“For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; And the former things will not be remembered or come to mind.” (v.17)
Here in our text, Isaiah was looking beyond the millennial or 1000-year earthly reign of Jesus Christ, to the time when God will make “new heavens” and a “new earth.” The Hebrew word for create here is not asa, meaning to create out of previously existing material; but bara, meaning to create out of nothing, as He did in the beginning (Genesis 1:1).
The Apostle Peter in describing this day wrote: “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up (2 Pet. 3:10). So, when Isaiah says, “the former shall not be remembered or come to mind,” it means just that - for they will be destroyed. And the “New” will be so fantastic that we will have no memory of the former. Seeing then that this present earth and its universe will at some point be dissolved, we (as Christians) should have a light touch with it, laying up our treasures in heaven, being more spiritually minded than earthly or materially.
And while we wait for His return, His 1000 year reign, His creation of New Heavens and a New Earth, we should remain steadfast in the work of the kingdom, sharing His love and grace, and His gospel, to those around us. For the longsuffering of our LORD is for “salvation.”
The Truth: “God is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9)
Here in our text, Isaiah was looking beyond the millennial or 1000-year earthly reign of Jesus Christ, to the time when God will make “new heavens” and a “new earth.” The Hebrew word for create here is not asa, meaning to create out of previously existing material; but bara, meaning to create out of nothing, as He did in the beginning (Genesis 1:1).
The Apostle Peter in describing this day wrote: “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up (2 Pet. 3:10). So, when Isaiah says, “the former shall not be remembered or come to mind,” it means just that - for they will be destroyed. And the “New” will be so fantastic that we will have no memory of the former. Seeing then that this present earth and its universe will at some point be dissolved, we (as Christians) should have a light touch with it, laying up our treasures in heaven, being more spiritually minded than earthly or materially.
And while we wait for His return, His 1000 year reign, His creation of New Heavens and a New Earth, we should remain steadfast in the work of the kingdom, sharing His love and grace, and His gospel, to those around us. For the longsuffering of our LORD is for “salvation.”
The Truth: “God is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9)
