Let us look at the challenging aspect of Isaiah 65:20. It says,
“the child shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed.” This verse has confused many Bible students over the years because of its seeming contradictory wording. Whilst Premillennialists normally advance Isaiah 65 and 66 to support their millennial viewpoint, neither chapter makes the slightest reference to an earthly millennium kingdom after the second coming. Rather, both commence by speaking of this presence age and terminate by speaking of the new heaven and the new earth. Neither chapter knows anything of a future millennium. Whilst it is difficult to dissect every minute detail in a passage like this, we know that the information in view in this prophetic reading is definitely describing the period of the “new heavens and a new earth.”
Death on the new earth???
Let us have a literal word-by-word look at the Hebrew pertaining to Isaiah 65:20.
לֹא־יִֽהְיֶ֨ה מִשָּׁ֜ם עֹ֗וד ע֤וּל יָמִים֙ וְזָקֵ֔ן אֲשֶׁ֥ר
Lo'- yihªyeh mishaam `owd `uwl yaamiym wªzaaqeen 'ªsher
Not be hence more an infant [of] days, an old man after
לֹא־
lō-
Not
יִֽהְיֶ֨ה
yih-yeh
Be
מִשָּׁ֜ם
miš-šām
Hence
ע֗וֹד
‘ō-wḏ,
More
ע֤וּל
‘ūl
an infant
יָמִים֙
yā-mîm
[of] days
וְזָקֵ֔ן
wə-zā-qên,
an old man
אֲשֶׁ֥ר
’ă-šer
After
What is this telling us?
Basically: a child will never become old on the new earth.
לֹֽא־יְמַלֵּ֖א אֶת־יָמָ֑יו כִּ֣י הַנַּ֗עַר בֶּן־מֵאָ֤ה שָׁנָה֙ יָמ֔וּת
Lo'- yªmalee''et- yaamaayw Kiy hana`ar ben- mee'aah shaanaah yaamuwt
Not fulfill your days inasmuch a child old an hundred years die
לֹֽא־
lō-
Not
יְמַלֵּ֖א
yə-mal-lê
Fulfill
אֶת־
’eṯ-
Your
יָמָ֑יו
yā-māw;
Days
כִּ֣י
kî
Inasmuch
הַנַּ֗עַר
han-na-‘ar,
a child
בֶּן־
ben-
Old
מֵאָ֤ה
mê-’āh
Hundred
שָׁנָה֙
šā-nāh
Years
יָמ֔וּת
yā-mūṯ,
Die
What is this telling us?
The exact same thing, only in different terms.
This is called
synonymous parallelism. It is telling us that a child will never become old on the new earth. This line reinforces what has just been said. It confirms the thought of the impending reality of no more death in the eternal state for the righteous. In eternity there will be no more aging or dying. It is
not going to be like our corrupt age where infants eventually get old. It will not be like the here-and-now where a man could live to be an old person of a hundred years of age and then die.
This passage is actually saying the opposite to what many think. What this is saying is: there will be no more aging, curse or death on the new earth. Every glorified saints will have come to full maturity in Christ with their new perfect eternal bodies. It is the next line of Isaiah 65:20 that has confused many, because the translators have not interpreted it in a literal word-for-word sense. It is not saying there will be more babies, death and old men. It is saying the opposite to what they are alleging. It is saying that there will be no more aging: children getting old, old people and people dying! It is describing eternity to an Old Testament audience in terms they can grasp.
The new heavens and new earth will indeed be a glorious victorious perfect state where death is unknown. God is saying that the eternal state will actually be free of death for young and old alike. This passage is telling us that there will be no more death on the new earth! The Hebrew word
Lo' (Strong’s 3808) means
“no” or “not.” The word is a simple negation. The word is found twice in this much-debated new heavens and new earth verse.
Debate in Isaiah 65:20 centers in on the use of the original word
yaamuw meaning “die” or “death.” What should we relate it to? Is there indeed “death” on the new earth? Also, should the death be related to the “child” in the second phrase or the “sinner” in the third phrase? What is more, in what way should it read? I must admit, if we are to read it in its most natural way it fits perfectly with the context. So why change it? I believe it should be applied to the “child” as it should agree with the first phrase that is simply a reinforcement of the same truth. It then fits perfectly with the whole overall teaching of the prophet on the perfection and bliss of the eternal state.
No (לֹֽא־
or Lo')
longer will an infant become like an old man,
No (לֹֽא־
or Lo')
longer will a child reach one hundred and die.
This is Old Testament verbiage that describes eternity to the Old Testament listener. It is telling us: no one is going to age! This relates to the new heaven and new earth not some supposed future millennium – that will never happen.