Isaiah’s New Heavens and New Earth (Part 9): A Concluding Argument, a Sign, and a Promise
By Robert E. Cruickshank, Jr. and Daniel E. Harden
Daniel E. Harden (Editor)
Copyright © Robert E. Cruickshank, Jr. (June 27, 2025)
All Rights Reserved
In the previous article (click here for Part 8), we saw how Isaiah’s prophecy formed a covenant lawsuit in which the unfaithful apostate generation was on trial for forsaking Yahweh through cultic, pagan practices. As the prosecuting attorney in these proceedings, Isaiah’s closing argument (Isaiah 66) echoes his opening statement (Isaiah 1). Isaiah gives a summation, and the final verdict is pending. And the Most High Judge weighs in before reading the final verdict, with words of promise and encouragement for the future faithful, extending His blessing to them.
This installment will focus on that blessing and vindication of the faithful before the final verdict is announced on the unfaithful and their cohorts.
The Nations See God’s Glory (Isaiah 66:18)
This section opens with a reference to the gathering of nations.
“For I know their works and their thoughts; the time is coming to gather all the nations and tongues. And they shall come and see My glory [kabowd]” (Isa. 66:18).
Again, this is Isaiah’s closing statement, so he isn’t saying anything that he hasn’t previously mentioned. The reference to the gathering of all nations and tongues is no exception. We find the same sentiment in Isaiah 43, which deals with the faithful generation at the time of the restoration from exile.
First, he tells them:
“Since you are precious in My sight,
Since you are honored and I love you,
I will give other people in your place and other nations in exchange for your life” (Isa. 43:4).
While their lives would be in danger, it would be others who would ultimately pay the price. This undoubtedly refers to those who stood against Israel along the way, including Babylon (Isa. 43:14) as well as Haman and his forces. They opposed and threatened God’s people, but in the end, the situation was reversed—the very ones who stood against them became the ones who faced the consequences. Through this exchange, God’s people were spared.
The Lord then refers to the time of their future restoration from exile. He tells Israel:
“I will bring your offspring [seed: zera][1] with you from the east and gather you from the west. I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’ And to the south, ‘Do not hold them back’” (Isa. 43:5-6).
But one other thing occurs alongside the restoration spoken of in Isaiah 43 that dovetails with Isaiah 66:18 – the gathering of the nations as witnesses:
“All the nations have gathered together
So that the peoples may be assembled.
Who among them can declare this
And proclaim to us the former things?
Let them present their witnesses so that they may be justified,
Or let them hear and say, ‘It is true’” (Isa. 43:9).
The returnees themselves stood as proof to the nations of God’s sovereignty – so much so that all of the empire helped rebuild and supply Jerusalem.[2] Whether or not they recognized it, the nations certainly saw the kabowd (splendor, honor, abundance, glory) of God.
This is further determined by the phrase in Isa. 66:18 “nations and tongues.” The same word “tongues”, lashon, is used in Esther 1:22 to show that the provinces of Persia spoke different languages. In Esther 3:12, Haman has the proclamation to annihilate the Jews sent out to every province “in their own language (lashon).” And in Esther 8:9, Mordecai reverses this with a proclamation in favor of the Jews and against Haman and his forces, and that proclamation went out “from India to Cush (Ethiopia), 127 provinces,” to “every people according to their language (lashon), as well as to the Jews according to their script and their language (lashon).” As a result “many of the peoples” became Jews (Eshter 8:17; see also Esther 9:27 for another reference of those who joined the Jews). Nehemiah also confirms that many of the nations came to him (Neh. 5:17).
In Isaiah 66:18, we find the culmination of Isaiah’s prophetic vision: the gathering of the nations who witnessed the glory of God and, in many cases, joined themselves to His people. The Gentile nations not only observed but actively participated in God’s restorative work.
God, through Isaiah, doesn’t just leave it at that, however. He proceeds to specify how all of this would be brought about.
The Sign for the Nations (Isa. 66:19)
Isaiah elaborates on the specifics by circling back to a theme he had introduced earlier – the placement of a sign that would capture the attention of the nations:
And I will put a sign among them and send survivors from them to the nations: Tarshish, Put, Lud, Meshech, Tubal, and Javan, to the distant coastlands that have neither heard of My fame nor seen My glory [kabowd] . And they will declare My glory [kabowd] among the nations (Isa. 66:19).
The nations mentioned in verse 18 would have a “sign among them”. This language strongly indicates that this sign would be evident for the entire empire. And again, Isaiah is reiterating an earlier theme as he closes his arguments in chapter 66. He has already specified what that sign would be:
“ Instead of the thorn bush, the juniper will come up,
And instead of the stinging nettle, the myrtle will come up;
And it will be a memorial to the Lord,
An everlasting sign which will not be eliminated” (Isa. 55:13).
As Isaiah indicates just a few verses later, this sign would coincide with a time when foreigners would join themselves to the Lord, and He would not separate them from His people (Isa. 56:3). The connection between the “sign” (Isa. 55:13) and the inclusion of “the foreigner” (Isa. 56:3) is unmistakable. When Isaiah revisits this theme in his closing statement (Isa. 66:19), he would have expected his readers to recall what he had previously said in this regard. Remember, he’s summing it all up here, not introducing new material.
With that said, the sign was none other than the myrtle itself. As shown in previous installments, this myrtle tree was Esther, whose Hebrew name Hadassah means exactly that: “myrtle tree.”[3] And Esther was the sign for the entire nation. Whereas the “stinging nettle,” Haman, wanted to eradicate the Jews, the “myrtle tree,” Esther, rose up instead. The Jews were not only spared, but the forces amassed by Haman were totally decimated. And it was so evident to the entire empire that their eyes were opened to the glory (kabowd) of God. So much so that it sparked a large conversion.
Isaiah 66:19 mentions many of the outlying provinces of Persia. For example, Tarshish, identified in the Septuagint as Carthage, was located on the African shores of the Mediterranean, in the furthest reaches of the Persian empire. Javan is the ancient name for Greece, and Tubal was an area in Asia Minor that extended up to the shores of the Black Sea. Meshech was the area along the southeast edge of the Black Sea, Put (or Pul) was what is now Libya, and Lud was Lydia in Asia Minor, as mentioned in Jer. 46:9.
Each and every one of these names appears in Ezek. 27:10-13, in Ezekiel’s prophecy against Tyre. Tyre, a thriving commercial port and once considered impregnable, lost its independence and fell under Persian rule in 572 BC, just 14 years after the Babylonia conquest of Jerusalem, and 33 years before Babylon itself fell to the Persians in 539 BC. And each place name mentioned in both Ezekiel 27 and Isaiah 66 had relevance within the Persian Empire.
The inclusion of all of these place names in Isa. 66:19 signifies that the resounding victory by the Jews would be commonly known throughout the entire empire. Every one of these names that appear here were well-known places within the expansive provinces in the Persian Empire during the restoration, yet not one of those names was still in common use by the time of the New Testament.
Esther 9 describes how the Jews (the survivors) were victorious not only in Susa, the capital city of Persia, and Jerusalem, the home of the Jews, but also throughout the “king’s provinces” (Esther 9:16), in “each and every province” (Esther 8:17). All of this was in fulfillment of Isaiah’s words – not only those summed up in Isa. 66:18-19, but also stated explicitly in Isa. 45:1-7. Events that began with Cyrus (Isa. 45:1) would reach the entire Persian empire, so that all the people “from the rising to the setting of the sun” (Isa. 45:6) would know God’s glory. And, just as Isaiah said in Isa. 66:19, the Jews (survivors) had been sent out to the provinces (Esther 9:16,20). This, in turn, sparked a wide-spread conversion (Esther 8:17). And Isaiah reiterates in 66:19 that each one of them would hear of His glory (kobawd).
The effects of this empire-wide conversion were still felt nearly 100 years later, as the Lord would proclaim through the prophet Malachi, utilizing similar language:
For from the rising of the sun to its setting my name is great among the nations, and in every place incense is offered to my name, and a pure offering; for my name is great among the nations, says the LORD of hosts…and my name is feared among the nations” (Mal. 1:11, 14c).[4]
The singular event that set all of these other events in motion was Cyrus (Isa. 45:1) and his decree calling God’s people back to their own land (Ezra 1:1-7). The exiles returned in waves before, during, and following the victory of God’s Myrtle Tree (Esther). The “sign” continues to shine in passages like Isaiah 55:13 and 66:19, and the unmistakable rhythm of the exiles’ return likewise resounds through Isaiah’s words.
Horses, Mules, and Camels (Isaiah 66:20)
Following verse 19, verse 20 describes the manner in which the survivors would return as they come back to their homeland:
“Then they shall bring all your countrymen from all the nations as a grain offering to the Lord, on horses, in chariots, in litters, on mules, and on camels, to My holy mountain Jerusalem,” says the Lord, “just as the sons of Israel bring their grain offering in a clean vessel to the house of the Lord” (Isa. 66:20).
This is a fitting description of the returning exiles, who actually did return on horses, mules, camels, and donkeys (Ezra 2:66-67; Neh. 7:68-69). When Nehemiah arrives to inspect the walls, he even notes “the animal on which” he was riding (Neh. 2:12). This may seem like a mundane historical detail, but its significance becomes striking when set against modern approaches to Israel’s regathering. For example, some see the immigration of “more than 3.5 million Jews” to “the Land of Israel” in recent times as a “literal fulfillment of God’s promises.”[5] But these modern returnees are arriving by commercial aircraft, not riding in on camels and mules. This is a far cry from a literal fulfillment.
The inclusion of the animals in this verse also sits uncomfortably with the idea of a spiritualized fulfillment in the sense of New Testament believers coming to the heavenly Jerusalem (e.g., Heb. 12:22-23). While this is indeed a beautiful and theologically rich truth, plugging it into Isaiah 66:20 would be a classic case of the right doctrine but the wrong text. One would be hard-pressed to explain what the horses, mules, and camels would spiritually symbolize in such an interpretation.
Priests and Levites (Isa. 66:21)
Regarding the caravan of returning exiles making this pilgrimage, Isaiah informs the reader that some of them would be set aside for a special purpose:
“I will also take some of them as priests and Levites,” says the Lord (Isa. 66:21).
This verse provides yet another detail that serves to pin down the time of intended fulfillment for Isaiah 65-66 as the time of restoration from exile. Isaiah specifically mentions that some of the returnees would be taken as priests and Levites.
It would make sense for Isaiah to say that some of the returning exiles would become priests and Levites. The Babylonian exile lasted 70 years in total, and the temple was destroyed for 50 years, plus the extended period of time it took for the temple to be rebuilt once the restoration was begun. For that span of time, nobody was functioning as a temple priest,[6] and no one was performing the duties of the Levites in the temple. It was impossible because there was no temple in which to perform these functions and duties.
Additionally, in verse 21, the Lord, through Isaiah, says that only some of the returning countrymen of verse 20 would become Levitical priests. This fits naturally with the aftermath of the exile, being borne out by “priests and Levites” being included among “those whose mind God had stirred” (Ezra 1:5) and numbered in the census given in Ezra 2, where the priests and Levites are listed as part of those who returned (Ezra 2:36-60), although some of the Levites were deemed unworthy of priesthood (Ezra 2:61-63).
Notwithstanding, the “priests and Levites” were but a subset of those that had returned (Ezra 2:70). The fact that Ezra specifically points out several times that “priests and Levites” were among those to return (Ezra 1:5; 2:70; 3:8, 12; etc.) appears to be a direct reference to the “priests and Levites” who would be included in Isa. 66:21.
This is in direct contrast to the New Testament reality, where all believers in Christ are made priests before God (1 Pet. 2:9; Rev. 1:6). In Isaiah 66:21 and its fulfillment in Ezra, however, the priests and Levites were only a portion of all those who would return.
An Enduring Legacy (Isa. 66:22)
In the next verse in chapter 66, Isaiah highlights the promise of the enduring lineage of the faithful, which also serves as a contrast with the fleeting legacy of the rebellious in the closing verse:
“’For just as the new heavens and the new earth, which I make, will endure before Me,’” declares the Lord, ‘So will your descendants [seed: zera][7] and your name endure’” (Isa. 66:22).
The phrase “the new heavens and the new earth” should be understood in the sense of a new redemptive and cosmological order. It deals not only with the physical creation, but with the cosmological order as a whole. And while it was necessary to create the literal heaven and earth the very first time, it is not necessary to re-create the heavens and the earth each time they are made new through redemptive and cosmological restructuring. Commenting on this verse, John Watts observes:
“This verse addresses the faithful pilgrims by picking up references in 65:17 to “the new heavens and the new land.” YHWH promises the worshipers permanence. Their children and their name will last as long as the new order, and they will have their place before YHWH in worship (56:5). This does not promise them eternal life in the NT sense (John 10:27–29; 1 Pet 1:23; see E.Achtemeier, Community and Message, 150), but it does promise permanence through a remembered name and line of children (51:11; 61:9; 65:9, 23).”[8]
Unlike the new heavens and new earth to be initiated by Christ (Rev. 21:1ff), the redemptive order of the restoration period (Isaiah’s new heavens and new earth) was not intended to last forever. As the Psalmist said, it would “perish” and “wear out like a garment” (Ps. 102:26).[9] Indeed, it did perish and wear out. As Watts comments further:
“What are the important things the Vision of Isaiah has said? YHWH’s new age needed a symbol, a crown, a gathering place. Jerusalem became that place. God’s people needed a sign that God was alive and in charge, that he was still present on the earth where people could meet with him. Jerusalem became that sign. The world needed a forum where persons of every race could be assured of a place in God’s plan. Jerusalem is that place. Jerusalem yields her treasures of meaning and worship still, not to the mighty of the earth but to ‘the meek and mild who tremble at his word.’ The destruction of Jerusalem in 70 C.E. brought that era to a close…”[10]
This is exactly what the book of Revelation tells us. John says that the former (protos) heavens and earth would “passed away” when the “new heavens and earth” were ushered in by Jesus Christ (Rev. 21:1). The new heavens and earth envisioned by Isaiah had grown old and perished when the Romans destroyed the city and temple that the returning exiles had built.
Sabbaths and New Moons (Isa. 66:23)
Verse 23 opens with a clear reference to the Jewish Sabbath: “From new moon to new moon, and from Sabbath to Sabbath.” This is highly indicative of the Old Testament rituals in particular.[11] In fact, the reference to the new moon and the Sabbath points directly back to Isaiah’s opening statement, where the Israelites had become so complacent about their worship service that it had ceased to achieve its true meaning.
“Do not go on bringing your worthless offerings,
Incense is an abomination to Me.
New moon and Sabbath, the proclamation of an assembly—
I cannot endure wrongdoing and the festive assembly.
I hate your new moon festivals and your appointed feasts,
They have become a burden to Me;
I am tired of bearing them” (Isa. 1:13-14).
The purpose of punishment through exile was to bring them back into a true relationship with God and reestablish order. The new moon festivals and the Sabbath would once again be meaningful. And this reflects, once again, exactly what happened with the restoration. Once the rebuilding was complete, the priests read from the Law of Moses, and as a result, the people drafted a document with the “new covenant” with God (Neh. 9:38). To further dedicate themselves, they wholeheartedly committed themselves to, among other things, a proper reverence in the new moon festivals and the Sabbaths (Neh. 10:32-33). This included the “priests and Levites,” but also included “the rest of the people” as well (Neh. 10:28), thus reflecting a fulfillment of Isa. 66:21-23.
Contrastingly, the reference to the “new moon” only occurs once in the New Testament – in Col. 2:16-17, where the new moon festivals and the Sabbaths were no longer the measure of true worship, but “only a shadow of what is to come” where the “substance belongs to Christ.”
All Flesh
Isa. 66:23 ends with the phrase “ ‘All mankind [flesh] will come to bow down before Me,’ says the Lord.” This would again remind Isaiah’s audience of what he had been saying all along. In chapter 40, Isaiah proclaims the end of the exile:
“Comfort, comfort My people,” says your God.
“Speak kindly to Jerusalem;
And call out to her, that her warfare has ended,
That her guilt has been removed,
That she has received of the Lord’s hand
Double for all her sins” (Isa. 40:1-2).
The statement “her guilt has been removed” literally reads “her iniquity has been pardoned”, and refers to a payment for wrongdoing. The same word ratsah[12] is used in Lev. 26:41-43 to refer to payment and atonement.
When the promise of restoration is fully realized, the punishment will have been served, and the guilt for their idolatry will have been fully atoned.[13] They will have been doubly punished. The time for comfort will have come. And what is the result of this removal of guilt with the restoration?
The voice of one calling out,
“Clear the way for the Lord in the wilderness;
Make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
Let every valley be lifted up,
And every mountain and hill be made low;
And let the uneven ground become a plain,
And the rugged terrain a broad valley;
Then the glory [kabowd] of the Lord will be revealed,
And all flesh will see it together;
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” [Isa. 40:3-5]
The phrase “all flesh” in Isa. 40:5 is the same phrase (ḵāl bā·śār) as in Isa. 66:23. The entire Persian empire would see the glory (kabowd) of the Lord (Isa. 40:5) – just as stated in Isaiah 66:18. And people from all provinces recognized the Lord and began worshipping him.
Once again, Isaiah, in his closing summary, simply repeats what he had previously prophesied.
Up next: the verdict is rendered upon the unfaithful (Isa. 66:24)!
Recap
In his closing argument in this divine courtroom drama, Isaiah reaffirms themes introduced earlier. Isaiah’s repeated references serve to reinforce, not reinvent, his earlier prophetic themes.
Vindication for the faithful culminates in a vision of restored worship, a global witness, and an enduring legacy for those loyal to the Lord. Isaiah 66:18–23 is firmly rooted in the post-exilic period with an emphasis on the multinational scope of God’s glory being declared during that period.
The “sign” placed among the nations in Isaiah 66:19 is the same “sign” placed among the nations in Isaiah 55:13 – 56:3-6. It is Esther, God’s Myrtle Tree, whose actions turned the tables on Haman and sparked widespread conversion across the Persian Empire (compare Isaiah 56:6 and Esther 8:17), and continued clear into the time of Malachi (Mal. 1:11, 14).
The return of the exiles, riding on literal animals, the reestablishment of priests and Levites, and a renewed observance of the new moons and Sabbaths likewise serve as historical fulfillments of Isaiah’s prophecy in the post-exilic period. The enduring legacy of the faithful that is tied to this redemptive reordering is once again called a “new heavens and a new earth” (Isa. 66:22; cf. 65:17). In other words, it was a new redemptive order.
The redemptive order of that era served its purpose until the close of that era when the final redemptive order, brought about through the work of Jesus Christ, was set in motion. This being the case, the final redemptive order (which believers today are a part of) should eclipse the previous redemptive order of Isaiah 65-66, which has now “passed away” (Rev. 21:1), as Jesus continues to make all things new (Rev. 21:5).
Takeaways for Believers Today:
As God honored the faithfulness of the faithful during the post-exilic period, we should also strive to be faithful today if we expect to see His blessing in and on our own lives. As with Esther, hope and deliverance come when we place our hope in Him and look to Him for deliverance. Then, we become the salt and light that He’s called us to be, as His light shines through us and is seen by those surrounding us (Matt. 5:13-16; 2 Pt. 1:19). As the nations and peoples from across the Persian Empire saw God’s glory and joined in His worship, let’s strive so that God’s glory can be seen in us and the people of our day join us in worshiping Him. The redemptive order of the past day (Isa. 65-66) serves as a model of the redemptive order of our day (Rev. 21-22) and serves as hope to the lost that they also can live in the blessings of a new day – as they put their faith and trust in Him.
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[1] In Isaiah 6:13, the exilic remnant is referred to as “the holy seed.” Ezra 9:2 uses this exact phrase in this exact manner. For more on this, See: Robert E. Cruickshank, Jr., Isaiah 66:8 in 1948? Dispensationalism’s Warp Speed Hermeneutic – Burros of Berea https://bit.ly/43dDTNh ; Marvin A. Sweeney, Isaiah 40-66 (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co, 2016), 60.
[2] See, for example, the decrees of Ezra 6:6-12 and Ezra 7:11-26, and the result in Ezra 8:36.
[3] See: Robert E. Cruickshank, Jr. with Daniel E. Harden, Isaiah’s New Heavens and New Earth (Part 7): Comforting the Children, Protecting the People – The Burros of Berea https://bit.ly/4leap8i ; See also: Robert E. Cruickshank, Jr., Gog and Magog, Part 7: God’s Myrtle Tree – The Burros of Berea https://bit.ly/4k3G2RQ
[4] See also Robert E. Cruickshank, Jr. and Daniel E. Harden, The Greatness of God’s Name: A Historical-Theological Look at Malachi 1:11 – The Burros of Berea https://bit.ly/4leHSiW
[5] Return of the Jews to their Homeland – ICEJ https://bit.ly/3TfXVBj
[6] That’s not to say that priests weren’t recognized by the exiles. They obviously were, since they returned in Ezra and Nehemiah. But while they appeared to be keepers of the Law and its rituals for the people, so far as they could, nonetheless, they were displaced.
[7] This is the same Hebrew word that we saw earlier in Isa. 43:5 as well as Isa. 65:9 and 65:23. Isaiah often refers to the “seed of Abraham” (41:8), the “seed of Israel” (45:25), and “the seed of Jacob” (45:19; 65:9), or “your seed” (43:5; 44:3; 48:19; 54:3; 59:21) as a collective whole regarding the offspring of the chosen people.
[8] John D.W. Watts, Word Biblical Commentary: Isaiah 34-66 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2005), 941.
[9] See: Robert E. Cruickshank, Jr., A Walk Through Psalm 102 – The Burros of Berea https://bit.ly/3ZBGazU
[10] Watts, Isaiah 34-66, 941-942.
[11] The reference to new moons and Sabbaths is a Hebrew phrase for their holy days that had become quite common by the time of Isaiah (see, e.g., 2 Kings 4:23; 1 Chron. 23:31; 2 Chron. 2:4; 8:13; 31:3; Hosea 2:11; Amon 8:5). It directly points back to the Law of Moses, as mentioned in such places as Num. 28.
[12] The form of the word in Isa. 40:2 is nirsah, which is the perfect form of the verb, literally “is pardoned”.
[13] See, for example the Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament. On this clause in Isa. 40:2, it gives this explanation: “Her iniquity is atoned for, and the justice of God is satisfied: nirtsâh, which generally denotes a satisfactory reception, is used here in the sense of meeting with a satisfactory payment, like עון רצה in Leviticus 26:41, Leviticus 26:43, to pay off the debt of sin by enduring the punishment of sin.”
