Bible Q&A: Isaiah's prophecy about heaven or earth?

April 25, 2003

See: All Bible Q&A columns Bible questions and answers by John Myers, Internet Photojournalist

Bible Question: "What is described in Isaiah 65:17-25? Is this heaven or is it earth?"
Bible Answer: Both. To be exact, this is when heaven comes down to earth at the conclusion of the present age, after Jesus Christ returns at the end of the Tribulation.
The passage begins in Isaiah 65:17, "For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; And the former shall not be remembered or come to mind."
This looks beyond the 1,000-year reign on Christ after His return, to what John saw in Revelation 21:1, "Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea."

Before and after the 1,000-year reign of Christ

If you read the previous chapter, Rev. 20, you find the 1,000-year reign of Jesus on earth, when Satan is bound and human survivors of the Tribulation live with the saints on earth.
And this is apparently what the rest of Isaiah 65 is referring to, humans living in the city of Jerusalem. Because it refers to death, which will not occur in the new heaven and earth.
Rev. 21:4 says, "And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away," referring to the new heaven and new earth.
Isaiah 65:20 says. "No more shall an infant from there live but a few days, Nor an old man who has not fulfilled his days; For the child shall die one hundred years old, But the sinner being one hundred years old shall be accursed."

Life on earth during the 1,000-year reign of Christ

During this 1,000-year reign of Christ, infant mortality shall end, and when one dies at 100 they will say, "He was just a child." And sinners will be born on earth during this time.
And sinners will be allowed to live during this period, for at the end of it when Satan is loosed a final time, he finds sinners to rebel against God one last time, Rev. 20:7-9 says.
And the passage ends in Isaiah 65:25, "The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, The lion shall eat straw like the ox, And dust shall be the serpent's food. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, says the Lord."
During the 1,000-year reign of Christ, even the enmity between animals will end, and the carnivores or meat eaters like the lion and wolf will be vegetarians, like the ox and lamb.
But until that day, if the lamb lies down the lion, he better keep one eye open or he will wake up in the lion's stomach.

Submit Bible questions by email to writeme@johnwmyers.com

(John Myers has been a Christian lay speaker, Sunday School adult teacher and newspaper Bible study columnist for more than 20 years.)