New Heavens, New Earth – Isaiah 65:17-25

“Experts interviewed by STAT differ on whether aging should be viewed as a disease, the extent to which it’s treatable — and whether doing so can help people live longer….Biophysicist Alex Zhavoronkov believes that aging should be considered a disease. His company, Baltimore-based Insilico Medicine, Inc., is working on technologies around drugs to treat age-related illnesses. Zhavoronkov said that describing aging as a disease creates incentives to develop treatments….Leonard Hayflick…found that human cells divide only 40 to 60 times, after which they stop — even when their division is paused and then allowed to resume. This discovery, called the Hayflick Limit, indicates that even if a drug…were effective at suspending aging, the end game stays the same.”  Isaiah thinks the disease is sin and curing that will lead to long life.

“For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind.  But be glad and rejoice forever in that which I create; for behold, I create Jerusalem to be a joy, and her people to be a gladness.  I will rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in my people; no more shall be heard in it the sound of weeping and the cry of distress.  No more shall there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not fill out his days, for the young man shall die a hundred years old, and the sinner a hundred years old shall be accursed.

They shall build houses and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.  They shall not build and another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat; for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be, and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands.  They shall not labor in vain or bear children for calamity, for they shall be the offspring of the blessed of the LORD, and their descendants with them.

Before they call I will answer; while they are yet speaking I will hear.  The wolf and the lamb shall graze together; the lion shall eat straw like the ox, and dust shall be the serpent’s food.  They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain,” says the LORD.  (Isaiah 65:17-25 ESV)

Yahweh appears to be describing a time in which Israel and all who believe in Him will enjoy an astonishing new way of life, a new heaven and new earth that remove our memories of pain and sorrow in this present earth.  The long lifespans experienced in Adam’s day will return and animals that once were predators will become vegetarians.  The curse on work will be reversed and child bearing restored to its original joy.

This corresponds most clearly to the millennial kingdom of Revelation 20, though the language of new heaven and earth corresponds to the eternal form of the kingdom that follows the millennium (Revelation 21,22).  But the one leads to the other, of course.  There is a glorious future for the people of God as the days of Eden are restored and God’s kingdom on earth is never again to be lost to man’s rebellion.

It is hard not to long for that day.

Discussion Questions

1. What is your sense of the city of Jerusalem?
2. What do you think the “former things” are that will be forgotten?
3. It is not just the city but the people who will be created a joy and gladness.  How is God wiping away all their sorrow?
4. The blessings of the kingdom include long life, satisfying work, instant answers to prayer, and harmony with all creation.  Which of these means the most to you?
5. Why do you think death is still a part of this period in God’s kingdom?
6. Do you long for this day, why or why not?