Christ death has cause many to live, not only a temporal life but a life eternal was offered on the cross. Our existence doesn’t have to end in death, because of Him who has hanged on the cross. Eternal life was offered in a kingdom to be established and when the world made new. This SSLesson will disclosed this important truth for us to glimpse as we surf into the deep things of God.
Inspiration says, "In the Revelation are portrayed the deep things of God. The very name given to its inspired pages, "the Revelation," contradicts the statement that this is a sealed book. A revelation is something revealed. The Lord Himself revealed to His servant the mysteries contained in this book, and He designs that they shall be open to the study of all. Its truths are addressed to those living in the last days of this earth's history, as well as to those living in the days of John. Some of the scenes depicted in this prophecy are in the past, some are now taking place; some bring to view the close of the great conflict between the powers of darkness and the Prince of heaven, and some reveal the triumphs and joys of the redeemed in the earth made new." {AA 584.1}
The Lord Answers the Remnant's Prayer: Isaiah 65:1-16
The Immediate Answer:
The Process of Restoration: Isaiah 65:17-25
Divine Restoration: Isaiah 66:1-18
Human Cooperation for Restoration:
Sharing the Message Isaiah 66:19-21
Universal Priesthood Isaiah 66:21
Final Restoration Isaiah 66:22-24
“ ‘For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former shall not be remembered or come to mind’ ” (Isaiah 65:17, NKJV)
"...I saw" says John the Revelator, likewise after beholding the desolation of the earth, "a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea." Rev. 21:1.
When was there no more sea? -- When the first heaven and the first earth passed away. The scripture does not say that there shall not be any more sea in the earth made new. It simply says that "there was no more sea" while the heaven and the earth were in their removed state -- "passed away." In other words, the first part of the verse envisages a "new heaven and a new earth," whereas the last part foretells of no more sea before the "new heaven" and the "new earth" are made.
Thus on the absolute finality of His Own Word the Lord is to bring all things to an end, even to drying the rivers and the seas while He is making clear riddance of sin.
Since along with our heaven and earth, therefore, our whole solar system is to pass away, not only the saints from earth, then, but with them also the sons of God from the whole system, shall live and reign with Christ in the Heaven of heavens for a thousand years! O what a privilege! What an opportunity! What a gathering that will be! {9Tr 30}
Verse 1: I was sought by those who did not ask for me:
Paul, writing to the Romans, applies this verse to the Gentiles coming into the Gospel (Rom. 10:20). They are, therefore, those who sought the Lord without asking for Him, and those who found Him without seeking after Him. This condition laden with results, points out that the Lord is easily found.
Verse 2: I have stretched out my hands all day long to a rebellious people: which walketh in a way that was not good, after their own thoughts."
Here is a great contrast between the well-informed in the things of God, and the ignorant Gentiles. While the former are pulling away, although the Lord is tearfully pleading with them, the latter are drawing nigh to Him. Here we see how patient God is. He continues to plead on and on. It is hard for Him to give up a sinner before all possible means to save are exhausted. Here is clearly seen that it is easier to save a heathen than it is to save a well satisfied deluded Christian. {1TG 44.3}
Verse 3: A people who provoke me to anger continually to my face:
To sacrifice in gardens is to make a display of religion, and altars of brick (the product of man, not of God's creation as is stone), are the works of man. Cain offered an undesirable sacrifice, but the people brought to view in this scripture offer on an undesirable altar. The one is as bad as the other. And what could altars of brick be if not places of worship which God Himself has not commanded to be built?
Verse 4: Which remain among the graves, and lodge in the monuments:
To remain among the graves is to be denied of having a part in the resurrection of the saints. And to lodge in the monuments is to live in a so-called exalted cliff of life -- dead to God and alive to the world. The Jews were quite careful of what they ate, but here is a forecast of a people whose appetites are as loose as were Adam's and Eve's while partaking of the forbidden fruit.
Although we as a people profess to be strict in keeping the unclean meats away from our tables, this scripture, nevertheless, unveils the shameful truth. It makes known that many are indulging in these abominable things. In one part of the world perhaps they indulge in one abomination, and in another part of the world they indulge in another abomination. {1TG 44.4}
On the one hand they are as careless as they can be, eating anything and everything, clean and unclean alike. And on the other hand they have a high opinion of themselves -- they think themselves holier than any others. Plainly, then, those who indulge in the abominations which verse four tells about, are the very ones who protest against having communion with those who try to live a life consistent with their profession, fearing that reformation might take place. Satanic indeed! God hates hypocrites more than He hates any other kind of sinners. Those who are thus pushed to the right and to the left, see the perfect fulfillment of this scripture at this very time.
Verse 5: Which say, Stand by thyself, come not near to me:
On the one hand they are as careless as they can be, eating anything and everything, clean and unclean alike. And on the other hand they have a high opinion of themselves -- they think themselves holier than any others. Plainly, then, those who indulge in the abominations which verse four tells about, are the very ones who protest against having communion with those who try to live a life consistent with their profession, fearing that reformation might take place. Satanic indeed! God hates hypocrites more than He hates any other kind of sinners. Those who are thus pushed to the right and to the left, see the perfect fulfillment of this scripture at this very time.
Verses 6, 7: Behold, it is written before Me:
Verse six needs no comments, and but a sentence on verse seven will suffice. The Pharisees of yesterday and the Pharisees of today, so to speak, we see are to receive similar rewards.
Verses 8-16 – A promise of blessing for the true servants of the Lord, and a promise of chastisement for the false or shallow servants of God. Do not destroy it, for a blessing is in it,” so will I do for my servants’ sake:
Verses 8, 9:
The seed of Jacob, the inheritor out of Judah, is, of course, Christ. The elect, His servants, are those who escape the destruction here mentioned. They are to be a blessing to others. Symbolically speaking, the mountains are the kingdoms of Judah and Israel gathered together as also foretold in Ezekiel 37:16-28. But if taken literally, the mountains are those in the Promised Land. The phrase, "Mine elect shall inherit it," changes the object from the plural "mountains" to the singular "it," and makes the symbolism carry both thoughts, the Kingdom and the location of It. The verse that follows verifies this very thought.
Verse 10:
Verses nine and ten carry us from the Jewish period into the Christian era, then down to the restoration and consolidation of the kingdoms of Judah and Israel in the land of our fathers, Sharon and Achor. {1TG 44.1, 3}
Verse 11:
Those who are to be destroyed are those who do not particularly care for His holy mountain, the Kingdom mentioned in these scriptures. They are those who prepare a table, or who assemble passages of Scripture taken out of their setting, and with them they feed (teach) the group, or the troop that is of the same mind as themselves. To "furnish the drink offering" is as much as to say that the troop is drinking in whatever their teachers put out.
Verse 12:
To this call of God they do not answer. Neither do they hear Him speaking, for they are inclined to do evil. They delight in their own ways and hate the Lord's. Of this sin they are possibly not conscious.
Verses 13-15:
These evil doers may not now give even a thought to this solemn warning, but as sure as day is followed by night, just that sure their want, shame, sorrow, and calamity are soon to come.
The denominational name will they leave to God's servants; that is, to those who escape from the Lord's sword shall the name consequently be left. The name, however, is left only as a curse, and His servants will be called by another name which "the mouth of the Lord shall name." {1TG 44:7}
Verse 16:
In this verse it is implied that the Lord is taking this strange action because His unfaithful servants have not been blessing themselves in the God of Truth. Consequently, they must have been blessing themselves in the god of falsehood; that is, they have been teaching, approving, and spreading falsehood while the Lord is endeavoring to bless all His servants with Truth fresh from His throne. To those who embrace His Truth for this time, He will never bring up their past.
“For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former shall not be remembered or come to mind.” (Isaiah 65:17)
Verse 17-19, 25
Here we are brought down to the time the Lord finally renews the heaven and the earth.
We are encouraged to rejoice because Jerusalem, as well as her people, are created for joy.
Obviously those who seek to enter into this ark of safety shall live and reign with Christ during the thousand years, and those who spurn it shall lie breathless in the "bottomless pit" until the post-millennial resurrection, only to rise in shame and everlasting contempt, subject to suffer the second death.
How important, then, that we be not napping, but that we arise and put on the wedding garment now lest we find ourselves weeping and gnashing our teeth, even worse than did the ante-diluvians outside the ark when the rains came and the lightning and thunder blasted through the sky as the fountains of the deep broke up.
We have now seen that the restoration "of all things" begins with the gathering of the people unto Judah, and that the Kingdom is complete when the earth is made new. Let us therefore do what we can to help build the ark now and to enter into it with as many souls as possible, for Inspiration's own revelation of this Truth shows that we are approaching the day of restitution of all things, that this is the message of the hour. {2TG 31.9}
Verse 20:
Concerning the wicked in the earth made new, who come up in the second resurrection, the resurrection of the unjust (Rev. 20:5), there shall be neither birth nor death among them for one hundred years. Thus the only children that shall be among them will be those who are raised from the dead. Consequently both those who are old and those who are young will have lived a hundred years from the resurrection of the unjust to the second death. Thus the child and the sinner, becoming a hundred years old in the earth made new, shall both succumb in the end of the century. Then the righteous shall inhabit the whole earth.
Isa. 65:21-25, speak of the saints in the earth made new. Here is another evidence that the chapter is intended for the people at the time of the end, for the closing verses speak of the earth made new.
Verses 21, 22:
Again we see that the Hereafter is to be as real and as natural as was the Garden of Eden in the day it was created. So the message of Elijah shall indeed restore all things -- all that was lost through sin.
Verse 23:
Much of our labor on this earth is done in vain, and many of our sons and daughters are also born in vain. But in the earth made new, no one shall labor in vain, and nothing shall be brought forth for trouble.
Verse 24:
For the answers to some of our prayers we often wait long, and most of them are not answered as we want them to be. But in the earth made new there shall be no delay and no disappointment.
Verse 25:
There shall be peace all around. We shall not see men quarreling nor beasts fighting and eating one another. There shall be real and perfect peace among them all.
If we could only realize what God has prepared for them that love to study His Word and to walk in His ever-increasing Light, then we would make God's business our chief interest; then we would no longer waste our energies striving for the material things of life. They will be added unto us while we diligently labor for the upbuilding of His Kingdom, for He Himself says: "The workman is worthy of his hire."
It shall be that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come and see My glory.” (Isaiah 66:18)
In this chapter the Lord speaks to two groups of servants: the servants up to the cleansing of the sanctuary (Dan. 8:14) -- to the Judgment for the Living, the purification of the church ("Testimonies," Vol. 5, pg. 80), the time in which they are found "smiting" their fellow servants, eating and drinking with the drunken. The other servants are the servants thereafter. To hear what the Lord has to say to His former servants as the time of the cleansing approaches, we shall begin the study with the first two verses of the chapter.
Verses 1, 2:
By saying "the heaven is My throne, and the earth is My footstool," the Lord actually says that He has not forsaken the earth; that though His throne is in heaven, His feet are still on earth; that He is still interested in His people. But the questions, "where is the house that ye build unto Me? and where is the place of My rest?" sadly reveal that the work has been neglected, that neither a house nor a place of rest has been prepared for Him. The Lord's next statement further confirms this fact, for He reiterates that the things which He found were only those things which always were, and which His Own hand, not the hand of His servants, have made. {1TG 45.12}
Then by saying, "But to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, that trembleth at My Word," He positively makes known that His unfaithful servants are discharged from His work, that others, poor and of a contrite spirit who tremble at His Word, have taken their places, that what the former servants have failed to do, the latter will do. At the same time He charges the former servants that they feel rich in spirit and in need of nothing more; that they do not fear His Word. Hence the servants who are to build Him a house and to make a place for His rest, are to be men of a poor and a contrite spirit; men who tremble at His Word; men who are not proud and boastful, but who are teachable and mindful of His Word; men who are penitent and see themselves in need of everything instead of in need of nothing. Finally the Lord angrily declares:
Verses 3, 4:
No matter how good or how important the sacrifices may be, so long as we serve Him in our own way our gifts and sacrifices are an abomination unto Him. Man's own ways must be abandoned, even though it be the hardest task to face, if he is to make peace with God.
There is no question but that God has now sent this warning message to His unfaithful self-important servants, though they do not and will not hear. Having said what He wished to say to them, He now turns to His newly hired servants:
Verses 5, 6:
Some have already had the experience of being carried bodily out of the churches for no other reason than for having read "The Voice of the Shepherd," and for having said, "I believe what It says." Of course, it is incredible that men should act like demons. It is nevertheless so, and God Himself testifies against their demon practice. We do not pity ourselves, and are not at all angry at our adversaries, but we are sorry about their spiritual blindness, misery, poverty, and nakedness, for we know that the coming joy is to be ours, and the sorrow and shame and gnashing of teeth, theirs. This we know as verily as Jacob knew that God was with him in his flight from the face of Esau.
The Esaus of today, though, do not know this. No, they do not know it any more than Esau of old knew of Jacob's night vision of the ladder that extended from heaven to Jacob's dew-soaked bed.
If any part of the Bible is become present Truth, Isaiah 66:5 certainly is. Consequently, from the city there is a noise and there is a voice from the temple against us; but the voice of the Lord, the message of today, is what counts and what settles all things. Are you afraid of being cast out? or are you trembling at God's Word? Now you have to make your choice against opposition if you expect to be in the Kingdom eternal. {1TG 45.14}
Verse 7:
For a woman to be delivered of a child before she travails and before her pain comes, is an incredible thing -- a miracle. And that is just what happened to the church when the Lord was born in the manger of Bethlehem: The church knew not her visitation, and though she felt no need of a Saviour (travailed not), yet she brought forth the child. But according to the verse that follows, the church in this day shall experience even a greater miracle than did the church in Christ's day:
Verse 8:
The church is now filled with tares, with bad fish and with goats. It is hard to find the saints. She is nevertheless all at once to bring a multitude of converts which no man can number. The Denomination does not believe this; no, no more than the Jews believed that the Saviour was born in the manger, nor any more than did they expect the fishermen of Galilee to take the places of the pious priests and of the exalted religious leaders of that day, and no more than did they expect the Gentiles to share in the promises of Israel. The Denomination of today, too, thinks that tomorrow is to be as today, that the Lord God has left men forever to do as they please. She does not know that the Lord is taking the reins in His Own hands ("Testimonies to Ministers," p. 300). She still thinks that she is rich and increased with goods (Truth), and has need of nothing more. The church will, nevertheless, see all the promises fulfilled. She will see that these scriptures are not in the Bible merely to fill space. As soon as she thus travails and feels her need, just that soon will her courts be filled with saints and her work finished. {1TG 45.15}
Verse 9:
Would the Lord have made these promises if He were not able to fulfill them? This is the great question before you, before me. And would He start something if He cannot perform and finish? You must not lightly pass over these questions, for your answers will decide your destiny.
Verses 10-14:
Here we are told that only those who mourn for Jerusalem, those who pray for the establishment of His antitypical throne of David, and kingdom, are to rejoice with her. They, and only they, will profit from the abundance of her glory. None others will share her peace and her abundant glory. No, none others will be dandled upon her knees. The sinners shall not be comforted in Jerusalem, and their lukewarmness will become red hot and put them running to the hills and to the rocks of the mountains (Rev. 6:14-17).
Verses 15-17
After God has done all He can do to direct the path of His servants, when there is "no more remedy," just then, Divine retribution is to be meted out. Those who continue to walk in their own way will then find themselves in the wide path where there is no Divine mercy, where the Avenger of justice takes His toll.
They are those who sanctify and purify themselves in the garden behind one tree (behind the leader); that is, they pretend to be very religious in their gathering places, trusting that the minister will lead them through to the Kingdom. They indulge in the use of forbidden meats and at the same time boastingly pretend to be sanctified and purified. To the Lord, however, they appear as white-washed sepulchres full of rotten flesh, as cups that are clean on the outside but filthy on the inside. {1TG 45.17}
Verses 18, 19:
What the Lord is about to do is not to be done in secret. It is not an imaginary thing not something enshrouded in mystery to be guessed at; but it is a plain and open act before all the nations.
Now to their own destruction, men argue that this is a spiritual slaughter, (What is a spiritual slaughter? -- no one knows.) although it is plain to see that it is the Judgment for the Living. The fact that for over a century the Denomination has been teaching that the Judgment for the Dead is to separate the good from the bad (the tares from the wheat) their foolish arguments now prove that they are not only ignorant of it, but even so blind (Rev. 3:17) that even after told and shown what it is they cannot see it! Although they claim to know that the Judgment is to separate the wheat from the tares, the good from the bad, that it is to cleanse the sanctuary by blotting out the names of the bad and the sins of the good, they do not admit that this strange act of God is nothing less than the Judgment for the Living in the house of God (1 Pet. 4:17), the cleansing of the sanctuary (Dan. 8:14), the purification of the church ("Testimonies," Vol. 5, pg. 80), the cleansing of the temple (Mal. 3:1-3).
No longer try to console yourselves that this slaughter of the Lord is something imaginary, or that it takes place after the close of probation. Now get ready lest you fall. Let no man divert your attention from it.
The verse we just read explains that those who "escape" the Lord's sword, will He send to the Gentiles, to those who have not heard His fame or seen His glory, and they shall declare His glory among the Gentiles; they shall bring to the house of the Lord all who will be saved. Here let us read the Lord's exact words: {1TG 45.18}
“I will set a sign among them; and those among them who escape I will send to the nations […] And they shall declare My glory among the Gentiles.” (Isaiah 66:19)
The verse explains that those who "escape" the Lord's sword, will He send to the Gentiles, to those who have not heard His fame or seen His glory, and they shall declare His glory among the Gentiles; they shall bring to the house of the Lord all who will be saved. Here let us read the Lord's exact words:
Verses 20-21:
Now, in view of the fact that those who escape the slaughter of the Lord are sent as missionaries, preachers, and ministers to all the nations and peoples who as yet know not God and His gospel, there is but this conclusion: that the slaughter takes place only among God's people; that it is the Judgment for the Living in the "house of God" (1 Pet. 4:17); that shepherds are slain because they have kept the sheep away from the Lord's green pasture (present Truth); that the faithful laity take their places; that then the church, "bright as the sun, fair as the moon, and terrible as an army with banners," "goes forth into all the world, conquering and to conquer." Thus is the gospel work finished and the wicked world brought to an end.
"Only those who have withstood temptation in the strength of the Mighty One will be permitted to act a part in proclaiming it [Third Angel's Message] when it shall have swelled into the Loud Cry." -- "The Review and Herald," Nov. 19, 1908.
"...We have been inclined to think that where there are no faithful ministers, there can be no true Christians; but this is not the case. God has promised that where the shepherds are not true he will take charge of the flock himself. God has never made the flock wholly dependent upon human instrumentalities. But the days of purification of the church are hastening on apace. God will have a people pure and true. In the mighty sifting soon to take place, we shall be better able to measure the strength of Israel. The signs reveal that the time is near when the Lord will manifest that his fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor." -- "Testimonies," Vol. 5, pg. 80.
“‘And I will also take some of them for priests and Levites,’ says the Lord.” (Isaiah 66:21)
They are the Gentiles. People from every nation who believed and joined the converts (Ephesians 2:14).
We are a nation of priests (1 Peter 2:9). This priesthood is not based on the Levitical priesthood. It is based in the work of our High Priest Jesus instead (Hebrews 6:20).
However, the exaltation of the Gentiles does not involve the humiliation of the Jew. Paul compared the people of God with an olive tree. The original branches are the people of Israel, and the Gentiles are scions attached to the same tree (Romans 11:17-18).
“‘From one New Moon to another and from one Sabbath to another, all humankind will come and bow down before me,’ says the Lord.” (Isaiah 66:23)
Verse 22:
With this verse Inspiration now begins to disclose things which take place in the earth made new.
Verse 23:
The Sabbath, you see, is as eternal as the earth. It is to be kept not only now, but even after this sin-cursed earth is made new. And not only now ought God's people to meet together in the house of the Lord each Sabbath, but they shall joyfully continue to do so throughout eternity.
Verse 24:
Although the preceding verses of this chapter are not studied much by any, the last two have often been discussed and debated upon by many. To some they mean that there is to be an eternal torment. But does the scripture at all sustain such a thought? -- No, it does not. The definition of "carcasses" is "lifeless bodies." And the prophet Malachi says: "For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. But unto you that fear My name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in His wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall. And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the Lord of hosts." Mal. 4:1-3.
The carcasses at first and the ashes at last of the unfaithful servants being under the feet of the saints, can hardly indicate that the unfaithful are pushed into "hell fire," there to live forever. Moreover since only the righteous are given eternal life, then the wicked must be given eternal death. Furthermore, "second death" (Rev. 20:14) cannot mean "second life."
The theory of eternal torment has been superficially derived from the statement, "their worm shall not die." "Their worm," the worm that gorges on their carcasses, though, cannot possibly mean the souls of the people. At least it cannot mean such to him who digs deep into the well of salvation, and that can think and reason for himself. Such a one reads between the lines and notes the full value of each word. If "worm" means anything, then it means that the worm thrives on the carcasses, that it is the agency which reduces the constituents of the carcasses to their original elements. Indeed, "the worm shall not die"; it shall certainly accomplish its consuming work; the carcasses shall He bring down to dust, "for dust thou art," says the scripture, "and unto dust shalt thou return." Gen. 3:19. It is this disintegrating agency, the consuming worm that does not die. Moreover, we are told that the soul that sinneth, it shall die. (Ezek. 18:4).
It is plainly seen that the preaching of eternal suffering in hell fire rather than eternal death, is prompted by unscrupulous so-called soul winners endeavoring to drive their audiences into church by fright. But if they knew that only the born-again through the love of the Truth are given the right to enter into the Holy City, if they knew that those who must be frightened in are excluded from it, if they knew that anything which maketh a lie is also not given the right to enter therein, -- if they wholeheartedly knew all these, they would perhaps stop preaching eternal life in hell fire, and begin to preach eternal love of the Truth. Let us now close our study by reading the Lord's final plea:
"Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.
"Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh. Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over His household, to give them meat in due season? Blessed is that servant, whom his Lord when He cometh shall find so doing. Verily I say unto you, That He shall make him ruler over all His goods.
"But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My Lord delayeth His coming; and shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; the Lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for Him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, and shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." Matthew 24:42-51.
There is but one right choice for you to make, and that is to cease keeping company with the mighty Esaus, and to join the unpretentious Truth-laden Jacobs. {1TG 45.23}
In the final restoration, heaven and Earth will be renewed. The renewed Creation and the restored humankind will remain forever (Isaiah 66:22).
We will worship God together every Sabbath. And we will gather to eat the fruit from the Tree of Life every month (Revelation 22:2). This will happen thanks to the great sacrifice of Jesus for us.
The book of Isaiah ends with a warning: everyone who does not want to live forever will die forever (Isaiah 66:24; Revelation 20:14-15).
“Fellow pilgrim, we are still amid the shadows and turmoil of earthly activities; but soon our Saviour is to appear to bring deliverance and rest. Let us by faith behold the blessed hereafter as pictured by the hand of God. He who died for the sins of the world is opening wide the gates of Paradise to all who believe on Him. Soon the battle will have been fought, the victory won. Soon we shall see Him in whom our hopes of eternal life are centered. And in His presence the trials and sufferings of this life will seem as nothingness.” E.G.W. (Prophets and Kings, cp. 60, p. 731)
“The great controversy is ended. Sin and sinners are no more. The entire universe is clean. One pulse of harmony and gladness beats through the vast creation. From Him who created all, flow life and light and gladness, throughout the realms of illimitable space. From the minutest atom to the greatest world, all things, animate and inanimate, in their unshadowed beauty and perfect joy, declare that God is love.” E.G.W. (The Great Controversy, cp. 42, p. 678)