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The New World—Will You Be There?The Watchtower—2000 | April 15
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6. What does a fourth prophecy mentioning “new heavens and a new earth” foretell?
6 Let us now examine the remaining instance of the expression “new heavens and a new earth,” at Isaiah 66:22-24: “‘Just as the new heavens and the new earth that I am making are standing before me,’ is the utterance of Jehovah, ‘so the offspring of you people and the name of you people will keep standing. And it will certainly occur that from new moon to new moon and from sabbath to sabbath all flesh will come in to bow down before me,’ Jehovah has said. ‘And they will actually go forth and look upon the carcasses of the men that were transgressing against me; for the very worms upon them will not die and their fire itself will not be extinguished, and they must become something repulsive to all flesh.’”
7. Why should we conclude that Isaiah 66:22-24 will have a fulfillment in coming days?
7 This prophecy had an application among the Jews reestablished in their land, but there would be another fulfillment. That had to be down the stream of time from when Peter’s second letter and the book of Revelation were written, for they pointed to a future ‘new heaven and earth.’ We can look for that grand and complete fulfillment in the new system. Consider some of the conditions that we can look forward to enjoying.
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The New World—Will You Be There?The Watchtower—2000 | April 15
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10. Why can you be confident that the new world will not be permanently marred by wicked ones?
10 Isaiah 66:24 assures us that the peace and righteousness of the new earth will never be in danger. Wicked people will not ruin it. Recall that 2 Peter 3:7 says that ahead of us is “the day of judgment and of destruction of the ungodly men.” Those coming to their end will be ungodly. No harm will come to innocents, unlike what often happens in human wars, where civilian casualties outnumber military ones. The Great Judge guarantees us that his day will be a destruction of the ungodly.
11. What does Isaiah show will be the future of any who turn against God and his worship?
11 The surviving righteous ones will see that God’s prophetic word is true. Isa 66 Verse 24 foretells that “the carcasses of the men that were transgressing against” Jehovah will be proof of his judgment. The graphic language Isaiah used may seem shocking. Yet, it is consistent with a historical fact. Outside the walls of ancient Jerusalem were dumps for garbage and, occasionally, for the corpses of executed criminals judged unfit for a decent burial.a There the worms and incinerating fire would soon eliminate both the garbage and those corpses. Evidently, Isaiah’s imagery illustrates the finality of Jehovah’s judgment on transgressors.
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