**The New Heavens and the New Earth**
In the days when the people of Judah had turned away from the Lord, when their hands were stained with offerings to false gods and their lips spoke prayers to idols, the Lord spoke through His prophet Isaiah. The heavens were heavy with judgment, yet beneath the storm clouds of wrath, a promise glimmered—a promise of renewal, of a time when sorrow would be forgotten and the earth would rejoice.
The Lord declared, *”I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me; I was found by those who did not seek me. To a nation that did not call on my name, I said, ‘Here am I, here am I.’”* Yet His own people had forsaken Him. They sat among graves, keeping vigil with the dead; they ate the flesh of pigs, and their pots brimmed with unclean broth. They said to one another, *”Keep to yourself; do not come near me, for I am holier than you!”* These were like smoke in the Lord’s nostrils, a fire that burned all day long.
But the Lord would not destroy all. Just as a cluster of grapes holds a blessing within it, so too would a remnant be saved. *”As when juice is still found in a cluster of grapes, and men say, ‘Do not destroy it, there is yet some good in it,’ so will I act for the sake of my servants, that I may not destroy them all.”*
Then the Lord spoke of a new day, a day when the old ways would crumble like dried clay. *”Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind.”* The sound of weeping would fade from the streets of Jerusalem; the cries of infants who lived but a few days, the groans of the aged cut short in their years—all would cease. No longer would men build houses for others to dwell in, nor plant vineyards for others to eat their fruit. The days of My people would be like the days of a tree, long and unbroken. The work of their hands would prosper, and their children would live secure beneath the sun.
*”Before they call, I will answer; while they are still speaking, I will hear.”* The wolf and the lamb would feed together; the lion would eat straw like the ox. Dust would be the serpent’s food, and in all My holy mountain, nothing would harm or destroy.
Yet for the wicked, the fire that burned in the Lord’s anger would not be quenched. They would be a horror to all flesh, their names a curse among the righteous. But the chosen of the Lord would look upon their works and rejoice. They would drink deeply from the fountain of salvation and know that the Lord had sworn it by His own might.
And so the earth, once stained with blood and tears, would bloom like Eden. The heavens, once veiled in wrath, would shine with everlasting light. The Lord would be their joy, and they would be His people—forever.
