ISAIAH 65: 17-25
THY KINGDOM COME
[2 Peter 3:10-13]
Here we begin the final section of the Book. The previous age has passed away and the glories of a new millennia has dawned. The glories of the renewed age will mean that the past is completely forgotten and left behind. It will be a time when God Himself will minister through His people.
In our text the Lord describes the millennial kingdom and the eternal state (new heavens and a new earth) together. "In Revelation, however, the new heavens and new earth (Rev. 21:1) follow the Millennium (Rev. 20:4). Most likely Isaiah did not distinguish between these two aspects of God’s rule; he saw them together as one. After all, the Millennium, though 1,000 years in duration, will be a mere pinpoint of time compared with the eternal state." [Walvoord, John; Zuck, Roy; The Bible Knowledge Commentary: Wheaton, IL : Victor Books, 1983-c1985, S. 1119]
I. NEW HEAVENS AND A NEW EARTH, 17-19.
II. THE MILLENNIAL KINGDOM, 20-25.
With grand prophetic revelation Isaiah introduces the reason why the former distress will be forgotten in verse 17. "For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; And the former things will not be remembered or come to mind.
For behold introduces why people should be listening to the Word of God, why people should heed the voice of the Servant/Messiah and be enabled to become righteous and do justice. The One who created the whole universe or cosmos is going to create a new one.
The Hebrew word translated bara means to create from nothing (ex-nihilo). When we read in Genesis 1:1 that God created the heavens and the earth, the word used is also bara. In other words, God didn’t use preexisting materials to create the earth. He simply spoke the word and it became.
The use of bara here in Isaiah means that God is going to create something entirely new. It won’t be a matter of simply remodeling the earth and the heavens, for in 2 Peter 3:10, we read that this earth will be done away with entirely. In a millisecond flash of unbelievable energy and fervent heat, things will cease to be. Read 2 Peter 3:10-13.
As the destructive power of God is evidenced in cleansing the fallen creation the creative genius of God will be displayed in the new creation. The new genesis will fully display the power, wisdom and glory of its Creator. The new heavens and the new earth will be eternal and in them are safety, permanence, peace and plenty (66:22, 23; 2 Pet. 3:13; Rev. 21:1). It is a promise of a fundamental and complete change in the state of things.
The former world will be forgotten. The new heavens and earth will be so wonderful that we won’t even remember what was before them. All the ways in which sin has infected this world will not only be wiped away from reality but even from memory (Rev. 21:4). The things of the fallen world and the relationships with people that are in hell and lost because of their rejection of Jesus won’t even come to mind. Otherwise, heaven couldn’t be heaven. I believe we would be mourning throughout eternity if we remembered all of our friends and family that didn’t receive Jesus. So the Lord creates something altogether new.
[Does Isaiah 65:17b imply that people in heaven will have no recollection of earthly events? What are the "former things" that "shall not be remembered or come into mind"?
While there is so much we don’t know about the happiness of heaven (1 Corinthians 13:9-12), for now we can probably safely assume that, at the very least, "no knowledge of former things" means that the transformation that will occur in the new heavens and new earth will be so complete that our perspective will be utterly changed. Our earlier, fallen perspective will "not be remembered or come into mind." The dark and tragic aspects of our past lives will be transformed by the light of a glorious new reality, filled with gratitude and joy.]
Just think on this exquisite promise! God’s new world will be so wonderful that none of the problems of the past will be remembered! And none of the problems of the past will be repeated!
We will not recall the nights of pain, the years of reduced activity and productivity. The failures, the partings, the bereavements.
Those of you who are suffering and grieving from the loss of a loved one will never feel the pangs of loneliness ever again.
Those of you who are ravaged with crippling arthritis, osteoporosis or fibre-myalgia will never feel the pain of disease ever again.
Those of you who are worried whether or not God accepts you as you are will never feel insecure ever again.
Those of you who unsure of God’s love will never feel insignificant ever again.
In God’s new world, there will be no more sleepless nights, no more sluggish days, and no more sickness.
In God’s new world, there will be no more guilt. No more greed or jealously. No more gut-wrenching worries or depressing sorrow. And no more goodbyes.
In God’s new world, there will be no more crime. No more violence. No more crime. No more war.
In God’s new world, there will be no lies and no more liars. No more injustice.
In God’s new world, there will be no more heartaches. No more heartburn. And no more heart attacks.
In God’s new world, the wrongs of the past will be rectified! In God’s new world, everything will be set right!
And so, so, so much more. (See 1 Cor. 2:9).
Verse18 indicates that the very nature of life and existence also will be changed and become new. In this verse and the following the idea of joy is expressed six times. "But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create. For behold, I create Jerusalem for rejoicing and her people for gladness.
The new creation will share some features with the old. They seem to have both heavens and earth. Their center and capital is the holy city Jerusalem. [The need for new heavens and a new earth was suggested in Isaiah 51:6.] But the differences are wondrously vast and grand.
Notice that God is creating Jerusalem as rejoicing and her people as gladness or joy. Joy will not be simply be an attitude or a characteristic, but part of our new life-purpose! Jerusalem is the place of worship and rule. Rejoicing will be the new purpose of all that happens in Jerusalem and in life.
Verse 19 indicates how different the new creation will be from the old. God’s new world brings joy to Him. "I 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.
What a blessed promise is that the Lord Himself also will rejoice over Jerusalem and in His people. Sin, sorrow, and sadness will be vanished. How long God has patiently waited for this day when His people will no longer be a source of disappointment but a cause for rejoicing. From Genesis chapter 3 onward God has been working to bring about this day.
How long I have waited for this day also when I will never again hurt my Lord by my sin. No more inappropriate or sinful thoughts, words, or acts. Never again will my thoughts, words or deeds not be focus on what they should. I will live in complete harmony with God, His word, and His will.
What a message of hope for the people of Jerusalem today, where there is so much weeping and crying that is seemingly without a solution or an end. But in the new heaven and the new earth, weeping and wailing will be replaced by joy and rejoicing.
God haste the day.
Read Revelations 21:1-5.
II. THE MILLENNIAL KINGDOM, 20-25.
From here on a change seems to occur. It is a description of the kingdom age when Christ will rule and reign for 1,000 years on earth. Though it is preliminary to the creation of new heavens and earth (v. 17) for some reason it is presented second. The reason it is not thought to refer the eternal heavens is because sin and death have not yet been destroyed. As the prophets did not delineate precisely between Jesus’ first and second coming, Isaiah here combines the messianic and eternal ages.
Verse 20 begins some of the characteristics of the messianic age. We know it is not the eternal state because people still died, which will not be possible in the new heavens and the new earth. "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. 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.
The protection and safety of infants is characteristic of the messianic age (11:6-9). Today the least safe place for an infant is in her mother’s womb. Violence toward infants will end when Jesus returns to earth.
UNICEF reports that in the year 2006, 10 million kids worldwide died under the age of five. Four million of these kids died before they were 30 days old. God is saying "That’s not going to happen anymore."
God’s messianic kingdom also brings longevity. He will give folk the opportunity to live out their years. Though death will still be present, life spans will be extended. If you think this strange remember how long the decedents of the first Adam lived upon the earth.
This being accursed and not living for more that 100 years evidently speaks of those who, even in the glorious kingdom age, refuse to submit to the Lordship of Jesus.
In the kingdom age, there will be health, peace, and rightness to such a degree that most people will live all the way through the Millennium.
I was reading about a guy who was celebrating his 100th birthday. A reporter said "I’m curious. How did you manage to LIVE SO LONG? What’s your secret?"
The man said ""Well, son, I got married when I was 21. The wife and I decided that if we had arguments, the loser would take a long walk to get over being mad. I guess you can say that God has blessed me with 79 years of fresh air."
Someday, mankind will be blessed with fresh air! They are going to be blessed with long lives. As Psalm 91:16 says "With long life will I satisfy you, and show you My salvation."
Now we who are Christians won’t have physical bodies at that time. We won’t be ruling and reigning with Christ during the millennium. We’ll have already been caught up to heaven in the rapture. Therefore this doesn’t apply to us but to those who come to the Lord during the Tribulation.
It also will be a time when people are no longer deprived of the fruit of their labor as verse 21 states. "They will build houses and inhabit them. They will also plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
People will enjoy safety and the produce of their vineyards (62:8-9). The labor of their hands will be blessed and be made to prosper. They shall achieve what they work for, and what they have gained will be secured and safeguarded and they will enjoy it in comfort.
The millennium and heaven are not just one long church service. It will be a time of work and productivity; rest and satisfaction. [Verses 21 & 22 contain the blessings of the Law for those who have been obedient to the covenant. They who have obeyed God will dwell in the houses which they have built, and shall gather fruit from the trees which they have planted (Lev 26:10). The curse of covenant disobedience to God has been broken (Deut. 28:15-30--46; Lev. 26:16; Amos 5:11; Mic. 6:15; Zeph. 1:13; Isa. 17:11).]
The injustices of this age will disappear. Verse 22, "They 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.
Their labor won’t be bitter or in vain, and they will live to enjoy it. Strangers won’t break in to expel them, and plant themselves in their place, as sometimes occurs. In the kingdom age, the houses and vineyards people build and plant will be for their own blessing. This also solves the problem of the corruption of capitalism.
Communism and Socialism came to answer the corruption of capitalism--only for man to discover that they are even more corrupt systems. In the kingdom, however, there will be a perfect balance of capitalism in the best sense of the word.
As believers, we do a great disservice to our calling to think that capitalism is the answer or that the American form of democracy is where it’s at. I’m grateful for our system, but I’m not naive enough to think that our system is the answer. The answer lies only in looking to God and honoring Him. God will bless those people no matter their system of government.
God also here promises His people will live as long as trees and they will be productive as trees planted by streams of water. What a great promise. They will have the ability and time to do something right and then the opportunity to enjoy it to the full. Any people who look to God will be blessed by Him, but the fulness of God’s blessings still await us.
The Prophet speaks, not only of long life, but of a peaceful condition of life. It is as if said, "You shall plant vineyards, and shall eat the fruit of them, not only by yourselves, but with your family and children and your children’s decedents. The people will peacefully enjoy both their houses and their productivity and will not be troubled by enemies or robbers.
Verse 23 recaps the previous thought and provides a further reason why these blessed conditions will prevail. "They 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.
God’s blessing will be on their work and families. How futile it seems to lose the hard work of life or not be able to enjoy it with those we love. I also see here the reversal of the curse of the fall. On account of Eve’s sin child birth became painful. Yet the promise is for more than simple pain free child birth. The promise also encompasses a lack of dread over the future which parents experience knowing the evil that the world can bring against their children.
Another blessing of God’s kingdom in verse 24 is the remarkable promise of perfect communion with God. He will speedily answer their prayers. "It will also come to pass that before they call, I will answer; and while they are still speaking, I will hear.
In this fallen world communication with God is difficult, but not in the messianic age. Yahweh will respond to their thoughts or needs before they finish asking for them during their time of prayer. He will anticipate their request and answer them as they are voiced.
The following story was written by a missionary doctor who worked in Africa. "One night I had worked hard to help a mother in the labor ward; but in spite of all we could do, she died, leaving us with a tiny, premature baby and a crying two-year-old daughter.
We would have difficulty keeping the baby alive, as we had no incubator (we had no electricity to run an incubator). We also had no special feeding facilities. Although we lived on the equator, nights were often chilly with treacherous drafts.
One student midwife went for the box we had for such babies and the cotton wool that the baby would be wrapped in. Another went to stoke up the fire and fill a hot water bottle. She came back shortly in distress to tell me that in filling the bottle, it had burst (rubber perishes easily in tropical climates).
’And it was our last hot water bottle!’ she exclaimed. As in the West, it is no good crying over spilled milk, so in Central Africa it might be considered no good crying over burst water bottles. They do not grow on trees, and there are no drugstores down forest pathways.
’All right,’ I said, ’put the baby as near the fire as you safely can, and sleep between the baby and the door to keep it free from drafts. Your job is to keep the baby warm.’ The following noon , as I did most days, I went to have prayers with any of the orphanage children who chose to gather with me. I gave the youngsters various suggestions of things to pray about and told them about the tiny baby. I explained our problem about keeping the baby warm enough, mentioning the hot water bottle, and that the baby could so easily die if it got chills. I also told them of the two-year-old sister, crying because her mother had died.
During prayer time, one ten -year-old girl, Ruth, prayed with the usual blunt conciseness of our African children. ’Please, God’ she prayed, ’Send us a hot water bottle today. It’ll be no good tomorrow, God, as the baby will be dead, so please send it this afternoon.’
While I gasped inwardly at the audacity of the prayer, she added, ’And while You are about it, would You please send a dolly for the little girl so she’ll know You really love her?’
As often with children’s prayers, I was put on the spot. Could I honestly say ’Amen’? I just did not believe that God could do this.
Oh, yes, I know that He can do everything; the Bible says so. But there are limits, aren’t there? The only way God could answer this particular prayer would be by sending me a parcel from the homeland. I had been in Africa for almost four years at that time, and I had never, ever, received a parcel from home. Anyway, if anyone did send me a parcel, who would put in a hot water bottle? I lived on the equator!
Halfway through the afternoon, while I was teaching in the nurses’ training school, a message was sent that there was a car at my front door. By the time I reached home, the car had gone, but there on the veranda was a large 22-pound parcel. I felt tears pricking my eyes. I could not open the parcel alone, so I sent for the orphanage children.
Together we pulled off the string, carefully undoing each knot. We folded the paper, taking care not to tear it unduly. Excitement was mounting. Some thirty or forty pairs of eyes were focused on the large cardboard box.
From the top, I lifted out brightly-collared, knitted jerseys. Eyes sparkled as I gave them out. Then there were the knitted bandages for the leprosy patients, and the children looked a little bored. Then came a box of mixed raisins and sultanas - that would make a batch of buns for the weekend. Then, as I put my hand in again, I felt the.....could it really be? I grasped it and pulled it out. Yes, a brand new, rubber hot water bottle. I cried. I had not asked God to send it; I had not truly believed that He could.
Ruth was in the front row of the children. She rushed forward, crying out, ’If God has sent the bottle, He must have sent the dolly, too!’ Rummaging down to the bottom of the box, she pulled out the small, beautifully-dressed dolly. Her eyes shone! She had never doubted!
Looking up at me, she asked: ’Can I go over with you and give this dolly to that little girl, so she’ll know that Jesus really loves her?’ ‘Of course,’ I replied!
That parcel had been on the way for five whole months, packed up by my former Sunday school class, whose leader had heard and obeyed God’s prompting to send a hot water bottle, even to the equator. And one of the girls had put in a dolly for an African child - five months before, in answer to the believing prayer of a ten-year-old to bring it that afternoon."
’Before they call, I will answer.’ (65:24) Prayer is one of the best free gifts we receive. There is no cost, but a lot of rewards. Let’s continue praying for one another.
[This prayer takes less than a minute. ’Heavenly Father, I ask You to bless my friends reading this. I ask You to minister to their spirit. Where there is pain, give them Your peace and mercy. Where there is self-doubting, release a renewed
confidence to work through them. Where there is tiredness or exhaustion, I ask You to give them understanding, guidance, and strength. Where there is fear, reveal Your love and release to them Your courage. Bless their finances, give them greater vision, and raise up leaders and friends to support and encourage them. Give each of them discernment to recognize the evil forces around them and reveal to them the power they have in You to defeat it. I ask You to do these things in Jesus’ name. Amen’]
The nature of animals will also be changed in the messianic kingdom. Verse 25 gives the last concrete examples of how the kingdom age will be different. "The 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.
The effects of the fall have made the world a dangerous place. Wolfs, lions and snakes symbolize the devouring, ravaging, poisonous aspects of our world, both in nature and within humanity. In the kingdom age wild animals will lose their brutality (11:6-8; Hosea 2:18) and harmony and safety will prevail under God’s good hand on God’s holy mountain (see 11:9). In the kingdom, harmony will replace ferocity and humility will be the order of the age.
Everything will be fully restored, when Christ reigns. And here it appears as if there is an implied comparison between Adam and Christ. We know that all the afflictions of the present life flowed from the sin of the first man. At that time we were deprived of the clear dominion and sovereignty which God had given to man (Genesis 1:28) over animals of every kind. All of creation originally bowed cheerfully to the dominion of man, and was obedient to his will. But now fallen creation seems to rises up against man. Wolves, bears, lions, and other savage animals that are hurtful to man and to other animals from which we obtain resources. Other animals which ought to have been useful to man are hostile to him. This is thought to be because of the fall. Man in his disobedience overthrew the original order of things. But Christ will bring back everything to its intended condition and order. That is the reason why God declares that the confusion and ruin that now exists in human affairs will be removed by the coming of Christ. At that time, corruptions having been taken away, the world will be restored to its first glory. Paradise lost will be regained.
The lion will eat harmlessly, and no longer seek prey. The serpent, satisfied with his dust, will wrap himself in it, and no longer venomously bite. In a word, all that is disordered or confused shall be restored to its proper order. And the great dragon, the serpent of old will be chained for a thousand years so that life on earth may flourish (Rev. 20:2).
CONCLUSION
How many of you have seen a football team moments after they’ve won the Super Bowl? You have grown men jumping up and down. Spraying bottles of champagne all over the locker room. Doing funny little dances. Shouting "We did it! We won! We are the champions, my friends!"
In that time of triumph, no one’s upset about how hard the season was. No one’s crying over the fumbles and the interceptions of the past. They are basking in the glow of victory! It’s party time!
My friends, that’s what it will be like in heaven. We won’t be thinking about the things that hurt us or harm us today. We won’t be dwelling on the heartaches of the past.
Instead, it’s going to be party time! There’s Abraham running over to give someone a high five! There’s Peter and Paul patting Billy Graham on the back. There are all your loved ones in the Lord singing and shouting and celebrating!
And there’s Jesus, the One who died for you, the One who carries you through the pains of this life, there He is wrapping His arms around you, saying "Congratulations! You made it! Welcome to your reward!"
And if you ask Jesus to become the Lord of your life, God says you can enjoy a taste of the world to come right now! How do I know that? Because 2 Corinthians 5:17 says that "if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation! The old has gone, the new has come."
In other words, if you are a Christian, you are ALREADY a new creation! Your sins are ALREADY forgiven and forgotten! You don’t have to wait until later to experience the joy of being close to God. You can experience the joy of the Lord every single time you pray! Romans 14:17 says that "the kingdom of God is about righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit." You can have joy in your life just by knowing that God is working in your life to make you more and more like Jesus. You can have joy in your life just by knowing that you are already a member of God’s new society.
