https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/NewHeavensAndANewEarth.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n\tby Jeffrey W. Hamilton<\/p>\n\t
Text: Isaiah 65:17-25<\/p>\n
<\/p>\nI. A frequent mistake made in reading the Scriptures is to recognize the meaning of a phrase\nin one area of the Bible and then assume that the phrase has the same meaning\neverywhere it is used.\n
A. An example of this is found in Isaiah 65:17.<\/p>\n 1. Some contend that Isaiah’s prophecy has not yet been fulfilled. We still\nhave the same earth and the same heavens as back then. \n 2. The Jehovah’s Witnesses cite this passage and the verses following to\nclaim there is still a promise of a paradise on earth to be fulfilled.\n B. When dealing with prophecy, we must remember that much is not literal, but\nfigurative in nature – Hosea 12:10\n
1. Jesus used figures of speech in his teachings – Matthew 13:34<\/p>\n
2. When Jesus called himself a door in John 10:19<\/p>\n
a. Is he made of wood?<\/p>\n
b. Does he have hinges<\/p>\n c. Or do we realize that he is figuratively saying that he is the way –\nJohn 14:6\n
II. What did Isaiah mean by “new heavens and a new earth?”<\/p>\n
A. Paul quotes Isaiah 65:1-2 and applies it to the present age – Romans 10:18-21<\/p>\n B. The chapter ends with a reference to God’s holy mountain – Isaiah 65:25 (also\nIsaiah 65:11\n
1. God’s holy mountain is mentioned in Isaiah 11:9<\/p>\n
a. But it referring to the time of Christ – Isaiah 11:1-2, 10<\/p>\n
b. Isaiah 61:1-2 talks about the same ideas as Isaiah 11:2<\/p>\n
c. Christ read Isaiah 61:1-2 and said it was fulfilled – Luke 4:16-21<\/p>\n
2. God’s mountain is his kingdom, the church – Isaiah 2:1-4<\/p>\n
a. Hebrews 12:22-28<\/p>\n
3. God’s kingdom is spiritual – John 18:36<\/p>\n
C. Isaiah 65 cannot be referring to the second coming<\/p>\n
1. Christ’s coming brings an end of death – Revelation 21:4<\/p>\n 2. Yet in Isaiah 65:20 death is still present. The emphasis is on a long life,\nbut not eternal life.\n 3. Too, notice that some might be thought accursed or sinful, yet with\nChrist’s coming there is no more sin – Revelation 21:27\n
D. Isaiah 66:22 also speaks of the new heavens and new earth<\/p>\n 1. Notice the mention of the travail of labor, something also mentioned in\nMicah 5:2-3\n
a. But this is a reference to the Messiah’s coming<\/p>\n
2. The same symbol was used in Revelation 12:1-11<\/p>\n a. It talks about the coming of Christ into the world, his death and the\nbirth of his kingdom\n
E. Both Isaiah 65 and 66 talk about peaceful things – Isaiah 65:19-25; 66:10-14<\/p>\n
1. Christ came to bring peace – Ephesians 4:14-18<\/p>\n F. The phrase “new heavens and new earth is to say there is goin to be a complete\nchange. In this case the change is in the kingdom from physical Israel to the\nspiritual one\n
1. The old Israel sinned – Isaiah 65:1-7<\/p>\n
2. It was removed – Isaiah 65:12<\/p>\n
3. It was replaced by something completely new<\/p>\n
III. That same concept of a complete change is destined once again<\/p>\n
A. Instead of figuratively, this world will be completely destroyed – II Peter 3:10-14<\/p>\n 1. It is different from the old because here sin reigns, but there righteousness\ndwells.\n
2. Here there is death, there is eternal life – I Corinthians 15:42-55<\/p>\n
B. John also saw this in a vision – Revelation 21:1<\/p>\n
1. No sea – no separation from God – Revelation 21:2-4<\/p>\n
2. And the explanation – all things are made new – Revelation 21:5<\/p>\nIV. Really the failure is not in finding a consistent meaning to a phrase, but establishing a\nmeaning that seems to fit one passage instead of looking for one that fits all passages.\n A. But if we get fixated on one understanding, we can neglect to look at the context\nand see what is really being said.\n
<\/p>\n
Based on an article by Keith Sharp<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Isaiah 65:17-25 I. A frequent mistake made in reading the Scriptures is to recognize the meaning of a phrase in one area of the Bible and then assume that the phrase has the same meaning everywhere it is used. A. An example of this is found in Isaiah 65:17. 1. Some contend…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[119,32],"tags":[1125,355,339],"class_list":["post-63095","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-audio","category-sermon","tag-end-of-the-world","tag-jehovahs-witnesses","tag-second-coming"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":51878,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/disbelief-in-the-coming-of-jesus\/","url_meta":{"origin":63095,"position":0},"title":"Disbelief in the Coming of Jesus","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 12, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: II Peter 3:1-15 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Many false doctrines are rooted in a simple belief that word or phrase that has a particular meaning in one context has the same meaning in all other contexts. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0For example, the Greek word presbuteros in Acts 2:17 means someone advanced\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5384,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-the-new-heavens-and-new-earth-been-already-made-or-will-it-be-created-in-the-future\/","url_meta":{"origin":63095,"position":1},"title":"Are the new heavens and new earth been already made or will it be created in the future?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 22, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Are the new heavens and new earth been already made or will it be created in the future? Answer: This is a question that leaves me wondering whether an answer one way or another will make any difference in how you and I must live our lives on this\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5380,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/do-the-prophecies-in-isaiah-prove-that-the-laws-of-uncleanness-are-still-in-effect\/","url_meta":{"origin":63095,"position":2},"title":"Do the prophecies in Isaiah prove that the laws of uncleanness are still in effect?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 7, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, I'm a Christian part of the Lord's body (the church of Christ) and I have a question about unclean meats. I've read your posts before about Acts and Romans on the Lord allowing all things that were unclean to be clean, and I've read that myself before and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":13431,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-the-new-heaven-and-new-earth-been-already-made-or-will-they-be-created-in-the-future\/","url_meta":{"origin":63095,"position":3},"title":"Are the new heaven and new earth been already made or will they be created in the future?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 22, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Are the new heaven and new earth been already made or will they be created in the future? Answer: This is a question that leaves me wondering whether an answer one way or another will make any difference in how you and I must live our lives on this\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2652,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-are-the-new-testament-quotes-of-the-old-testament-different\/","url_meta":{"origin":63095,"position":4},"title":"Why are the New Testament quotes of the Old Testament different?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 16, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: How would you punctuate\u00a0Isaiah 40:3? How do the authors of the New Testament get\u00a0Isaiah 40:3\u00a0wrong? Answer: \"The voice of one crying in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God'\" (Isaiah 40:3). \"For this is he who was spoken\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":82739,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/ii-peter-3-and-new-creation-theology\/","url_meta":{"origin":63095,"position":5},"title":"II Peter 3 and New Creation Theology","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 1, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Chris Reeves via Unmasking Sophistry, Vol. 5, No. 1, January-March 2025 Peter's words in II Peter 3 are being used today to teach that the righteous will come back after the judgment day and live on a renovated earth for all eternity. Jehovah's Witnesses have used II Peter 3\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63095","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63095"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63095\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63095"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63095"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63095"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}