March 20–26

This weekly feature is dedicated to Adventists who are looking for biblical insights into the topics discussed in the Sabbath School lesson quarterly. We post articles which address each lesson as presented in the Sabbath School Bible Study Guide, including biblical commentary on them. We hope you find this material helpful and that you will come to know Jesus and His revelation of Himself in His word in profound biblical ways.

 

Lesson 13: “Rebirth of Planet Earth”

This week’s lesson deals with the final two chapters of Isaiah, those dealing with the new heavens and new earth promised by God. In this lesson there are some amazing word gymnastics used in an apparent attempt to force those chapters into the framework of the Adventist views of the millennium.

To start, in Sunday’s lesson there are two conflicting statements based on Isaiah 65:17. First we read:

Fortunately, our existence doesn’t have to end in death. On the contrary, we have been offered life, eternal life, in a world made new.

Then the author quotes from Isaiah 65:17, including some of the descriptions of the glorious life that will be enjoyed including long lives and the absence of weeping. Then follows a short statement which, although true in itself, completely contradicts his previous statement and thoroughly confuses the Bible’s statements about a new heavens and earth:

Nice as it is, why is this not a picture of our final restoration, our final hope?

So which is it? A description of “eternal life” and, by extension, eternity as stated in the first quote, or not, as implied in the second?

These confusing, contradictory statements are found all through this week’s lesson. For example, later in the week, the author subtly alters the Biblical text and changes this creation of newness into merely a process:

Here in Isaiah 65, God presents the creation of “new heavens” and a “new earth” as a process, a series of steps, that begins with the recreation of Jerusalem. 

This alteration also neatly avoids the problem of admitting that Jerusalem is the center of God’s promises—an avoidance which itself fits neatly into the premise of replacement theology—that God has totally and finally rejected Israel because of their rejection of the Messiah.

So, instead of accepting this twisting of words, let’s look at those verses one-by-one and see what they actually say, and from that examination, maybe we can come to a better understanding of the timing and location of this newness that God promised to create.

We will examine Isaiah 65:17-22 section-by-section:

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 we have a beautiful promise that we will no longer remember the pain and death of our life here on earth.

But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create; for behold, I create Jerusalem for rejoicing and her people for gladness (v. 18).

This promise of the new heavens and earth includes Jerusalem. After the Babylonian captivity, Jerusalem was rebuilt; but it was again destroyed in AD 70. In spite of lying desolate for nearly 2000 years, however, it was rebuilt after Israel was reborn in 1948. Although the Jews are glad—“rejoicing”—in their city now, the rest of the following verses cannot be referring to life as it is right now—not with all the enemies all around whose constant wish is to drive them into the sea to exterminate them.

I will also rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in My people; And there will no longer be heard in her The voice of weeping and the sound of crying (v. 18).

This lack of weeping and crying certainly excludes the possibility that this description applies to the current Jerusalem or to our current life here on earth.

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 (v. 19, 20). 

This verse is saying that babies will not die soon after birth, and older people will not die before living to a ripe old age. The second half of the verse says that if someone dies by age 100, they will still be considered “young” and anyone who does not live to at least that age will be considered cursed by God. This suggests that death by 100 years of age will not be considered normal.

Notice also that while it tells of extended lifespans, it does not say that no one will die; it only says that they will live long lives. From that we can see that this scenario cannot be true now, as, for the most part, few people live even to 100. And it cannot be referring to life in heaven or in eternity as there will be no more death (Revelation 20:14).

The last two verses go on to describe more of life during this time period:

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 (v. 21, 22).

We see that there will be labor—building and gardening—along with the promise that each person will be allowed to enjoy the results of his own labor with no one taking it from them. Again, this situation is clearly not what is happening on earth now. Also, as we know that trees do not live forever, the promise of the days of the people being “as the lifetime of a tree” (a long time!), and the promise that people will live long enough to “wear out the work of their hands” goes along with the previous verses that describe long life that does end sometime.

Again, this picture cannot be a description of heaven or of eternity as there will be no more death or, as we usually understand it, no more labor with the earth. After the fall of Adam and Eve, the curse God pronounced included the fact that they would have to work the land with “the sweat of your brow”. That is about hard labor, not gentle, easy gardening. With the lifting of the curse, working the earth will no longer be hard work. 

So, with a little logic, we can determine the most likely timing of these promises:

1. This passage is not describing our current life on earth as we still have much sorrow, weeping, and death, and very few people live to even 100 years.
2. This description is not describing heaven as there is no death there.
3. Neither is this passage describing eternity as we will live forever and, according to Revelation, there will be no more death.
4. Ruling out the present and the eternal future, the millennium remains, and it is on earth (see #2 above). Those that survive the great tribulation will go into the millennium as mortal humans who give birth (remember, no early infant deaths), will work the land (no one will take from them the results of their work) and long, long lives (dying at 100 will be considered to be dying young, perhaps because of a curse from God).

Although our belief in God and His Word is by faith, we also have to remember that God does not tell lies; and, although He often revealed things in His Word as symbols with hidden meaning, words this clear must be taken just as written. By using a little logic, their meaning is quite clear and easy to understand—but only if you take it as a whole and don’t try to force it to mean what you have previously decided to be true.

Isaiah 66 is a continuation of the message of chapter 65. Verses 1 and 2 declare God’s sovereignty. Verses 3-6 are a rebuke of those who refuse to listen and obey God. Verses 7-9 are an amazing prophecy that was once considered to be just symbolic—that is, until they literally came true on May 14, 1948, when the nation of Israel suddenly, “in one day”, became a nation again.

Here is an interesting note on verse 7:

Before she travailed, she brought forth; before her pain came, she gave birth to a boy.

Israel was declared to be a nation but the “birth pains” actually came after that fact when they were attacked by those around them. They should have been destroyed, but God’s miraculous intervention kept them safe! So, the “labor pains” came after the birth.

An interesting addition to the Isaiah passage is found in Jeremiah 31 which also talks about the regathering of Israel. Verse 8 says:

Behold, I am bringing them from the north country, And I will gather them from the remote parts of the earth, Among them the blind and the lame, The woman with child and she who is in labor with child, together; A great company, they will return here.

In 1948, on the first large flights of Jews to their homeland, there were quite a few pregnant women and some that actually were in labor during that flight. Exactly as God had said.

Back to Isaiah 66. Verses 10-17 go back to the future joy of Jerusalem and the destruction of the wicked. Starting with verse 18, we see the promise of the future re-gathering to Jerusalem—in context, all of Israel as originally promised to Abraham—and life during the Millennium.

Clearly, all life and worship on earth during the millennium will center on Jerusalem as is made clear by the description of those from the rest of the world bringing their offerings to the temple.

Verse 23, which is often used as a club to “prove” that everyone will keep the Sabbath in heaven and during eternity, is still describing worship during the millennium. Remember that those inhabiting the earth will be people just as we are now—sinful but forgiven, long-lived but still subject to death. With the earth restored to what it was like at creation and the devil bound in the pit (Revelation 20:1-3), once again mankind can live life as it was intended and worship the Lord.

In Thursday’s lesson there is a convoluted attempt to force verse 23 back into creation and into eternity while skipping the millennium on earth.

But what does Revelation 21 say about it? That chapter starts out by describing earth at the beginning of eternity. The New Jerusalem comes down and, starting with verse 22, there is a description of the city:

I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. 

And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it (Rev. 21:22–24). 

Adventists use those 3 verses to “prove” that there will be a weekly Sabbath, but to do that, they have to ignore verse 25:

In the daytime (for there will be no night there) its gates will never be closed; 

Maybe someone can explain how there can be a weekly Sabbath when there is no night or day.

There is one more comment in Wednesday’s lesson that needs to be addressed:

In light of the Cross, in light of the gospel commission, why is any kind of spiritual or ethnic or even political elitism so abhorrent in the sight of God? Look closely at yourself; are you harboring any sense of spiritual or ethnic superiority? If so, repent!

In light of the mishandling of God’s promises to the nation of Israel, I would suggest that one sense of superiority from which many in the Church as a whole, not just Adventists, need to repent is the evil of Replacement Theology.

Look ahead to the next book of the Bible, to Jeremiah 31. After promising to regather Israel to the land promised to Abraham and his descendants, God makes this beautiful promise:

But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the Lord, “I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the Lord, “for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more (Jer. 31:33, 34).

Then, after this promise to forgive them, God essentially swears by Himself, as there is no one greater by which He could swear:

 Thus says the Lord, Who gives the sun for light by day And the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night, Who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar; The Lord of hosts is His name:

 If this fixed order departs From before Me, declares the Lord, Then the offspring of Israel also will cease From being a nation before Me forever.

 Thus says the Lord, “If the heavens above can be measured And the foundations of the earth searched out below, Then I will also cast off all the offspring of Israel For all that they have done,” declares the Lord.

In just three short verses, we see God’s promise that He will never cast them off from being His people. NEVER!

So, to attempt to remove Israel from God’s promises is to say that either God lied or He changed His mind. And if we cannot trust Him to keep all of His promises to Israel, how can we possibly trust Him to keep His promises to the Church? †