The Bible Breakdown

Isaiah 65: A Description of Heaven

• Brandon Cannon • Episode 643

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Speaker 1:

Well, hello everybody. Welcome back to the Bible Breakdown podcast with your host, pastor Brandon, today. Isaiah, chapter 65. Today's title is A Description of Heaven. A Description of Heaven. Have you ever watched a movie where they show a picture of heaven and there's just some of these different things that's kind of going on. Or have you ever read a book about heaven, or even people that have talked about going to heaven all these different kinds of things, and there's these different phrases. You hear that kind of talk about what heaven must be right. Well, most of those phrases come from this chapter, because what we're going to read about today is the Lord talking to Isaiah about what heaven is going to look like one day, and I can't wait to get into it. We're going to read about it. It's going to be awesome.

Speaker 1:

So, if you want to get your Bible ready and open up with me to Isaiah, chapter 65, while you're doing that, don't forget, for all of our new podcast and YouTube listeners and watchers, make sure you like, share, subscribe to the YouTube channel, make sure you leave us comments down below. Also, for all of our new podcast listeners, you will always be my favorites. You are the OGs. Before we had a YouTube channel. We had a podcast. Make sure you're leaving us a five-star review on the podcast. It really helps, with the different algorithms, to show that this is something that's worth other people checking out. And then also make sure you're going to the Bible Breakdown Discussion on Facebook. There's an amazing team of people doing an awesome job and they're leaving devotions every single day, and I want to see in the comments how you are reacting and how you're responding to God's Word, because, man, the more we dig, the more we find, and this is a question I'd love to ask you today, both in the comments on the Facebook discussion post and on the YouTube channel. In the comments, I wanna know from you what is the most exciting thing that you are looking forward to in heaven. What is it about heaven that you're looking forward to the most? Maybe it's to talk to a particular person, or maybe it's to see something, or just whatever. I wanna know what it is and I look forward to interacting with you in the comment sections, all right?

Speaker 1:

Well, remember, the overall idea of Isaiah is God, is our salvation, and as we've been walking now for almost two months through the book of Isaiah, we've been going through all these different things about the difficult times, and then God's coming through, and then over the past few chapters, god has been saying over and over again different aspects of you have to trust me, trust me, it's going to be all right, trust me. Well, what we're going to read about today is what's coming ahead that one day God is going to create a new heaven and a new earth and everything is going to be renewed. And really this is the full circle, because when you look at Genesis 1, 2, and 3, god created the heavens and the earth and he created this beautiful paradise called the Garden of Eden and he put humankind, adam and Eve, in the garden and the goal was for us to have fellowship with God and that's where we were supposed to be. But then sin corrupted that and we had to leave that perfect place. And you could really look at the Bible as God's stubborn refusal to give up on that dream, because, even though we continue to operate in sin and all this, jesus came and he gave us the opportunity to have our sins washed away, and all of this is to get humankind back into the garden. And so one day, when all of this is over, the Bible says that the current heavens and earth will pass away. God will create a new heaven and a new earth, restoring Eden and restoring his people back to that beautiful place of fellowship with him, and it's going to start all over again as far as that's concerned, and so that's what this is going to describe. And so when you look at the book of Revelation, you can see that how he says a new heaven and a new earth come, and so much of the imagery in the book of Revelation is going to come back to this chapter and you get to see this beautiful idea of what it looks like to be with God forever. Now we're going to read this.

Speaker 1:

I also want to give you a quick disclaimer, and that is this God is using. He's playing 3D chess with us here, okay, when he's trying to explain to us what heaven looks like, first of all, we have to understand that we can't understand the eternal and, as finite creatures, we can't understand the infinite. So if God were to explain to us what heaven looks like, we wouldn't get it. There's no words in the human language, in any of the human languages, to fully describe what the supernatural looks like. We call it the supernatural right, and so God uses analogies all through the Bible we're going to see it in this chapter to describe what the infinite and what the eternal and what the ultimate beautiful thing looks like. But he's going to use these analogies that both was going to make sense during the time of Isaiah but then would perpetually make sense into the future. And so God couldn't just say something that was only specific to the time of Isaiah, because now we wouldn't get it. And if he said something that we would get now, they wouldn't have got it back then. And so God had a big job of trying to take the infinite and put it into the finite and be able to say it in a way that all future generations would have some idea of what he's talking about. And so that's why, when we read some of this, we kind of go well, lord, he could have kind of said that better, couldn't he? But then you go, well, I mean, yeah, now, but they wouldn't have understood it back then. And so you kind of get all of that together and realize what he's talking about when he says this. Okay, so if you're ready, let's read this together, isaiah 65, and just imagine the beauty of what heaven will look like.

Speaker 1:

Isaiah 65, verse 1, says this the Lord says I was ready to respond, but no one asked for help. I was ready to be found, but no one was looking for me. I said here I am. Here I am to a nation that did not call on my name All day long. I opened my arms to a rebellious people, verse 1. They say to each other don't come too close or you will defile me. I am holier than you. These people are a stench in my nostrils, an accurate smell that never goes away.

Speaker 1:

Look, my decree is written out in front of me. I will not stand silent. I will repay them in full. Yes, I will repay them both for their own sins and for those of their ancestors, says the Lord, for they also burned incense on the mountains and insulted me on the hills. I will pay them back in full, but I will not destroy them all, says the Lord, for just as good grapes are found among a cluster of bad ones and someone would say don't throw them all away, some of those grapes are good. So I will not destroy all of Israel, for I have true servants there and I will preserve a remnant of the people of Israel and of Judah to possess the land. Those I choose will inherit it and my servants will live there. The plain of Sharon will again be filled with flocks and my people who have searched for me, they, in the valley of Achor, will be a place of pasture herds. But because of the rest of you that have forsaken me, have forsaken the Lord and forgotten this temple, and because you have prepared feasts in honor of the God of fate and have offered mixed wine to the God of destiny, now I will destine you for the sword. All of you will bow down before the executioner, for when I called, you did not answer, and when I spoke, you did not listen. You deliberately sinned before my very eyes and you chose to do what you know I despise. Now pause for a second.

Speaker 1:

Many people see that as the ultimate end toward the end of time, such as the Battle of Armageddon and all of that, where he was saying that there will be those who are just going to rise up against me, but in the end I win. During the time, it was God saying that all these nations are coming against you. Those who are willing to respond to me, I'm going to save you. Those who don't, I'm going to let you have what you've been asking for. At the end of the day, your will be done, but then, when it happens, he's saying this is what I'm going to do.

Speaker 1:

Verse 13,. Therefore, this is what the sovereign Lord says. This is the ultimate victory. This is what even in the time they said. This is the future heaven that's going to come. My servants will eat, but you will starve. My servants will drink, but you will be thirsty. My servants will rejoice, but you will be sad and ashamed Talking about the separation of the holy and the unholy. My servants will sing for joy, but you will cry out and ashamed, talking about the separation of the holy and the unholy. My servants will sing for joy, but you will cry out in sorrow and despair. Your name will be a curse word among the people, for the sovereign Lord will destroy you and will call his true servants by another name. All who invoke a blessing or take an oath will do so by the God of truth, for I have put my anger aside and forget the evil of the earlier days.

Speaker 1:

And then here it is. Look, I am creating new heavens and a new earth. Compare this to the end of book Revelation. Here we go, and no one will even think about the old ones anymore. Be glad, rejoice forever in my creation and look, I will create Jerusalem as a place of happiness. Her people will be a source of joy. I will rejoice over Jerusalem and delight in my people. The sound of weeping and crying will be heard in it. No more, no longer will babies die when they're only a few days old. No longer will adults die when they have lived a full life. No longer will people be considered old at a hundred. Only the cursed will die that young.

Speaker 1:

In those days, people will live in the houses they built and eat the fruit of their own vineyards. Unlike the past, invaders will not take their houses and confiscate their vineyards, for my people will live as long as trees and my chosen ones will have time to enjoy their hard-earned gains. They will not work in vain. Their children will not be doomed to misfortune, and the people will be blessed by the Lord, and their children too will be blessed. And then I will answer them before they even call to me.

Speaker 1:

When they're still talking about their needs. I will go ahead and answer their prayers. The wolf and the lamb will feed together. The lion will eat hay like a cow, but the snake will eat dust. And in those days, no one will be hurt or destroyed.

Speaker 1:

On my holy mountain, I, the Lord, have spoken. Wow. God is saying the day will come when the evil, those who chose to deny me, they, will be pushed to one side, they will go to their place. And then those who have chosen me, those who inherit the kingdom of heaven, they will go to a place of rest where there'll be no more striving, no more death, no more pain. It says that weeping and crying will be no more, but instead there'll be peace, there'll be security and there will be joy. That's the ultimate victory that we have to look forward to.

Speaker 1:

Can I tell you, I don't mean this bad, but so many times we don't like talking about heaven. Because earth is so good, we have so many good things that's going on. Heaven, because earth is so good, we have so many good things that's going on. Sometimes we don't like talking about heaven because then that means we have to talk about dying, and nobody wants to talk about dying. And here's the thing, of course, right, dying is not fun. I mean, we don't want to be separated from our loved ones and all of that, but at the same time, we have something to look forward to as a Christ follower.

Speaker 1:

The Bible says in the New Testament that if we have hope only in this life, we are to be pitied above all. But Jesus has rose from the dead. He has given us the opportunity to have our sins washed away, and so the greatest thing that we have to look forward to is what lies ahead. It's one of the greatest things that we have to look forward to is what lies ahead. It's one of the greatest things that we have as Christ followers, which is why it's so important that if we truly believe that Jesus loves us, if we truly believe that we are all born into sin and need a Savior to wash away our sins, then one of the greatest things we could do for somebody is to tell them about heaven, and to tell them I want you to go there Like I couldn't think of a worse thing to do than to know about the goodness of heaven and then not share it with somebody if we truly believe it's real, and so I want to encourage you today.

Speaker 1:

First of all, when this podcast is over, what would it look like if you took a few moments and just thought about heaven. What would it look like to be in heaven and to see the face of Jesus, to see some family members that have gone on ahead, To see the very throne room of God? What does heaven look like? Just thinking about being in the very presence of God and then understanding? The Bible says that eye has not seen, ear has not heard, nor has it even entered into the minds of people what God has in store for those who love him. So the most amazing idea we can think of about heaven still is not even close to the beginning of what God has for us.

Speaker 1:

And to imagine that's what waits for us on the other side of death. Now, that doesn't mean that we rush death. That doesn't mean that we look forward to that. We want to put that off as long as possible, but when that day comes, that's why the Bible says the sting of death is gone, because we know now that death is not the end, it is only the transition point into heaven. And then here's the next thing who is someone in your life that you want to see there, that right now you're not so sure if they're going to go? Maybe you don't know. And so who is that person.

Speaker 1:

And then what would it look like if you started to pray and say, god, will you open a door for me to talk to that person? Maybe they do know you and I can just celebrate. But if they don't, you open the door and give me an opportunity so I can share the hope of heaven with them, to realize that in this life we will have trouble, but we can take heart, we can be encouraged because Jesus has already overcome the world and one day we get to go be with him, if we have made him our Lord and our savior in our life, I can't. I heard someone say one time there's only one thing better than heaven, only worse, one thing worse than hell, and that's taking somebody with you. And I can't imagine that. That a more true statement, because the idea is getting to heaven one day and seeing jesus is amazing.

Speaker 1:

But then what if we got to heaven to see Jesus and we were holding the hand of someone that God gave us the honor of sharing the gospel with? And then we got to be there to our God, showing them around and going man, look at this place. Isn't God good? What a wonderful joy that will be. Let's pray together. God, thank you so much for heaven. Thank you so much that when this life is over, it's only the beginning of a new adventure with you and God. I pray that that will give us hope and joy and something to look forward to as we live every day in the light of your coming. We celebrate you today In Jesus' name. We pray Amen, amen. Well, god's word says in Isaiah, chapter 12, verse 2, say it with me. God has come to save me. I will trust in him and not be afraid. The Lord is my strength and my song. He has given me the victory. We're almost done. We've got one more chapter and I'll see you tomorrow for that one. Isaiah, chapter 66.

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Brandon Cannon

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