Good Eschatology, Part 2 - Resolving A Paradox

We ended last week's discussion of Good Eschatology with a conundrum. A paradox. Isaiah 65:19-24 clearly fits with Zechariah 14 and Revelation 20.

The problem comes when we look at Isaiah 65:17 which appears to talk about what happens in Revelation 21, and not Revelation 20.

Does this throw out everything that we said about the Millennium?

No, of course not.

However, it does offer us a challenge. And, if we don't stumble at this challenge - as some have - we will come away with more understanding than we did before. Remember that the Bible was specifically written so that those who rebel, will stumble and fall, while those who submit to God will obtain knowledge.

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Please read the personal note on the critical condition of Amitai Argaman at the end.

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Good Eschatology, Part 2

There are those among us who claim that Jesus sits on the throne, ruling and reigning the heavens and the earth. But, there's a serious flaw in their reasoning.

If Christ is ruling, why is no one obeying?

Remember that the Bible speaks of Jesus as ruling with a rod of iron. In fact, you can see the verses that refer to this here:

Rod of Iron
https://www.biblegateway.com/quicksearch/?quicksearch=rod+of+iron&resultspp=250&version=KJV

When someone rules over you with a rod of iron, disobedience is met with crushing punishment. In fact, no room for disobedience is possible. When Jesus rules, the nations will obey or pay dearly.

This is one of the reasons why we can confidently claim that the Millennium is not symbolic, and we are not in the Millennium now. And, it's clear that it hasn't happened in the past.

Furthermore, precise details are given to us about what will happen during the Millennium. We talked about those details last week. And, we did this as an effort to illustrate the principles that govern our study of the Last Days and the other doctrines described in the Bible.

These three passages give us perfect detail of the reign of Christ, on Earth, in the Millennium:

Revelation 20:4-7
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation+20%3A4-7&version=KJV

Zechariah 14:9-21
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Zechariah+14%3A9-21&version=KJV

Isaiah 65:19-24
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah+65%3A19-24&version=KJV

However, we found a verse that seems to disagree with the three passages above:

17 For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.

18 But be ye glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create: for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy.

 - Isaiah 65:17-18 (KJV)

Since this comes right before Isaiah's description of the Millenium, we have a problem. Revelation 21 talks about the New Heavens and New Earth occurring AFTER the Millennium. So, this means that we have a paradox, and that brings us to our third principle:

Principle 3 - Resolving The Paradox

• There are no conflicts between verses, but there are bad translations and differences of meaning that can be confusing to the unwary.

So, when you run into a paradox - two seemingly contradictory statements that are nevertheless true - we look for what God really means by such statements.

The first thing that I do, is look at the original language to see if the problem is bad translation. And yes, every single Bible translation has errors. Some of them quite abominable. Even the KJV.

However, the words used in Isaiah 65:17, "for I create new heavens and a new earth," is a good translation from the Hebrew. The word 'create' is בורא (bo-reh). That word is the present tense of the same word in Genesis 1:1, when God said that He 'created' ברא (bah-rah) the heavens and the earth.

So, the problem is not translation.

So, let's examine what God said about the creation of a New Heaven and New Earth in Revelation 21. Maybe there's something there that can help us understand what Isaiah was saying.

1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.

2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.

4 And God shall 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.

5 And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.

 - Revelation 21:1-5 (KJV)

In Revelation 21 we see two unique things:

• New Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven

• There shall be no more death

Isaiah says something different:

19 And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people: and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying.

20 There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days: for the child shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed.

21 And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them.

 - Isaiah 65:19-21 (KJV)

In Isaiah 65, we see two key differences from Revelation 21:

• They will build houses

• a child can die

In Revelation 21, death is not possible. But, in Isaiah 65 people can and will die. In Revelation 21, a gigantic city comes down from heaven where everyone can live, but in Isaiah 65 people build their own houses to live in.

So, is it possible that our problem is our understanding of the word 'create' (בורא - bo-reh) that is used in Isaiah 65?

The answer is yes.

This is where we look for how the word is used in other places in the Bible. And this is where Strong's Numbers come in. James Strong wasn't all that great in translating Hebrew words, but he was good at identifying where they were in the Bible.

Strong called the root word of 'create' ברא (bah-rah), and he labels that word with H1254. And, you can find all the different usages of that word in the concordance section here:

Lexicon :: Strong's H1254
https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h1254/kjv/wlc/0-1/

Scroll down to the concordance section, and you see that word used 54 times in 46 verses. And, in the third verse, we see this:

Gen 1:27 So God created H1254 man in his own image, in the image of God created H1254 he him; male and female created H1254 he them.

But wait, we know how God created Adam and Eve. Here's how He created Adam:

7 And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

 - Genesis 2:7 (KJV)

Here is how God create Eve:

21 And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;

22 And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.

23 And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.

 - Genesis 2:21-23 (KJV)

Ah, now we understand. In Genesis 1:27, when God used the word ברא (bah-rah), the meaning of the word isn't to 'create out of nothing', but to 'form a thing out of something else'. And, we have confirmation in this verse:

Num 16:30 - But if the LORD make H1254 a new thing, and the earth open her mouth, and swallow them up, with all that appertain unto them, and they go down quick into the pit; then ye shall understand that these men have provoked the LORD.

That verse comes from the story about the sons of Korah who rebelled against Moses, and in verses 32 and 33, the earth did 'open her mouth, and swallow them up'. But, this great crack in the earth was not created out of nothing, it was formed.

So, it looks like we have permission to answer this paradox between Isaiah 65 and Revelation 21. In Isaiah 65, God is re-forming His creation. It will be a reformation. While Revelation 21 speaks of REPLACING the old heavens and old earth with something completely new. And, we have some confirmation of this in some of the wording of the last verse in Isaiah 65:

25 The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent's meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the Lord.

 - Isaiah 65:25 (KJV)

In this reformation of Earth, God doesn't destroy the wolves and the lions and the serpents. He re-forms their nature. He changes them.

This is what appears to be the best answer for the paradox about the Millennium that has confused many to this day. There is no conflict, but a misunderstanding of what the word בורא (bo-reh) means. It means create, but it also means form - whether from the dust of the earth or the nature of an animal.

A Personal Note: Amitai Argaman, Critically Wounded

When you've lived in Israel for as long as I have, you develop a tremendous number of personal connections. And, when war breaks out, you pray for those you know and for all who are fighting in this war. I have names and faces that I look for every day on the Internet, hoping against hope that I do not find a friend or the son of a friend wounded or killed in battle. And, I pray especially for the Christian Israelis who are on the front lines, or who have children in combat.

Unfortunately, one of these Christian families has suffered greatly. On the evening of October 6th, their son, Amitai Argaman, had just come home from the traditional post-military service trip abroad that every Israeli does. He had served in an elite Maglan combat engineering unit, and the next day, Hamas brutally massacred 1400 Israelis and captured 240 hostages.

Amitai didn't wait for his commander to issue a recall order. He immediately rejoined his Maglan unit and was part of the leading elements that went into Gaza to neutralize land mines, tunnels and booby-trapped buildings.

It was in one of those booby-trapped buildings where his squad met disaster. An explosion killed four soldiers instantly and left Amitai critically injured. Five other soldiers also suffered severe to critical injuries.

At this moment, Amitai lies in a hospital bed with both of his legs amputated at thigh level, a break in the cervical spine, and serious injury to one eye - among a host of other wounds. For the rest of his life, he will need consistent medical help and advanced technological support.

The Argaman family praise God that He spared the life of their son, but now face the terrible challenge of helping him through this trauma, and then the care that he will need afterwards.

Please pray for them in their time of need.

For those of you with the means to help, there is a fund set up for Amitai, here:

עוזרים לאמיתי לנצח
Amitai Argaman
https://giveback.co.il/project/76321

For those of you who don't read Hebrew, there is a button marked Language that will automatically translate the text into English. (The best browser for this will be Google Chrome.)

(NOTE: When asked, the phone number should include country code with no spaces or other characters.)

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.
שאלו שלום ירושלים

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My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.
Because you have rejected knowledge,
I also will reject you... Hosea 4:6

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Keep this ministry alive with a donation.

Subscribe for free to Revelation Six and receive my articles in your inbox:

And, read my two books:

https://whengogcomes.com/

https://ezekielsfire.com/

I created five Android Apps that will help you read through the Bible in a Year. You can find them here:

https://revelationsix.com/android-apps/

If you miss my rantings about geopolitics, idiocy, resource collapse and incompetent globalism, follow me on Twitter.

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