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"For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not
remembered, nor come into mind. 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" (Isa. 65: 17, 18).
The student of prophecy will realize at once that to put the New Creation into the
Millennial kingdom would be to disregard the injunction of II Tim. 2: 15.
A
comparison of Isa. 65: with Rev. 21: will show that these two passages do not refer to
the same period. In Rev. 21: 4, for example, we read that "there shall be no more
death", whereas in Isa. 65: 20 we learn that "the child shall die an hundred years old".
The "new creation" of Israel's glorious kingdom is the final foreshadowing, before the
glorious reality.
The typical character of Israel's favoured land is further illustrated by the prophecy:
"They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain" (Isa. 11: 9). "All the earth" is
not referred to until later.
The central and typical character of Israel's land, city and temple is further explained
in Isa. 2: 2:
"And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall
be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills: and all
nations shall flow unto it" (Isa. 2: 2).
We must now examine this passage rather closely. A great deal of vital truth is at
stake, and we must not spare either ourselves, or our readers, or our critics. If we appear
to be prolix or to be proving the obvious, our defence must be the extreme importance of
our theme, and the nature of our opponent's criticism.
While we have no evidence to show that the ancients differentiated between a
"mountain" and a "hill" precisely according to our own geographical standards, it is
obvious that where the two words are used in the same context, a difference is intended.
We read in the passage above that "the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established
in the top of the mountains". Here we have two points that indicate the high glory of
Jerusalem and its temple. The house of God is itself a "mountain", and this mountain is
said to be established "in the top of the mountains". The LXX here uses the word akron
for "top". The same word is rendered "top" in Heb. 11: 21, "tip" in Luke 16: 24, and
"uttermost part" in Mark 13: 27. We further read that this mountain shall be exalted
"above the hills". The word hupsoo, "to exalt", gives us "Most High" and "height",
while the compound huperupsoo is used in Phil. 2: 9, where it is translated "highly
exalted". The similar word hupseloteros is used in Heb. 7: 26, which speaks of Christ
being "made higher than the heavens".
The exaltation of the mountain of the Lord's house is not said to be above the
mountains, but "on" (epi) the "top" (or "tip" or "uttermost part") of the mountains. On
the other hand, it is said to be exalted "above" (huperano) "the hills" (ton bounon). Is
there no "distance" implied in this comparison? Referring to the use of huperano in
Heb. 9: 5, our critics maintain that it shows that the meaning is "up over", but as closely
joined as the lid is to a box. The highest peak of the Himalaya Mountains reaches the