Monday 29 December 2014

New Heavens and Earth in Isaiah

Isaiah 65 & 66 mentioned the temple, the mountain, offerings, priests, Levites, pilgrimages to Jerusalem for worship, prohibitions against pork - and other geographical place-names besides Jerusalem are also mentioned.

All of which was distinctly Old Covenant. It described Israel's return from captivity.

If these chapters instead describe at length the new heavens and earth as some say, then the new heavens and earth must have been created at the return from captivity!

It's likely therefore that the future new heavens and new earth were mentioned in these passages - to the faithful in Israel, pre-captivity -  in order to encourage their spirits.

As surely as God is able to create new heavens and a new earth, and as permanent as they shall be, so was God promising to restore Israel after their captivity.

And He did! Literally, historically, on the ground in Israel, and for Israelites.

Any extended application we make of the passage to the Gentile Church is only possible because there was first a direct historical fulfilment in Israel and for Israel.

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