Isaiah 65:17-25 Click here for Bible Verses
Hi GAMErs!
Today’s passage is Isaiah 65:17-25. Let’s go!
Isaiah 65:17 (NIV)
17 “Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind.
On verse 17: What does God mean by “the former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind”? Likely it means that what we know of the earth and the heavens today will one day be gone and instead God will create new heavens and a new earth. This is consistent with what we read from Jesus in the gospels (see for example Matthew 24) as well as in the book of Revelation (see for example Revelation 8) .
Isaiah 65:18-24 (NIV)
18 But be glad and rejoice forever in what I will create, for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight and its people a joy.
19 I will rejoice over Jerusalem and take delight in my people; the sound of weeping and of crying will be heard in it no more.
20 “Never again will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not live out his years; he who dies at a hundred will be thought a mere youth; he who fails to reach a hundred will be considered accursed.
21 They will build houses and dwell in them; they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
22 No longer will they build houses and others live in them, or plant and others eat. For as the days of a tree, so will be the days of my people; my chosen ones will long enjoy the works of their hands.
23 They will not toil in vain or bear children doomed to misfortune; for they will be a people blessed by the LORD, they and their descendants with them.
24 Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear.
On verses 18-24: While the heavens and the earth as we know it will disappear, God says that we can rejoice in the new things He will create (v18). In addition to new heavens and a new earth mentioned in verse 1, God speaks about the new Jerusalem that He will create. His description of this New Jerusalem goes hand in hand with Isaiah 60 to 62: a place full of joy, where weeping and crying are heard no more (v18-19); where the people are a delight to God (v18-19); where misfortunes don’t happen (v20, 23); where the people enjoy longevity (v20) and prosperity (v21-22); where God’s blessings abound (v23) and where God answers even before people pray (v24). Who wouldn’t want to live in a place like that? For all of us who have trusted in the LORD, that is the kind of life we can look forward to in the New Jerusalem that God will create.
Isaiah 65:25 (NIV)
25 The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox, but dust will be the serpent’s food. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain,” says the LORD.
On verse 25: Previously in Isaiah 11, Isaiah painted the picture of all creation living in harmony with one another one day. For example, in Isaiah 11:6-9 he writes:
6 The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them.
7 The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox.
8 The infant will play near the hole of the cobra, and the young child put his hand into the viper’s nest.
9 They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.
In a summary kind of way, Isaiah repeats the same images and even some of the same wording here in verse 25. In the New Jerusalem that God will create, nature is not violent and destructive but peaceful. It’s creation the way the Creator always intended it to be.
Thank You Father that we can look forward to new heavens and a new earth and a life there that is so much better than anything we ever experienced before. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!
