READ IT! - Introduction to Isaiah 65-66

Readings for this week

Monday: Isaiah 65
Tuesday: Isaiah 66
Wednesday: Song of Songs 1
Thursday: Song of Songs 2
Friday: Song of Songs 3
Saturday: Song of Songs 4
Sunday: Song of Songs 5

Introduction to Isaiah 65-66

Chapter 65 

Isaiah then talks about a New Heaven and a New Earth, but first, he talks about Judgment and Salvation. 

On Judgment: 

“I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me;
I was found by those who did not seek me.
To a nation that did not call on my name,
I said, ‘Here am I, here am I.’
All day long I have held out my hands
to an obstinate people…” 

On Salvation: 

“As when juice is still found in a cluster of grapes
and people say, ‘Don’t destroy it,
there is still a blessing in it,’
so will I do in behalf of my servants;
I will not destroy them all.” 

The prophet speaks of a future time when God will begin the process of recreating the whole of his creation. In this vision, death is being slowly defeated: infants no longer emerge stillborn, people live abnormally long lifespans, and even the animals themselves stop hunting each other. Death seems to still exist at this point, but is rare. 

“See, I will create
new heavens and a new earth.
The former things will not be remembered,
nor will they come to mind.” 

“I will rejoice over Jerusalem
and take delight in my people;
the sound of weeping and of crying
will be heard in it no more.” 

“Never again will there be in it
an infant who lives but a few days,
or an old man who does not live out his years;
the one who dies at a hundred
will be thought a mere child;
the one who fails to reach a hundred
will be considered accursed.
They will build houses and dwell in them;
they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
No longer will they build houses and others live in them, or plant and others eat.
For as the days of a tree,
so will be the days of my people;
my chosen ones will long enjoy
the work of their hands.
They will not labor in vain,
nor will they bear children doomed to misfortune;
for they will be a people blessed by the Lord,
they and their descendants with them.
Before they call I will answer;
while they are still speaking I will hear.” 

“The wolf and the lamb will feed together,
and the lion will eat straw like the ox,
and dust will be the serpent’s food.
They will neither harm nor destroy
on all my holy mountain.” 

Chapter 66 

The final chapter is about Judgment and Hope. This passage is about as close as a description of heaven and hell as you will find in the Old Testament. 

“As the new heavens and the new earth that I make will endure before me,” declares the Lord, “so will your name and descendants endure. From one New Moon to another and from one Sabbath to another, all mankind will come and bow down before me,” says the Lord. “And they will go out and look on the dead bodies of those who rebelled against me; the worms that eat them will not die, the fire that burns them will not be quenched, and they will be loathsome to all mankind.” 

This perspective shows that heaven and earth are closely linked together, which is consistent with the New Testament picture of heaven breaking into this world in a marriage of sorts. Jesus also refers to this passage when he talks about the eternal punishment one can face after death, saying that God has the power to send people to "Gehenna" (often translated as "hell" in English), where "the worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched."