Isaiah 65:17—66:24: The Terror and the Glory
HOPE HAS A life-preserving character. Time and again, as prison-camp memoirs show, people who have something to live for survive, and those who lose hope die under the same conditions. All through Isaiah, the basic theme has been that God's faithful love should be the basis of his people's faithful trust. Now, as he brings his book to a climax, he describes the day when faith and hope will come to fruition. There will be a new heaven and a new earth in which love reigns. Yet this is not a fairy-tale ending. As in chapter 6, Isaiah cannot avert his eyes from the fact that some people reject the good news. One day their refusal will be irreversibly confirmed.
Warming Up to God
What people or events have recently given you hope regarding your future?
Read Isaiah 65:17—66:24. »
Discovering the Word
- What simple joys and pleasures characterize the new heaven and new earth (65:17-19, 24)?
- What is God's complaint in 66:1-2?
- Which worshipers please God and which displease him (66:2-4)?
- According to 66:7-11, the apparently barren, abandoned and childless Zion is to have children. In what ways is childbirth an appropriate metaphor here?
- What will it be like when God finally shows his glory (66:12-24)?
Applying the Word
- How can you best preserve the two poles of awe and intimacy that characterize true worship?
- In what area of your life do you need to look to the Lord for hope?
Responding in Prayer
Praise God for the growing trust in him that you have which enables you to have hope in a hopeless world.
For Further Study
Hope Has Its Reasons by Rebecca Manley Pippert