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Isaiah 65:17-25 NOTES

Isaiah 65:17-25 - EXEGESIS (Donovan)

CONTEXT from 65:1-16: In these verses, Yahweh outlines the earlier rebelliousness of his people and the rightness of his judgment upon them. But the tone shifts and we near a note of redemption at the end when Yahweh says: "So that he who blesses himself in the earth shall bless himself in the God of truth; and he who swears in the earth shall swear by the God of truth; because the former troubles are forgotten, and because they are hidden from my eyes" (v. 65:16).

The promise, then, is that "the former troubles (sins) are forgotten, and... are hidden from (God's) eyes" (v. 16). Since there was a cause-and-effect relationship between the sins of the people and their suffering, the implication is that God, having forgotten those sins, is ready to restore their fortunes.

The setting is Jerusalem after the return of the exiles. Years have passed-decades, in fact-and much has been accomplished. Walls have been erected and the temple has been rebuilt. Still, much of the city is still rubble. The new temple is but a pale shadow of the one that the Babylonians destroyed so many years earlier. The people have lived through a number of difficult years-in some respects more difficult than the years of their exile. They must wonder whether this patched-together Jerusalem is the full measure of their inheritance. They must wonder if Yahweh has the power and will to restore their former glory. Their concerns are reflected in chapters 63 and 64, which culminate in this prayer:

"Don't be furious, Yahweh, neither remember iniquity forever: see, look, we beg you, we are all your people. Your holy cities are become a wilderness, Zion has become a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation. Our holy and our beautiful house, where our fathers praised you, is burned with fire; and all our pleasant places are laid waste. Will you refrain yourself for these things, Yahweh? Will you hold your peace, and afflict us very severely?" (Isaiah 64:9-12).

ISAIAH 65:17. BEHOLD, I CREATE NEW HEAVENS AND A NEW EARTH

17 "For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; And the former things will not be remembered or come to mind.

"For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth" (v. 17a). The word "For" connects this verse to promise in the previous verse that "the former troubles are forgotten, and... are hidden from my eyes" (v. 16c). The promise is that Yahweh, having forgotten the former troubles, will create new heavens and a new earth. This is not the first time we have heard of "heavens" and "earth" in this book:
• The prophet earlier identified Yahweh as the one who "created the heavens and stretched them out, he who spread out the earth and that which comes out of it, he who gives breath to its people and spirit to those who walk in it" (42:5).
• But Yahweh commanded the heavens and earth to listen to a word of judgment-"I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me" (1:2). "Therefore I will make the heavens tremble, and the earth will be shaken out of its place in the wrath of Yahweh of Armies, and in the day of his fierce anger" (Isaiah 13:13).
• But the God of judgment is also the God of redemption who says, "Sing, you heavens, for Yahweh has done it! Shout, you lower parts of the earth! Break out into singing, you mountains, O forest, all of your trees, for Yahweh has redeemed Jacob, and will glorify himself in Israel" (Isaiah 44:23)-and "Sing, heavens; and be joyful, earth; and break forth into singing, mountains: for Yahweh has comforted his people, and will have compassion on his afflicted" (Isaiah 49:13).
• The mention of creating "new heavens and a new earth" takes us back to the opening chapters of Genesis where, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth" (Genesis 1:1). With each act of creation, God pronounced the creation good, but the introduction of sin in Genesis 3 defiled the good creation-nothing has been the same since. But God is going to redeem the situation by creating "new heavens and a new earth." This does not mean that he is going to destroy what exists and begin anew from nothing. This is to be a transformation more akin to the rebirth to which Jesus alludes in his conversation with Nicodemus (Jn 3).

"and the former things shall not be remembered, nor come into mind" (v. 17b). "Former things" alludes to Israel's rebelliousness and sin and the judgment that resulted. God will forgive and forget. The former things will be relegated to a dim and unremembered past-hidden from God's sight" (v. 16).

ISAIAH 65:18. BE YOU GLAD AND REJOICE FOREVER

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

In the earlier part of this chapter, God said, "my servants shall rejoice, but you shall be disappointed" (v. 13). But now that God is creating new heavens and a new earth and is pushing the former iniquities out of sight and out of mind (v. 17), the people can "be glad and rejoice forever" in what God is creating. The new Jerusalem will not only be a joy to them, but will also be a joy to God and its people will be a delight to him.

"We will hear of the new Jerusalem again in the New Testament, and the joyful tone there will be much like the joyful tone that we hear in Isaiah: 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. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. (Rev. 21:1-2).

ISAIAH 65:19-20. I WILL REJOICE IN JERUSALEM

19 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. 20 No longer will there be in it an infant who lives only a few days, Or an old person who does not live out his days; For the youth will die at the age of a hundred, And the one who does not reach the age of a hundred Will be thought accursed.

A series of contrasts are either stated or implied in verses 19b-25 (Watts, 925):
• Weeping-> rejoicing
• An infant that lives a few days-> A person who lives to be old
• An old person dying early-> an old person living beyond a hundred years
• Build and another inhabit-> Build and inhabit
• Plant and another eat-> Plant and eat
• Labor in vain -> Enjoy the work of their hands
• Bear children for calamity-> Offspring blessed by the Lord
• Unanswered prayer -> Answered prayer
• Violence-> Peace

"I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people" (v. 19a). This is very different from the descriptions of Jerusalem and its people that we find earlier in this book. In chapter 1, we heard that "the faithful city has become a prostitute! ...Therefore...I will turn my hand on you" (1:21, 24-25). However, even there we found a note of redemption- "Afterward you shall be called 'The city of righteousness, a faithful town" (1:26). That promise is now being renewed in the promise "to create Jerusalem a rejoicing" (v. 18) and to "rejoice in Jerusalem" (v. 19a).
• The people will have cause for rejoicing, because the sound of weeping and the cry of distress will be but distant memories.

"There shall be no more shall there be an infant of days, nor an old man who has not filled his days; for the child shall die one hundred years old, and the sinner being one hundred years old shall be accursed" (v. 20). People will no longer have their lives cut short. Both infants and the elderly will enjoy improved prospects for longevity. This is not a promise that "Death will be no more" as in the New Testament (Revelation 21:4), but is instead a promise of longevity. The mention of "one hundred years" is hyperbole (exaggeration for effect), because we have no record of people of that time routinely living to be more than a hundred years old. The point is that people in the new era will experience significantly longer lives.

ISAIAH 65:21-23. THEY SHALL NOT LABOR IN VAIN

21 They will build houses and inhabit them; They will also plant vineyards and eat their fruit. 22 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 fully enjoy the work of their hands. 23 They will not labor in vain, Or give birth to children for disaster; For they are the descendants of those blessed by the LORD, And their descendants with them.

"They shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat their fruit" (v. 21). The Old Testament includes a number of futility curses imposed by God on sinful people-i.e., "You shall betroth a wife, and another man shall lie with her: you shall build a house, and you shall not dwell therein: you shall plant a vineyard, and shall not use its fruit" (Deuteronomy 28:30; see also Amos 5:11; Micah 6:15; Zephaniah 1:13). But now we have the opposite of the futility curse-a blessing that cancels the curse-a promise that those who labor will enjoy the fruits of their labors.

"They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat" (v. 22a). This reiterates in slightly different words the promise of verse 21.

"for as the days of a tree shall be the days of my people" (v. 22b). People admire trees for many reasons-their beauty, their productivity, and their strength. Here it is their longevity that is in view. Unlike "the grass of the field, which today exists, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven"(Matthew 6:30), some trees live for decades-others for centuries-and a few for millennia.
• We are accustomed to seeing trees that were here long before we were born and will be here long after we die. Most of us would be glad to trade our human longevity for tree longevity. The promise here (again hyperbole-exaggeration for effect) is that people will enjoy the kind of longevity that is routine for trees.

"and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands" (v. 22c). This repeats the promise of verses 21-22a that people "shall build houses, and inhabit them," etc. The added dimension is the phrase, "my chosen." God chose Israel many centuries earlier, but they had sinned. The result was the futility curse: "You shall betroth a wife, and another man shall lie with her: you shall build a house, and you shall not dwell therein: you shall plant a vineyard, and shall not use its fruit" (Deuteronomy 28:30). That curse is now reversed, so that God's chosen "shall long enjoy the work of their hands."

"They shall not labor in vain" (v. 23a). This repeats the promise of verses 21-22.

"nor bring forth calamity" (v. 23a). To understand this phrase, we have only to look at the world around us. In many places, women bear children for calamity. Their children die of malnutrition or disease. They are impressed into tribal militias. They live in neighborhoods where they are not safe walking to and from school. They are tempted to engage in drugs, binge drinking, reckless driving, promiscuous sex, and a host of other dangerous activities. But the promise of this verse is that "my chosen" (v. 22c) will not bear children for calamity.

"for they are the seed of the blessed Yahweh, and their offspring with them" (v. 23b). A woman contemplating childbirth could be assured that her child would not be a child of calamity, but would instead be a child blessed by the Lord. The promise extends not just to that child, but also to its children and their children. This reverses the curse that visits "the iniquity of the fathers on the children, and on the children's children, on the third and on the fourth generation" (Exodus 34:7)-a curse that we often see in effect today as children of drug addicts and other dysfunctional adults suffer for the sins of their parents.

ISAIAH 65: 24. BEFORE THEY CALL, I WILL ANSWER

24 It will also come to pass that before they call, I will answer; while they are still speaking, I will listen.

This is a lovely promise. While we have experienced the power of prayer, we have also experienced its frustration. Sometimes we wonder if God really hears our prayers, because we don't get the answers that we expect. At other times, we find ourselves trying to pray but not knowing how-or mouthing clumsy words that seem inadequate to express the longings of our hearts-or we fall asleep while trying to pray-or we want to pray for someone but forget to do so. This verse suggests that our inadequacy in prayer is no barrier to communicating with God. He is quite capable of understanding our clumsiest prayers-even the unspoken prayers of our hearts.
• The New Testament includes a similar promise: "In the same way, the Spirit also helps our weaknesses, for we don't know how to pray as we ought. But the Spirit himself makes intercession for us
with groanings which can't be uttered. He who searches the hearts knows what is on the Spirit's mind, because he makes intercession for the saints according to God" (Romans 8:26-27).

ISAIAH 65:25. THE WOLF AND THE LAMB SHALL FEED TOGETHER

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 on all My holy mountain," says the LORD.

"The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the ox" (v. 25a). Much earlier the prophet promised, "The wolf will live with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the young goat; The calf, the young lion, and the fattened calf together; and a little child will lead them" (Isaiah 11:6; see also verses 7-9). Now Yahweh reiterates the promise that "my chosen" (v. 22) will see a world where predators coexist in peace with prey.

"and dust shall be the serpent's food" (v. 25b). This alludes to Genesis 3:14, where God cursed the serpent, saying: "On your belly you shall go, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life." Now God says once again that the serpent's food shall be dust-suggesting that the serpent will no longer be a threat to other life. This, then, represents a danger neutralized-another facet of a newly peaceful world.

"They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, says Yahweh" (v. 25c). The holy mountain is Mount Zion, on which Jerusalem and the temple are located-the dwelling place of God and holy ground to the faithful. This is a promise, expressed in poetic language, that God's people will again enjoy peaceful lives on
God's mountain.

EW Commentary-The ultimate answer: The LORD will redeem and remake all of creation.

1. (65:17-19) The promise of new heavens and a new earth.

For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; And the former shall not be remembered or come to mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create; For behold, I create Jerusalem as a rejoicing, And her people a joy. I will rejoice in Jerusalem, And joy in My people; The voice of weeping shall no longer be heard in her, Nor the voice of crying.

a. Behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: As the ultimate answer to the problem of man's sin, God will create new heavens and a new earth. This takes place after the millennium, the glorious thousand-year reign of Jesus Christ, when this very earth and sky is done away with and God makes new heavens and a new earth.
i. Peter used this promise to encourage believers to holy living: Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells (2 Peter 3:13). In the book of Revelation, John also sees this: 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 (Revelation 21:1).
ii. From John's context we see that this new heavens and a new earth comes after the Great White Throne judgment (Revelation 20:11-15) and is connected not with the millennial earth, but with the eternal state. If all we had to go by was Isaiah's statement, we would automatically connect this new heavens and a new earth with the millennial earth, because immediately after Isaiah 65:17-19, we clearly find the millennial earth described. But based on what we find in 2 Peter and Revelation, we must see that Isaiah is in the prophetic habit of switching quickly from one time frame to another, speaking of the eternal state in Isaiah 65:17, and of the millennial earth in Isaiah 65:20-25.

b. And the former shall not be remembered or come to mind: This is another indication that Isaiah 65:17 does not speak of the millennial earth. Other passages of Scripture referring to the millennium show that there will be definite remembrance of former times on the earth. The whole temple ritual existing in the millennial earth (Ezekiel 40-46) will be a remembrance of the former days of Levitical sacrifice. The former nations of the world will remain (after judgment) and will serve the LORD and Israel (Psalm 72).

c. I create Jerusalem as a rejoicing: There will be a Jerusalem in the eternal state, in the new heavens and a new earth. Revelation describes - in stunning imagery - the descent of the New Jerusalem from heaven to the new earth (Revelation 21:2-27). It is in this Jerusalem, the eternal New Jerusalem, that the voice of weeping shall no longer be heard in her, nor the voice of crying.
i. John clearly connects this promise to the New Jerusalem: 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 (Revelation 21:4).

2. (65:20-25) The blessed state of the millennial earth.

"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. 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 as the days of a tree, so shall be the days of My people, And My elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands. They shall not labor in vain, Nor bring forth children for trouble; For they shall be the descendants of the blessed of the LORD, And their offspring with them. "It shall come to pass That before they call, I will answer; And while they are still speaking, I will hear. 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.

a. No more shall an infant from there live but a few days...for the child shall die one hundred years old: Quickly - as is the prophetic habit - Isaiah shifts gears, and now speaks not of the eternal state, but of the millennial earth. There will be death in the millennial earth, but in the transformed biology and ecology of the world under the reign of Jesus Christ, people will live incredibly longer, as they did in the days before the flood.
i. In the millennial earth, people will live so long that if someone dies being one hundred years old, people will consider that one accursed.

b. They shall build houses and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit: The millennial reign of Jesus Christ will not only be a time of biological transformation; it will also be a time of social transformation when perfect justice reigns over the earth. Never again will someone be robbed of the fruits of their labor. If you build a house, no one will steal it from you. You will inhabit that house. If you plant vineyards, no one will steal the fruit of it. You will eat their fruit. God gloriously promises, My elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands.
i. This may not sound like much, but for those who live in profoundly unjust times, this simple justice sounds like a miracle.
ii. One significant reason there will be such justice on the millennial earth is because Satan will be bound for these 1,000 years, unable to work his destructive mischief on the earth (Revelation 20:1-3).

c. They shall not labor in vain, nor bring forth children for trouble; for they shall be the descendants of the blessed of the LORD, and their offspring with them: There will be babies born and children raised in the millennial earth, and this is another indication that we are not in the eternal state. In the eternal state, we neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels of God in heaven (Matthew 22:30). In the millennial earth, those allowed to enter are blessed of the LORD, and they and their descendants will populate the earth.

d. It shall come to pass that before they call, I will answer; and while they are still speaking, I will hear: The millennial reign of Jesus Christ will not only be a time of biological and social transformation. It will also be a time of profound spiritual transformation and intimacy. There will be an immediate and constant sense of the presence of God, and His knowledge will cover the earth (Isaiah 11:9).
i. This does not mean that everyone on the millennial earth will be saved; only that the opportunity for such close relationship will be widely enjoyed. We know that not all will be saved during the millennial earth because: At the conclusion of the time of the millennial earth, Satan is released from his confinement and finds many willing servants on the earth (Revelation 20:7-9), whom he gathers for one last - and strikingly futile - rebellion against God. Zechariah 14:16-19 and Psalm 2 describe the firm rule of the Messiah during the millennial earth, dealing decisively with those who do not surrender to His reign, enforcing righteousness all over the earth.
ii. Though not all will be saved on the millennial earth, we may suppose that the proportions will be reversed. Today, it is but a remnant that is saved because many are called but few are chosen (Matthew 22:14) and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it (Matthew 7:13-14). In the millennial earth, the few will be those who don't know the LORD and are not saved.
iii. One of the reasons why most are saved and know the LORD on the millennial earth is because not all survivors of the Great Tribulation are allowed to populate the millennial earth. After the Great Tribulation - which in judgment reduces the population of the earth by at least a third (Revelation 9:15, 18) - Jesus Christ will return to the earth, and in the judgment of the nations, determine who will be allowed to populate the millennial earth (Matthew 25:32-34). The millennial earth will have a "screened" population, that in terms of righteousness, will not be perfect, but better than the present earth.

e. The wolf and the lamb shall feed together: The millennial earth will also see a remarkable ecological transformation. No longer will predators stalk their victims. Instead, even the wolf and the lamb will get along, and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.

f. "They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain," says the LORD: This is the glorious result of the transformation that happens during the millennial earth. The world will be different biologically, spiritually, socially, and ecologically.
i. The Bible speaks powerfully to other aspects of the millennial earth. Tragically, the Church through history has often ignored or denied the promise of the millennial reign of Jesus Christ. The early church until Augustine almost universally believed in an earthly, historical reign of Jesus, initiated by His return. Tyconius (in the late 300's) was the first to influentially champion a spiritualized interpretation, saying that this Millennium is now (amillennialism). His view was adopted by Augustine, the Roman Catholic Church and most Reformation theologians. Growing out of amillennialism is the doctrine of postmillennialism is an outgrowth of amillennialism, saying the millennium will happen in this age before Jesus' return - but that the church will bring it to pass. But the clear teaching of the Bible isn't amillennialism or postmillennialism, but what is called premillennialism - the teaching that Jesus Christ will return to this earth before the millennial earth, and He will establish and govern it directly. There are more than 400 verses in more than 20 different passages in the Old Testament which deal with this time when Jesus Christ rules and reigns personally over planet earth.
· King David will have a prominent place in the millennial earth (Isaiah 55:3-5, Jeremiah 30:4-11, Ezekiel 34:23-31, Ezekiel 37:21-28, and Hosea 3:5).
· There will be blessing and security for national Israel in the millennial earth (Amos 9:11-15).
· The Millennium a time of purity and devotion to God (Zechariah 13:1-9).
· Israel will be a nation of prominence in the millennial earth (Ezekiel 17:22-24).
· There will be a rebuilt temple and restored temple service on the millennial earth (Ezekiel 40-48, Ezekiel 37:26-28, Amos 9:11, and Ezekiel 20:39-44).
ii. The New Testament specifically promises a literal reign of Jesus Christ (Luke 1:32-33).
In their resurrected state, the saints will be given responsibility in the Millennial Earth according to their faithful service (Luke 19:11-27, Revelation 20:4-6, Revelation 2:26-28; Revelation 3:12, Revelation 3:21, and 1 Corinthians 6:2-3).

Isaiah 65:17-25 - PULPIT COMMENTARY EXPOSITION

A PROMISE OF NEW HEAVENS AND A NEW EARTH. The final answer of God to the complaint and prayer of his people (Isaiah 64:1-12.) is now given. The entire existing state of things is to pass away. God will create a new heaven and a new earth, and place his people therein; and the old conditions will be all changed, and the old grounds of complaint disappear. In the "new Jerusalem" there will be no sorrow, neither "weeping" nor "crying" (Isaiah 65:19); life will be greatly prolonged (Isaiah 65:20); men will always enjoy the fruit of their labours (Isaiah 65:21, Isaiah 65:22), and see their children grow up (Isaiah 65:23). Prayer will be answered almost before it is uttered (Isaiah 65:24). Finally, there will be peace in the animal world, and between the animal world and man. No living thing will kill or hurt another in all God's "holy mountain" (Isaiah 65:25).

Isaiah 65:17: I create. The same verb is used as in Genesis 1:1; and the prophet's idea seems to be that the existing heaven and earth are to be entirely destroyed (see Isaiah 24:19, Isaiah 24:20, and the comment ad loc.), and a fresh heaven and earth created in their place out of nothing. The "new Jerusalem" is not the old Jerusalem renovated, but is a veritable "new Jerusalem," "created a rejoicing" (Genesis 1:18; scrap. Revelation 21:2). The germ of the teaching will be found in Isaiah 51:16. The former shall not be remembered. Some suppose "the former troubles" (see Isaiah 51:16) to be meant; but it is best (with Delitzsch) to understand "the former heavens and earth." The glory of the new heavens and earth would be such that the former ones would not only not be regretted, but would not even be had in remembrance. No one would so much as think of them.

Isaiah 65:18: I create Jerusalem (comp. Revelation 21:2, "I, John, saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband"). The description which follows in Isaiah 65:11, Isaiah 65:12 is quite unlike that of the old Jerusalem. A rejoicing. The "new Jerusalem" was to be from the first all joy and rejoicing-a scene of perpetual gladness. Her people also was to be "a joy" or "a delight," since God would delight in them (Isaiah 65:19).

Isaiah 65:19: The voice of weeping shall be no more heard (comp. Revelation 21:4). The reasons there given are satisfactory: "There shall be no more death, neither sorrow ... neither shall there be any more pain." But these reasons scarcely apply here. For Isaiah's "new Jerusalem" is not without death (verse 20), nor without sorrow, since it is not without sin (verse 20), nor, as there is death there, is it without pain. Isaiah's picture, according to Delitzsch, represents the millennial state, not the final condition of the redeemed; but this trait-the absence of all weeping-can only be literally true of the final state.

Isaiah 65:20: There shall be no more thence an infant of days; i.e. there shall not go from the new Jerusalem into the unseen world any infant of a few days old. On the contrary, even "the youth" shall reach a hundred; i.e. one who dies when he is a hundred shall be regarded as cut off in his youth. The general rule shall be, that old men shall "fill their days," or attain to patriarchal longevity. Even the sinner, who is under the curse of God, shall not be cut off till he is a hundred. What is most remarkable in the description is that death and sin are represented as still continuing. Death was spoken of as "swallowed up in victory" in one of the earlier descriptions of Messiah's kingdom (Isaiah 25:8).

Isaiah 65:21: They shall build houses, and inhabit them. The curse pronounced on apostasy in Deuteronomy 28:30 shall no more rest on God's people. They shall have the fruition of their labours. No enemy shall be able to deprive them of their crops and houses.

Isaiah 65:22: As the days of a tree are the days of my people. Trees endure for many hundreds, perhaps for thousands of years. The cedars of Lebanon, the oaks of Bashan, were known to have an antiquity of centuries. Isaiah may have had a knowledge of other trees to which attached the tradition of a yet longer existence. In our own day Brazil and California have furnished proofs of vegetable growths exceeding a millennium. Mine elect shall long enjoy; literally, shall wear out; i.e. have the full use and enjoyment of the work of their hands.

Isaiah 65:23: They shall not ... bring forth for trouble. Their women shall not bear children to see them carried off after a few days, or months, or years, by disease, or accident, or famine, or the sword of the invader. There shall be an end of such "troubles," and, God's blessing resting upon those who are his children, their children shall, as a general rule, "be with them;" i.e. remain to them during their lifetime, and not be lost to them by a premature decease.

Isaiah 65:24: Before they call, I will answer. God is always "more ready to hear than we to pray." In the "new Jerusalem" he will be prompt to answer his people's prayers almost before they are uttered. It is involved in this, as Delitzsch notes, that the will of the people shall be in harmony with the will of Jehovah, and that their prayers will therefore be acceptable prayers.

Isaiah 65:25: The wolf and the lamb shall feed together (comp. Isaiah 11:6-8; Hosea 2:18). The portraiture here is far less elaborate than in the earlier chapter, to which the present passage may be regarded as a refer-once. (For the sense in which the entire picture is to be understood, see the comment upon Isaiah 11:6-9). Dust shall be the serpent's meat. Here we have a new feature, not contained in the earlier description. Serpents shall become harmless, anal instead of preying upon beasts, or birds, or reptiles, shall be content with the food assigned them in the primeval decree, "Upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life" (Genesis 3:14). Mr. Cheyne appositely notes that "much dust is the food of the shades in the Assyrio-Babylonian Hades". They shall not hurt nor destroy. Repeated from Isaiah 11:9, word for word. In neither case should we regard the subject of the sentence as limited to the animals only. The meaning is that there shall be no violence of any kind, done either by man or beast, in the happy period described.