Second Quarter 2004 Adult Sabbath School Lessons:
Isaiah "Comfort My People"

Insights to Lesson 13
Rebirth of Planet Earth
June 19-25

(Produced by the Editorial Board of the 1888 Message Study Committee)

As we begin this brief review of our last lesson on Isaiah, let us nail down one clear, positive truth: the redeemed in the earth made new will never die! We cannot surrender that conviction any more than we would surrender our faith in Jesus Christ as the world’s Savior from death.

Our “Bible Study Guide” cites Isaiah 65:17-25, which speaks of “new heavens and a new earth,” then tells us about the “inhabitants” there, (a) “they [will] die” and “even though people live longer” there, (b) “they still die.”

The “Guide” mentions living “a million years or more,” but suppose you have lived that long; would you then be any more willing to die than you are today? Death can no more survive in “the earth made new” than can sin survive there. Let us cherish our confidence that “death [will be] cast into the lake of fire” along with sin itself, that same lake of fire that destroys this old earth preparatory to the new one (Rev. 20:14).

We must view this problem with charity. It centers in Isaiah 65:20, which has perplexed Christians for millennia (even many Adventists today). The text is included in Sunday’s lesson, and we must face it head on. In the earth made new, how can it be that “the child shall die an hundred years old,” and how can there be a “sinner” there “an hundred years old” even to be “accursed”? Let us tread reverently:

In Isaiah’s day the doctrine of everlasting life in the first resurrection was not as yet fully formulated in people’s minds. Jerusalem standing as a literal city forever was still a castle in people’s devout clouds. Vastly lengthened life spans were envisioned for God’s future; a baby would never even get sick short of a hundred years old and someone clinging to sin for a century would still be “accursed,” because Isaiah was beginning to get a grasp on what Peter later said about the “new heavens and new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness” (2 Peter 3:13). “Old” sinners will be no more. Revelation has been progressive through the millennia; now comes Jesus the Messiah telling us that those who “believe in Him [shall] not perish” (John 3:16). Wonderful as Isaiah is, Jesus supersedes him! Goodbye Isaiah; welcome, Jesus. Light emblazons the darkness. Give Isaiah credit for understanding in his far off day in the past that there will even be a “new earth”; don’t hold his feet too close to the fire to describe exactly what life there will be like; let the Book of Revelation come.

But before Isaiah steps aside after our 13 weeks with him, he must reveal our heavenly Father in the light of Christ’s love. He turns to “look” at you if you are “poor.” That’s the same “poor in spirit” that Jesus blesses in the first of His beatitudes (Matt. 5:3). “A contrite spirit” is a treasure of inestimable value—and everyone can have it because everyone has sinned enough to need it (66:2). When you “tremble at [His] word,” it’s not that you’re shaking with terror; the Hebrew word is chared, not the common word that means shaking with terror. It denotes astonishment, reverential awe.

It’s the response of a humble, honest heart. It’s a thrill of delight that is the greatest of all thrills. Your heavenly Father has the earth for His footstool, and heaven is His throne; yet you personally are the focus of His attention. That awes your soul!

Our “Guide” asks, “If you don’t [tremble at His word], what might that say about the condition of your heart?” Nothing should so concern us. The inability to shed even a tear of contrition, or to sense a momentary thrill of heart at a living word from Him, is an intelligent focal point for personal prayer. And here is where the 1888 message of Christ’s righteousness comes into play in this lesson. The “most precious message” was not some theological conundrum solved; it was an insightful message that gripped human hearts because it flowed out of warm human hearts.

Have you been called to endure disfellowshipment from those whom you love? Strange, that “brethren” can be attracted to “cast out” anyone who has become capable of “trembling” like this at God’s word! (66:5). Do not marvel, for you have fellowship with the Lord Jesus. Continue to “love Jerusalem” as verse 10 says; “you will be comforted in Jerusalem,” not outside, away from her! (vs 13). The repentant healing of “Jerusalem,” the organized church, is the Good News of the future (verses 12-21).

Our time is up. Thank you, holy prophet Isaiah, for your lifetime of busy ministry and writing that has so comforted and encouraged us in these last days. We understand that wicked King Manasseh martyred you cruelly; may your “Holy One of Israel” sanctify us that we may meet you in that “new heavens and new earth” (66:22).

—Robert J. Wieland

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