Isaiah 65:17-23 “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; And the former shall not be remembered or come to mind. … (21) They shall build houses and inhabit them; They shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit. (22) They shall not build, and another inhabit; They shall not plant, and another eat; For as the days of a tree, so shall be the days of My people, And My elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands. (23) They shall not labour in vain, nor bring forth children for trouble; For they shall be the descendants of the blessed of the Lord, And their offspring with them.”
The above passage of scripture is speaking about life in the new earth that God will create. And in this passage, God tells us that His elect will build houses and inhabit them. And so, we know that this is not referring to the Lord’s saints, because the saints will be dwelling in the heavenly city of Jerusalem which God Himself has built, and in which He has prepared homes for the saints to dwell in (John 14:2-3). But rather, the houses referred to in the above passage, are in fact the houses that the children of God will build in the new earth. And so, we see that just as when the children of Israel under the old covenant entered their Promised Land and God gave them their land by allotment, so it will be in the new earth. For God will allocate land to each one of His children, and they will then build homes on that land and they will farm that land, by planting vineyards, orchards and olive groves, etc. They will also have flocks of sheep and herds of cattle, from which they will produce all manner of dairy products. We also see from this passage, that although the children of God will be labouring on their farms that it will not be a wearisome labour, for the Lord tells us that they will long enjoy the work of their hands. Someone said but that sounds so boring. Again I take you back to the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve were completely content with their lives, and they didn’t even build homes or run farms. It is only the flesh that is never content and rebels against what God decrees for His people. But thankfully, the flesh will not be present in the age to come.
Michael E.B. Maher
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