God’s Answer – Part 3
Isaiah 65:1-25 (20-25)
December 29, 2024
If you will remember,
Last Sunday we began our look at the believer’s glorious future.
Isaiah has been working towards this look for the last couple of chapters.
Isaiah 64 – we saw the humility and repentance of Israel and them asking whether or not God would save them.
Isaiah 65 is God’s answer.
#1 PROOF OF SALVATION
Isaiah 65:1-7
• Where God reveals He has always been a God who calls out to sinners for salvation.
#2 THE PROMISE OF SALVATION
Isaiah 65:8-10
• Where God promised to bring forth offspring from Jacob.
#3 THE PURPOSE OF SALVATION
Isaiah 65:11-16
• Where God revealed that while He does save sinners, He only saves repentant sinners who call on Him for He alone will receive credit for salvation.
#4 THE PLACE OF SALVATION
Isaiah 65:17-25
And this is what we are looking at now.
It is a picture from Isaiah of the glorious future
That awaits those who turn from their sin and turn to God.
It is the fate of all those who seek God.
More specifically: Those who seek to be reconciled to God through Jesus Christ.
We saw last time that salvation is indeed a place.
It is not just some spiritual reality.
We enjoy the spiritual realities and blessings of salvation today.
• Today we live in a sinful world, but through Christ we have peace.
• Today we live in a fallen world, but through Christ we have joy.
• Today we live in a corrupt world, but through Christ we have hope.
We currently enjoy the spiritual blessings of salvation.
But there is coming a day when we will also enjoy
The physical realities of salvation.
There is a PLACE of salvation coming.
Isaiah is here describing that place to us.
It would also do good for me to remind you that
Isaiah’s prophetic eyes see everything accurately,
But at the same time see more than one reality at once.
Like we understand in Isaiah 9
• Isaiah sees both the first and second coming of Christ in the same vision.
So here, in Isaiah 65,
• Isaiah sees both the millennial reign of Christ and the eternal state
HE SEES THEM BOTH.
I don’t know if it’s that Isaiah can’t distinguish between the two
Or if he isn’t trying to.
For example:
Verse 17 actually refers to “new heavens and a new earth”
That is language that the apostle John adopted in Revelation 21
To talk about the eternal state of dwelling with God.
Revelation 21:1-4 “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.”
However in verse 20 Isaiah actually refers to death, “the youth will die at the age of one hundred”
Clearly that is not a reference to the eternal state, but is a reference to the time period we know as the millennium or the 1,000 year reign of Christ.
THE POINT IS that Isaiah is not trying to give you a timeline or a distinction between those two events.
If you want the timeline go read Revelation 19-22.
Isaiah’s point is not to give the timeline or the distinction,
But rather to encourage the people of God
By showing them the glorious future that awaits.
The focus here is on “what” not “when”.
What does God have in store for those who seek Him?
AND IT IS SIMPLY MY HOPE THAT
You will be encouraged by what Scripture reveals
Is your destiny as one who seeks God above this world.
Perhaps a good passage to read as we back into this this morning is:
Colossians 3:1-4 “Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.”
That is what we hope to do this morning.
• We want to set our minds on things above.
• We want to anticipate that great day of our being revealed with Him in glory.
May these truths lift you beyond your current struggles
May they strengthen your hope in what God has in store for you.
WE SAID LAST TIME THAT
There are 5 realities that Isaiah gives us about the coming place of glory for God’s people.
We saw the first last time.
1) A PLACE OF MUTUAL REJOICING, NOT GRIEF (17-19)
You have to be blind to miss the obvious point of these 3 verses.
“be glad” “rejoice” “rejoicing” “gladness” “rejoice” “be glad”
We understood what Isaiah was pointing to.
There is coming a day when we will rejoice in the presence of God
And God will rejoice in our presence.
Those former days of us sinning and grieving God…
Those former days of us grieving in the consequences of sin…
Those days will be totally forgotten.
These days will be days of rejoicing.
Today, we are commanded to rejoice, and sometimes commanded to rejoice in circumstances that don’t naturally cause rejoicing.
James 1:2 “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials,”
We are sort of told to dig deep and force rejoicing.
Philippians 4:4 “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!”
But there is coming a day when rejoicing won’t be a command,
It will be the natural response to being in the presence of God.
You just won’t be able to wipe the smile off your face.
THAT IS YOUR FUTURE CHURCH.
You are headed for a place where joy and gladness dominate.
Fix your eyes and your hopes on that day.
Well, that was last time, let’s look at the other realities of this place this morning.
2) A PLACE OF LIFE, NOT DEATH (20)
(20) “No longer will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, Or an old man who does not live out his days; For the youth will die at the age of one hundred And the one who does not reach the age of one hundred Will be thought accursed.”
This is certainly the most difficult verse to deal with in the entire section.
It has puzzled more than one theologian over the years.
It is really hard to be definitive here.
But I also don’t mind trying to make sense of the passage
And to help you see what I think Isaiah’s point and objective are.
It is important to make sure you get THE OVERALL POINT.
While Isaiah does mention a youth dying, though it is at 100,
The overwhelming point of Isaiah is that
DEATH WILL BE A SHOCK, NOT THE NORM.
THAT IS CLEAR.
He says “the one who does not reach the age of one hundred will be thought accursed.”
In other words, death before the age of 100 will be absolutely shocking and even unexplainable.
We don’t like to witness the death of a young person today.
• It is tragic, it is especially painful
• But it is not necessarily foreign.
• It happens.
RIGHT NOW WE LIVE IN A CULTURE DOMINATED BY DEATH
Solomon reminded us:
Ecclesiastes 9:2-6 “It is the same for all. There is one fate for the righteous and for the wicked; for the good, for the clean and for the unclean; for the man who offers a sacrifice
and for the one who does not sacrifice. As the good man is, so is the sinner; as the swearer is, so is the one who is afraid to swear. This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that there is one fate for all men. Furthermore, the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil and insanity is in their hearts throughout their lives. Afterwards they go to the dead. For whoever is joined with all the living, there is hope; surely a live dog is better than a dead lion. For the living know they will die; but the dead do not know anything, nor have they any longer a reward, for their memory is forgotten. Indeed their love, their hate and their zeal have already perished, and they will no longer have a share in all that is done under the sun.”
And that is sort of what we live with.
Death is not only normal, it is expected, and it is anticipated.
• We have all wondered what it is that will cause us to die.
• We have all contemplated the death of parents and when that might occur.
• We know it is just a reality.
“It is appointed for men to die once, and then comes judgment”
Death is painful, but it is normal.
But there is coming a day when death will be so foreign
That the only explanation that man will be able to conceive is that
This person must have been cursed by God.
IT WILL JUST BE A RARE THING.
And that’s the point.
We are talking about a place where death is not the norm.
Isaiah is talking about a day where life is normal and death is foreign.
THAT IS ENCOURAGING TO US.
Now, let’s see if we can’t understand it a little better.
Clearly, since death is mentioned at all,
Isaiah cannot here be talking about the eternal state of heaven.
Revelation 21:4 “and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.”
Luke 20:34-36 “Jesus said to them, “The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage, but those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage; for they cannot even die anymore, because they are like angels, and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection.”
Death doesn’t even occur in heaven…at all.
So clearly Isaiah must be referring here to that glorious time period we know as the Millennial reign of Christ.
Perhaps it will help us to understand WHY death continues at all.
TURN TO: REVELATION 20:1-10
The event see here is the 1,000 year (millennial) reign of Christ.
• Jesus returns in Ch. 19
• Jesus judges the nations.
• Jesus throws the beast and the false prophet (anti-christ) into the lake of fire
• Jesus kills the rest of the army of the beast and false prophet.
Then we get to chapter 20.
(READ 1-10)
So you follow the order there.
1. Satan is bound for 1,000 years (he must be released after the 1,000 years…for judgment)
2. We have the first resurrection of believers who are raised to reign with Christ.
And then we read in verse 5, “the rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed”
• There is another resurrection of the wicked which occurs in conjunction with
the loosing of Satan after the 1,000 years.
If it puzzles you regarding where that massive army in rebellion comes from, this is it.
3. Then you see that massive rebellion and Christ squashes it and then at the end of the chapter comes the great white throne judgment.
In fact look down at verse 14, “Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.”
See, death cannot be totally eradicated
Until every sinner is totally and finally judged.
This is why death remains even throughout
The glorious millennial reign of Christ.
But during that 1,000 years it will be the exception, not the rule.
It will be shocking and rare.
I think this falls in line with what Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15
1 Corinthians 15:20-28 “But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ’s at His coming, then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be abolished is death. For HE HAS PUT ALL THINGS IN SUBJECTION UNDER HIS FEET. But when He says, “All things are put in subjection,” it is evident that He is excepted who put all things in subjection to Him. When all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself also will be subjected to the One who subjected all things to Him, so that God may be all in all.”
• When Christ reigns the last enemy that will be abolished is death.
• Death is reserved for the final judgment of all the wicked
• And then death itself is abolished.
I think there’s another text that might help us
Understand the death that occurs during the millennium.
TURN TO: ZECHARIAH 14
Again the context:
• At the end of chapter 12 (12:10) is when God pours out His Spirit on Israel
and they repent and call on Christ.
• Chapter 13 reveals the immediate response of devotion to Christ and the
tribulation that Israel will endure upon confessing Christ.
• Chapter 14 begins with the second coming of Christ (1-5)
And then chapter 14 begins to talk about Christ’s reign.
(READ 6-21)
Certainly we see some wonderful realities about the reign of Christ,
But what we also pick up on is that during this time
We do see the potential for a small amount of pushback
From some of the nations.
We read about kingdoms who don’t want to attend the feast of booths
And thus they are punished with drought.
Perhaps over the course of 1,000 years people again fall into apathy.
Perhaps over 1,000 years there are some whose love grows cold.
But, disobedience to Christ will not be tolerated.
(Consequences for such sin are immediate and drastic)
Maybe that helps you understand
Why death is present even in the millennial reign.
But the point being made by Isaiah is that
It will be extremely rare and shocking when it occurs.
I think we can confidently add that
• It will NOT occur at all among the faithful.
• Those who do experience it will be those who are cursed by the Lord for their rebellion against Him.
We are talking about a place of life, not death.
And church that is something to look forward to as well.
• Our future is a place where joy abounds.
• Our future is a place where death is scarce, and will one day be totally
eradicated.
We have a destiny of joy and a destiny of life.
This is the place that God has for His people.
A place of mutual rejoicing, not grief
A place of eternal life, not death
3) A PLACE OF EXPERIENCED BLESSING, NOT CURSES (21-23)
(21-23) “They will build houses and inhabit them; They will also plant vineyards and eat their fruit. “They will not build and another inhabit, They will not plant and another eat; For as the lifetime of a tree, so will be the days of My people, And My chosen ones will wear out the work of their hands. “They will not labor in vain, Or bear children for calamity; For they are the offspring of those blessed by the LORD, And their descendants with them.”
We certainly understand the point being made here,
But I think it is one that is even more relevant to Isaiah’s Jewish audience.
Let me ask you to turn again…
TURN TO: DEUTERONOMY 8:1-14
Deuteronomy 28 is a unique chapter that outlines the agreement and consequences of the Mosaic covenant.
• If you keep the covenant you get unmitigated blessing from God.
• If you break the covenant you get unrelenting curses from God.
And of course the history of Israel bears out that
It was nothing on their part but curses.
But we are talking about those who have been saved by Christ now.
Galatians 3:13-14 “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us—for it is written, “CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO HANGS ON A TREE”— in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.”
Therefore the future for God’s people
Is only blessing without curses.
WHILE IT IS TRUE THAT TODAY
“We have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,”
The destiny of the Christian is to also
Be blessed with every physical blessing in Christ.
There is coming a day of physical blessing for the people of God.
A day when there will never again be disappointments.
I pray with several farmers on Friday mornings,
I know how the cycle works.
• They get pretty excited when it rains in April and May and they can put that
cotton into wet ground.
• They love a rain June or July as well.
• But I also know the disappointment when a farmer sees the rain stop, the
cotton wither, and the prices fall.
There is so much of what we do in this life
That ends in disappointment.
BUT NOT IN THAT DAY.
• If you build a house you will get to live in it.
• If you plant a vineyard you will get to enjoy its fruit.
(23) “They will not labor in vain…”
That is a direct correction of the curse Adam brought.
He was told that only by the sweat of his brow would he bring forth food.
So much of the labor today is vanity, but not on the coming day.
God will bless everything, including the offspring of you body.
(Another reason we know this segment cannot be about heaven)
(23) “They will not…bear children for calamity; For they are the offspring of those blessed by the LORD, And their descendants with them.”
The day of the curse will be over.
It will only be a day of blessing.
“No more let sins or sorrows grow, nor thorns infest the ground. He comes to make His blessings flow, far as the curse is found.”
4) A PLACE OF IMMEDIATE SATISFACTION, NOT FRUSTRATION (24)
(24) “It will also come to pass that before they call, I will answer; and while they are still speaking, I will hear.”
One thing we learn throughout our Christian walk here on earth
Is the importance of faith and patience.
Isaiah told us:
Isaiah 40:31 “Yet those who wait for the LORD Will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary.”
The Psalmist declared:
Psalms 27:14 “Wait for the LORD; Be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the LORD.”
Psalms 37:7-9 “Rest in the LORD and wait patiently for Him; Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, Because of the man who carries out wicked schemes. Cease from anger and forsake wrath; Do not fret; it leads only to evildoing. For evildoers will be cut off, But those who wait for the LORD, they will inherit the land.”
We don’t get instant gratification now.
Waiting is part of life.
Certainly in a temporal sense, anyone who has ever needed a doctor understands the waiting involved.
AND AS CHRISTIANS WE FAITHFULLY WAIT:
1 Corinthians 4:5 “Therefore do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men’s hearts; and then each man’s praise will come to him from God.”
Philippians 3:20 “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ;”
1 Thessalonians 1:10 “and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come.”
Even our prayer life can require some waiting.
We read in the book of Daniel about a prayer he offered, and the reason for the delayed response:
Daniel 10:12-14 “Then he said to me, “Do not be afraid, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart on understanding this and on humbling yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to your words. “But the prince of the kingdom of Persia was withstanding me for twenty-one days; then behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left there with the kings of Persia. “Now I have come to give you an understanding of what will happen to your people in the latter days, for the vision pertains to the days yet future.”
The answer to Daniel’s search was quickly given, but it was delayed in arrival because of the spiritual warfare of the heavens.
But in the millennial reign of Christ Satan will be bound
And there will be no such obstruction.
And that is good because WAITING IS HARD.
We remember Mary and Martha being frustrated with Jesus for making them wait what seemed to be too long.
John 11:21 “Martha then said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.”
We think of the words of Job:
Job 6:11-12 “What is my strength, that I should wait? And what is my end, that I should endure? “Is my strength the strength of stones, Or is my flesh bronze?”
Waiting in this life is hard, but there is day coming
WHEN WE WILL NEVER HAVE TO WAIT AGAIN.
“It will also come to pass that before they call, I will answer; and while they are still speaking, I will hear.”
How marvelous is that!
There is coming a day when obstacles and frustrations
And disappointments will be no more.
We will have instant access to the Father
And there will be no delay in anything we ask of Him.
Imagine that place church!
• No more walking by faith without sight…
• No more waiting for what was promised…
• No more enduring in hope of deliverance…
It will all be immediate and instant.
Life’s frustrations will come to an end on that day.
5) A PLACE OF PERFECT PEACE, NOT EVIL (25)
(25) “The wolf and the lamb will graze together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox; and dust will be the serpent’s food. They will do no evil or harm in all My holy mountain,” says the LORD.”
We recognize that passage as something Isaiah already taught us about Christ’s earthly reign.
Isaiah 11:6-8 “And the wolf will dwell with the lamb, And the leopard will lie down with the young goat, And the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; And a little boy will lead them. Also the cow and the bear will graze, Their young will lie down together, And the lion will eat straw like the ox. The nursing child will play by the hole of the cobra, And the weaned child will put his hand on the viper’s den.”
The point of course is that “They will do no evil or harm in all My holy mountain”
I do find one interesting statement here however in verse 25.
• You see the wolf and lamb getting along.
• You see the lion and ox getting along.
But notice what Isaiah says about the serpent.
“and dust will be the serpent’s food.”
It is a link back to the garden.
Genesis 3:14-15 “The LORD God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, Cursed are you more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you will go, And dust you will eat All the days of your life; And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel.”
On this cleansed and renovated earth upon which Christ will dwell,
Satan gets no part of it.
He is bound, He is relegated to the dirt, He is eating dust for 1,000 years.
His influence is eradicated and thus the evil is removed.
It is a time of peace, not evil.
• No more wars…
• No more fighting…
• No more tension…
• No more frustration…
• No more disappointment…
• No more sorrow…
• No more untimely death…
And all this is the destiny of the one who seeks God.
All of this is the future state of glory for child of God.
And church I would just want you to imagine that day for a moment.
I just want you to view your current struggles and trials through that lens.
No one would suggest that the things that some in our church are dealing with aren’t severe and very difficult.
There are some dealing with some very challenging,
Frustrating, and scary issues right now.
But even at that, one thing they all have in common is that
THEY ARE ALL TEMPORARY.
Paul says:
2 Corinthians 4:16-18 “Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”
And that is what Isaiah is asking us to do today.
• Stop looking at what is seen and start looking at what is unseen.
• Stop looking at what is temporary and start looking at what is eternal.
There is a momentary, light affliction that is faced today,
But there is an eternal weight of glory coming tomorrow.
Last year the church graciously gave Carrie and I a love offering to take a cruise to Israel.
It wasn’t long after that that a war broke out and no cruises were headed over there.
But we hold out hope that the fighting will end and we’ll be able to go.
• It is something we are excited about.
• It is something we anticipate.
And that is just a trip to a country that we may or may not get to take.
But we are still excited about it.
How much more should the child of God
Be excited about the glory that awaits them
Which is certain and sure and guaranteed?
One day soon, this life of pain will be over for all of us.
And we will be in the presence of our Lord.
• And we will rejoice!
• And we will live!
• And we will experience blessing!
• And we will be satisfied!
• And we will be at peace!
1 Peter 1:3-6 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials,”
Look to that and rejoice in that church!
That day is coming for you.
