“For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former things will not be remembered, nor come into mind.
But be glad and rejoice forever in that which I create; for, behold, I create Jerusalem to be a delight, and her people a joy.
I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and delight in my people; and the voice of weeping and the voice of crying will be heard in her no more.
“No more will there be an infant who only lives a few days, nor an old man who has not filled his days; for the child will die one hundred years old, and the sinner being one hundred years old will be accursed.
They will build houses and inhabit them. They will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
They will not build and another inhabit. They will not plant and another eat: for the days of my people will be like the days of a tree, and my chosen will long enjoy the work of their hands.
They will not labor in vain nor give birth for calamity; for they are the offspring of Yahweh’s blessed and their descendants with them.
It will happen that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.
The wolf and the lamb will feed together. The lion will eat straw like the ox. Dust will be the serpent’s food. They will not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain,” says Yahweh.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv17, 20, 21, 25 I will so alter and change the state of…
I will so alter and change the state of my church, that it shall seem to dwell in a new world.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv17–25 Isa 65:17 For, behold, I create new heavens and…
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}
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv17–25 For, behold, I will tell you yet a more…
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.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On v17 If these promises were in part fulfilled when the…
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, Co2 5:17. It was a mighty and happy change that was described Isa 65:16, 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, Co1 3:22. 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, Pe2 3:13. Behold, I make all things new, Rev 21:5.
I. There shall be new joys. For, 1. All the church's friends, and all that belong to her, shall rejoice (Isa 65:18): 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 (Isa 65:13), 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 (Isa 65:19): 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, Zep 3:17. 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.
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II. There shall be new life, Isa 65:20. 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, Isa 65:19. When there shall be no more death there shall be no more sorrow, Rev 21:4. 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 (Ecc 3:13); 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 (Isa 6:13), 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 Septuagint. 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 (Isa 65:23): 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 (Psa 22:30), the seed of the blessed of the Lord.
V. There shall be a good correspondence between them and their God (Isa 65:24): 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, Psa 32:5. 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 (Isa 65:25): 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 49:27) 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, Joh 10:16. 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, Isa 11:9. 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 3:14. 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.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv17–25 For, behold, I create new heavens and a new…
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 Rev 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.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv17, 18, 20, 23, 24, 25 I create - I am about wholly to change…
I create - I am about wholly to change the state not only of my people, but to bring a new face upon the world, which shall abide until a new heavens and earth appear, in which shall dwell nothing but righteousness. Not be remembered - That state of things shall be so glorious, that the former state of my people shall not be remembered.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv17, 18, 19, 20, 22, 23, 24, 25 Verse 17. I create new heavens and a new…
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.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv17, 20, 21, 24, 25 Isa 65:17-19. For behold, I create new heavens, &c.…
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.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv17–25 For behold - The idea in this verse is,…
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).
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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.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv17, 20, 22, 23, 25 New earth, in eternity, (Clarius) or here indeed, (2…
New earth, in eternity, (Clarius) or here indeed, (2 Peter iii. 3., &c.; Houbigant) having purified the former by the general conflagration, which many assert will take place at the end of 6,000 years. (St. Jerome; St. Augustine, &c.) At the return of the captives, the country flourished again under the Machabees; (ver. 18.; Grotius) or rather the gospel changes the face of the earth, chap. lxvi. 22. (Calmet) (Forerius) --- After the resurrection the qualities, and not the substance, of the world, will be changed. (Worthington)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain On v17 17 For, behold, I create new heavens and a…
4. THE NEW LIFE IN ITS OUTWARD MANIFESTATION
Isa_65:17-25
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17 For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth:
And the former shall not be remembered, nor 15come into mind.
18 But be ye glad and rejoice for ever 16in 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 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.
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 2021shall long enjoy the work of their hands.
23 They 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.
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 23bullock:
And dust shall be the serpent’s 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 create——crying.
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 כִּי 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 כִּי to another, Isa_65:17-19.” Del.—D. M.]. By ראשׁנות 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. עלה על לב 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 שׂוּשׂ nor גִּיל are ever construed with the accusative of the object. אְַשֶׁר 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. גִּילָה and מָשׂוֹשׂ 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 more——saith 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. מִשָׁם is not=from then. For שָׁם is never used in regard to time. [The examples given by Gesenius of שָׁם 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.]. מִן marks in Hebrew the terminus unde, which according to the usage of the language is found where we employ the terminus ubi. שָׁם 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 הָיָה 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 suckling’s 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 הַחוֹטֶא with Segol is as if from חָטָה. 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). בִּלָּה 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 לָרִיק and בֶּהָלָח are borrowed from the two places. [“The sense of sudden destruction given to בֶּהָלָה 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 זרע ברוכי י׳ 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 זֶרַע its usual sense. D. M.]. אִתָּם 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 40–66, just as in chapters 1–39, 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 יַחְדָּו for כְּאֶחָד as marking the hand of a later writer. But כְּאֶחָד is more than יַחְדָּו, 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. יַחְדָּו also occurs in Nehemiah. We have, too, כְּאִישׁ אֶחָד 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 טָלֶה, a young lamb, substituted for the word כֶּבֶשׁ, 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 נָחָשׁ 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 serpent’s 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 ἐκλογή (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 pædagogical discipline of the law. They felt simply that they were forsaken by God. Their spirit was hungry. And when for the first time God’s 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. God’s 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 totâ die manus ad populum perversum etc., non posterius. Expansio brachiorum notat quidem blandam et benevolam Dei invitationem, quâ 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, quâ brachium Domini illis revelatur qui docentur á 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 God’s 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 God’s 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 remnant…Our 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 Isaiah’s 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. Israel’s 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 (Israel’s 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. God’s 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. God’s 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 twofold—inward 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.
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv17–25 As Caleb inherited the same land which his feet…
As Caleb inherited the same land which his feet trod on (Deu 1:36; Jos 14:9), so Messiah and His saints shall inherit the renovated earth which once they trod while defiled by the enemy (Isa 34:4; Isa 51:16; Isa 66:22; Eze 21:27; Psa 2:8; Psa 37:11; Pe2 3:13; Heb 12:26-28 Rev 21:1).
not be remembered--See on Isa 65:16, note on "troubles"; the words here answer to "the former . . . forgotten," &c. The former sorrows of the earth, under the fall, shall be so far from recurring, that their very remembrance shall be obliterated by the many mercies I will bestow on the new earth (Rev. 21:4-27).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv17, 20, 21, 23, 24, 25 17-19. Behold, I create new heavens and a new…
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.
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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.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 23, 24, 25 17. new heavens and a new earth] i.e. a…
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.
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nor come into mind] Lit. “come up on the heart,” as Jer_3:16; Jer_7:31, &c.
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.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv17, 18, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25 (17) Behold, I create new heavens . . .—The…
(17) Behold, I create new heavens . . .—The thought reappears in many forms in the New Testament—verbally 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 God’s people, absorbed in the abounding and everlasting joy.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv17–25 Vers. 17-25. A PROMISE OF NEW HEAVENS AND A…
Vers. 17-25. A PROMISE OF NEW HEAVENS AND A NEW EARTH. The final answer of God to the complaint and prayer of his people (Isa 64) is now given. The entire existing state of things is to pass away. God will create a new heaven and a new earth, and place his people therein; and the old conditions will be all changed, and the old grounds of complaint disappear. In the "new Jerusalem" there will be no sorrow, neither "weeping" nor "crying" (ver. 19); life will be greatly prolonged (ver. 20); men will always enjoy the fruit of their labours (vers. 21, 22), and see their children grow up (ver. 23). Prayer will be answered almost before it is uttered (ver. 24). Finally, there will be peace in the animal world, and between the animal world and man. No living thing will kill or hurt another in all God"s "holy mountain" (ver. 25).
I create. The same verb is used as in Gen_1:1; and the prophet"s idea seems to be that the existing heaven and earth are to be entirely destroyed, (see Isa_24:19, Isa_24:20, and the comment ad loc. ) and a fresh heaven and earth created in their place out of nothing. The "new Jerusalem" is not the old Jerusalem renovated, but is a veritable "new Jerusalem," "created a rejoicing" (ver. 18; scrap. Rev_21:2). The germ of the teaching will be found in Isa_51:16. The former shall not be remembered. Some suppose "the former troubles" (see ver. 16) to be meant; but it is best (with Delitzsch) to understand "the former heavens and earth." The glory of the new heavens and earth would be such that the former ones would not only not be regretted, but would not even be had in remembrance. No one would so much as think of them.
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Vers. 17-25. The new creation.
It is difficult to harmonize the various passages of Scripture which touch on "the new creation." In one place (Act_3:21) it is called an apokatatasiv , in another (Mat_19:23) a paiggenesia . Sometimes its scene appears to be the present world purified (Isa_2:2-4); sometimes an entirely new world created for the habitation of God"s people. (Isa_65:17, Isa_65:18) Perhaps the best explanation is that of Delitzsch, that there are to be altogether three worlds, or three ages.
1. The first age, or ordinary human life, as we have hitherto known it a checkered scene of sin and holiness, of happiness and misery, of sorrow and rejoicing.
2. The second age, or the period of the millennium, in which "the patriarchal measure of human life will return, in which death will no more break off the life that is just beginning to bloom, and in which the war of man with the animal world will be exchanged for peace without danger.
3. And the third age, or a final state of happiness in heaven; or the heavenly Jerusalem, when death will be destroyed, and sin will be no more, and tears will be wiped from all eyes, and the former things will be passed away altogether. (Rev_21:4) The three ages are distinctly marked only in the apocalyptic vision of St. John the divine. (Re 20 Re 21) Isaiah and the other Old Testament prophets have an indistinct view, in which the second age and the third age are confused together, the characteristics being chiefly those of Age II, but some of the characteristics of Age III being intermingled. Age I and Age III are common to all the redeemed. Age II will belong only to a select few souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the Word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads or in their hands," who will "live and reign with Christ a thousand years". (Rev_20:4)
Vers. 17-25. The new creation.
It seems that the leading thought of the prophet is the transformation of nature in harmony with the changed nature of man. Its grandeur needs not to be pointed out. Ordinarily, indeed, we think of man"s dependence on nature. If the thought be pushed to its limits, it ends in materialism. Spiritual religion, on the contrary, sees in the changes of nature a human pathos; its waste and desolation the effect of human sin, of violated Divine laws; its flourishing aspect and fertility the effect of human obedience and true religion. (cf. Isa_11:6-9 Isa_30:26 Isa_43:19 Isa_51:16) Upon the difficult interpretation of such language much difference of opinion naturally arises; but it is open to all to catch the inspiration of the thoughts.
I THE DIVINE EXULTATION ON THE NEW CREATION. It Was said of the Creator at the beginning that he looked with complacent joy upon his works. All was very good. It was the "joy of God to see a happy world." How much deeper the Divine complacency in moral renewal! Note the emphasis and iteration of the thought. Rejoicing, exultation, is the very key-note of the passage; weeping and the sound of crying is to be as unheard as at the gayest scene of festival. And may we not feel that beneath all the sadness, the discord, the gloom of this enigmatic world, the prophetic pulse of the Divine creation, love, is ever exultantly beating? May we not believe that there is ever before his eye the picture, rising to clearness of outline and brilliancy of colour out of Erebos and Chaos, of eternal day, of the new heavens and earth wherein dwell righteousness? There should be in every heart a prophetic sympathy, which should vibrate in unison with these oracles of God.
II PARADISAIC PICTURES. Under imagery, partly endeared to the Hebrew heart and fancy, partly of Oriental tinge in general, the heart of man resents the doom of an "untimely" death it seems contrary to the intention of nature; and aspires to length of days as a good. Here it is predicated that no death in infancy shall occur; that one who dies at the age of a hundred shall be regarded as early lost, and even the wicked shall not be cut off before their hundredth year. "The number of their days shall they complete, and they shall grow old in peace, and the years of their happiness shall be many" (Book of Enoch 5:9). Similar is the picture of the silver race in the "Works and Days" of Hesiod, ver. 130. The human race shall attain the longevity of the oak, the terebinth, the cedar, or the cypress. The proverbial sic vos non vobis will have lost its applicability. One will not build, and another enter the finished habitation; one will not sow, and another reap; but each man will "see the fruit of his labour;" the work of their hands the elect shall use to the full. The rising hope of parents shall not be nipped in the bud; nor shall the travail of body or of mind be mocked, as it too often seems now, by an empty result. That element of contradiction or seeming contradiction to the benevolent scheme of the world, which has perplexed the thought of sages in every time, shall disappear even from the animal world. The wild animals shall lose their ferocity, and the malignant infernal serpent, as it would seem, shall be banished to his subterranean domain. Here, again, we find parallel pictures in Oriental poets, and in the Romans Virgil and Horace. Perhaps few would be disposed to take these descriptions literally. It is, perhaps, impossible to conceive of the animal world remaining what it is in other respects, yet with its native instincts changed. Yet how great a marvel is the conversion of a single human soul! If the savage passions which rage there can be subdued and brought under the obedience of Christ, why need we despair of a nation, of a race? At any rate, all things assume a changed aspect to the renewed soul, which means the purged eyes, the deeper insight into the perfect wisdom and love which preside over the universe. The discontent we feel with the present scheme of things is a hint that the soul is secretly acquainted with their other, their ideal or Divine side. J.
A new earth.
The idea is that God will be sure to take care that a man"s surroundings match the man himself. He will have a new earth for regenerate men. He will have heaven for those who can be "holy still." The fundamental idea of the verse is that nature itself must be transformed to be in harmony with regenerate Israel. Long life shall be one of the marked peculiarities of the "new earth." Cheyne quotes the following similar passage to ver. 20 from the Book of Enoch: "And they shall not be punished all their life long, neither shall they die by plagues and judgments; but the number of their days shall they complete, and they shall grow old in peace, and the years of their happiness shall be many, in everlasting bliss and peace, their whole life long." Some take this text as a poetical representation of the new condition into which the returned exiles entered; and in that view we have an ideal picture of what ought to have been. We, however, take the more general principle that God makes a new earth for the new-born man; everything to him becomes new. And God makes a new earth for his sanctified Church does make it, in a sense, now, and will make it, in a larger sense, by-and-by. In what sense, then, can we be said to want a "new earth"?
I NOT IN THE SENSE OF A CHANGED WORLD OF THINGS. It is not possible for us to conceive of anything better, more restful, more satisfying, than this paradise of earth, which God has made and decked for us, with its hills, and vales, and streams, and seas, and flowers, and trees, and hoar-frost, and harvest-fields, and spring-time greenery, and autumn tinting. We love our earth, fair earth, and do not want it changed. a fair scene a land more bright Never did mortal eye behold!... Those valleys and their fruits of gold Basking in heaven"s serenest light; Those groups of lovely date trees bending Languidly their leaf-crown"d heads, Like youthful maids, when sleep descending Warns them to their silken beds; Those virgin lilies, all the night Bathing their beauties in the lake, That they may rise more fresh and bright When their beloved sun"s awake. (T. Moore.)
We can, indeed, only conceive of heaven as like earth, all of it as beautiful as some of the earth is to us. Poetry anticipates that "There, on a green and flowery mound, Our weary souls shall sit.
And Scripture figures heaven as a city in a paradise. No sense of wanting relief from the ever-exquisite associations of earth comes to us. Even earth"s dark things, her night, her winds, her storms, her winter, are precious to us, and we scarce would have them otherwise.
II BUT IN THE SENSE OF A CHANGED WORLD OF BEINGS. There are lands where "... every prospect pleases, And only man is vile; and it is just that "vileness of man" which has made earth so sad, life so bitter, and death so terrible. Could we clear the human race away, as with another flood or fire, and start again the cleansed earth with a race in whom righteousness should dwell, then, verily, we should want no other heaven earth would be heaven. Illustrate these points:
1. The good man makes a new earth of his sphere.
2. The good parents make a new earth of their home.
3. The holy Church helps to make a new earth of social life.
4. The well-principled statesman tries to make a new earth of the nation.
5. Those who believe in God and know his redemption strive to make anew earth of the sorely smitten heathen lands. We all want that new earth in which holiness shall be every-where-holiness the glorifying sunshine that makes earth to be summer-time always; holiness shall jingle from the very bells of the horses. Call that new earth what you may please, it will be heaven. R.T.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv17, 20, 22, 24 For, behold, I create new heavens and a new…
Isa_65:17-25
For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth
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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.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On vv22, 24 Isa_65:22. Mine elect shall long enjoy the work of…
THE WORK AND ENJOYMENT OF GOD’S PEOPLE
Isa_65:22. Mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands.
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Connection of the text—
I. THE CHARACTER AND RELATION OF BELIEVERS. They are God’s people by creation, purchase, consecration, and in virtue of the purpose of God.
II. THE WORK IN WHICH THEY ARE ENGAGED.
1. The law of labour pervades the universe.
2. The law applies to religion; God’s people have work to do,—the work of repentance, faith, glorifying God, &c.
3. The law is universally applicable, the man of one talent as well as the one of ten—each and all.
III. THE ENJOYMENT THEY HAPPILY SHARE. There is enjoyment—
1. In doing the work.
2. In the Divine presence and aid.
3. Resulting from the work.
V. THE PERPETUITY OF THEIR JOY.
1. Individuals long enjoy the fruit of piety.
2. The Church will long enjoy and live and labour for posterity.
3. The redeemed in eternity will enjoy the fruit of time.—Geo. Smith, D.D.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On v17 Isa 65:17 looks beyond the kingdom-age to the new…
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.
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v17 The New Heaven and the New Earth
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.
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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.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv17, 20, 22, 24 General Information:
General Information:
Yahweh continues speaking.
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For see
"Notice! Pay attention!"
new heavens and a new earth
Both are extremes that also represent everything between. (See: Merism)
the former things will not be remembered or be brought to mind
Both of these clauses mean the same thing and are combined for emphasis. This can be stated in active form. AT: "you will not even think about what happened in the past" (See: Parallelism and Active or Passive)
But you will be glad
Here "you" refers to all of God's servants. (See: Forms of You)
weeping and cries of distress will no longer be heard in her
You can state this in active form. AT: "no one will hear weeping and cries of distress any longer in her" (See: Active or Passive)
translationWords
create
heaven
earth
joy
eternity
Jerusalem
people of God
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv17, 18, 24, 25 65:17 The new heavens and new earth will be…
65:17 The new heavens and new earth will be a place of righteousness (see also 2 Pet 3:13; Rev 21). Paul described those who believe in Christ as already being part of the new creation (see 2 Cor 5:17; Gal 6:15).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.