not when, nor exactly how but the day shall come when Christ shall reign from pole to pole.
V. IT IS A JOY IN WHICH WE SHALL SHARE WITH GOD. And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in My people. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 17. I create new heavens and a new earth] This has been variously understood. Some Jews and some Christians understand it literally. God shall change the state of the atmosphere, and render the earth more fruitful. Some refer it to what they call the Millennium; others, to a glorious state of religion; others, to the re-creation of the earth after it shall have been destroyed by fire. I think it refers to the full conversion of the Jews ultimately; and primarily to the deliverance from the Babylonish captivity.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
For, behold, I will tell you yet a more admirable thing, I am about wholly to alter and change the state not only of my people, who are now afflicted, restoring them to a more lightsome state, more free from trouble and afflictions; but
I create new heavens and a new earth, bringing a new face upon the world, sending my Son to raise up a new church, and to institute a new worship, Joh 4:21,24, and giving out my Spirit in a more plentiful manner, Act 2:17, which new state shall abide until a new heaven and earth appear, in which shall dwell nothing but righteousness, 2Pe 3:13; Rev 21:1. And that state of things shall be such, and so glorious, as the former state of my people shall not be remembered, nor come into mind. Whether this new heavens and new earth here promised signifies such a stale of the church wherein Christ shall personally reign upon earth over his saints, the wicked being destroyed, (as some have thought lie shall for a thousand years,) I very much doubt, and do not see how from this and the parallel texts any such thing can be concluded.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
17. As Caleb inherited the sameland which his feet trod on (Deu 1:36;Jos 14:9), so Messiah and Hissaints shall inherit the renovated earth which once they trod whiledefiled by the enemy (Isa 34:4;Isa 51:16; Isa 66:22;Eze 21:27; Psa 2:8;Psa 37:11; 2Pe 3:13;Heb 12:26-28 Re21:1).
not be rememberedSeeon Isa 65:16, note on”troubles”; the words here answer to “the former . . .forgotten,” &c. The former sorrows of the earth, under thefall, shall be so far from recurring, that their very remembranceshall be obliterated by the many mercies I will bestow on the newearth (Re 21:4-27).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth,…. This prophecy began to have its accomplishment in the first times of the Gospel, when through the preaching of it there was a new face of things appeared in Judea, and in the Gentile world, so that the whole looked like a new world; and this was all the effect of creating power, of the mighty, powerful, and efficacious grace of God attending the word, to the conversion of many souls; a new church state was formed, consisting of persons gathered out of the world, the old national church of the Jews being dissolved, and Gospel churches everywhere set up; new ordinances appointed, to continue till Christ’s second coming and the old ones abolished; a new way of worship observed, at least in a more spiritual and evangelic manner; a new covenant exhibited, or the covenant of grace held forth in a new form of administration, the former waxen old and vanished away; and the new and living way to the Father, through Christ, made more manifest: this will have a further accomplishment at the conversion of the Jews, which will be as life from the dead, and things will look like a new world with them; their blindness will be removed, the veil will be taken away from them; they will part with all their legal rites and ceremonies, and the traditions of the elders, and embrace the Messiah, and all his truths and ordinances; old things shall pass away, and all things become new: and it shall have its complete accomplishments in the New Jerusalem state, when not only Christ will appear, and make all things new in a spiritual sense, and that completely; but even in a literal sense there will be new heavens, and a new earth, which John in vision saw; and which Peter says he and other believers expected, according to the promise of God, when these heavens and earth shall be dissolved and pass away; and unless this passage is referred to by him, it will be difficult to find where this promise is; see Re 21:1:
and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind; either the old heavens and earth, which shall pass away, and be no more seen; or the former state both of the Jewish, and Gentile world; or the former troubles, as in the preceding verse, taken in the sense of affliction and persecution; all antichristian troubles shall cease in the latter day, after the conversion of the Jews, and especially in the New Jerusalem state; see Isa 2:4.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The fact that they have thus passed away is now still further explained; the prophet heaping up one k (for) upon another, as in Isa 9:3-5. “For behold I create a new heaven and a new earth; and men will not remember the first, nor do they come to any one’s mind. No, be ye joyful and exult for ever at that which I create: for behold I turn Jerusalem into exulting, and her people into joy. And I shall exult over Jerusalem, and be joyous over my people, and the voice of weeping and screaming will be heard in her no more.” The promise here reaches its culminating point, which had already been seen from afar in Isa 51:16. Jehovah creates a new heaven and a new earth, which bind so fast with their glory, and which so thoroughly satisfy all desires, that there is no thought of the former ones, and no one wishes them back again. Most of the commentators, from Jerome to Hahn, suppose the ri’shonoth in Isa 65:16 to refer to the former sorrowful times. Calvin says, “The statement of the prophet, that there will be no remembrance of former things, is supposed by some to refer to the heaven and the earth, as if he meant, that henceforth neither the fame nor even the name of either would any more be heard; but I prefer to refer them to the former times.” But the correctness of the former explanation is shown by the parallel in Jer 3:16, which stands in by no means an accidental relation to this passage, and where it is stated that in the future there will be no ark of the covenant, “neither shall it come to mind, neither shall they remember it,” inasmuch as all Jerusalem will be the throne of Jehovah, and not merely the capporeth with its symbolical cherubim. This promise is also a glorious one; but Jeremiah and all the other prophets fall short of the eagle-flight of Isaiah, of whom the same may be said as of John, “ volat avis sine meta .” Luther (like Zwingli and Stier) adopts the correct rendering, “that men shall no more remember the former ones (i.e., the old heaven and old earth), nor take it to heart.” But alah al – lebh signifies to come into the mind, not “to take to heart,” and is applied to a thing, the thought of which “ascends” within us, and with which we are inwardly occupied. There is no necessity to take the futures in Isa 65:17 as commands (Hitzig); for ( with m uach, as in Ven. 1521, after the Masora to Num 35:33) fits on quite naturally, even if we take them as simple predictions. Instead of such a possible, though not actual, calling back and wishing back, those who survive the new times are called upon rather to rejoice for ever in that which Jehovah is actually creating, and will have created then. , if not regarded as the accusative-object, is certainly regarded as the object of causality, “in consideration of that which” (cf., Isa 31:6; Gen 3:17; Jdg 8:15), equivalent to, “on account of that which” (see at Isa 64:4; Isa 35:1). The imperatives ssu v e glu are not words of admonition so much as words of command, and k gives the reason in this sense: Jehovah makes Jerusalem glah and her people m asos (accusative of the predicate, or according to the terminology adopted in Becker’s syntax, the “factitive object,” Ges. 139, 2), by making joy its perpetual state, its appointed condition of life both inwardly and outwardly. Nor is it joy on the part of the church only, but on the part of its God as well (see the primary passages in Deu 30:9). When the church thus rejoices in God, and God in the church, so that the light of the two commingle, and each is reflected in the other; then will no sobbing of weeping ones, no sound of lamentation, be heard any more in Jerusalem (see the opposite side as expressed in Isa 51:3).
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| Predictions of Happiness. | B. C. 706. |
17 For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former 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 the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor 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 an hundred years old; but 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 are the days of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands. 23 They shall not labour in vain, nor bring forth for trouble; for they are the seed of the blessed of the LORD, 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 bullock: and dust shall be the serpent’s meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the LORD.
If these promises were in part fulfilled when the Jews, after their return out of captivity, were settled in peace in their own land and brought as it were into a new world, yet they were to have their full accomplishment in the gospel church, militant first and at length triumphant. The Jerusalem that is from above is free and is the mother of us all. In the graces and comforts which believers have in and from Christ we are to look for this new heaven and new earth. It is in the gospel that old things have passed away and all things have become new, and by it that those who are in Christ are new creatures, 2 Cor. v. 17. It was a mighty and happy change that was described v. 16, that the former troubles were forgotten; but here it rises much higher: even the former world shall be forgotten and shall no more come into mind. Those that were converted to the Christian faith were so transported with the comforts of it that all the comforts they were before acquainted with became as nothing to them; not only their foregoing griefs, but their foregoing joys, were lost and swallowed up in this. The glorified saints will therefore have forgotten this world, because they will be entirely taken up with the other: For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth. See how inexhaustible the divine power is; the same God that created one heaven and earth can create another. See how entire the happiness of the saints is; it shall be all of a piece; with the new heavens God will create them (if they have occasion for it to make them happy) a new earth too. The world is yours if you be Christ’s, 1 Cor. iii. 22. When God is reconciled to us, which gives us a new heaven, the creatures too are reconciled to us, which gives us a new earth. The future glory of the saints will be so entirely different from what they ever knew before that it may well be called new heavens and a new earth, 2 Pet. iii. 13. Behold, I make all things new, Rev. xxi. 5.
I. There shall be new joys. For, 1. All the church’s friends, and all that belong to her, shall rejoice (v. 18): You shall be glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create. The new things which God creates in and by his gospel are and shall be matter of everlasting joy to all believers. My servants shall rejoice (v. 13), at last they shall, though now they mourn. Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord. 2. The church shall be the matter of their joy, so pleasant, so prosperous, shall her condition be: I create Jerusalem a rejoicing and her people a joy. The church shall not only rejoice but be rejoiced in. Those that have sorrowed with the church shall rejoice with her. 3. The prosperity of the church shall be a rejoicing to God himself, who has pleasure in the prosperity of his servants (v. 19): I will rejoice in Jerusalem’s joy, and will joy in my people; for in all their affliction he was afflicted. God will not only rejoice in the church’s well-doing, but will himself rejoice to do her good and rest in his love to her, Zeph. iii. 17. What God rejoices in it becomes us to rejoice in. 4. There shall be no allay of this joy, nor any alteration of this happy condition of the church: The voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her. If this relate to any state of the church in this life, it means no more than that the former occasions of grief shall not return, but God’s people shall long enjoy an uninterrupted tranquillity. But in heaven it shall have a full accomplishment, in respect both of the perfection and the perpetuity of the promised joy; there all tears shall be wiped away.
II. There shall be new life, v. 20. Untimely deaths by the sword or sickness shall be no more known as they have been, and by this means there shall be no more the voice of crying, v. 19. When there shall be no more death there shall be no more sorrow, Rev. xxi. 4. As death has reigned by sin, so life shall reign by righteousness, Rom 5:14; Rom 5:21. 1. Believers through Christ shall be satisfied with life, though it be ever so short on earth. If an infant end its days quickly, yet it shall not be reckoned to die untimely; for the shorter its life is the longer will its rest be. Though death reign over those that have not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, yet they, dying in the arms of Christ, the second Adam, and belonging to his kingdom, are not to be called infants of days, but even the child shall be reckoned to die a hundred years old, for he shall rise again at full age, shall rise to eternal life. Some understand it of children who in their childhood are so eminent for wisdom and grace, and by death nipped in the blossom, that they may be said to die a hundred years old. And, as for old men, it is promised that they shall fill their days with the fruits of righteousness, which they shall still bring forth in old age, to show that the Lord is upright, and then it is a good old age. An old man who is wise, and good, and useful, may truly be said to have filled his days. Old men who have their hearts upon the world have never filled their days, never have enough of this world, but would still continue longer in it. But that man dies old, and satur dierum–full of days, who, with Simeon, having seen God’s salvation, desires now to depart in peace. 2. Unbelievers shall be unsatisfied and unhappy in life, though it be ever so long. The sinner, though he live to a hundred years old, shall be accursed. His living so long shall be no token to him of the divine favour and blessing, nor shall it be any shelter to him from the divine wrath and curse. The sentence he lies under will certainly be executed, and his long life is but a long reprieve; nay, it is itself a curse to him, for the longer he lives the more wrath he treasures up against the day of wrath and the more sins he will have to answer for. So that the matter is not great whether our lives on earth be long or short, but whether we live the lives of saints or the lives of sinners.
III. There shall be a new enjoyment of the comforts of life. Whereas before it was very uncertain and precarious, their enemies inhabited the houses which they built and ate the fruit of the trees which they planted, now it shall be otherwise; they shall build houses and inhabit them, shall plant vineyards and eat the fruit of them,Isa 65:21; Isa 65:22. Their intimates that the labour of their hands shall be blessed and be made to prosper; they shall gain what they aimed at, and what they have gained shall be preserved and secured to them; they shall enjoy it comfortably, and nothing shall embitter it to them, and they shall live to enjoy it long. Strangers shall not break in upon them, to expel them, and plant themselves in their room, as sometimes they have done: My elect shall wear out, or long enjoy, the work of their hands; it is honestly got, and it will wear well; it is the work of their hands, which they themselves have laboured for, and it is most comfortable to enjoy that, and not to eat the bread of idleness, or bread of deceit. If we have a heart to enjoy it, that is the gift of God’s grace (Eccl. iii. 13); and, if we live to enjoy it long, it is the gift of God’s providence, for that is here promised: As the days of a tree are the days of my people; as the days of an oak (ch. vi. 13), whose substance is in it, though it cast its leaves; though it be stripped every winter, it recovers itself again, and lasts many ages; as the days of the tree of life; so the LXX. Christ is to them the tree of life, and in him believers enjoy all those spiritual comforts which are typified by the abundance of temporal blessings here promised; and it shall not be in the power of their enemies to deprive them of these blessings or disturb them in the enjoyment of them.
IV. There shall be a new generation rising up in their stead to inherit and enjoy these blessings (v. 23): They shall not labour in vain, for they shall not only enjoy the work of their hands themselves, but they shall leave it with satisfaction to those that shall come after them, and not with such a melancholy prospect as Solomon did, Ecc 2:18; Ecc 2:19. They shall not beget and bring forth children for trouble; for they are themselves the seed of the blessed of the Lord, and there is a blessing entailed upon them by descent from their ancestors which their offspring with them shall partake of, and shall be, as well as they, the seed of the blessed of the Lord. They shall not bring forth for trouble; for, 1. God will make their children that rise up comforts to them; they shall have the joy of seeing them walk in the truth. 2. He will make the times that come after comfortable to their children. As they shall be good, so it shall be well with them; they shall not be brought forth to days of trouble; nor shall it ever be said, Blessed is the womb that bore not. In the gospel church Christ’s name shall be borne up by a succession. A seed shall serve him (Ps. xxii. 30), the seed of the blessed of the Lord.
V. There shall be a good correspondence between them and their God (v. 24): Even before they call, I will answer. God will anticipate their prayers with the blessings of his goodness. David did but say, I will confess, and God forgave, Ps. xxxii. 5. The father of the prodigal met him in his return. While they are yet speaking, before they have finished their prayer, I will give them the thing they pray for, or the assurances and earnests of it. These are high expressions of God’s readiness to hear prayer; and this appears much more in the grace of the gospel than it did under the law; we owe the comfort of it to the mediation of Christ as our advocate with the Father and are obliged in gratitude to give a ready ear to God’s calls.
VI. There shall be a good correspondence between them and their neighbours (v. 25): The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, as they did in Noah’s ark. God’s people, though they are as sheep in the midst of wolves, shall be safe and unhurt; for God will not so much break the power and tie the hands of their enemies as formerly, but he will turn their hearts, will alter their dispositions by his grace. When Paul, who had been a persecutor of the disciples (and who, being of the tribe of Benjamin, ravened as a wolf, Gen. xlix. 27) joined himself to them and became one of them, then the wolf and the lamb fed together. So also when the enmity between Jews and Gentiles was slain, all hostilities ceased, and they fed together as one sheepfold under Christ the great Shepherd, John x. 16. The enemies of the church ceased to do the mischief they had done, and its members ceased to be so quarrelsome with and injurious to one another as they had been, so that there was none either from without or from within to hurt or destroy, none to disturb it, much less to ruin it, in all the holy mountain; as was promised, ch. xi. 9. For, 1. Men shall be changed: The lion shall no more be a beast of prey, as perhaps he never would have been if sin had not entered, but shall eat straw like the bullock, shall know his owner, and his master’s crib, as the ox does. When those that lived by spoil and rapine, and coveted to enrich themselves, right or wrong, are brought by the grace of God to accommodate themselves to their condition, to live by honest labour, and to be content with such things as they have–when those that stole steal no more, but work with their hands the thing that is good–then this is fulfilled, that the lion shall eat straw like the bullock. 2. Satan shall be chained, the dragon bound; for dust shall be the serpent’s meat again. That great enemy, when he has been let loose, has glutted and regaled himself with the precious blood of saints, who by his instigation have been persecuted, and with the precious souls of sinners, who by his instigation have become persecutors and have ruined themselves for ever; but now he shall be confined to dust, according to the sentence, On thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat, Gen. iii. 14. All the enemies of God’s church, that are subtle and venomous as serpents, shall be conquered and subdued, and be made to lick the dust, Christ shall reign as Zion’s King till all the enemies of his kingdom be made his footstool, and theirs too. In the holy mountain above, and there only, shall this promise have its full accomplishment, that there shall be none to hurt nor destroy.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Vs. 17-25: THE BLESSEDNESS OF THE KINGDOM
1. Linked with the restoration of the Davidic Kingdom (under Messiah, the King) are some astounding events, leading to such blessedness and glory as are unequaled in the history of the world – resurrection (Dan 12:2; Isa 25:8), and a new creation (Isa 65:17; Isa 66:22).
2. Again, it should be understood that “the heavens” and “the earth” are often used symbolically in the prophetic word.
a. “Heaven” is sometimes used figuratively of “honor, station, authority, majesty, power and political or civil supremacy”, (see (Isa 13:10-13; Jer 4:23-25; Eze 32:7; Isa 34:4-5; Joe 2:10; Isa 14:12-15).
b. “Earth”, when used figuratively, denotes the masses by which the political authorities are upheld, (Rev 12:16; Gen 6:11; etc.).
c. The “newness” involved is NOT that of something ENTIRELY DIFFERENT, but involves a “renewing or restoring”, (comp. 1Sa 11:14; Isa 61:4; Psa 103:5; 2Ch 15:8; 2Ch 24:4).
d. So remarkably delightful and satisfying will be the “new order” that remembrance of former troubles will completely fade from the minds of God’s elect, (Isa 43:18-19; Jer 3:16-18).
3. Joy and gladness will characterize the City of God – where He dwells in the midst of His people (vs. 18; Isa 12:1-2; Isa 51:3; Isa 51:11; Isa 61:10); the voice of weeping will never again be heard therein, (vs. 19b; Isa 25:8-9; Isa 30:19; Isa 36:10; comp. Rev 7:17; Rev 21:4).
4. The Lord Himself is pictured as being satisfied with, and rejoicing in, His people, (vs. 19a; Isa 62:4-5; Jer 32:41; comp. Deu 30:9-10).
5. Though sin and death are not yet fully abolished, they are seen (during the millennial era) as being under divine restraint – Satan being bound, and the life-span of man greatly increased, (vs. 20).
a. There will be no more dying in infancy.
b. Only because he rejects the provision made for his cleansing, will the sinner be cut off (accursed) at the end of 100 years.
6. Their fields no longer plundered by the enemy, God’s elect people will long enjoy the fruit of their labors, and will wear out the work of their hands, (vs. 21-23).
a. They are the “seed of the blessed of Jehovah”, (Isa 61:9; Jer 32:38-39; Act 2:39).
b. Their offspring will be with them – to share the riches of His grace.
c. Their longevity will be “as the days of a tree”, (vs. 22c; Psa 92:12-14).
7. Every desire of God’s people will be anticipated and supplied -without their having to ask (vs. 24); their hearts will be in perfect harmony with God’s will.
8. So marvelous will be the renewal, and the restoration of divine order, that all animosities will cease; every harmful influence will be banished, (vs. 25; comp. Isa 11:6-9).
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
17. For, lo, I will create new heavens and a new earth. By these metaphors he promises a remarkable change of affairs; as if God had said that he has both the inclination and the power not only to restore his Church, but to restore it in such a manner that it shall appear to gain new life and to dwell in a new world. These are exaggerated modes of expression; but the greatness of such a blessing, which was to be manifested at the coming of Christ, could not be described in any other way. Nor does he mean only the first coming, but the whole reign, which must be extended as far as to the last coming, as we have already said in expounding other passages.
Thus the world is (so to speak) renewed by Christ; and hence also the Apostle (Heb 2:5) calls it “a new age,” and undoubtedly alludes to this statement of the Prophet. Yet the Prophet speaks of the restoration of the Church after the return from Babylon. This is undoubtedly true; but that restoration is imperfect, if it be not extended as far as to Christ; and even now we are in the progress and accomplishment of it, and those things will not be fulfilled till the last resurrection, which has been prescribed to be our limit.
The former things shall not be remembered. Some refer these words to heaven and earth; as if he had said that henceforth they shall have no celebrity and no name. But I choose rather to refer them to the former times; for he means that the joy at being restored shall be so great that they shall no longer remember their miseries. Or perhaps it will be thought preferable to view them as relating to benefits which, though they were worthy of being recorded, lost their name when God’s amazing- grace shone forth. In this sense the Prophet said elsewhere, “Remember ye not the former things.” (Isa 43:18.) Not that God wished the first deliverance to be set aside or blotted out of the hearts of believers; but because by comparison the one brought a kind of forgetfulness over the other, just as the sun, when he rises, deprives the stars of their brightness.
Let us remember that these things take place in us so far as we are renewed. But we are only in part renewed, and therefore we do not yet see a new heaven and a new earth. We need not wonder, therefore, that we continue to mourn and weep, since we have not entirely laid aside the old man, but many remains are still left. It is with us also that the renovation ought to begin; because we hold the first rank, and it is through our sin that “the creatures groan, and are subject to vanity,” as Paul shews. (Rom 8:20.) But when we shall be perfectly renewed, heaven and earth shall also be fully renewed, and shall regain their former state. And hence it ought to be inferred, as we have frequently remarked, that the Prophet has in his eye the whole reign of Christ, down to its final close, which is also called
“
the day of renovation and restoration.” (Act 3:21.)
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
3. CREATED
TEXT: Isa. 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 serpents 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 Isa. 65:20?
c.
Does Isa. 65:25 mean the same as Isa. 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 Lords 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
Isa. 65:17-19 PERSONALITY: In Isa. 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. Jer. 3:15-17). In Heb. 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 mans sin. But Jesus, partaking of human nature, conquered sin in the flesh and has potentially given mans dominion back to him. This was done at the first advent of Christ (not the second). What God has done by Christs redemptive work and establishment of the church is, therefore, the new creation. Heb. 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 (Heb. 12:28) which is the church. Paul indicates that the new covenant relationship is the new creation (cf. 2Co. 5:16-21; Gal. 6:15-16, etc.). The Bible also teaches a consummation of the new creation at the second advent of the Messiah (cf. 1Th. 4:13 to 1Th. 5:11; 2Pe. 3:7-18, etc.).
The Jewish Apocrypha (see our comments on chapters 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 Gal. 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 Gods 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 Gods newly created Jerusalem is characterized as joyful (cf. comments on Isa. 35:10).
Isa. 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 Isa. 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 Isa. 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.
Isa. 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. Deu. 28:30; Zep. 1:13; Mic. 6:14-16; Amo. 8:9-12, etc.). But in the new order (the messianic age of mans 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 Jehovahs glory and satisfaction to the heart of the doer (cf. 1Co. 15:58; Rom. 8:28; Rom. 8:37; 2Co. 9:8-11; Eph. 3:20; 1Th. 1:2-10; 1Th. 4:9-12, etc.). The picture is one of security, satisfaction and enjoyment. Whatever the citizen in Gods new kingdom labors at will glorify God (cf. Eph. 6:5-9; Col. 3:17; Col. 3:22-25; 2Th. 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, 1Ti. 4:4) will be in vain; nothing he does will be destroyed. The works of the citizen of new Jerusalem follow after him (cf. Rev. 14:13).
Those who have been refined and recreated as Gods 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 (Dan. 9:1-19), the Lord sent an angel to answer his prayer (Dan. 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 (Heb. 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. Rom. 8:26-27). He knows before we ask what we need (Mat. 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. Luk. 11:5-13; Luk. 18:1-8).
Isa. 65:25 is a fitting summation to this chapter. Nothing hurtful will be permitted in new Zion. In Gods holy mountain (Zion, cf. Heb. 12:22), the place where He dwells, there will be peace, joy and festivity (cf. our comments Isa. 11:6-9; Isa. 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?
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(17) Behold, I create new heavens . . .The thought reappears in many forms in the New Testamentverbally in 2Pe. 3:13; Rev. 21:1, substantially in the restitution of all things (Act. 3:21), in the manifestation of the sons of God (Rom. 8:19). The former things, the sin and sorrow of the past, shall then fade away from the memory of Gods people, absorbed in the abounding and everlasting joy.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
17-19. Behold, I create new heavens and a new earth Viewing such a glorious restoration as a new creation, Jehovah is represented as saying: I work a wondrous change; it is a new state of Messianic glory. “The prophet had previously declared that mighty changes on the one hand would take place in consequence of severe judgments, and of glorious saving grace on the other.” “The prophet manifestly distinguishes stadia in the accomplishment of salvation, though he says nothing of their relative times. Objects which are represented in one perspective on different planes, so that those in the background can be seen through the intervening spaces of those in the foreground, appear to be on one plane to him who regards them at a distance. We can here, also, distinguish three really distinct stadia, although the prophet in no way indicates a difference of time. The first stadium he describes, Isa 65:9-10. He then speaks of again taking possession of the holy land. This was first accomplished by the return from exile. He brings us, in Isa 65:13-16, to another stadium. In it he sees the wicked and the godly together; but he perceives the godless Israel judged, and cursed, and the elect that are saved from the judgment called by another name. We enter on the third stadium, Isa 65:17. In it every thing becomes new. A new higher life pervades the whole of nature. To this highest stadium the preceding are related as organic preparation.” Nagelsbach. The old mixed state of affairs shall be forgotten through the abounding joy of the new.
Be ye glad and rejoice (Isa 51:11; Isa 51:16,) because it is not, “I will create,” but, “I am creating.” Not a happiness for a day or a year, but for ever.
Jerusalem Renewed Jerusalem the ever appropriate symbol-seat of prosperity and joy; the Church of the living God, under the rule of love and peace in the Holy Ghost.
The same thought continues in Isa 65:19. Jehovah shall rejoice in his people, and his people in him. No more occasion for sorrow and weeping to his people; nor for him aught on their account to grieve over.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The New Heaven and the New Earth
v. 17. For, behold, I create new heavens, v. 18. But be ye, v. 19. And I will rejoice in Jerusalem and joy in My people, v. 20. There shall be no more thence, v. 21. And they shall build houses and inhabit them, v. 22. They shall not build and another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat, v. 23. They shall not labor in vain, v. 24. And it shall come to pass that before they call, v. 25. The wolf and the lamb shall feed together,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Isa 65:17. For, behold, I create, &c. Vitringa observes, that these expressions signify a new and better form of religion, to be introduced into the church, the old and inferior one being abolished. It is plain, from what follows, that the prophet here foretels a future and highly-improved state of religion and felicity, greater than has yet been experienced in the church of Christ: see Rev 19:7-9.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
4. THE NEW LIFE IN ITS OUTWARD MANIFESTATION
Isa 65:17-25
17For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth:
And the former shall not be remembered, nor 15come into mind.
18But be ye glad and rejoice for ever 16in that which I create:
For, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing,
And her people a joy.
19And I will rejoice in Jerusalem,
And joy in my people:
And the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her,
Nor the voice of crying.
20There shall be no more 17thence an infant of days,
Nor an old man that hath not filled his days:
For the 18child shall die an hundred years old;
But the sinner being an hundred years old 19shall be accursed.
21And they shall build houses, and inhabit them;
And they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them.
22They shall not build, and another inhabit;
They shall not plant, and another eat:
For as the days of a tree are the days of my people,
And mine elect 2021shall long enjoy the work of their hands.
23They shall not labour in vain,
Nor bring forth for 22trouble;
For they are the seed of the blessed of the Lord,
And their offspring with them.
24And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer;
And while they are yet speaking, I will hear.
25The wolf and the lamb shall feed together,
And the lion shall eat straw like the 23bullock:
And dust shall be the serpents meat.
They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain,
Saith the Lord.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
1. The Prophet had previously declared that mighty changes would take place in consequence of severe judgments on the one hand, and of glorious saving grace on the other. Here he states that the Lord will create a new heaven and a new earth which will entirely efface the remembrance of the old (Isa 65:17). For this new glorious creation will cause such joy that it will make the misery of the old world to be quite forgotten. Jerusalem and its people will be nothing but joy, and the Lord, too, will only rejoice over His people. Among the people of God nothing more will be heard of mourning and lamentation (Isa 65:19). The vital force of mankind will then appear undiminished (Isa 65:20-21). Death will no longer prevent a man from enjoying the fruits of his labor. None will labor in vain, or beget children for speedy death, for all will be a blessed race (Isa 65:23); and if they have anything to ask from the Lord, their prayer will be immediately answered (Isa 65:24). There will be a renovation even of the animal world. It will be in harmony with the spirit of peace and love which will prevail in the entire new creation (Isa 65:25).
2. For, behold, I createcrying.
Isa 65:17-19. The Prophet manifestly distinguishes stadia in the accomplishment of salvation, although he says nothing of their relative times. Objects which are represented in one perspective on different planes, so that those in the background can be seen through the intervening spaces of those on the foreground, appear to be on one plane to him who regards them at a distance. We can here also distinguish three really distinct stadia, although the Prophet in no way indicates a difference of time. The first stadium he describes Isa 65:9-10. He there speaks of again taking possession of the holy land. This was first accomplished by the return from Exile. He brings us, Isa 65:13-16, to another stadium. In it he sees the wicked and the godly together; but he perceives the godless Israel judged and cursed, and the elect that are saved from the judgment called by another name. We enter on the third stadium Isa 65:17. In it everything becomes new. A new higher life pervades the whole of nature. To this highest stadium the preceding are related as organic preparation. This is the meaning of the in the beginning of Isa 65:17. [The Prophet had said at the close of Isa 65:16 that the former evils had entirely passed away. That they had passed away he establishes by joining, as in Isa 9:3-5, one to another, Isa 65:17-19. Del.D. M.]. By many understand merely tempora superiora, the former evil times, others, only the old heaven and the old earth. But why should not both be intended by it? Would it be possible to remember the old earth and the old heaven, and not at the same time think of the times passed on the one and under the other? The Prophet certainly does not mean to say that people will have lost their memory in the new world. But his meaning is only this, that all misery and distress of the old world will be so completely got rid of that the images of the same will no more present themselves as a disturbing element in the happiness of the new world. is=come to mind, to be suggested. Comp. Jer 3:16, which place is of similar import with the one before us, and seems to be formed after it. The expression is found only in Isaiah and Jeremiah (Jer 3:16; Jer 7:31; Jer 19:5; Jer 32:35; Jer 44:21). The words, Isa 65:18, Be ye glad and rejoice agree admirably with our explanation of Isa 65:17 b. The servants of God shall not suffer their happiness to be disturbed by gloomy recollections, but they shall enjoy it to the full and uninterruptedly. Why should they not do this? Is it not a creation of the Lord? And all that the Lord creates is good (Gen 1:31). Neither nor are ever construed with the accusative of the object. is therefore to be taken as causal=because. The Prophet then repeats emphatically: for behold I create Jerusalem a rejoicing and its people a joy. and are abstracts to be taken as concretes. This form of expression is particularly emphatic (Isa 60:17; Isa 11:10; Isa 13:9, et saepe; Psa 120:2; Psa 120:7, et saepe). Jerusalem shall be nothing but rejoicing, its people nothing but joy. But more than that! Not only shall Jerusalem rejoice with its people. The Lord Himself will rejoice over Jerusalem and its people; which supposes on the part of the latter a state of perfect righteousness, such a renovation, in short, as (Isa 65:17) is promised to the heaven and the earth (Isa 62:5). Where there is no more sin, there is no more trouble, and where there is no more trouble, there is no more pain (comp. Isa 25:8; Isa 35:10; Isa 51:11; Rev 7:17; Rev 21:4).
3. There shall be no moresaith the LORD.
Isa 65:20-25. In what follows the Prophet gives examples of the state of things in the new world. The illustrations given are to serve as a measure for estimating the new relation. is not=from then. For is never used in regard to time. [The examples given by Gesenius of in the sense of then do not bear examination. The particle is not used of time in Hebrew as it is in Arabic.D. M.]. marks in Hebrew the terminus unde, which according to the usage of the language is found where we employ the terminus ubi. refers to Jerusalem and the Holy Land. Thence will no suckling ever appear (comp. Isa 59:19; Isa 40:15) who will be only days old (comp. e. g., Gen 24:55), or an old man who has not reached the normal measure of human age. [Alexander, following Kimchi, supposes there shall be no more from thence to mean there shall be no more taken away thence, or carried thence to burial. But means properly to come into existence, and we are to understand the statement thus: there shall no suckling thence arise or come into being who shall live only some days, whose age shall be counted by days.D. M.]. What follows, strictly taken, contradicts what has been said. For if no one, not even an old man, falls short of the normal measure, then no one can die as a boy. [But the Prophet does not say that no one, not even an old man, falls short of the normal measure, in the former part of Isa 65:20. When one who dies at the age of a hundred years is counted a boy, and when a sinner who dies a hundred years old is regarded as prematurely cut off by the judgment of God, this is no contradiction of the declaration that the sucklings age will not be reckoned by days, and that old men will fill up the measure of their days. For the hundred years old sinner will not be included in the category of old men. There is no need then of adopting the forced construction proposed by Dr. Naegelsbach to get rid of an imaginary contradiction. The examples here given he holds to be unreal and only supposed by way of illustration. If it were possible that there should still be sinners, one of them, who should be punished with death when a hundred years old, would be regarded as cursed by God, and forever excluded from mercy. And if one of a hundred years should die a natural death, (supposing such a case, which from what has been said cannot really occur), he would be only a boy at his death.D. M.]. There is clear reference here to the Mosaic law which promises long life and a numerous posterity to the godly, and, on the contrary, threatens shortening of life and speedy extinction of name to the wicked (Exo 20:5-6; Exo 20:12; Exo 23:26). That the Prophet here at the same time thinks of the longevity of the [antediluvian] patriarchs is very probable. The thought of a return of this longevity is not unbiblical. It is expressed in Rev 20:4 [?]. The form with Segol is as if from . The longevity which, Isa 65:20, is promised to the servants of God, shall as a secondary consequence, have also the good effect that the curse of fruitless cultivation, planting and begetting, with which the wicked are threatened by the law (Lev 26:16; Deu 28:30 sqq.), will be removed from the people of God (comp. Isa 62:8-9; Jer 31:5; Amo 9:14-15). That men shall build houses and not dwell therein, and plant vineyards and not enjoy them, is threatened as a curse Deu 28:30. These curses will be transformed into the corresponding blessings in consequence of longevity; for the people of God shall live as long as trees (comp. Psa 92:13 sqq.). [Some trees, such as the oak, the terebinth, and the banyan, reach the age of a thousand years. Henderson. The cedars of Lebanon that are still found there may be fairly presumed to have existed in Biblical times. (Royle). means not only to use, but to use up, consume (Del.).D. M.]. Isa 65:23 a alludes to Lev 26:16; Lev 26:20; for and are borrowed from the two places. [The sense of sudden destruction given to by some modern writers, is a mere conjecture from the context….The Hebrew word properly denotes extreme agitation and alarm, and the meaning of the clause is that they shall not bring forth children merely to be the subjects of distressing solicitude. Alexander. D. M.]. The meaning of is plainly not a posterity that springs from those blessed of the Lord, but a posterity, a seed which consists of those who are blessed. Comp. on Isa 1:4). [This is not so plain as it is affirmed to be. And Alexander is right in saying that it adds greatly to the strength of the expression if we take it to mean that they are themselves the offspring of those blessed of God, and thus give its usual sense. D. M.]. is not to be regarded as merely marking addition to, but as denoting simultaneous, common enjoyment. It includes the idea that the children will enjoy these things not after the parents, but with the parents. But if notwithstanding the abundance of blessing that surrounds them, any trouble or the lack of any good thing should be felt, they have only to bring their concern in prayer to the Lord. The answer will be given even before the request is expressed, or at latest, while he that prays is yet speaking (comp. Isa 58:9; Isa 30:19). Isa 65:25 adds an eschatological feature which is abridged from Isa 11:6-9. I cannot avoid the impression that these words are an awkward addition, and are not of one piece with what precedes. Have we here again to mark the hand of him who has retouched in various ways the original work of the Prophet in these last chapters? [Delitzsch declares that those who affirm that the speaker in Isa 65:25 is one later than Isaiah, because this verse is only loosely attached to what precedes, make an assertion which is unfair and untrue. As in chapter 11. so here, the picture of the new time closes with the peace in the world of nature, which in chapters 4066, just as in chapters 139, appears as standing in the closest mutual relation to man. The repetition of what was already uttered in chapter 11. speaks in favor of unity of authorship Dr. Naegelsbach, following Knobel, urges the substitution of for as marking the hand of a later writer. But is more than , together. It means as one, and is a perfectly simple and natural Hebrew form. No argument can be drawn from its appearing besides only in such late books as 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah and Ecclesiastes. also occurs in Nehemiah. We have, too, in early books, in Jdg 20:8; 1Sa 11:7. This phase is essentially one with the expression in our text, and cannot be referred to the later Hebrew, though it occurs in Ezr 3:1 and Neh 8:1, as well as in Judges and 1 Samuel. We find also in our verse the stronger expression , a young lamb, substituted for the word , a well-grown lamb, which is used in Isa 11:6. There is, then, no valid reason for suspecting here an addition by a later hand. See Kayin loc. Most of the modern writers construe as a nominative absolute, as for the serpent, dust (shall be) his food. A more obvious construction is to repeat the verb shall eat, and consider dust and food as in apposition….The sense seems to be that, in accordance with his ancient doom, he shall be rendered harmless, robbed of his favorite nutriment, and made to bite the dust at the feet of his conqueror (Gen 3:15; Rom 16:20; 1Jn 3:8).Alexander. Isaiah, in writing Dust shall be the serpents meat, has evidently Mic 7:17 before him: They shall lick the dust like a serpent. This borrowing from Micah is characteristic of Isaiah, and attests the genuineness of this passage. Delitzsch, at the close of this chapter, asks when the state of things shall be realized that is here depicted, when the antediluvian length of life shall return, and man and the lower animals shall be in harmony and peace? He replies that it is absurd to refer this prophecy to the state of final blessedness, as it supposes a continued mixture of righteous and sinful men, and only a limitation of the power of death, not its complete destruction by the fulfilment of the promise in Isa 35:8 a. But is this state to follow the creation of new heavens and a new earth mentioned in Isa 65:17? And what have we to understand by the creation of new heavens and a new earth here spoken of? On these questions see under Doctrinal and Ethical, No. 10.D. M.]
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. On Isa 65:1-2. Our Lord has said, He that seeketh findeth (Mat 7:8). How, then, does it come that the Jews do not find what they seek, but the heathen find what they did not seek? The Apostle Paul puts this question and answers it, Rom 9:30 sqq.; Isa 10:19 sqq.; Isa 11:7. [See also Isa 10:3]. All depends on the way in which we seek. Luther says: Quaerere fit dupliciter. Primo, secundum praescriptum verbi Dei, et sic invenitur Deus, Secundo, quaeritur nostris studiis et consiliis, et sic non invenitur. The Jews, with exception of the (Rom 11:7), sought only after their own glory and merit. They sought what satisfies the flesh. They did not suffer the spirit in the depths of their heart to speak,the spirit which can be satisfied only by food fitted for it. The law which was given to them that they might perceive by means of it their own impotence, became a snare to them. For they perverted it, made what was of minor importance the chief matter, and then persuaded themselves that they had fulfilled it and were righteous. But the Gentiles who had not the law, had not this snare. They were not tempted to abuse the pdagogical discipline of the law. They felt simply that they were forsaken by God. Their spirit was hungry. And when for the first time Gods word in the Gospel was presented to them, then they received it the more eagerly in proportion to the poverty, wretchedness and hunger in which they had been. The Jews did not find what they sought, because they had not a spiritual, but a carnal apprehension of the law, and, like the elder brother of the prodigal son, were full, and blind for that which was needful for them. But the Gentiles found what they did not seek, because they were like the prodigal son, who was the more receptive of grace, the more he needed it, and the less claim he had to it. [There is important truth stated in the foregoing remarks. But it does not fully explain why the Lord is found of those who sought Him not. The sinner who has obtained mercy when he asks why? must have recourse to a higher cause, a cause out of himself, even free, sovereign, efficacious grace. It is of God that showeth mercy, Rom 9:16. Though in after-communion God is found of those that seek Him (Pro 8:17), yet in the first conversion He is found of those that seek Him not; for therefore we love Him, because He first loved us. Henry. D. M.].
2. On Isa 65:2. Gods long-suffering is great. He stretches out His hands the whole day and does not grow weary. What man would do this? The disobedient people contemns Him, as if He knew nothing, and could do nothing.
3. On Isa 65:2. It is clear from this verse gratiam esse resistibilem. Christ earnestly stretched out His hands to the Jews. He would, but they would not. This doctrine the Remonstrants prove from this place, and rightly too, in Actis Synodi Dodrac. P. 3. p. 76. Leigh. [The grace of God which is signified by His stretching out His hands can be, and is, resisted. That figurative expression denotes warning, exhorting, entreating, and was never set forth by Reformed theologians as indicating such grace as was necessarily productive of conversion. The power by which God quickens those who were dead in sins (Eph 2:5), by which He gives a new heart (Eze 36:26), by which He draws to the Son (Joh 6:44-45; Joh 6:65), is the grace which is called irresistible. The epithet is admitted on all hands to be faulty; but the grace denoted by it is, from the nature of the case, not resisted. Turrettin in treating De Vocatione et Fide thus replies to this objection, Aliud est Deo monenti et vocanti externe resistere; Aliud est conversionem intendenti et efficaciter ac interne vocanti. Prius asseritur Isa. lxv. 2, 3. Quum dicit Propheta se expandisse tot die manus ad populum perversum etc., non posterius. Expansio brachiorum notat quidem blandam et benevolam Dei invitationem, qu illos extrinsecus sive Verbo, sive beneficiis alliciebat, non semel atque iterum, sed quotidie ministerio servorum suorum eos compellando. Sed non potest designate potentem et efficacem operationem, qu brachium Domini illis revelatur qui docentur Deo et trahuntur a Patre, etc. Locus XV.; Quaestio VI .25.D. M.].
4. On Isa 65:2. (Who walk after their own thoughts.)
Duc me, nec sine, me per me, Deus optime, duci.
Nam duce me pereo, te duce certus eo.
[If our guide be our own thoughts, our way is not likely to be good; for every imagination of the thought of our hearts is only evil. Henry. D. M.].
5. On Isa 65:3 sq. The sweetest wine is turned into the sourest vinegar; and when Gods people apostatize from God, they are worse than the heathen (Jer 3:11). Starke.
6. On Isa 65:5. [I am holier than thou. A deep insight is here given us into the nature of the mysterious fascination which heathenism exercised on the Jewish people. The law humbled them at every turn with mementoes of their own sin and of Gods unapproachable holiness. Paganism freed them from this, and allowed them (in the midst of moral pollution) to cherish lofty pretensions to sanctity. The man, who had been offering incense on the mountain-top, despised the penitent who went to the temple to present a broken and contrite heart. If Pharisaism led to a like result, it was because it, too, had emptied the law of its spiritual import, and turned its provisions into intellectual idols. Kay. D. M.].
7. On Isa 65:6-7. The longer God forbears, the harder He punishes at last. The greatness of the punishment compensates for the delay (Psa 50:21). Starke after Leigh.
8. On Isa 65:8 sqq. [This is expounded by St. Paul, Rom 11:1-5, where, when upon occasion of the rejection of the Jews, it is asked Hath God then cast away His people? He answers, no; for, at this time there is a remnant according to the election of grace. This prophecy has reference to that distinguished remnantOur Saviour has told us that for the sake of these elect the days of the destruction of the Jews should be shortened, and a stop put to the desolation, which otherwise would have proceeded to that degree that no flesh should be saved. Mat 24:22. Henry. D. M.].
9. On Isa 65:15. The judgment which came upon Israel by the hand of the Romans, did not altogether destroy the people, but it so destroyed the Old Covenant, i.e., the Mosaic religion, that the Jews can no more observe its precepts in essential points. For no Jew knows to what tribe he belongs. Therefore, they have no priests, and, consequently, no sacrifices. The Old Covenant is now only a ruin. We see here most clearly that the Old Covenant, as it was designed only for one nation, and for one country, was to last only for a certain time. If we consider, moreover, the way in which the judgment was executed, (comp. Josephus), we can truly say that the Jews bear in themselves the mark of a curse. They bear the stamp of the divine judgment. The beginning of the judgment on the world has been executed on them as the house of God. But how comes it that the Jews have become so mighty, so insolent in the present time, and are not satisfied with remaining on the defensive in their attitude toward the Christian church, but have passed over to the offensive? This has arisen solely from Christendom having to a large extent lost the consciousness of its new name. There are many Christians who scoff at the name of Christian, and seek their honor in combating all that is called Christian. This is the preparation for the judgment on Christendom itself. If Christendom would hold fast her jewel, she would remain strong, and no one would dare to mock or to assail her. For she would then partake of the full blessing which lies in the principle of Christianity, and every one would be obliged to show respect for the fruits of this principle. But an apostate Christendom, that is ashamed of her glorious Christian name, is something more miserable than the Jews, judged though they have been, who still esteem highly their name, and what remains to them of their old religion. Thus Christendom, in so far as it denies the worth and significance of its name, is gradually reaching a condition in which it will be so ripe for the second act of the judgment on the world, that this will be longed for as a benefit. For, this apostate Christendom will be the kingdom of Antichrist, as Antichrist will manifest himself in Satanic antagonism to God by sitting in the temple of God, and pretending to be God (2Th 2:3 sqq.). [We do not quite share all the sentiments expressed in this paragraph. We are far from being so despondent as to the prospects of Christendom, and think that there is a more obvious interpretation of the prophecy quoted from 2 Thess., than that indicated.D. M.].
10. On Isa 65:17. [If we had only the present passage to testify of new heavens and a new earth, we might say, as many good interpreters do, that the language is figurative, and indicates nothing more than a great moral and spiritual revolution. But we cannot thus explain 2Pe 3:10-13. The present earth and heavens shall pass away; (comp. Isa 51:6; Psa 102:25-26). But how can we suppose that our Prophet here refers to the new heavens and new earth, which are to succeed the destruction of the world by fire? In the verses that follow Isa 65:17, a condition of things is described which, although better than the present, is not so good as that perfectly sinless, blessed state of the redeemed, which we look for after the coming of the day of the Lord. Yet the Apostle Peter (2Pe 3:13) evidently regards the promise before us of new heavens and a new earth, as destined to receive its accomplishment after the conflagration which is to take place at the end of the world. If we had not respect to other Scriptures, and if we overlooked the use made by Peter of this passage, we should not take it literally. But we can take it literally, if we suppose that the Prophet brings together future events not according to their order in time. He sees the new heavens and new earth arise. Other scenes are disclosed to his prophetic eye of a grand and joy-inspiring nature. He announces them as future. But these scenes suppose the continued prevalence of death and labor (Isa 65:20 sqq.), which, we know from definite statements of Scripture, will not exist when the new heaven and new earth appear (comp. Rev 21:1-4). The proper view then of Isa 65:17 is to take its prediction literally, and to hold at the same time that in the following description (which is that of the millennium) future things are presented to us which are really prior, and not posterior to the promised complete renovation of heaven and earth. Nor should this surprise us, as Isaiah and the other Prophets place closely together in their pictures future things which belong to different times. They do not draw the line sharply between this world and the next. Compare Isaiahs prophecy of the abolition of death (Isa 25:8) in connection with other events that must happen long before that state of perfect blessedness.D. M.].
11. On Isa 65:20. [The extension of the Gospel every where,of its pure principles of temperance in eating and drinking, in restraining the passions, in producing calmness of mind, and in arresting war, would greatly lengthen out the life of man. The image here employed by the Prophet is more than mere poetry; it is one that is founded in reality, and is designed to convey most important truth. Barnes. D. M.].
12. On Isa 65:24. [It occurs to me that an erroneous application is frequently made of the promise, Before they call, etc. This declaration is made in connection with the glory and blessedness of the last days. It belongs specifically to the millennium. There are, indeed, occasions when God even now seems to act according to this law. (Comp. Dan 9:23). But Paul had to pray thrice before he received the answer of the Lord (2Co 12:8). Compare the parable of the importunate widow, Luk 18:1-7. The answer to prayer may be long delayed. This is not only taught in the Bible, but is verified in Christian experience. But the time will come when the Lord will not thus try and exercise the faith of His people.D. M.].
13. On Isa 65:25. If the lower animals live in hostility in consequence of the sin of man, a state of peace must be restored to them along with our redemption from sin. J. G. Mueller in Herz. R.-Encycl. xvi. p. 45. [By the serpent in this place there seems every reason to believe that Satan, the old seducer and author of discord and misery, is meant. During the millennium he is to be subject to the lowest degradation. Compare for the force of the phrase to lick the dust, Psa 72:9; Mic 7:17. This was the original doom of the tempter, Gen 3:14, and shall be fully carried into execution. Comp. Rev 20:1-3. Henderson. D. M.].
14. On Isa 66:1. [Having held up in every point of view the true design, mission and vocation of the church or chosen people, its relation to the natural descendants of Abraham, the causes which required that the latter should be stripped of their peculiar privileges, and the vocation of the Gentiles as a part of the divine plan from its origin, the Prophet now addresses the apostate and unbelieving Jews at the close of the old dispensation, who, instead of preparing for the general extension of the church and the exchange of ceremonial for spiritual worship, were engaged in the rebuilding and costly decoration of the temple at Jerusalem. The pride and interest in this great public work, felt not only by the Herods but by all the Jews, is clear from incidental statements of the Scriptures (Joh 2:20; Mat 24:1), as well as from the ample and direct assertions of Josephus. That the nation should have been thus occupied precisely at the time when the Messiah came, is one of those agreements between prophecy and history, which cannot be accounted for except upon the supposition of a providential and designed assimilation. Alexander after Vitringa. D. M.].
15. On Isa 66:1-2. What a grand view of the nature of God and of the way in which He is made known lies at the foundation of these words! God made all things. He is so great that it is an absurdity to desire to build a temple for Him. The whole universe cannot contain Him (1Ki 8:27)! But He, who contains all things and can be contained by nothing, has His greatest joy in a poor, humble human heart that fears Him. He holds it worthy of His regard, it pleases Him, He enters into it, He makes His abode in it. The wise and prudent men of science should learn hence what is chiefly necessary in order to know God. We cannot reach Him by applying force, by climbing up to Him, by attempting to take Him by storm. And if science should place ladder upon ladder upwards and downwards, she could not attain His height or His depth. But He enters of His own accord into a child-like, simple heart. He lets Himself be laid hold of by it, kept and known. It is not, therefore, by the intellect [alone] but by the heart that we can know God.
16. On Isa 66:3. He who under the Christian dispensation would retain the forms of worship of the ancient ritual of shadows would violate the fundamental laws of the new time, just as a man by killing would offend against the foundation of the moral law, or as he would by offering the blood of dogs or swine offend against the foundation of the ceremonial law. For when the body, the substance has appeared, the type must vanish. He who would retain the type along with the reality would declare the latter to be insufficient, would, therefore, found his salvation not upon God only, but also in part on his own legal performance. But God will brook no rival. He is either our All, or nothing. Christianity could tolerate animal sacrifices just as little as the Old Testament law could tolerate murder or the offering of abominable things.
17. On Isa 66:5. [The most malignant and cruel persecutions of the friends of God have been originated under the pretext of great zeal in His service, and with a professed desire to honor His name. So it was with the Jews when they crucified the Lord Jesus. So it is expressly said it would be when His disciples would be excommunicated and put to death, Joh 16:2. So it was in fact in the persecutions excited against the apostles and early Christians. See Act 6:13-14; Act 21:28-31. So it was in all the persecutions of the Waldenses, in all the horrors of the Inquisition, in all the crimes of the Duke of Alva. So it was in the bloody reign of Mary; and so it has ever been in all ages and in all countries where Christians have been persecuted. Barnes.D. M.].
18. On Isa 66:10. The idea which is presented in this verse is, that it is the duty of all who love Zion to sympathize in her joy. The true friends of God should rejoice in every real revival of religion, they should rejoice in all the success which attends the Gospel in heathen lands. And they will rejoice. It is one evidence of piety to rejoice in her joy; and they who have no joy when souls are born into the kingdom of God, when He pours down His Spirit and in a revival of religion produces changes as sudden and transforming as if the earth were suddenly to pass from the desolation of winter to the verdure and bloom of summer, or when the Gospel makes sudden and rapid advances in the heathen world, have no true evidence that they love God and His cause. They have no religion. Barnes.D. M.
19. On Isa 66:13. The Prophet is here completely governed by the idea that in the glorious time of the end, love, maternal love will reign. Thus He makes Zion appear as a mother who will bring forth with incredible ease and rapidity innumerable children (Isa 66:7-9). Then the Israelites are depicted as little children who suck the breasts of their mother. Further, the heathen who bring back the Israelites into their home, must do this in the same way in which mothers in the Orient are wont to carry their little children. Lastly, even to the Lord Himself maternal love is ascribed (comp. Isa 42:14; Isa 49:15), and such love as a mother manifests to her adult son. Thus the Israelites will be surrounded in that glorious time on all sides by maternal love. Maternal love will be the characteristic of that period.
20. On Isa 66:19 sqq. The Prophet describes remote things by words which are borrowed from the relations and conceptions of his own time, but which stand in strange contrast to the reality of the future which he beholds. Thus the Prophet speaks of escaped persons who go to Tarshish, Pul, Lud, Tubal, and Javan. Here he has rightly seen that a great act of judgment must have taken place. And this act of judgment must have passed on Israel, because they who escape, who go to the Gentiles to declare to them the glory of Jehovah, must plainly be Jews How accurately, in spite of the strange manner of expression, is the fact here stated that the Gospel of Jesus Christ was proclaimed to the Gentiles exactly at the time when the old theocracy was destroyed! How justly does he indicate that there was a causal connection between these events! He did not, indeed, know that the shattering of the old form was necessary in order that the eternal truth enclosed in it might be set free, and fitted for filling the whole earth. For the Old Covenant cannot exist along with the New, the Law cannot stand with equal dignity beside the Gospel. The Law must be regarded as annulled, in order that the Gospel may come into force. How remarkably strange is it, however, that he calls the Gentile nations Tarshish, Pul, Lud, etc. And how singular it sounds to be told that the Israelites shall be brought by the Gentiles to Jerusalem as an offering for Jehovah! But how accurately has he, notwithstanding, stated the fact, which, indeed, still awaits its fulfilment, that it is the conversion of the heathen world which will induce Israel to acknowledge their Saviour, and that they both shall gather round the Lord as their common centre! How strange it sounds that then priests and Levites shall be taken from the Gentiles also, and that new moon and Sabbath shall be celebrated by all flesh in the old Jewish fashion! But how accurately is the truth thereby stated that in the New Covenant there will be no more the priesthood restricted to the family of Aaron, but a higher spiritual and universal priesthood, and that, instead of the limited local place of worship of the Old Covenant, the whole earth will be a temple of the Lord! Verily the prophecy of the two last chapters of Isaiah attests a genuine prophet of Jehovah. He cannot have been an anonymous unknown person. He can have been none other than Isaiah the son of Amoz!
HOMILETICAL HINTS
1. On Isa 65:1 sq. [I. It is here foretold that the Gentiles, who had been afar off, should be made nigh, Isa 65:1. II. It is here foretold that the Jews, who had long been a people near to God, should be cast off, and set at a distance, Isa 65:2. Henry, III. We are informed of the cause of the rejection of the Jews. It was owing to their rebellion, waywardness and flagrant provocations, Isa 65:2 sqq.D. M.]
2. On Isa 65:1-7. A Fast-Day Sermon. When the Evangelical Church no more holds fast what she has; when apostasy spreads more and more, and modern heathenism (Isa 65:3-5 a) gains the ascendency in her, then it can happen to her as it did to the people of Israel, and as it happened to the Church in the Orient. Her candlestick can be removed out of its place.[By the Evangelical Church we are not to understand here the Church universal, for her perpetuity is certain. The Evangelical Church is in Germany the Protestant Church, and more particularly the Lutheran branch of it.D. M.]
3. On Isa 65:8-10. Sermon on behalf of the mission among the Jews. Israels hope. 1) On what it is founded (Israel is still a berry in which drops of the divine blessing are contained); 2) To what this hope is directed (Israels Restoration).
4. On Isa 65:13-16. [The blessedness of those that serve God, and the woful condition of those that rebel against him, are here set the one over against the other, that they may serve as a foil to each other. The difference of their states here lies in two things: 1) In point of comfort and satisfaction, a. Gods servants shall eat and drink; they shall have the bread of life to feed, to feast upon continually, and shall want nothing that is good for them. But those who set their hearts upon the world, and place their happiness in it, shall be hungry and thirsty, always empty, always craving. In communion with God and dependence upon Him there is full satisfaction; but in sinful pursuits there is nothing but disappointment. b. Gods servants shall rejoice and sing for joy of heart; they have constant cause for joy, and there is nothing that may be an occasion of grief to them but they have an allay sufficient for it. But, on the other hand, they that forsake the Lord shut themselves out from all true joy, for they shall be ashamed of their vain confidence in themselves, and their own righteousness, and the hopes they had built thereon. When the expectations of bliss, wherewith they had flattered themselves, are frustrated, O what confusion will fill their faces! Then shall they cry for sorrow of heart and howl for vexation of spirit. 2) In point of honor and reputation, Isa 65:15-16. The memory of the just is, and shall be, blessed; but the memory of the wicked shall rot. Henry.D. M.]
5. On Isa 66:1-2. Carpzov has a sermon on this text. He places it in parallel with Luk 18:9-14, and considers, 1) The rejection of spiritual pride; 2) The commendation of filial fear.
6. On Isa 66:2 Arndt, in his True Christianity I. cap. 10, comments on this text. He says among other things: The man who will be something is the material out of which God makes nothing, yea, out of which He makes fools. But a man who will be nothing, and regards himself as nothing, is the material out of which God makes something, even glorious, wise people in His sight.
7. On Isa 66:3. [Saurin has a sermon on this text entitled Sur l Insuffisance du culte exterieur in the eighth volume of his sermons.D. M.]
8. On Isa 66:13. As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you. These words stand, let us consider it, 1) In the Old Testament; 2) In the heart of God always; 3) But are they realized in our experience? Koegel in Aus dem Vorhof ins Heiligthum, II. Bd., p. 242, 1876.
9. On Isa 66:24. The punishment of sin is twofoldinward and outward. The inward is compared with a worm that dies not; the outward with a fire that is not quenched. This worm and this fire are at work even in this life. He who is alarmed by them and hastens to Christ can now be delivered from them.[It is better not to fall into this fire and never to have any experience of this worm, even though, as some imagine, eternity should not be eternal, and the unquenchable fire might be quenched, and the worm that shall never die, should die, and Jesus and His apostles should not have expressed themselves quite in accordance with the compassionate taste of our time. Better, I say, is better. Save thyself and thy neighbor before the fire begins to burn, and the smoke to ascend. Gossner.D. M.]
Footnotes:
[15]Heb. come upon the heart.
[16]because I create it.
[17]there a suckling that counts only days.
[18]boy.
[19]will be considered accursed.
[20]wear out.
[21]Heb. shall make them continue long, or, shall wear out.
[22]quick passing away.
[23]ox or cow.
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange
DISCOURSE: 1021
THE NEW HEAVENS AND THE NEW EARTH
Isa 65:17-18. Behold, I create new heavens, and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind. 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.
WHEN our blessed Saviour came into the world, his advent was thus announced by angels to some poor shepherds; Behold, I bring you glad tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people: for unto you is born this day, in the city of David, a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. Next to that in point of importance, and next to it as a ground of joy, is the information which I have to communicate to you this day, relative to a new creation, in which that same adorable Saviour will display the full benefits of his redemption, even of that redemption which, at his first advent, he accomplished in the world: Behold, says God, I create new heavens, and a new earth. Permit me, then to call your attention to,
I.
The glorious prospect that is here set before us
The language here used is doubtless exceeding strong, more especially when we consider to what an apparently small event it, in the first instance, refers. It refers to the restoration and conversion of Gods ancient people, the Jews: I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy. But, when viewed in its connexion with all its consequences, it will be found to deserve the title here given it, A creating of new heavens and a new earth.
The event itself will be most glorious
[In a temporal view, it will be great. The Jews, beyond all reasonable doubt, will be restored to their own land; and enjoy there a state of prosperity not known by them even in the most favoured periods of their history [Note: Compare ver. 2023. with Amo 9:13-15 and Isa 60:17-18.]
In a spiritual view, it will be greater still. Their conversion to God will be attended with a very extraordinary measure of true piety [Note: Eze 36:24-28.] In fact, it will eclipse all that was ever known amongst them, unless perhaps amongst a few of their most eminent saints; for the light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun seven-fold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the Lord bindeth up the breach of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound [Note: Isa 30:26.]. As for former things, though glorious in their day, as the stars in the absence of both sun and moon, yet they shall pass away so as no more to be remembered: The ark of the covenant itself, that peculiar symbol of the divine presence, shall no more be visited by them, or remembered amongst them; Jerusalem itself being the throne of the Lord [Note: The text, with Jer 3:16-17.], and God himself the light and glory thereof [Note: Isa 60:18-19.].]
This may fitly be called new heavens, and a new earth.
[So St. Peter calls it, doubtless in reference to this very passage; We, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness [Note: 2Pe 3:13.]. And by many it is thought, that to this very period St. John refers, when, in the Apocalyptic vision, he saw it, as it were, accomplished before his eyes; I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away: and there was no more sea. And I, John, saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven; saying, Behold, the Tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them; and they shall be his people; and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for all these words are true and faithful [Note: Rev 21:1-5.]. Doubtless, in its literal extent, this passage will never be fulfilled till we get to heaven; because, in this world, death will continue to reign, till its power shall be destroyed at the resurrection-day. But as the destruction of Jerusalem was a type of the destruction of the wicked in the day of judgment; so will the constructing of the New Jerusalem be a very glorious representation of the felicity of heaven: yea, so bright a picture will the one be of the other, that the same language may well be applied to both, and both be designated as a creation of new heavens and a new earth.]
And what, think ye, are,
II.
The feelings with which it should be contemplated?
God himself declares this great event to be a source of joy even to his own soul: I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people: nay, he says, that he will rejoice over them with joy, he will rest in his love, he will joy over them with singing [Note: ver. 19. with Zep 3:17.]. Surely then it becomes us to rejoice also, yea, and to shout for joy,
1.
For the benefits that will be conferred on Gods ancient people
[Long have they been the most degraded and despised of all people. At this very day are they classed with swine, in an impost laid upon them even by Christians [Note: At Frankfort, in Germany, there is still (August 1827) a toll paid by them for going over a bridge: and on the ticket which they present is inscribed, For the passage of Jews and swine. A line is indeed drawn across the word swine; but the word is as plain and legible as ever.]. But the day is coming when they will be the first and head of all nations; their righteousness going forth as brightness, and their salvation as a lamp that burneth [Note: Isa 62:1.]; and all their enemies bowing down themselves at the soles of their feet [Note: Isa 60:14.]. And what is Gods command to us in reference to that event? Sing, O ye heavens; for the Lord hath done it: shout, ye lower carts of the earth: break forth into singing, ye mountains, O forest, and every tree therein; for the Lord hath redeemed Jacob, and glorified himself in Israel [Note: Isa 44:23.]. So, in another place: Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all ye that love her: rejoice for joy, all ye that mourn for her; that ye may suck, and be satisfied with the breasts of her consolations; that ye may milk out, and be delighted with, the abundance of her glory [Note: Isa 66:10-11.].]
2.
For the benefits that will accrue to the whole world
[The conversion of the Jews will be the signal for an outpouring of blessings upon the rest of mankind: yea, it shall be as life from the dead to the whole world [Note: Rom 11:12; Rom 11:15.]. And can we contemplate this without the liveliest joy? Turn to the 98th Psalm; and there you will see what ought to be the feelings of universal nature, in the prospect of this great event [Note: Psa 98:1-9.] ]
3.
For the honour that will arise to God himself
[Then will he be glorified as he never yet was, even from the foundation of the world [Note: Jer 33:9.]. Then will all his eternal counsels be completed, yea, and all his perfections be glorified. Did God from eternity choose that people to himself? Did he plant them as a beauteous olive for himself? Did he, for their unfruitfulness, break off the branches, and graft us Gentiles in? And will he, in that day, graft in again his afflicted people, and cause the whole tree to flourish in unrivalled beauty to endless ages? Will he thus display before the whole universe the greatness of his power, and the immutability of his grace? I say, then, the prospect of this is a just ground of joy. The angels in heaven contemplate it with joy [Note: Rev 11:15-17.]: and we also should begin that song which shall most assuredly be sung by all the Church on that blessed occasion: Praise ye the Lord, call upon his name, declare his doings among the people, make mention that his name is exalted. Sing unto the Lord, for he hath done marvellous things: this is known in all the earth. Cry out and shout, them inhabitant of Zion: for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee [Note: Isa 12:4-6.].]
Address
1.
Those who have never yet tasted of this joy
[How many, alas! are there of this description! On account of personal and national benefits, you all have, at some time, rejoiced: but, in the prospects we have been contemplating, you have taken no interest. The conversion of one single soul fills all the angels in heaven with delight; but the conversion and salvation of millions is passed over by you, as unworthy of a thought. See, then, how unlike ye are to the character of real saints, and how little ye resemble God! Indeed, indeed, if ye continue so regardless of the happiness of Gods Church below, ye can have no hope of participating in the blessedness of his Church above.]
2.
Those who have reason to hope that this new creation is already begun in them
[Every true Christian is, in fact, a new creation [Note: 2Co 5:17.]: he is Gods workmanship, as truly as the material heavens are [Note: Eph 2:10.]. Then I appeal to you, whether you have not found occasion for joy in your own soul? Is it no ground for joy that you have obtained reconciliation with God through the blood of his dear Son; and a renovation of your souls through the operation of his Holy Spirit? Or rather, I must ask, Have you not, by believing in Christ, been brought to rejoice in him with joy unspeakable and glorified [Note: 1Pe 1:8.]? Then I need not urge you to forward this same blessed work in the souls of others: you need only be shewn how you may be instrumental in diffusing through the world the knowledge of Christ, and you will of yourselves be ready to employ all that you have, and all that you are, in this blessed cause [Note: 2Co 8:1-4.].]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
These blessed promises are fulfilled in a gracious sense, when sinners are made new creatures in Christ Jesus; and more fulfilled in that upper and brighter world, which John saw in a vision; Rev 21:1-5 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Isa 65:17 For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.
Ver. 17. For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth. ] I am making of a new world – that is, gospel times, called a “new creation,” 2Co 5:17 and “the world to come”; Heb 2:5 heaven beforehand. Mat 3:2 The consummation hereof we are to expect at the last day, 2Pe 3:13 Rev 21:1 ; Rev 21:5 when the “former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind,” because the Lord, who made heaven and earth, shall “bless his people out of Zion” Psa 134:3
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Isa 65:17-25
17For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth;
And the former things will not be remembered or come to mind.
18But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create;
For behold, I create Jerusalem for rejoicing
And her people for gladness.
19I will also rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in My people;
And there will no longer be heard in her
The voice of weeping and the sound of crying.
20No longer will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days,
Or an old man who does not live out his days;
For the youth will die at the age of one hundred
And the one who does not reach the age of one hundred
Will be thought accursed.
21They will build houses and inhabit them;
They will also plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
22They will not build and another inhabit,
They will not plant and another eat;
For as the lifetime of a tree, so will be the days of My people,
And My chosen ones will wear out the work of their hands.
23They will not labor in vain,
Or bear children for calamity;
For they are the offspring of those blessed by the LORD,
And their descendants with them.
24It will also come to pass that before they call, I will answer; and while they are still speaking, I will hear. 25The wolf and the lamb will graze together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox; and dust will be the serpent’s food. They will do no evil or harm in all My holy mountain, says the LORD.
Isa 65:17 For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth The context of Isa 65:17-25 is extremely important because it is the key, not only of these last two chapters-that God is going to make all things new (cf. Isa 42:9; Isa 48:6; Isa 66:22; 2Pe 3:13), but it is a discussion of the New Age or the Age of the Messiah (cf. Rom 8:18-25). It also implies that the current order will be destroyed (cf. Isa 51:6 and 2Pe 3:10). There is also a relation between Isa 65:16-17 that the New Order will not contain sins because they will be forgiven, as is mentioned in the latter part of Isa 65:16.
The terminology of a new heaven and a new earth is common in Jewish Apocalyptic Literature (cf. 2Es 6:11-24; I Enoch 91:16). This becomes the imagery for Revelation 21-22! The earth will return to its pre-Genesis 3 glory and purpose. See full note at Isa 62:2.
Isa 65:18 The first line of poetry has two parallel IMPERATIVES.
1. be glad – Qal IMPERATIVE, BDB 965, KB 1314, cf. Isa 61:10 (twice); Isa 62:5; Isa 64:5; Isa 65:18-19; Isa 66:10; Isa 66:14
2. rejoice – Qal IMPERATIVE, BDB 162, KB 189, cf. Isa 61:10; Isa 65:18-19; Isa 66:10
AB, p. 198, sees these as new titles for Jerusalem and the returnees.
forever This term (BDB 723 I) denotes perpetual fellowship with the Creator and His human vessels (cf. 1Ch 28:9; Mic 7:18).
Isa 65:19 And there will no longer be heard in her
The voice of weeping and the sound of crying This is the continual theme of Isaiah that the New Age will not have the pain of this former sin-cursed earth (cf. Isa 25:8; Isa 30:1; Isa 35:10; Isa 55:11). This seems to be alluded to in Rev 21:4.
Isa 65:20 No longer will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days,
Or an old man who does not live out his days This hyperbolic statement can have one of two origins.
1. an allusion to the long lives of Genesis 1-5, thereby denoting a return to the Garden of Eden time
2. an OT way of describing the new age, which we know from the NT involves not just protracted physical life but a new eternal life (zoa)
For a good discussion of Isaiah’s discussion of extended lives and the NT discussion of eternal life, see Hard Sayings of the Bible, pp. 307-309.
Isa 65:22 These are metaphors to describe the fact that the people will live in the land and enjoy its fruits. It is a direct allusion to the exile and the promise of a return to Palestine. See Special Topic at Isa 40:9.
The Septuagint sees the word tree (BDB 781) as referring to the tree of life in the Garden of Eden, as do the Aramaic Targums.
Isa 65:24 This is a beautiful promise of instantaneous answered prayer and is even more extensive than Mat 6:8.
Isa 65:25 The wolf and the lamb will graze together Here again is the idyllic picture of God and mankind together in a garden setting with the animals (cf. Isa 11:6-9; Genesis 1, 2; Rev 21:22). This goes along with my particular theology that we are not going to heaven, but heaven is coming back to a recreated and cleansed earth. It will be as it was!
and dust will be the serpent’s food This is a rather unusual idiom because dust was commonly understood as the food of serpents in that day. However, it may be a reference to
1. Gen 3:14, which shows that Satan’s temptations will be completely finished as far as their effect on believing and renewed mankind
2. Isa 11:8, a strophe that also describes the new age
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
new heavens, &c. : i.e. new, in respect to the old. Not the “new” of 2Pe 3:13, or Rev 21:1. Note the contrast of this with the only two references to the history of Rev 21:
Isa. 65.
Name, Jerusalem (Hephzi’bah, Isa 65:18)
Position, on mountain (Isa 65:25).
Privileges, Isa 65:18-20.
Character, sinners there (Isa 65:20).
Character, prayer (Isa 65:24).
Employment, labour, planting, building (Isa 65:21).
Rev. 21.
New Jerusalem (Rev 21:2) ;
“great”, “holy” (Rev 21:10).
out of heaven (Rev 21:2).
Rev 21:4
no sinners (Rev 21:27).
no temple (Rev 21:22).
already built by God (Rev 21:12-25; Rev 22:3-5).
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Isa 65:17-25
Isa 65:17-25
“For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former things shall not be remembered, nor come to mind. But be ye glad and rejoice forever in that which I create; for behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy. 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. 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. And they shall build houses and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them. 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. 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. And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear. 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.”
What is the meaning of this remarkable paragraph? We know that it cannot refer to that New Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God (Revelation 21-22), because sinners here are represented as living to be a hundred years old! There shall be no sinners in heaven. Moreover, “It is not eternal life which is envisaged here, but longevity.” Furthermore, the necessity of agricultural pursuits and for the continuation of the building industry for the purpose of feeding and housing mankind cannot be fitted into the picture of the New Jerusalem at the conclusion of the New Testament.
Many writers go overboard with their declarations that here is the promise of the Millennium. This can be true, only if the Millennium is properly understood as one of the names of the current Dispensation of the grace of God, not a literal thousand years, but embracing all of the time between the two advents of Jesus Christ.
Taking this chapter as a whole, the situation, first to last, must be identified with the current era of “the last times,” as indicated by the apostle Peter on Pentecost (Act 2:16); because it is the era in which the Gentiles are called to accept the gospel (cf. Rom 10:20), and it is the era when God’s people are no longer Israelites but are called by “another name” (Isa 65:15). Therefore, we accept the designation of Douglas as correct. He designated these last nine verses as, “The Overflowing Blessings in the Messianic Age.”
The great difficulty of accepting this understanding of the passage lies in the first verse (Isa 65:17) where the “new heavens and the new earth” are promised; because the apostle Peter clearly identified this promise with the final judgment of mankind, the destruction of the earth with fire, in which “the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, and the earth and the works that are therein shall be burned up” (2Pe 3:7-10).
Both sacred writers are obviously correct. The new heavens and the new earth mentioned by Isaiah here are indeed associated with the Messianic age, but coming at the end of it, its termination, rather than being identified with the period of probation, which constitutes the extended middle portion of the Messianic period, stretching from the first advent to the second advent. It will be remembered that Peter referred to the current dispensation as “the last days” (Act 2:16-17); and it is a characteristic of all the prophets that events during the Messianic age are telescoped in the prophetic visions so that events, actually separated by millenniums of time, are often mentioned as if they occurred simultaneously. That is exactly what we believe to be evident here.
Another helpful factor in understanding what is written here is seen in the limitation of such promises as, “They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain” (Isa 65:25), to conditions “within all God’s holy mountain,” that is, within the holy Church of Messiah, It is within that sacred fellowship that the lion shall eat straw like the ox, and the wolf and the lamb shall lie down together, as stated in Isaiah’s earlier reference to the Messianic Age (Isa 11:6-9). Of course, what is meant is that the changes in men’s lives, due to their obedience of the gospel, will be “As great as if,” the nature of fierce animals should be so changed.
This reference to the lion and the wolf, along with its counterpart, has a number of utilities: (1) again we have an instance of “here a little and there a little,” so often seen in Isaiah; (2) it identifies this passage as pertaining to the age of Messiah, as is the case in Isa 11:6-9; (3) and it serves to illustrate the unity of the prophecy and its authorship by Isaiah. See our notes on Isa 11:6-9, above.
The wonderful blessings pertaining to God’s people which are cited in these verses, along with Isa 65:10 (above) refer to spiritual privileges, despite their being expressed here in the terms of material prosperity. Quite obviously in the passage, the natural laws of birth and death, and other conditions of our earth-life still prevail during the age of Messiah, in which we most assuredly live.
Of course, death itself shall finally be conquered; but when this finally occurs, Christ will render back to the Father the kingdom of heaven; and such shall mark the termination and not the beginning of the Messianic Age (1Co 15:24-28).
“The new heavens and the new earth,” like many other prophecies has an immediate and a remote fulfillment, the first being the creation of “an utterly new environment” in the first advent of Christ and the preaching of the Gospel to Jews and Gentiles alike. The remote and final fulfillment is yet to occur when God will shake the earth the second time, signifying its “removal” (Heb 12:27), when the present earth and the works within it are “burned up” (2Pe 3:7-10), when the “elements shall melt with fervent heat,” and when has arrived that final “day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.” It is freely admitted that these sensational promises could all be interpreted figuratively; but this writer, along with many others, clings to the conviction that cosmic disturbances of the most tremendous and far-reaching nature are most surely associated with the final Judgment Day in the Word of God.
The word “new” is significant in these chapters. There is to be a”new” heaven and earth, a “new” nature in the people of God, and a “new” name. Is not all of this what Paul spoke of? when he wrote: “If any man is in Christ, he is a new creature: the old things are passed away. Behold, they are become new” (2Co 5:17).
On Isa 65:20. here, Rawlinson noted that, “The remarkable thing in this paragraph is that death and sin are represented as continuing.” Nevertheless, “Death was spoken of as being `swallowed up in victory’ in one of Isaiah’s earlier descriptions of Messiah’s kingdom.” (See Isa 25:8 and my comment there). This harmonizes with what we have written above, namely, that both are correct. Sin and death prevail throughout the period of probation (the present dispensation) until the end of it, at which time the judgment and the new heaven and the new earth will appear. Death will be swallowed up in victory when the dead of all generations arise in the judgment to confront the Son of God upon the throne of his glory (Matthew 25). All of these are associated with the Messianic Age.
Isa 65:17-19 PERSONALITY: In Isa 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. Jer 3:15-17). In Heb 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 mans sin. But Jesus, partaking of human nature, conquered sin in the flesh and has potentially given mans dominion back to him. This was done at the first advent of Christ (not the second). What God has done by Christs redemptive work and establishment of the church is, therefore, the new creation. Heb 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 (Heb 12:28) which is the church. Paul indicates that the new covenant relationship is the new creation (cf. 2Co 5:16-21; Gal 6:15-16, etc.). The Bible also teaches a consummation of the new creation at the second advent of the Messiah (cf. 1Th 4:13 to 1Th 5:11; 2Pe 3:7-18, etc.).
The Jewish Apocrypha (see our comments on chapters 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 Gal 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 Gods 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 Gods newly created Jerusalem is characterized as joyful (cf. comments on Isa 35:10).
Isa 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 Isa 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 Isa 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 Jerusalem-neither 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.
Isa 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. Deu 28:30; Zep 1:13; Mic 6:14-16; Amo 8:9-12, etc.). But in the new order (the messianic age of mans 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 Jehovahs glory and satisfaction to the heart of the doer (cf. 1Co 15:58; Rom 8:28; Rom 8:37; 2Co 9:8-11; Eph 3:20; 1Th 1:2-10; 1Th 4:9-12, etc.). The picture is one of security, satisfaction and enjoyment. Whatever the citizen in Gods new kingdom labors at will glorify God (cf. Eph 6:5-9; Col 3:17; Col 3:22-25; 2Th 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, 1Ti 4:4) will be in vain; nothing he does will be destroyed. The works of the citizen of new Jerusalem follow after him (cf. Rev 14:13).
Those who have been refined and recreated as Gods 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 (Dan 9:1-19), the Lord sent an angel to answer his prayer (Dan 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 (Heb 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. Rom 8:26-27). He knows before we ask what we need (Mat 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. Luk 11:5-13; Luk 18:1-8).
Isa 65:25 is a fitting summation to this chapter. Nothing hurtful will be permitted in new Zion. In Gods holy mountain (Zion, cf. Heb 12:22), the place where He dwells, there will be peace, joy and festivity (cf. our comments Isa 11:6-9; Isa 25:6-9).
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
behold
Isa 65:17 looks beyond the kingdom-age to the new heavens and the new earth (see refs. at “create”), but Isa 65:18-25 describe the kingdom-age itself. Longevity is restored, but death, the “last enemy” 1Co 15:26 is not destroyed till after Satan’s rebellion at the end of the thousand years. Rev 20:7-14.
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
I create: Isa 51:16, Isa 66:22, 2Pe 3:13, Rev 21:1-5
the former: Jer 3:16
into mind: Heb. upon the heart
Reciprocal: Gen 1:1 – God Gen 2:1 – Thus Job 14:12 – till the heavens Psa 102:18 – the people Psa 102:26 – They shall Psa 104:30 – renewest Isa 43:18 – General Isa 45:8 – I the Lord Isa 46:9 – the former Mat 19:28 – in the regeneration Act 3:19 – when Rom 8:19 – expectation 2Co 5:17 – old Gal 1:4 – from Heb 1:11 – shall perish
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Isa 65:17-19. For behold, I create new heavens, &c. I will tell you yet a more admirable thing: I am about wholly to change the state, not only of my people, freeing them from the afflictions and troubles by which they have been oppressed, but also of the world, bringing a new face upon it; sending my Son to institute a new economy and worship, and raise up a new church; and pouring out my Spirit in a more plentiful manner; which new state shall continue until a new heaven and a new earth appear, in which shall dwell nothing but righteousness, 2Pe 3:13; Rev 21:1. And the former shall not be remembered That state of things shall be so glorious, that the former state of my people shall not be noticed in comparison of it. But be you glad and rejoice for ever You that are my people. Though you cannot rejoice with that degree of joy which will attend the fruition of such a good, yet be glad and rejoice with the rejoicing of hope, for the thing is certain, and what I have already begun to do. Nor let your present state, nor the discouragements you have from seeming improbabilities, prevent your joy; for it is not a work to be performed in an ordinary way, or by an ordinary power, but by that almighty and creating energy which produces and brings into being what before had no existence. For behold, I create Jerusalem Namely, the gospel church; a rejoicing That is, a cause and source of joy, because of the light and grace, the wisdom, holiness, and happiness that shall be possessed by its members, the pure doctrine which shall be held and professed, and the excellent discipline which shall be maintained in it; and her people a joy They shall not only rejoice, but be rejoiced in: those that sorrowed with the church shall rejoice with her. And I will rejoice in Jerusalem The prosperity of the church shall be a rejoicing to God himself, who has pleasure in the prosperity of his servants; and joy in my people Taking complacency in the work of my grace wrought in them, and in the works of righteousness wrought by them. And the voice of weeping shall be no more heard Such promises, many of which are to be found in the Scriptures, must either be understood in a comparative sense, meaning they shall suffer no such misery as formerly, or as signifying only some long or eminent state of happiness; unless they be referred to another life, in which case they may be taken strictly, as signifying a perpetuity and perfection of joy and happiness.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
65:17 For, behold, I create {y} new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.
(y) I will so altar and change the state of my church, that it will seem to dwell in a new world.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
New heavens and a new earth 65:17-25
God not only will be faithful to His promises in spite of Israel’s unfaithfulness (Isa 63:1 to Isa 65:16), but He will demonstrate His ability and desire to provide righteousness for sinful humankind by creating new heavens and a new earth. Most of this section describes God’s renovation of creation during the Millennium.
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
2. The culmination of Israel’s future 65:17-66:24
As the book opened with an emphasis on judgment (chs. 1-5), so it closes with an emphasis on hope (Isa 65:17 to Isa 66:24). Amid judgment, Israel could have hope. References to "new heavens" and a "new earth" form an inclusio for this final section of the book (Isa 65:17; Isa 66:22).
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
This verse is an overview of what follows. God announced, in substantiation of everything He had said since Isa 56:1, that He would create a restored and renovated universe (cf. Gen 1:1). Things will be so much better than they are now that people then will not even think about things as they used to be (cf. Rom 6:14; Rev 21:4). This should motivate God’s people to obey Him in the present. Not only would God perform another Exodus, bringing Israel out of Babylon and into the Promised Land, but He would also create another Creation. Watts, who understood chapters 40-66 of Isaiah to refer only to the Jews’ return to Palestine following the Exile, believed that the renovation in view is not eschatological or worldwide but restricted to Jerusalem and Judah. [Note: Watts, Isaiah 34-66, p. 354.]
Isaiah described the future in general terms as "a new heaven and a new earth." In the New Testament, we have further particularization of what this will involve: the making of all things new for those in Christ presently (Gal 2:20), the millennial kingdom (Rev 20:4-6), and the "eternal state" (2Pe 3:13; Rev 21:1). Thus Isaiah’s use of "new heavens and a new earth" is not identical with the Apostle John’s (Rev 21:1). What Isaiah wrote about this new creation is true of various segments of it at various stages in the future; it is not all a description of what John identified as "new heavens and a new earth," namely: the eternal state.
"The designation new heavens and a new earth is applied to the Millennial kingdom only as a stage preliminary to the eternal glories of heaven (the New Jerusalem of Revelation 21; Revelation 22)-just as Pentecost was to be regarded (Act 2:17) as ushering in the ’last days,’ although it occurred at least nineteen centuries before the Second Advent." [Note: Archer, p. 653.]