| dc.description.abstract | God’s promise in Isaiah 65:17–25 begins
with the statement, “For behold, I
create new heavens and a new earth:
and the former shall not be remembered, nor come to mind” (KJV). The promise is
repeated in Isaiah 66:22–24.
For some conservative evangelicals, this
passage has been applied to the eschatological
new heavens and new earth, especially because
it is echoed by Revelation 21.1
For some other
Christians, Isaiah 66:23 has become a favorite
biblical text in defense of the Sabbath, often
used in evangelistic sermons to highlight the
perpetuity of the Sabbath, as it states, “from one
new moon to another, and from one sabbath to
another, shall all flesh come to worship before
me, saith the LORD” (KJV).
There is, however, a problem in applying
these texts to the eschatological new heavens
and new earth. Paul warned the Colossians,
“So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or
regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths,
which are a shadow of things to come” (Col. 2:16,
17, NKJV).2
Paul clearly implies that ceremonial
laws are not binding anymore after the death of
Jesus. So why observe a “new moon” now and
thereafter?
What kind of “new heavens and new earth”
does the prophet Isaiah describe, and how
should we reconcile them with the “new heaven
and new earth” of Revelation 21:1–5? | en_US |
