# Isaiah 65 📖: New Heavens and New Earth [[📚 Explore the Bible Books]] [[-Isaiah Overview]] | [[Isaiah 64]] | [[Isaiah 66]] > [!info] Table of Contents > [[#📜 Scripture Text (NET)]] > [[#📖 Verse-by-Verse Commentary]] > [[#🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights]] > [[#🧠 Chapter Summary]] > [[#✝️ Christ in This Chapter]] > [[#🔎 Key Principles / 🛟 Life Application]] > [[#💬 Discussion Questions]] > [[#✍️ Key Verses to Remember]] > [[#🔗 Related Passages/Cross Reference]] > [[#🙏 Devotional Reflection]] > [[#📂 Internal Notes]] ## 📜 Scripture Text (NET) (The NET Bible: New English Translation. Biblical Studies Press, 2005) ### The Lord Will Distinguish Between Sinners and the Godly [[#Verse 01.]] “I made myself available to those who did not ask for me; I appeared to those who did not look for me. I said, ‘Here I am! Here I am!’ to a nation that did not invoke my name. [[#Verse 02.]] I spread out my hands all day long to my rebellious people, who lived in a way that is morally unacceptable, and who did what they desired. [[#Verse 03.]] These people continually and blatantly offend me as they sacrifice in their sacred orchards and burn incense on brick altars. [[#Verse 04.]] They sit among the tombs and keep watch all night long. They eat pork, and broth from unclean sacrificial meat is in their pans. [[#Verse 05.]] They say, ‘Keep to yourself! Don’t get near me, for I am holier than you!’ These people are like smoke in my nostrils, like a fire that keeps burning all day long. [[#Verse 05]] They say, ‘Keep to yourself! Don’t get near me, for I am holier than you!’ These people are like smoke in my nostrils, like a fire that keeps burning all day long. [[#Verse 06.]] Look, I have decreed: I will not keep silent, but will pay them back; I will pay them back exactly what they deserve, [[#Verse 07.]] for your sins and your ancestors’ sins,” says the Lord. “Because they burned incense on the mountains and offended me on the hills, I will punish them in full measure.” [[#Verse 08.]] This is what the Lord says: “When juice is discovered in a cluster of grapes, someone says, ‘Don’t destroy it, for it contains juice.’ So I will do for the sake of my servants— I will not destroy everyone. [[#Verse 09.]] I will bring forth descendants from Jacob, and from Judah people to take possession of my mountains. My chosen ones will take possession of the land; my servants will live there. [[#Verse 10.]] Sharon will become a pasture for sheep, and the Valley of Achor a place where cattle graze; they will belong to my people, who seek me. [[#Verse 11.]] But as for you who abandon the Lord and forget about worshiping at my holy mountain, who prepare a feast for the god called ‘Fortune,’ and fill up wine jugs for the god called ‘Destiny’— [[#Verse 12.]] I predestine you to die by the sword, all of you will kneel down at the slaughtering block, because I called to you, and you did not respond; I spoke and you did not listen. You did evil before me; you chose to do what displeases me.” [[#Verse 13.]] So this is what the Sovereign Lord says: “Look, my servants will eat, but you will be hungry. Look, my servants will drink, but you will be thirsty. Look, my servants will rejoice, but you will be humiliated. [[#Verse 14.]] Look, my servants will shout for joy as happiness fills their hearts. But you will cry out as sorrow fills your hearts; you will wail because your spirits will be crushed. [[#Verse 15.]] Your names will live on in the curse formulas of my chosen ones. The Sovereign Lord will kill you, but he will give his servants another name. [[#Verse 16.]] Whoever pronounces a blessing in the earth will do so in the name of the faithful God; whoever makes an oath in the earth will do so in the name of the faithful God. For past problems will be forgotten; I will no longer think about them. [[#Verse 17.]] For look, I am ready to create new heavens and a new earth! The former ones will not be remembered; no one will think about them anymore. [[#Verse 18.]] But be happy and rejoice forevermore over what I am about to create! For look, I am ready to create Jerusalem to be a source of joy, and her people to be a source of happiness. [[#Verse 19.]] Jerusalem will bring me joy, and my people will bring me happiness. The sound of weeping or cries of sorrow will never be heard in her again. [[#Verse 20.]] Never again will one of her infants live just a few days or an old man die before his time. Indeed, no one will die before the age of one hundred; anyone who fails to reach the age of one hundred will be considered cursed. [[#Verse 21.]] They will build houses and live in them; they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit. [[#Verse 22.]] No longer will they build a house only to have another live in it, or plant a vineyard only to have another eat its fruit, for my people will live as long as trees, and my chosen ones will enjoy to the fullest what they have produced. [[#Verse 23.]] They will not work in vain, or give birth to children that will experience disaster. For the Lord will bless their children and their descendants. [[#Verse 24.]] Before they even call out, I will respond; while they are still speaking, I will hear. [[#Verse 25.]] A wolf and a lamb will graze together; a lion, like an ox, will eat straw, and a snake’s food will be dirt. They will no longer injure or destroy on my entire royal mountain,” says the Lord. ## 📖 Verse-by-Verse Commentary ###### Overall. ###### Verse 01. ###### Verse 02. ###### Verse 03. ###### Verse 04. ###### Verse 05. ###### Verse 06. ###### Verse 07. ###### Verse 08. ###### Verse 09. ###### Verse 10. ###### Verse 11. ###### Verse 12. ###### Verse 13. ###### Verse 14. ###### Verse 15. ###### Verse 16. ###### Verse 17. ###### Verse 18. ###### Verse 19. ###### Verse 20. ###### Verse 21. ###### Verse 22. ###### Verse 23. ###### Verse 24. ###### Verse 25. ## 🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights 1. Paul quotes 65:1-2 in Romans 10:20-21 to describe the Gentiles finding God and Israel's resistance. 2. Sacrificing in gardens and eating pork (65:3-4) describe pagan practices forbidden by the Law (Leviticus 11:7). 3. The phrase holier than thou comes from the King James Version's wording of 65:5. 4. Fortune and Destiny (65:11) are the names of two pagan gods, Gad and Meni, worshiped with tables of food and wine. 5. The Valley of Achor (65:10), where Achan was judged (Joshua 7:24-26), becomes a place of rest. Hosea 2:15 calls it a door of hope. 6. The new heavens and new earth (65:17) are echoed in 2 Peter 3:13 and Revelation 21:1. 7. Someone who dies at a hundred being considered young (65:20) pictures long, blessed lives. 8. Building houses and living in them (65:21-22) reverses the covenant curses of Deuteronomy 28:30. 9. The wolf and lamb feeding together (65:25) repeats the promise of 11:6-9. 10. Dust will be the serpent's food (65:25) recalls the curse on the serpent in Genesis 3:14. ## 🧠 Chapter Summary > [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way. ## ✝️ Christ in This Chapter Christ is the One through whom God creates new heavens and a new earth (65:17; Revelation 21:1-5). God was found by those who did not seek Him (65:1), the Gentiles who came to Jesus by faith (Romans 10:20). ## 🔎 Key Principles / 🛟 Life Application > [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way. ## 💬 Discussion Questions 1. God held out His hands all day to a rebellious people (65:2). What does this reveal about God's patience? 2. Some said, keep away, I am holier than you (65:5). How can spiritual pride creep into our lives? 3. God promises new heavens and a new earth where the former things will not be remembered (65:17). How does this hope shape how you live now? ## ✍️ Key Verses to Remember - 📖 verse 1: God was found by those who did not seek Him. - 📖 verse 17: God will create new heavens and a new earth. - 📖 verse 24: Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear. ## 🔗 Related Passages/Cross Reference - 🔗 [[Revelation 21#Verse 01.|Revelation 21:1-5]] - A new heaven and a new earth. - 🔗 [[2 Peter 03#Verse 13.|2 Peter 3:13]] - We wait for new heavens and a new earth. - 🔗 [[Romans 10#Verse 20.|Romans 10:20-21]] - I was found by those who did not seek Me. - 🔗 [[Luke 18#Verse 09.|Luke 18:9-14]] - The Pharisee and the tax collector. - 🔗 [[Matthew 06#Verse 08.|Matthew 6:8]] - Your Father knows what you need before you ask. ## 🙏 Devotional Reflection 📝 SOAP: [[Isaiah 65 - SOAP|The Purpose of Prayer]] ## 📂 Internal Notes