Isaiah 65: 17-25 Summary

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

In Isaiah 65:17-25, Isaiah mentions the citation of YHWH that He is about to “create new heavens and new earth” and gives some details of the things that will occur in the new creation. One of the things that YHWH will do is that “the youth will die at a hundred years” (Isa 65:20). Isaiah reiterated this declaration of a new creation in 66:22-23. Isaiah‘s statement in Isaiah 65:20 has received a considerable amount of debate among scholars. Scholarship is divided on the interpretation of the creation of “new heavens and new earth,” where death will re-appear a phrase which is found in the Old Testament only in the book of Isaiah. The death in the “new heaven and new earth” in Isaiah can be seen to be contrary to John’s revelation about “new heaven and new earth” in Revelation 21:4 which say “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will exist no longer, grief, crying, and pain will exist no longer, because the previous things have passed away.” Scholars

In Isa 65:20, the immediate context (vv. 17-25) as rightly discussed describes the transformation of society (vv. 18, 19, 22-24), nature (v. 25), and the people 's relationship with God (v. 19, 24). There is no link or connection to eschatological realities. The issues that Isaiah addresses in vv. 17-25 point to the immediate fulfillment after the return of the people of Israel from exile. Ekkehardt Mueller aptly posits that Isa 65:20 is to be considered as a “conditional prophecy for Israel, pointing for an ideal state that was never fulfilled on a local scale but that looks forward to the ultimate fulfilment on a universal scale found in Revelation 21-22.” From the immediate and larger context as indicated above, Isa 65:17-65 is not yet the description of the new heavens and the new earth as found in Rev 21-22. In Isa 65:20 it is seen that death is still present. The description here fix within the post-exilic period where God will restore literal Jerusalem to its