Tuesday, April 22, 2025  

Today's Scripture
Isaiah 65:17–25

For I am about to create new heavens
and a new earth;
the former things shall not be remembered
or come to mind.
But be glad and rejoice forever
in what I am creating;
for I am about to create Jerusalem as a joy,
and its people as a delight.
I will rejoice in Jerusalem,
and delight in my people;
no more shall the sound of weeping be heard in it,
or the cry of distress.
No more shall there be in it
an infant that lives but a few days,
or an old person who does not live out a lifetime;
for one who dies at a hundred years will be considered a youth,
and one who falls short of a hundred will be considered accursed.
They shall build houses and inhabit them;
they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
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.
They shall not labor in vain,
or bear children for calamity;
for they shall be offspring blessed by the Lord —
and their descendants as well.
Before they call I will answer,
while they are yet speaking I will hear.
The wolf and the lamb shall feed together,
the lion shall eat straw like the ox;
but the serpent — its food shall be dust!
They shall not hurt or destroy
on all my holy mountain, says the Lord. (NRSV)

Reflection

It is increasingly difficult to survey domestic and global events and not contemplate envisioning the “new heavens and a new earth” that this Bible verse envisions. Our beloved Reverend John Buchanan felt the same way when, in his sermon of May 27, 2001, he admitted finding himself “dreading opening the morning paper recently because of the relentlessly awful news it contained about Israel and Palestine.” 

Citing today’s Bible passage, he recalled that “the ancient words leapt off the page and came alive.” He explained: “They have touched, in every age, the deepest human yearnings — for safety, security, home, and peace. They are striking words, because the story of human history is mostly the story of the absence of peace — the story of war, actually. War after war after war, preparation for war, battles fought and won, casualties of war, the aftermath of war, in every single age of human history, leading inexorably to the next war.” 

Let’s rejoice in this passage by the Old Testament’s most eloquent prophet (considered the Shakespeare of the prophets). The words foresee Christ’s return to usher us to an eternity spent with him. A fresh new world where we no longer worry about our struggles and pain. A universe of joy and peace, of hope and happiness. A time when evil loses its grip on our world. 

And a world where “the wolf and the lamb will feed together.” Let’s look forward to that day, for which this joyful song (click on this link) related to Isaiah 65:17–25 captures that new earth. 

Prayer
Our Heavenly Father, thank you for this knowledge of your future creation, and help us to use this wisdom in our own lives to prepare for the blessedness ahead with our Lord. Amen.

Written by Tim Schellhardt, Member of Fourth Presbyterian Church

Reflection and Prayer © Fourth Presbyterian Church

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