Isaiah’s prophetic ministry covered the
period between 740 and 698 BC, during which time Assyria rose to power and
conquered the Northern Kingdom of Israel. While much of Isaiah’s message warned
of impending doom, particularly against Judah and Jerusalem, it was also a
message of hope including a number of messianic prophecies (2:2-4; 7:14; 9:6-7;
11:1-16; 42:1f f.; 53:1 ff.; et al.). All of these prophecies were fulfilled
over 1900 years ago when Christ came to earth, suffered on Golgotha, and set up
his spiritual kingdom (the church).
The expression “new heavens and a new
earth” was a figure Isaiah employed to symbolize the new spiritual and moral
arrangement to be set up by the Messiah some 700 years after these words were
penned. Paul writes concerning this new order: “that in the dispensation of the
fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ,
both which are in heaven and which are on earth — in Him” (Eph. 1:10 NKVJ). Again
he writes: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things
have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2 Cor. 5:17). Isaiah
foretold that this new spiritual arrangement would center on “Jerusalem”
(65:18-19; cf. 2:3). Not only did the church begin in Jerusalem (Luke 24:47),
but the church is figuratively described as “the heavenly Jerusalem” (Heb.
12:22-23). Other symbols Isaiah used illustrated that one’s spiritual stature,
in this new system, would no longer be assessed by length of days (cf. Matt.
11:11; 18:1-6; 20:1-16), and there would be spiritual security under God’s providence
(Isa. 65: 20-24). While many are tempted to take Isa. 65:25 literally and
envision animals among the inhabitants of God’s kingdom, remember that the same
symbolism is used in 11:6-9 in a context which clearly portrays the initial
coming of the Lord (cf. 11:1, 10; Rom. 15:12). The idea conveyed is that under
the Messiah’s reign the “animal nature” of man is to be transformed (Rom.
8:5-10; 2 Cor. 5:17) and one-time enemies will be at peace (Eph. 2:13-17).
To remove these prophecies from their
historical context and attempt to directly apply them to a time yet in the future
is to completely skip over the wonderful workings of God in the 1st century AD
as he set up the new spiritual arrangement under Christ. Peter and John, living
in this new Christian system as citizens of God’s spiritual kingdom (Matt.
16:19; Rev. 1:9), simply borrowed the figures used by Isaiah to symbolically
describe the next arrangement in God’s scheme (2 Peter 3:13; Rev. 21:1), namely
the future heavenly realm [see previous post <Link>].
--Kevin L. Moore
Related Posts: New Heavens & Earth
Image credit: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8b/Crop_Book_of_Isaiah_2006-06-06.jpg/1280px-Crop_Book_of_Isaiah_2006-06-06.jpg
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