Calvin on Isaiah 65
See, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor
will they come to mind. (Isaiah 65:17 NIV).
In Isaiah 65:17 we read an ancient prophet speaking the Word of the Lord to the people of God.
Within this passage there is a thematic refrain that sounds very similar to a joyful vision of
Revelation 21:1-5. Two observations made by a theologian of the Protestant Reformation, John
Calvin, are striking and worthy of consideration:
“The Former Things”
Calvin on Isaiah 65:17
“The former things shall not be remembered. Some refer these words to heaven and
earth; as if he had said that henceforth they shall have no celebrity and no name. But I
choose rather to refer them to the former times; for he means that the joy at being
restored shall be so great that they shall no longer remember their miseries. Or perhaps
it will be thought preferable to view them as relating to benefits which, though they were
worthy of being recorded, lost their name when God’s amazing- grace shone forth. In
this sense the Prophet said elsewhere, “Remember ye not the former things.” (Isaiah
43:18.) Not that God wished the first deliverance to be set aside or blotted out of the
hearts of believers; but because by comparison the one brought a kind of forgetfulness
over the other, just as the sun, when he rises, deprives the stars of their brightness.
Let us remember that these things take place in us so far as we are renewed. But we are
only in part renewed, and therefore we do not yet see a new heaven and a new earth.
We need not wonder, therefore, that we continue to mourn and weep, since we have not
entirely laid aside the old man, but many remains are still left. It is with us also that the
renovation ought to begin; because we hold the first rank, and it is through our sin that
“the creatures groan, and are subject to vanity,” as Paul shews. (Romans 8:20.) But
when we shall be perfectly renewed, heaven and earth shall also be fully renewed, and
shall regain their former state. And hence it ought to be inferred, as we have frequently
remarked, that the Prophet has in his eye the whole reign of Christ, down to its final
close, which is also called “the day of renovation and restoration.”
The Brightness of the Son
In the first paragraph Calvin highlights God’s amazing grace that transforms the entire existence
of a person. With a beautiful juxtaposition, Calvin compares the sinner’s deliverance by God’s
merciful grace, with the former things of the unregenerate life. I’ve gone outside plenty of times
with my sunglasses on during the day. The brightness of the sun can be overwhelming, just as
God’s grace in his redemption is life giving. In this way, Calvin highlights the “already” aspect of
our eschatological hope. We have hope for eternity because of God’s deliverance to us even
now.
The “Not Yet” Aspect
In the second paragraph Calvin highlights the “not yet” aspect of our eschatological hope. Much
of the “old man” still remains and as such, for Calvin, the new heavens and new earth are a
renovation in progress within our very selves. Our hope is found in looking to that great day
when all the renovations are complete. When the “not yet” becomes “well done good and faithful
servant.”