.........100

"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."

Isaiah 65:20

This text has confused many Bible students. The wording seems to imply that death might still plague the saints in God’s new eternal world. But some scholars believe we need to look more closely at the context, which indicates a subjunctive form of speech. This would mean that the prophet was using human terminology to describe heavenly conditions. In other words, Isaiah was saying, “Should (or if) certain conditions prevail, then such and such would result.” 

Here’s another translation that gives more of the poetic sense of the passage; from The Message Bible: “No more babies dying in the cradle, or old people who don’t enjoy a full lifetime; one-hundredth birthdays will be considered normal—anything less will seem like a cheat.” 

Isaiah was seeking to illustrate the facts of eternal life in heaven by earthly comparisons. Therefore, he had to call on his readers to imagine certain mortal conditions as being in the new earth so that they could grasp the truths of immortality. Poetic language can get us in trouble when we try to squeeze out a literal message that was never intended by the writer. 

Another way to understand this passage is to recognize that prophecies often had multiple fulfillments. For instance, God’s Spirit was promised by Joel to be poured out in his time Joel 2:28. Peter later applied this same promise to the early rain poured out at Pentecost Acts 2:17. But we also know that in the very last days of earth’s history, there will be a special outpouring of God’s Spirit, called the “latter rain” James 5:7.

If Israel had fulfilled their promise after the Babylonian captivity and followed God’s ways, then in a local sense this Bible verse would have been fulfilled; yet it still has a greater and universal application when Jesus comes. 

-doug batchelor