Isaiah 65:17-25--New Heavens and a New Earth

Isaiah 65:17-25
English Standard Version

New Heavens and a New Earth
17 “For behold, I create new heavens
    and a new earth,
and the former things shall not be remembered
    or come into mind.
18 But be glad and rejoice forever
    in that which I create;
for behold, I create Jerusalem to be a joy,
    and her people to be a gladness.
19 I will rejoice in Jerusalem
    and be glad in my people;
no more shall be heard in it the sound of weeping
    and the cry of distress.
20 No more shall there be in it
    an infant who lives but a few days,
    or an old man who does not fill out his days,
for the young man shall die a hundred years old,
    and the sinner a hundred years old shall be accursed.
21 They shall build houses and inhabit them;
    they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
22 They shall not build and another inhabit;
    they shall not plant and another eat;
for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be,
    and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands.
23 They shall not labor in vain
    or bear children for calamity,
for they shall be the offspring of the blessed of the LORD,
    and their descendants with them.
24 Before they call I will answer;
    while they are yet speaking I will hear.
25 The wolf and the lamb shall graze together;
    the lion shall eat straw like the ox,
    and dust shall be the serpent's food.
They shall not hurt or destroy
    in all my holy mountain,”
says the LORD.

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There is some debate on how to interpret the "new heavens" and the "new earth."  Will everything "old" be destroyed and will it truly be a new "ex nihilo" creation, or will it be a cleansing of the old that gives a "new beginning" (a "fresh start") to everything?  If you are an Amillennialist, you tend to go the route of believing in the "restoration" model because Amillennialists do not believe in a physical restoration of the kingdom of Israel with its physical geographical boundaries for 1,000 with Christ on the throne of David.  They believe that is either already being fulfilled in the hearts of men and it is a purely spiritual kingdom, or that it will be a promise fulfilled in the new heavens and the new earth for all of God's people and it has nothing to do with ethnic Israel.  Strict Dispensationalists that believe that God has dealt with humans in different ways at different times that are clearly defined and that there is a definite "Church Age" that will end with the Rapture and the Tribulation will not be a part of the Church Age, and then the Tribulation will be followed by a 1,000 year reign of Christ over the people of Israel and there will be "sheep and goat" judgment of the people of Israel that is separate from either the Bema Seat (Judgement Seat of Christ) judgment to give rewards to the saints or the Great White Throne Judgment for unbelievers who will be judged for their sins and cast into the Lake of Fire where the False Prophet and Antichrist were cast at the end of the Tribulation would be more likely to believe that at the end of the 1,000 year reign and final rebellion that happens that the old creation is destroyed.  The problem with this view is the word "eternal" or "everlasting" that modifies the world "covenant" in Genesis 17:8,

8 And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God.”

We have a problem if we try to make that word "everlasting" mean anything other than "eternal" or "without end," because the same or similar wording is used in Isaiah and Jeremiah to talk about the New Covenant (Isaiah 54, Jeremiah 33, and Hebrews 13 speak of an eternal covenant).  Suffice it to say that one's view on eschatology (the end times) will greatly impact how one interprets this chapter of Isaiah.  I hope I've given a dispassionate explanation of the two major opinions here without tipping my hand as to which (if either) I hold.  The promise is important, specifically to God's people at this time that they are going away to Exile--not only that they would return to the same broken world full of sin, but that one day, there is a new creation awaiting them.  A world without sin, and without the possibility of Exile.  Never again would they be separated from the LORD and His covenant blessings.

The things of the past would be remembered no more.  In either view, we wake up like Adam and Eve, fully formed and with no knowledge of what came before.  We will not question where we came from or what came before because there will be no concept of "before" and "after."  There will be no way for us to measure the perception of the passing of time, because the sun, moon, and stars will not be visible to us.  It will always be day for us in the Light of God's glory.  There is definitely a New Jerusalem (we read about that in the book of Revelation) which it says that God will create (does that mean the old Jerusalem was somehow destroyed by judgment)?  Remember that Jerusalem was not just the City of David and the capital city of the nation of Israel, but it was the City of the Great King (remember, God was their King).  The Temple resided in the place that that king's palace would normally stand, and it was built like a palace so that people would ask, "Who lives there?" and the answer would be "The Spirit of the Living God lives there among His people."  That would blow the minds of the pagans whose gods had temples and priests, but in no way did their gods live among the people.  We see that being a major theme here.  This New Jerusalem is a place for God and Man to live together in perfect unity.

No more sadness or need for mourning.  No more infant mortality or any kind of mortality for that matter.  Everyone will have a house to live in (no homelessness) and everyone will have choice food to eat.  Blessings and curses will be based on obedience and not a system where evil men were honored simply because they were older and young men who were righteous were despised simply for being young.  The LORD would give each reward in proportion to his obedience.  Each man shall live in his own house and eat from his own vineyard.  No more will anyone be required to provide for another--the LORD will provide for all of us.

The Curse will be reversed and the work that we do will not be hindered by the effects of sin on creation.  The ground will be more fertile and easier to cultivate and will not produce thorns, thistles, and weeds for us when we try to make it produce food.  We will be called the offspring of the LORD--the children of God.  The LORD will give every good thing to His people anticipating their needs before they even can ask for it.  He will hear every request that is spoken.

There will be such peace that the wolf and the lamb (predator and prey now) will lie down together.  Is this a return to how it was in the Garden of Eden when everything ate plants and there were no carnivores until after the Fall? Is this evidence that we will have the same kind of animals in the New Creation or is this simply a metaphor? Does this mean that the same animals we have now will be there but given a new instinct and nature?  Honestly, I'm not sure, but since we know nothing of the past, I don't ascribe to the view that your pets are waiting for you in heaven and that you will recognize them, because the text clearly says that we won't remember anything from the past.  Maybe there will be even better versions of the animals than we know--like the kind that were created "very good" before they were corrupted by sin.  Maybe there will be things on earth that have only been in heaven to this point--the wonderful living creatures that surrounded the throne of God.  Maybe there will be things that have never even imagined, but this verse gives at least the idea that this new heaven and new earth will be filled with various kinds of creatures like the first creation was--it will not be just filled with God and Man, but God will express His creativity will all kinds of living and non-living things.

More imagery of creatures that we fear being harmless--the lion will eat straw like an ox (that seems to point to everything being herbivores) and the serpent will eat dust (seemingly saying that it will still crawl around on its belly, but it will not eat rodents and birds and other such things like it does for food).  Interesting that the serpent still seems to be "cursed" here in keeping with Genesis 3:14, "on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life."  Some of these items seem to point to creatures just like what we are used to, though their nature has been changed.  However, it's just as likely that God created everything new out of nothing like He did in Genesis 1 and 2 and we are seeing Him start with a blank slate or a fresh canvas to make a brand-new work of art.  I honestly don't know with 100% certainty which view is correct. 

The "eternal covenant" with Israel makes me lean towards the fact that the earth will not be destroyed (though maybe everything living in it is).  Perhaps it restarts "formless and empty" like in the book of Genesis--however, that earth was covered by water.  This time the judgment will have come by fire, so I have no idea what that kind of earth could look like.  It seems like the LORD points to real geographical places that we would recognize, yet the geography also seems to be different--there will be no sea, Jerusalem is much larger, but there are still places like Edom that will be outside of the New Jerusalem that we are meant to recognize (though that seems to be a picture of what hell and the Lake of Fire will be like that are outside of the blessing of heaven created for those who are God's covenant people).  It is hard to decipher sometimes what is literal and what is allegorical, yet all of it is literal.  God will literally do all these things whether He does them in the physical or the spiritual realm.  Don't let anyone confuse you and say that God makes promises that He doesn't intend to keep.  I lean towards taking the simplest interpretation of the text (the words meaning exactly what they appear to say at first glance without any special knowledge to get to another interpretation) because I believe it was God's intent to clearly convey His message to His people and for them to clearly understand it (with the help of His Spirit).  The New Testament often helps us where the most basic interpretation needs to be reevaluated in light of the greater fulfillment in Christ.  There is an "already" that we may catch from the most basic reading and a "not yet" that we might need the Holy Spirit to show us through the teachings of the apostles and New Testament authors.  You can read more about this idea of Biblical Hermeneutics in these lessons prepared by Pastor Stephen Felker:  How to Interpret the Bible.  He taught this material to us at Harvest Christian Fellowship when he served as interim pastor and gave me permission to post it here on this website.

If you're interested in the idea of worldview and theology and how questions of Origins, Meaning, Morality, Destiny, and Identity affect how we view things around us, you can see my Faith and Culture (Biblical Apologetics) articles and look for the additional resources linked here and on my YouTube channel that you can find under this category:  Links and Resources.  Hopefully you final all this useful to you as you read the Bible for yourself and aim to have a biblical worldview.