Read chapter in full: biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=Isaiah+065

Chapter 65 (ESV)

¹⁷ “For behold, I create new heavens
and a new earth,
and the former things shall not be remembered
or come into mind.
¹⁸ But be glad and rejoice forever
in that which I create;
for behold, I create Jerusalem to be a joy,
and her people to be a gladness.
¹⁹ I will rejoice in Jerusalem
and be glad in my people;
no more shall be heard in it the sound of weeping
and the cry of distress.
²⁰ No more shall there be in it
an infant who lives but a few days,
or an old man who does not fill out his days,
for the young man shall die a hundred years old,
and the sinner a hundred years old shall be accursed.
²¹ They shall build houses and inhabit them;
they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
²² They shall not build and another inhabit;
they shall not plant and another eat;
for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be,
and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands.
²³ They shall not labor in vain
or bear children for calamity,
for they shall be the offspring of the blessed of the Lord,
and their descendants with them.
²⁴ Before they call I will answer;
while they are yet speaking I will hear.
²⁵ The wolf and the lamb shall graze together;
the lion shall eat straw like the ox,
and dust shall be the serpent’s food.
They shall not hurt or destroy
in all my holy mountain,”
says the Lord.

REFLECTION:

1. Silence – Read/Listen – Meditate – Pray – Contemplate
2. In this joyful passage God promised a bright future for those who love and trust the Lord. And this new creation comes into being for us through Jesus Christ (II Cor 5:17); our new lives will be holy and godly (2 Pet 3:11-13); and ultimately we will be in the new heaven and earth with God for eternity (Rev 21:1-5).
3. What is the word or phrase that touches you today as you read and meditate on this passage? Which of the New Testament application of this heavenly vision especially strikes you now? Why?
4. Try to picture your life without any of the causes or results of grief, sin and pain. What would that free you to be? How would this vision of what God will bring about affect the way you deal with the struggles you do face now?

PRAYER:

Stay with God for a little longer.  Continue to converse with God and listen to what He wants to tell you.  Then write down any thought and/or prayer in your spiritual journal.

HYMN:

New Heavens and a New Earth – youtu.be/dgg5Y5XZEUY