Full Text for The "New Creation" according to Is. 65 (Text)

<1tnurnrbitt aJqrnlngirul flnutqly Continuing LEHRE UNO VVEHRE MAGAZIN FUER Ev.-LuTH. HOMILETIK THEOLOGICAL QUARTERLY-THEOLOGICAL MONTHLY Vol. V January, 1934 No.1 CONTENTS Page Foreword. P. E. Kretzmann • • • • • • • • • . • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 1 Die grosse Klnft in der Leme von der Tanfe. J. T. Mueller 9 Beginnings in Indianapolis. H. M. Zorn. • • • • • . • • • • • • • • • • • 19 The "New Creation" according to Is. 65. L. Aug. Heerboth • • 29 Das Verhaeltnis des Pietismns znm Rationalismns. P. E. Kretzmann • • • • •• 37 Lutherworte ueber Gottesdienst und liturgische Gebraeuche. 45 Long or Short Sermon Texts ~ John H. C. Fritz. • • • • • • • • • • • 52 Outlines for Funeral SermOnS............ . . . . . • . . • . . • • 55 Miscellanea. . . . . . . . . . . . . . • . . . . . • . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . • • • • 58 Theological Observer. - Xirchlich·Zeitgeschichtliches. . • • 63 Book Review. - Literatur. . . .. . .. . . . . . . .. . .. • .. .. .. . . 73 EID Predfger mU88 nicht alleln weld IX, § 91), the beginning of a glorious millennium on this present earth. We may note here that in Rev. 21, 1-5 the two prophecies in Is. 65, 17 and in Is. 25, 8 are combined because they speak of the same subject. But in Is. 24, 21-25, 12 the great Judg- ment and the final restoration and completion are prophesied. II. The Context. Ohap. 65 contains the Lord's answer to the prayer in 63,7-64,12. In this prayer the prophet, as representative or mouthpiece of the faithful remnant in Israel, confesses the sin and the corruption of his people and pleads for mercy. The Lord answers, 65, 1, that He will gather a people for Himself out of the heathen who had not been called after His name (cf. Rom. 10, 25; 9,26) and that He will recompense rebellious and idolatrous Israel according to their works, vv.2-7. For the sake of His servants, however, the elect in Israel, He will neither reject nor destroy the entire people, vv.8-10. Then He pronounces His punishment upon those who have forsaken Him and have offered sacrifices to the idols, "I~, the god of fortune, and '~t?} the god of fate. At the same time He declares that He has determined to bless those who serve Him. Thus He says: "There- fore will I number you to the sword and ye shall all bow down to the slaughter, because, when I called, ye did not answer; when I spake, ye did not hear; but did evil before Mine eyes and did choose that wherein I delighted not. Therefore thus saith the Lord ·God, Behold, My servants shall eat, but ye shall be hungry; behold, My servants shall drink, but ye shall be thirsty; behold, My ser- vants shall rejoice, but ye shall be ashamed; behold, My servants shall sing for joy of heart, but ye shall cry for sorrow of heart and shall howl for vexation of spirit. And ye shall leave your name for a curse unto My chosen, namely, May slay thee the Lord Jehovah! But His servants He will call by another name. [For] he that has been blessed on the earth shall be blessed [then, forever] by the God of Truth; but he that has been cursed on the earth shall be cursed [then, forever] by the God of Truth. But the former troubles are [then] forgotten and even hid from Mine eyes. For, behold, I am creating new heavens and a new earth," etc., vv.12-17. A comparison of this text with other passages, especially those of the New Testament, which is the expositor of Old Testament prophecy, gives us the authoritative meaning of these words. The enemies of the Lord shall bow down to the slaughter when He appears .again unto Judgment, Luke 19,27. They shall be hungry and thirsty in hell, Luke 16,23 ff., where they shall cry for sorrow of heart, while 32 The "New Creation" According to Is. 65. His servants shall sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, Matt. 8, 11. 12. The Lord's enemies shall leave their name to be cursed by the chosen when they judge the world, 1 Oor. 6,2. 3. Those who have been blessed by Ohrist, the God of Truth (Rev. 3, 14), here on earth (Gen. 22, 18; Ps. 72, 17), shall be blessed eternally, Matt. 25, 34. But those who remained under the curse because of their unbelief, John 3, 18. 36, shall then be cursed forever by the God of Truth, Matt. 25, 41. Upon the return of the Lord the former troubles of the people of God will no longer be re- membered; for the Lord God "will swallow up death in victory, and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces, and the rebuke of His people shall be taken away from all the earth," Is. 25, 8. This promise is explained by St . .r ohn in the following manner: "God will wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain; for the former things are passed away," Rev. 21, 4; and thus by St. Paul: "The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death .... Then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory," 1 001'.15,26.54. From these explanations, given by God Himself, we learn that Is. 65, 12-16 shall be fulfilled at the glorious reappearance of our Savior when He comes to deliver His people. The "regeneration" (Matt. 19, 28) and "the times of restitution of all things which God hath spoken [promised] by the mouth of all His holy prophets" (Acts 3,20. 21) will be the fulfilment of Is. 65. This fact is also clear from the second part of our chapter, vv. 17-25: "For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former shall not be remembered nor come into mind. But ye shall be glad and re- joice [imperative of certainty] forever in that which I am creating; for, behold, I am creating Jerusalem a rejoicing and her people a joy; for I will rejoice in Jerusalem and will be glad in My people. And there shall not be heard in her any more the voice of weeping nor the voice of crying. There shall not be from that time on further an infant of [a few] days nor an old man who would not fulfil his days, so that a fool, as a son of one hundred years, should die or a sinner, as 'a son of one hundred years, should be accursed." In these words the Lord gives the reasons for the blissful state of His people. They are: 1) After the Judgment, vv.12--16, He will bring forth a new creation, so beautiful and perfect that no one will think of the former nor wish to have it brought back. In this new creation there will "dwell righteousness," 2 Pet. 3, 13; accord- ingly there will be no more sin, nor will the consequences of sin have any place in it. 2) Therefore the people of God will be happy and live in peace forever, in all eternity, because there will be no more death. 3) The Lord Himself will rejoice in this new creation, The "New Creation" According to Is. 65. 33 which He calls by the name of His holy city, Jerusalem (cf. Rev. 21, 1-5); He will be glad in and among His people. "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them." 4) No weeping or crying, as over a dead person, shall be heard there any more. Why not? Because there is no more death. This is pictured in detail in v. 20. In this world there are infants who die after a life of only a few days; such deaths of infants shall no longer happen from that time on. Here we find old men who do not fulfil their days, but die; from that time on death shall no longer take them away. If the "dominion of death" (Rom. 5, 14) still held sway, sin would be present also, for death is the wages of sin. Then it would come to pass that a "fool," even if he had attained one hundred years, at last would have to die; and any "sinner," even if he should reach the age of one hundred years, finally would have to suffer the wages of sin. But all this shall not occur in the new creation, in which righteousness and therefore eternal life and hap- piness will dwell. That this is the real, intended meaning of the Lord in Is. 65, 20 is evident from the context and its scope. As we have seen, the context contains the divine promise of future bliss in the "new creation." And it is the intention of God to comfort His servants here on earth with this glorious hope. The underlying thought in v.20 (already expressed in the preceding words, vv.17-19) is that in the new creation there .will be no more evil, no more sin, no more consequences of sin, and therefore no more death. The servants of God shall live there in blessed communion with God for all eternity. And this wonderful truth is also further described in the remaining verses, 21-25, as we shall see. In order to establish the .fact that the foregoing explanation is correct, resting upon a proper consideration of thfl context and its scope, let us examine the contents of v. 20 more closely. The adverbial combination tlrf~ may be used in a local (Gen. 2,10) or in a temporal sense (Jer. 50,9). Here without doubt it is used in the temporal sense and denotes "from then on, thence," because the Lord is speak- ing of the future, "from that time on," when He has created the new heavens and the new earth. Oalovius and Brentius also trans- late O~ deinceps. In the new creation there will no longer be an infant, ~~1I, "suckling," neither an old man, tP!, who will not fulfil his days, i. e., who will die. Oalovius quotes "Brentii ["fhol,: Alia, in quit, praerogativa novae urbis Hierusalem: Non erit deinceps in ea mortalitas." No more mortality, no more death in the new crea- tion, is the plain meaning of the :first part of v. 20. According to the rule of parallelism (parallelismus membro,rum) the second half of a verse explains or develops the thought expressed in the first half. Therefore we cannot take the conjunction '~, which introduces the 3 34 The "New Creation" According to Is. 65. second half of the verse, here in an adversative or in a causative sense and translate: "But (or because, for) a fool as a son of one hundred years shall die," etc. Such a translation would deny the truth proclaimed in the first hemistich. Moreover, the imperfects n~t:I., "shall die," and ~~P" "shall be cursed," point to the future, so that we cannot translat~: them as perfects: "he has died," "he has been cursed," namely, before the time of the new creation. In order to prevent the second half of the verse from contradicting the first half, we must take ':;J in the consecutive sense and translate "so that." Then we have the clear meaning: In the new creation neither infants nor old people shall die ("non erit deincep's in ea mortalitasn ), so that a fool, even if he should live one hundred years, at last would have to die and a sinner, although he should live one hundred years, finally would be cursed. No such thing shall happen any more; for we must remember that in the new creation there will be neither fools nor sinners; only the chosen of God, in whom the image of God is completely restored, will be found there. In regard to "infant" and "old man" Ualovius quotes the following words from Jerome: "Hieronymus haec ita expZicat: In tali urbe diversae aetates non erunt, infans et senex, parvus et magnus, qui non impleat dies suos,' sed quasi filii ,resurrectionis omnes pervenient in virum pe1'fectum, in mensuram aetatis plenitudinis Ohristi." The words 'P~ and ~~in further strengthen the foregoing ex- planation. Their position' shows that they are used synonymously, since the same end, "to die," "to be cursed," is predicated of both of them. Therefore in this connection 'P~ cannot simply denote a "youth," but must mean a fool, a man without sense or wisdom," Provo 7, 7. (Of. Luther, St. L. Ed. 6, 827.) Brentius says: "'p~, hoc est, stuZtus." And ~~in is a "sinner who misses the goal," i. e., eternal salvation. Further~ore, the imperfects n~t:I' and ~~i" express what would happen if there still were fools and sinners i~: the new crea- tion; death and damnation would necessarily have to follow. This tense is used here since a consequence is named whieh will not fol- low, as modus irrealis. (Of. Gesenius, Gram., § 107; and in regard to '~ introducing consecutive clauses see § 116, band § 107, u.) Ex- amples of a similar construction we find in Is. 29, 16; 36,20; 43, 22 ; Ps. 49, 10; 44, 19. 20; Hos. 1, 6. This last passage, Hos. 1, 6, espe- cially is very instructive concerning the use of the consecutive ';') after a negative clause. Here we have the same syntactic order as in Is. 65, 20. The Lord says : "Not will I continue further to be merciful to the house of Israel, so that I should entirely forgive them." In the first part of the sentenee He says that He will not show any further mercy to Israel. If He would show mercy, the consequence would be that He would forgive. But since He will not be merciful, the consequence is that He will not forgive. Thus The "New Creation" According to Is. 65. 35 the ':1 is consecutive, and the imperfect ~Wtoe is used to express an ulll'e~lity and must therefore be rendered b; the subjunctive mode. The remaining part of this divine promise concerning the new creation reads: "And they shall build houses and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards and eat the fruit of them. They shall not build and another would inhabit; they shall not plant and another would eat; for as the days of the tree shall be the days of My people, and the work of their hands }.fine elect [themselvesJ shall enjoy. Not shall they labor in vain, and not shall they beget [childrenJ for terror [sudden or terrible deathJ; for the seed of the blessed of Jehovah are they themselves and their offspring with them. And it shall come to pass, before they call that I will answer; while they are yet speaking that I will hear. Wolf and lamb shall herd together, and the lion shall eat straw like cattle, and dust shall be the serpent's meat. They shall not hurt, nor shall they destroy in all My holy mountain, saith Jehovah." Some commentators under- stand vv. 21-25 as a promise concerning the New Testament Ohurch before the Last Day, in the regnum gratiae. Others (e. g., Franz Delitzsch, Comm. on Is.) refer them to a glorious millennium be- fore Judgment Day. The first view, however, cannot be upheld be- cause we do not see such promises realized in the Ohurch. And the explanation that they will be fulfilled in a glorious millennium is contradictory to all other declarations of God in which He declares that His kingdom in this world is a kingdom under the cross, a regnum gratiae sub cruce, but not yet gloriae. These two views, moreover, divide the whole promise, vv.17-25, into two parts, the first part, vv.17-20, describing the glory of the new creation, and the second part, vv.21-25, being a prophecy concerning the status of the Ohurch while yet in this present world. How odd 1 After the climax has been reached in vv.17-20, there should be a return to preceding things? Our whole presentation so far has shown how improbable, not to say impossible, these views are. Oalovius also acknowledges that v.21 stands in close connection with the pre- ceding verses and that it continues the thought which they express. V v. 21 ff. speak of the same persons of whom the preceding verseS' speak, i. e., of God's people in the new creation, in regno gloriae: "They shall build houses," etc. In accord with these facts, Lucas Osiander, in his Bible exposition, and John Gerhard (Loci, IX, § 91) explain this section (vv.21-25) as treating not "de aedificatione et propagatione ecclesiae," but "de felicitate coelesti." To the words of v.25 "in all My holy mountain" Osiander adds the comment: "in omni monte sando ][eo, hoc est, in coelesti Ierusalem." But how shall we understand the words of our text where the Lord says: "They shall build houses," etc.? John Gerhard offers the best explanation: "Illud [vv. 21. 22J non potest naTa !!t)TO" accipi, 36 The "New Creation" According to Is. 65. quia in futuro seeulo nee domus aedifieabuntur nee 1Jineae planta- buntur; explicandum igitur li-VOTLxwr; xal oVIi-{Jol,xwr;, hoc sensu, quod omnium re1'um, quae pios oblecta1'e poS'sint, coptia et affiuentia ipsis praesto sit futura, quod MALEDIOTIO DEI PRORSUS SIT AUFERENDA,' quia divinae maledictionis, quam Deus peccatoribus intel