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The Harvester Podcast is brought to you by the Florida School of Preaching. Listen weekly to take a dive into biblical topics and thoughtful studies on things that matter to our eternal souls.
Brian Kenyon (00:03)
Welcome to the Harvester Podcast. We are happy you have chosen to join us today as we continue our sixth season.
Minoring in the majors, major prophets, that is, and we are just giving selected studies from the minor or major prophets, beginning with Isaiah. And so the last four episodes have included stuff from Isaiah. And this episode number five, we will continue ⁓ talking about or showing what the Bible teaches about the new heavens and the new earth as indicated by Isaiah.
And then we looked last episode at Isaiah 65. And so today we're going to look at Isaiah 66. And this episode, Isaiah 66. And both of these are in a s in in the same context, closing out the book of Isaiah. And as we have mentioned, ⁓ these are found in both chapters. That term New Heavens and New Earth is four times in the Bible, twice in the Old Testament.
Twice in the New Testament. And although it has the same meaning, the general meaning of a spiritual dwelling place for God's people, there are different nuances of what it means in the old and in the new, as we see from the context given here. Now, just to recap something important that we spent more detail on in the previous episode.
Is that to really understand and appreciate the new heavens and the new earth, we must understand and appreciate the old heavens and the earth. And that term used first in Genesis 1:1, in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth, stands not not for the first day, things including the first day of creation as we established, but heavens and earth there is A to Z, everything God created from A to Z is.
was created in the beginning. And as we established last episode, it's much better, much more scriptural, I'll say, to take verses one and two of Genesis one as an introduction, title and an introduction to the six creative days, and then chapter two, verses one through three as the conclusion what God did on the seventh day he rested. ⁓ And then 'cause each day of creation begins with
God said, God said, God said. And if we take verses one and two as part of the first day of creation, we either have Earth, heavens, and water eternal, or we have earth, heavens, and water being created without God speaking. But why would we want to destroy the beautiful symmetry of creation weak?
By put including verses one and two in the first day, but rather it is an introduction to all the other days of creation, where each begins with God said, God said, God said. And so all of creation, heavens and earth, is what God made, the f old creation. So new heavens and new earth are a creation, but completely different than the first heavens and first earth.
And we'll talk about that as we get to the New Testament. But in the Old Testament, Isaiah, we need to understand what Isaiah is saying here. So Isaiah 66 opens with a declaration of God's sovereignty. And I quote Genesis 66, 1 and 2, at least the first part of 2. Thus says the Lord: Heaven is my throne and earth is my footstool. Where is the house that you will build me?
And where is the place of my rest? For all those things my hand has made, and all those things exist. And so although this may seem out of place in the present context, but it is reminiscent of first Kings eight twenty seven through thirty, where Solomon dedicates the temple, its purpose is to show there is nothing in the present order of Isaiah's time that could adequately furnish the spiritual place.
For God to reign over his people. See, God has created heavens and earth, yet his covenant people have brought on themselves destruction. The kind of person of whom his new heaven and earth would consist will be him who quote him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, and who trembles at my word Isaiah sixty six two B.
Isaiah then shows similar contrast as he did in Isaiah 65, 1 through 16, leading up to the announcement of God's creating a new heavens and a new earth, Isaiah 65, 17. This time, however, in chapter 66, the focus is on the righteous, although a substantial section is also given to the rebellious. And so as in chapter 65, we also find in chapter 66.
of Isaiah, that there's a contrast between the rebellious and the faithful. Now this contrast, the rebellious are described as those who worship with no regard to God's will. Isaiah 663A says He who kills a bull is as if he slays a man, and he who sacrifices a lamb as if he breaks a dog's neck.
He who offers a grain offering as if he offers swine's blood, and he who burns incense as if he blesses an idol. And so in Isaiah sixty and that's Isaiah sixty three or sixty six three A, some see these seven participles arranged either in a list or in comparative pairs, as if the word as or like is implied.
If that is the case, then this would be saying that those who offer a scriptural sacrifice, a bull or a lamb, are no different than those who offer pagan sacrifices, dogs or swines. However, an alternative and perhaps better view is to take the statement with no implied like or as, but as suggesting that the same person does all of these things.
In other words, the people who sacrifice both legitimate and illegitimate sacrifices because they have accepted a kind of combination, a synchristic, as one commentator says, religious relationship, that is, religious rituals of Judah as well as the pagan practices are combined. And perhaps you can compare this with Isaiah fifty-seven, three through thirteen.
In Isaiah 65, 2 through 7. The rebellious are indeed steeped in idolatry. The righteous, on the other hand, are those who tremble at his word. And I really like that. Isaiah 66, 2, and also in verse 5, those who tremble at his word, they respect, they refere, they are reverent toward God's word. And those who stand in awe in respect of his word will seek to do it.
And we have similar phrases in Ezra 9, verse 4, and in Ezra 10, verse 3, which again is the remnant returning to the promised land. And ⁓ from there, of course, the Messiah will eventually come, but that is very significant. So there's a contrast here again between the rebellious and the faithful. Now notice there's a contrast between.
Again, like we saw with Isaiah 65, there's a contrast between the resulting relationship. The unrighteous are described as enemies of God. In Isaiah 66 and verse 6, the sound of noise from the city, a voice of from the temple, the voice of the Lord who fully repays his enemies. Again, there's enemies there, then down in verse 14.
When you see this your heart will rejoice, and your bones shall flourish, the grass, the hand of the Lord shall be known to his servants, and his indignation to his enemies. So there's a contrast. They are the enemies of God. This was in spite of God's attempt to establish a true relationship with them, for he says in Isaiah sixty six four, when I called no one answered.
When I spoke they did not hear, but they did evil before my eyes, and chose that in which I do not delight. The righteous, however, are described in terms of a relationship of rejoicing, Isaiah sixty six ten, a relationship of satisfaction, Isaiah sixty six eleven, a relationship of peace, Isaiah sixty six twelve and
And a relationship of comfort, Isaiah 66, 13. And so there is a contrast in relationship with God. Thirdly, there's a contrast between God's response. The Lord has determined concerning the rebellious, quote, just as they have chosen their own ways and their soul delights in their abominations, so I will choose their delusions.
And bring their fears on them Isaiah sixty six three and four. Isaiah then informs for behold the Lord will come with fire and with his chariots like a whirlwind to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire, for by fire and by his sword the Lord will judge all flesh.
And the slain of the Lord shall be many. And that's Isaiah sixty six, fifteen through sixteen. Even those who escape the initial destruction of Jerusalem will be captured and deported to and deported to quote the nations, to Tarshish, to Pull, to Lud, who draw the bow and Tubal and Javan to the coastlands afar off, who have not heard my fame nor seen my glory.
Isaiah sixty six nineteen The rebellious of God will not go unpunished. Now the righteous, on the other hand, they will be blessed and prosper in a new spiritual nation founded in remarkable timing and fashion. Isaiah sixty six, seven through eleven states before she was in labor she gave birth to
Before her pain came she delivered a male child, who has heard of such things, who has seen such things? Shall the earth be made to give birth in one day? Or shall a nation be born at once? For as soon as Zion was in labor, she gave birth to her children. Shall I bring to the time of birth and not cause delivery, says the Lord. Shall I who cause delivery shut up the womb? says your God.
Rejoice with Jerusalem, be and be glad with her, all you all you who love her. Rejoice for joy with her, all you her who mourn for her, that you may feel and be satisfied excuse me, that you may feed and be satisfied with the consolation of her bosom, that you may drink deeply and be delighted with the abundance of her glory. For thus says the Lord,
Behold I will extend peace to her like a river.
Well, re erase that from back where I said, For behold, thus says the Lord, because that was verse twelve. All right. We'll pick up here in just a moment.
three two one The Lord's response of a spiritual nation for the righteous is further shown to include Gentiles from the lands of deportation. And so a remnant righteous brethren will be brought to the Lord's holy mountain of Jerusalem as a clean sacrifice from the Gentiles. Notice Isaiah sixty six says
nineteen and twenty.
And they shall declare my glory among the Gentiles, then they shall bring all your brethren for an offering to the Lord out of all nations, on horses and in chariots, and in litters, on mules and on camels, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, says the Lord, as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house of the Lord.
through verse twenty. That this is clearly a reference to the Messianic kingdom is evident by God saying, quote, I will also take some of them for priests and Levites, in verse 21. It is impossible for God to lie or to deny his own will. Hebrews 6 18, 2 Timothy 2 13. Yet according to the old
Old Covenant only Levites could serve as priests Hebrews seven eleven through fourteen. In the Messianic kingdom, however, everyone, even Gentiles, everyone is a priest and a king. So there is a contrast between God's responses. ⁓
And then also there's an announcement of the new heavens and new earth. And so in order to show the enduring nature of what God has in store for the faithful, Isaiah picks up again on something he mentioned earlier. For as the new heavens, quote, as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make shall remain before me, says the Lord, so shall your descendants and your name be.
Remain Isaiah 66 22. Now again he mentioned New Heavens and New Earth back in Isaiah 65 17, but here he he gives a little bit different nuance. Here the new heavens and the new earth remaining before God, as long as your descendants shall remain, shows the enduring nature of the righteous who are the spiritual people of the servant.
Isaiah 53 10, Isaiah 54 17 mentions those spiritual people of the servant. And these are the same ones who are identified as my servants in the immediate context here. Isaiah 65, 8, 9, and 13 through 15. The relationship to God of these righteous will be one of joy, depicted as they're worshiping the Lord.
From one new moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another. Isaiah sixty six twenty three. These two old covenant feasts whose abuse Isaiah exposed earlier in chapter one thirteen are now feasts of joy, not feasts of mourning. Members of the Messianic kingdom are not bound by the old covenant, including
Feast of the New Moon or Sabbaths, Colossians 2, 6, but these are given figuratively as terms with which Isaiah's first readers could identify. Now the closing verse of this great book of Isaiah seems kind of morbid morbid, and it seems kind of unfitting, really, to be honest. It seems kind of unfitting for a great statesman.
Prophet like Isaiah, but nonetheless it's given by inspiration of God, and it's very, very, very ⁓ telling. But that verse reads, Isaiah 66, 24, quote, and they shall go forth and look upon the corpses of the men who have transgressed against me. Let me read that again.
Quote, and they shall go forth and look upon the corpses of the men who have transgressed against me, for their worm does not die, and their fire is not quenched. They shall be an abhorrence to all flesh. Again that's Isaiah sixty six twenty four. However, Isaiah's first readers, and again Isaiah's first readers could have actually seen and smelled the
The 185,000 corpses of Sennacherib's army who died overnight, as recorded in Isaiah 37, 36. Remember, Sennacherib bragged that he had Hezekiah shut up as a like a bird in a cage. But yet Isaiah or Hezekiah went to the prophet Isaiah, Isaiah told him to pray to God.
Hezekiah prayed to God, and the next morning there were 185,000 dead. Again, this is covered in Isaiah 36 through 39. But ⁓ when Isaiah is writing this, this last verse in Isaiah 66 24, his first readers may have actually been there to smell the rotting corpses ⁓ of Sennacherib's men.
And ⁓ this also in Isaiah sixty six twenty four, this gruesome description here, again about their the abhorrence of all flesh, ⁓ this is a reminder that there is an eternal difference between the rebellious and the righteous. Now this is showing that though the righteous will
Indwell the new heavens and the new earth, those who have transgressed or rebelled, the ESV translate that translates that against the Lord, will also have their place where the worm does not die and the fire is not quenched. And it actually says, where their worm will not die and the fire is not quenched. Now this dying worm here, you know, a worm is one of the most delicate.
Creatures of all, once you remove it from moisture, ⁓ it dries up very quickly and dies. But this worm shall never die, which again shows the continuing, continuous nature of the abhorrence, as it were. And this fi the you know the fire state is in re is reprehensible, but notice the contrast.
Of what the new heavens and the earth, what that state is, is comfortingly joyous. And so there's a contrast just in those terms. But again, that book ends with that statement, and they shall go forth and look upon the corpses of the men who have transgressed against me. For their worm does not die, and their fire is not quenched, and they shall be an abhorrence.
To all flesh. And so both types of people are promised these conditions as a result of the choices they make in this life. As Isaiah earlier declared in chapter 1 19 through 20, which reads, Stand by.
Here it's coming, three, two, one. If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land. But if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured with the sword, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken it. Isaiah one, nineteen and twenty. And again, it that whole it began in verse eighteen. Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord. Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.
Though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool. And so there was an opportunity for them to be right with God, but the choices of rebellion that they would make would would be their eternity, just like the choices that the remnant would make in fearing, trembling at the word of God, and doing what it says will result in their eternity of bliss. And so again, because of the death of the
And the reminder of sin and death which will not be present in heaven, this new heaven and this new earth is a depiction of the Messianic kingdom. And so as Isaiah ends in sixty-six twenty-four, we know that that new heavens and new earth is not talking about heaven itself, because in heaven itself there's going be no corpses of men who have transgressed against God. There's going to be no abhorrence to all flesh.
But yet this is referring to the Messianic kingdom that is to come in contrast to the rebellious state of God's people as the prophet writes. And so we must understand that new heavens and new earth, and we're going to get into the New Testament and next episode, but new heavens and new earth is kind of like the kingdom of God or the kingdom of heaven. I mean there's of course
The the main exception being that there's a ton of passages that talk about the kingdom of God or kingdom of heaven, both Old and New Testament, but yet there are different nuances, different manifestations of that kingdom, depending upon when a person lived, you know, patriarchy, ⁓ Mosaic law or Christian age. But one thing that kingdom of God has in all the all the uses of it.
It does mean the rule or the reign of God. But depending upon the context of that passage when a person lived, you know, the only way to be part of God's kingdom is to submit to God's rule. Well submitting to God's rule was a little bit differently in patriarchy as it was in the Mosaic law and as it is in Christianity. Now today there's only one way to submit to God's rule or reign, and that is through the gospel obedience of the gospel of Christ.
But again, the rule or reign of God, sometimes the kingdom can refer to the nation of Israel, Second Chronicles 13, 8. Sometimes it can refer to the church. Matthew 16, 18 and 19. It all depends upon the context, and sometimes it can refer to heaven itself. Matthew seven, twenty-one, and other places. And so it depends on the context. Well, so also with new heavens and new earth. It it only occurs four times as compared to hundreds of times.
of the word kingdom, but new heavens and new earth, you must look at the context where it's found. And in the two Isaiah passages, there's no doubt he's not talking about heaven. When he talks about new heavens and new earth in Isaiah, he's talking about a spiritual dwelling, the messianic kingdom, the spiritual dwelling of his remnant, which will include Gentiles. And that's a huge, huge ⁓
Teaching under Old Testament times in the book of Isaiah. Because we know Jew and Gentiles, you know, could not conceive of how they could be together in one kingdom, or as it were, in one dwelling place, but such as the Messianic kingdom. And so when we see in the New Testament, it's going to refer to heaven itself, but again, the context is going to tell us that. Not the term new heavens and new earth, but the context of
in which is in. But one thing they all have in common, whether it's the Messianic kingdom or heaven, it is still God's sp the prepared dwelling, spiritual dwelling place of God's people, of God's remnant. And that theme is consistent throughout. And so we will develop that in our next episode, episode number six, New Heavens and New Earth.
In the meaning of the New Testament. Now we understand that this is not part of Isaiah, but I think it's a very important discussion to have coming off of Isaiah about new heavens and new earth because there's a lot of controversy about that today. But we need we can clearly understand what the Bible teaches on that subject. Well, we appreciate your joining us today, and we look forward to being with you again on the next episode.