2 Peter 3:13
In describing the events pertaining to the Day of the Lord, the apostle Peter depicts the destruction of the heavens and the earth - 2 Pe 3:7 “But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.”, 10-12 “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn!” He declares that we look for new heavens and a new earth - 2 Pe 3:13 “But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.”
The hope for new heavens and a new earth is based upon a promise; what promise has been made regarding such things...? One in the Old Testament, centuries before Peter’s statement - Isa 65:17 ‘"For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind.”; 66:22 ‘"For as the new heavens and the new earth that I make shall remain before me, says the LORD, so shall your offspring and your name remain.” One in the New Testament, possibly decades after Peter’s statement - Re 21:1 “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.”
Since we are to “look” for such things (2 Pe 3:13, see above), let’s examine what has been promised about a new heavens and a new earth, as promised by God, let’s take a closer look at these promises. Going back to the text in Isaiah we find a detailed promise of new heavens and a new earth - Isa 65:17-25 ‘"For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in that which I create; for behold, I create Jerusalem to be a joy, and her people to be a gladness. I will rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in my people; no more shall be heard in it the sound of weeping and the cry of distress. No more shall there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not fill out his days, for the young man shall die a hundred years old, and the sinner a hundred years old shall be accursed. They shall build houses and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit. They shall not build and another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat; for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be, and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands. They shall not labor in vain or bear children for calamity, for they shall be the offspring of the blessed of the LORD, and their descendants with them. Before they call I will answer; while they are yet speaking I will hear. The wolf and the lamb shall graze together; the lion shall eat straw like the ox, and dust shall be the serpent's food. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain," says the LORD.”
This all nn conjunction with the promise of a new Jerusalem depicting long life, physical blessings, and peace among the wildlife. A brief reference to new heavens and a new earth is found in - Isa 66:22-24 ‘"For as the new heavens and the new earth that I make shall remain before me, says the LORD, so shall your offspring and your name remain. From new moon to new moon, and from Sabbath to Sabbath, all flesh shall come to worship before me, declares the LORD. "And they shall go out and look on the dead bodies of the men who have rebelled against me. For their worm shall not die, their fire shall not be quenched, and they shall be an abhorrence to all flesh."’ This text is in conjunction with the preservation of Israel’s remnant depicting worship by the nations, torment of the transgressors.
Let’s now take a look at some of the interpretations of Isaiah. Some understand these promises to apply figuratively to Israel’s return from exile. “The passage before us is highly poetical, and we are not required to understand it literally.... The immediate reference here is, doubtless, to the land of Palestine, and to the important changes which would be produced there on the return of the exiles;” - Albert Barnes, Notes On The Bible, commentary on Isa 65:17. “I think it refers to the full conversion of the Jews ultimately; and primarily to the deliverance from the Babylonish captivity.” - Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible, commentary on Isa 65:17.
Some suggest a secondary if not primary reference to the church today. “but it cannot be doubted that, under this imagery, there was couched a reference to far more important changes and blessings in future times under the Messiah - changes as great as if a barren and sterile world should become universally beautiful and fertile.” - Barnes, ibid. “We conclude that...Isaiah’s new heavens and new earth are the present order under Christ (65:17), which followed the passing of the old heathen systems (34:3-4) and the
Jewish order (51:6,16)...” - Homer Hailey, A Commentary on Isaiah, Appendix B,
p. 539. “Isaiah used this...imagery when he prophesied of the new order that was to replace the Mosaic economy.” - Robert Harkrider, Revelation, Truth Commentary, p. 239.
Others suggest a secondary if not primary reference to the eternal state of the redeemed. “Isaiah 65:17-25 must also be understood as describing the final state of the redeemed” - Anthony Hoekema, The Bible and The Future, p. 178. “This passage (Isa 65:17 25)... does not need to be interpreted as describing the millennium, but makes good sense when understood to be an inspired picture of the new earth which is to come.” - ibid., p. 203. “‘The new heavens and the new earth,’ like many other prophecies has an immediate and a remote fulfillment, the first being the creation of ‘an utterly new environment’ in the first advent of Christ and the preaching of the Gospel to Jews and Gentiles alike. The remote and final fulfillment is yet to occur when God will shake the earth the second time, signifying its ‘removal’ (He 12:27), when the present earth and the works within it are ‘burned up’ (2 Pe 3:7-10), when the ‘elements shall melt with fervent heat,’ and when has arrived that final ‘day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.’ It is freely admitted that these sensational promises could all be interpreted figuratively; but this writer, along with many others, clings to the conviction that cosmic disturbances of the most tremendous and far-reaching nature are most surely associated with the final Judgment Day in the Word of God.” - James Coffman, commentary on Isa 65:17-25.
We will continue this lesson in part two. We are going to examine more of what Isaiah wrote, and what has been promised about a new heavens and a new earth, by Jesus, and prophesied in Revelation.
