November 26, 2024
The End - Part 2
Isaiah 65:19-20
11/26/2024
19 I will rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in my
people; no more shall be heard in it the sound of
weeping and the cry of distress.
20 No more shall there be in it an infant who lives
but a few days, or an old man who does not fill
out his days, for the young man shall die a
hundred years old, and the sinner a hundred years
old shall be accursed. (ESV)
Throughout the Bible, Jerusalem has been a symbol for the
Church. Abraham offered his son, Isaac, on Mount Moriah, where
the city was later built. David bought the threshing floor where
the altar of the Temple was placed. Jesus died outside the
gates, and rose again from the tomb outside the city walls.
Jerusalem rejected God, and was restored. It was destroyed
and rebuilt. The people disappointed God, and will, on the last
day, be His delight. Isaiah wrote:
I will rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in my people;
no more shall be heard in it the sound of weeping and
the cry of distress. No more shall there be in it an
infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does
not fill out his days, for the young man shall die a
hundred years old, and the sinner a hundred years old
shall be accursed.
The new, recreated Jerusalem, had no room for evil, for
disasters, for death, for the suffering caused by sin. Christ
Jesus paid the price of sin by His death and resurrection. He
destroyed death by rising again. His resurrection foreshadows
our own resurrection, our own eternal life.
While we await the new, recreated Jerusalem, while the
Church longs for the coming of her Bridegroom, we are assured
that God keeps His promises. This vision of Isaiah agrees with
the vision of Saint John in Revelations, and agrees with the
words of Jesus Christ as He taught His disciples. In the
meantime, we do not deny the reality of suffering and death, but
do not recognize it as being final. May our Lord grant us faith
to trust in Jesus for our redemption, and in the promises given
through His prophets and apostles. Amen.