In continuation of this lesson 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.
The final chapters of Isaiah (60-66) concentrate on the glory to come for restored Zion. I believe much of this section was fulfilled with the inauguration of the Messianic age in the first coming of Christ. Isaiah may have also looked forward to the future glory of Zion (spiritual Israel, i.e., the church) to be experienced at the culmination of the Messiah’s reign at the end of time, following the resurrection and final judgment - Isa 11:1-4 “There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear, but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.” If so, Isaiah framed his description of the new heavens and new earth in terms to which the Babylonian captives could easily relate. Thus I tend to favor Coffman’s perspective of both an immediate and remote fulfillment. The immediate fulfillment pertained to the first advent of Christ. The remote fulfillment pertains to the second advent of Christ. When Peter said “according to His promise”, I believe he had reference to the promise made in Isaiah, first written to provide great hope to Israel facing Babylonian captivity. To Christians in the first century facing persecution, a similar prophecy concerning new heavens and a new earth was written to them...
Let’s now examine what has been promised about a new heavens and a new earth, by Jesus, and prophesied in Revelation. The present earth and heaven are no more - Re 20:11 “Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them.” Note that at the Day of Judgment they have “fled away”; there was found “no place for them”. John saw a new heaven and new earth - 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.” For the first heaven and first earth had “passed away” and there was also “no more sea”.
Let’s look at some of the interpretations of Revelation. Some believe it is a depiction of the church today. Following the persecution by the forces of Satan in the first couple of centuries a picture of the church purged and purified by suffering is depicted. Others believe it is a depiction of the eternal state of the redeemed. “Peter and John were both writing of the final judgment and what should follow, rather than of the church today, purged and purified by suffering.” - Homer Hailey, A Commentary on Revelation, p. 406. “John’s prophecy in this vision was about things beyond the final judgment (20:13)... From Peter and John’s position in time, the destiny of the redeemed after the final judgment stands in contrast to this present era of the church age.” - Harkrider, ibid.
Revelation was written to comfort persecuted Christians in Asia Minor - Re 1:4 “John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne,”. It describes events that would “shortly take place” - Re 1:1 “The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John,”, 3 “Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near.”; 22:6 “And he said to me, "These words are trustworthy and true. And the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent his angel to show his servants what must soon take place."’, 10 “And he said to me, "Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near.” Such Christians were assured that Christ would be victorious - Re 17:14 “They will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful."’
Christ would be victorious over the harlot, first supported by the beast and then devoured by it - Re 17:3 “And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was full of blasphemous names, and it had seven heads and ten horns.”, 16 “And the ten horns that you saw, they and the beast will hate the prostitute. They will make her desolate and naked, and devour her flesh and burn her up with fire,”.
Christ would be victorious over the beast and the false prophet, puppets of Satan - Re 13:1-4 “And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems on its horns and blasphemous names on its heads. And the beast that I saw was like a leopard; its feet were like a bear's, and its mouth was like a lion's mouth. And to it the dragon gave his power and his throne and great authority. One of its heads seemed to have a mortal wound, but its mortal wound was healed, and the whole earth marveled as they followed the beast. And they worshiped the dragon, for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, "Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?"’, 11-12 “Then I saw another beast rising out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb and it spoke like a dragon. It exercises all the authority of the first beast in its presence, and makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose mortal wound was healed.”; 19:20 “And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who in its presence had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur.”
Christ would be victorious over Satan himself, first by binding him for a long time - Re 20:1-3 “Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while.” The Christians in Asia Minor were also comforted by scenes in the distant future, similar to how Isaiah comforted his contemporaries by looking to the future. The ultimate end of Satan - Re 20:7-10 “And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison and will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea. And they marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, but fire came down from heaven and consumed them, and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.”
The Christians in Asia Minor were also comforted by scenes of deliverance from condemnation at the Judgment - Re 20:11-15 “Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.” They were also comforted by the eternal blessedness of the heavenly city - Re 21:1-22:5.
Thus I favor the perspective espoused above by Hailey and Harkrider. John wrote of the final judgment and what was to follow. He depicted the destiny of the redeemed after the final judgment.
We will continue this lesson in part three. Having now reviewed the prophecies of God and Jesus as found in Isaiah and Revelation, let’s summarize what is “The Promise Of New Heavens And A New Earth”.
