IN this world we have time and temporal things. In the world to come, time will be swallowed up with eternity, and temporal things will give way to things eternal.
In the beginning, God ”spake” and this world “was.” He said, “Let there be light; and there was light.” The animal kingdom was formed by the hand of the Almighty, and vegetation sprang forth at His word. All was beautiful and “very good.” But sin entered and marred the face of the time portion of the fair universe; and pain, sorrow, disappointment, heartache, weeping, decay, and death followed in its train.
But Jehovah sent forth the message to the sin-marred and mangled subjects of His dominion, “Behold, I make all things new. And He said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.” Rev. 21:5. Our Father will therefore recreate both man and the earth. “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature.” 2 Cor. 5:17; 1 Cor. 15:51-54. “Behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.” Isa. 65:17. When the renewed creation is seen and experienced by its subjects in its fulness, there will be perfect surroundings.
The prophet Isaiah presents a mental picture of this world, time, and sinful man, with all the effects of the curse resting upon him, in vivid contrast with the world to come, eternity, sinless man, with no curse and perfect, heaven-born environments. The comparison may be begun with Isa. 65:17, 18: “Behold, I create new heavens and a new earth [the world to come]; and the former [the present world] shall not be remembered, nor come into mind. But be ye glad and rejoice forever in that which I create; for, behold, I create Jerusalem [the metropolis of the new world] a rejoicing, and her people a joy.” Her people will be the embodiment of joy. “Therefore the redeemed of the Lord shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their head: they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and mourning shall flee away.” Isa. 51:11. Said our heavenly Father, “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.” Isa. 65:19. What a contrast with the conditions in this world where the voice of weeping and wailing is constantly heard!
“There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days.” Verse 20. “There,” in eternity, “shall be no more thence an infant of days.” Here, in this world, people die in infancy, as stated in the text, “an infant of days.” Hereafter, in the world to come, its subjects will not grow old. Here, in this world, man ages and dies before he has “filled his days.”
The man of a hundred years, or even nine hundred and sixty-nine years, is but a child, (Jewish version) “a lad,” when the life of time is contrasted with the life of eternity.
See a parallel use of terms by Paul. “Our light affliction, which is but for a moment [lifetime], worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.” 2 Cor. 4:17, 18. All the affliction of all the people of God, for all their temporal lifetime, is but a moment, and is not to be compared with the eternal things, but contrasted. “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” Rom. 8:18. Things which resemble each other may be compared, but those unlike must be contrasted.
The child of this world,—the child of sin,—having his “understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God,” will meet “the day of vengeance of our God,” and “shall be accursed.” Eph. 4:18; Isa. 61:2; 65:20. The first half of verse 20 refers to the eternal world where time is not reckoned. The remaining portion has its fulfilment in this world prior to the second coming of Christ where limit of days is taken into account and sin and death reign. The language of this text must be thus divided and applied to fully appreciate the fulness of the inspired lesson.
There is a parallel to the use made of this text, found in Christ’s use of Isa. 61:1, 2, the division of scripture being made in the middle of the second verse. “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me; because the Lord hath anointed Me to preach good tidings unto the meek; He hath sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.” Luke says, “And He closed the Book, . . . and sat down.” Christ said, “This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.” He could not have made this statement had He read the entire verse, for the next clause was to be fulfilled in the future.
The contrast between conditions here and hereafter is continued in Isaiah 65 in no less vivid a manner: “They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat; . . . they shall not labor in vain, nor bring forth for trouble; for they are the seed of the blessed of the Lord, and their offspring with them.” Verses 22, 23.
Eternity is but a continuation of that glad day of reunion. “Neither can they die any more.” Luke 20:36.