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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - Isaiah 65:17 - 65:25
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The New Heaven and the New Earth
v. 17. For, behold, I create new heavens, the plural being applied to the abode of the blessed in many passages of the Bible, and a new earth, Cf Revelation 21; and the former, that which was here infested with sin and its curse, shall not be remembered nor come into mind, the very remembrance of the sorrows of this present world being erased by the overwhelming mercies of God.
v. 18. But be ye, the partakers of the glories in this new earth, glad and rejoice forever in that which I create; for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing and her people a joy, so that the believers of all times are engaged in praises of Him always, in honor of His works of mercy.
v. 19. And I will rejoice in Jerusalem and joy in My people, in the Church which He Himself founded, this joy of the Lord being apparent throughout the entire Bible; and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her nor the voice of crying, the tears over the misery of this earthly life being dried up in the merciful light of God's countenance.
v. 20. There shall be no more thence, in the kingdom of the Messiah, an infant of days, a babe taken away after just a few days of earthly life, nor an old man that hath not filled his days, reaching the full measure of years in accordance with God's creative plan; for the child shall die an hundred years old, one passing away at this age being considered still a young man; but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed, he who would otherwise be torn away by the avenging justice of God at about half the usual age now being spared till he reaches the age of at least a hundred years, the patience of the Lord being so much greater than before. The fact that the Lord, in the time of the New Testament, shows such wonderful long-suffering in dealing with transgressors, individuals as well as nations, is one of the chief marks distinguishing this age from the time before the Messiah's coming.
v. 21. And they shall build houses and inhabit them, enjoying the blessings of the Lord in a quiet and peaceable life; and they shall plant vineyards and eat the fruit of them, this expression being used throughout the Old Testament of undisturbed happiness.
v. 22. They shall not build and another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat, so that they will be deprived of the fruit of their labor; for as the days of a tree are the days of My people, all of them being blessed with a ripe age, as of a cedar or oak, and Mine elect, those whom His mercy has chosen to be His children, shall long enjoy the work of their hands. All of these expressions are figurative and portray the rich beauties of the blessings enjoyed in the Lord's kingdom.
v. 23. They shall not labor in vain, without result or lasting reward, nor bring forth for trouble, their children inheriting nothing but misery; for they are the seed of the blessed of the Lord, begotten of the Lord and blessed by Him, and their offspring with them, partakers of the same benefits, which the children enjoy with their parents.
v. 24. And it shall come to pass that before they call, the cry having hardly left their lips, I will answer, being so desirous of extending assistance and deliverance to them, and while they are yet speaking, I will hear, such being the extent of His good pleasure in His children.
v. 25. The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, pasturing in the same meadow, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock, forgetting his ferocious nature; and dust shall be the serpent's meat, or, "and even the serpent whose food is the dust". They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, saith the Lord. The description, as of conditions before the Fall, while the peace of Paradise was still in force, sets before the eyes of all believers the glorious peace of the Messianic kingdom, in which men, without the ferociousness of their sinful nature, will be at peace with one another and serve and worship the Lord with entire unanimity of mind.