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The Scriptorium

Life, Fruitfulness, Peace

In the new creation, we'll have lots to do.

All Things New: Isaiah 65(6)

Pray Psalm 92.1-4.

It is good to give thanks to the LORD,
And to sing praises to Your name, O Most High;
To declare Your lovingkindness in the morning,
And Your faithfulness every night,
On an instrument of ten strings,
On the lute,
And on the harp,
With harmonious sound.
For You, LORD, have made me glad through Your work;
I will triumph in the works of Your hands.

Read Isaiah 65.20-25

Reflect.
1. What general impressions do these verses make on you? How do they make you feel? 

2. Compare this passage with Jeremiah 29.4-13, which was written a bit later than today’s verses. In what ways are they similar?

Meditate.
To understand these verses we have to remember three things: First, Isaiah was writing to people who were soon to go into captivity, and who needed a vision beyondtheir time of captivity to keep them from despairing. Second, God was speaking through Isaiah to cast that vision of hope, and to do so in lively images that would have enduring value. Third, God was speaking about a work that He was beginning in those days, but that would only be brought to its fullness in the new creation.

So we should expect some overlap of images to speak for the immediate present, the interim of time and history, and the time of the new creation.

Verses 20-22 encourage us to think in terms of long life. What God holds out for His people is the promise of full, abundant, and extended life. Life like a tree.

But not an idle life – lolling about on clouds strumming harps and whatnot. No, there are cities to build, farms and orchards to tend, fruit to be harvested, culture to pursue, work to be done, and children to raise and bless (vv. 21-23). The promised life to come is human life, after all, and human beings were made for work and culture in a wide variety of callings. That will be true in the new creation as well.

Finally, God wanted to assure His people that He would be among them, attentive to their needs, and caring for them like a Good Shepherd (vv. 24, 25). The natural hostilities that plague life in this fallen world will be over (v. 25), as the peace of God comes to His creation, and pain and destruction are no more.

Remember, God was beginning this new creation work at the very moment He spoke these words through Isaiah. Jeremiah, in his generation, would restate this same image, but with a more immediate focus than Isaiah does here (Jer. 29.4-11). So we should expect to see these markers – life, fruitfulness, and peace – flourishing among those who inhabit God’s holy mountain, and increasingin time, to be perfected at last in the new creation.

Hold on to that vision, and you will never fall into despair.

Prepare.
1. Life, fruitfulness, peace: In what ways do these markers characterize your walk with and work for the Lord?

2. The new creation will be much like the present creation, minus all the blight and effects of sin. Explain.

3. Why is it important that believers nurture and live toward a vision like this for their daily lives? How can we do that?

It is usual for the prophets thus to mingle metaphorical and literal expressions. Yet, anyone with serious purpose and a little useful and salutary effort can discern the prophet’s spiritual sense; it is only a lazy and worldly person or one who is ignorant or uneducated who will rest content with the literal and superficial sense and refuse to penetrate the deeper meaning. Augustine (354-430 AD), City of God 20.21

Fill me with Your life, Lord; help me to bear Your fruit; and grant me Your peace today as I…

Pray Psalm 92.

Let this psalm lead you into an extended season of praising and thanking God for all His great works.

Sing to the Lord.
Psalm 92 (Sweet Hour: Sweet Hour of Prayer)
How good it is to thank the Lord and praise to God Most High accord; 
By day to let His kindness ring, His faithfulness by night to sing. 
With ten-stringed lute, resounding lyre, and sweetest harp we’ll lift You higher.
For You have made our souls rejoice; we sing Your praise with blended voice! 

How sweet Your works, Your thoughts how deep: The fool cannot such knowledge keep. 
Like grass the wicked rise each day; in judgment they are swept away. 
But You, O Lord, abide on high; Your enemies shall fall and die. 
All those who sin shall scattered be, but, Lord, You have exalted me! 

My eye my vanquished foe shall see; my ears hear those who threaten me. 
Yet in God’s house, where he belongs, the righteous like a tree grows strong. 
Then let us green and fruitful be and flourish like a mighty tree, 
To tell God’s righteousness abroad: He is our Rock, our sovereign God!

T. M. Moore

Where do the prophets fit with the rest of Scripture? How can I be a better student of God’s Word? Our course, Introduction to Biblical Theology, can help you gain a better approach to and understanding of the Scriptures. Watch this brief preview video, then register at The Ailbe Seminary and enroll in this free online course.

Forward today’s lesson to some friends, and challenge them to study with you through this series on Isaiah. Each week’s lessons will be available as a free PDF download at the end of the week. Get a copy for yourself and send the link for the download to your friends. Plan to meet weekly to study Isaiah’s important message.


If you value Scriptorium as a free resource for your walk with the Lord, please consider supporting our work with your gifts and offerings. You can contribute to The Fellowship by clicking the Contribute button  at the website or by sending your gift to The Fellowship of Ailbe, 19 Tyler Drive, Essex Junction, VT 05452.

Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. All psalms for singing adapted from The Ailbe Psalter. All quotations from Church Fathers from Ancient Christian Commentary Series, General Editor Thomas C. Oden (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2006).All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter (available by clicking here).

T.M. Moore

T. M. Moore is principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He and his wife, Susie, make their home in the Champlain Valley of Vermont.
Books by T. M. Moore

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