22 "For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me," says Yahweh, "so your seed and your name shall remain.
*Minor differences ignored. Grouped by changes, with first version listed as example.
For as the new heavens. Here he promises that the restoration of the Church shall be of such a nature that it shall last for ever. Many might be afraid that it would be ruined a second time; and therefore he declares that henceforth, after having been restored by God, its condition shall be permanent. Accordingly, he mentions here two benefits of surpassing excellence, restoration and eternity. When he speaks of "new heavens" and a "new earth," he looks to the reign of Christ, by whom all things have been renewed, as the Apostle teaches in the Epistle to the Hebrews. Now the design of this newness is, that the condition of the Church may always continue to be prosperous and happy. What is old tends to decay; what is restored and renewed must be of longer continuance. (Hebrews 8:13.) So shall your seed and your name remain. God had promised that "the sun and moon," so long as they remained in heaven, should be witnesses of the eternal succession, that the posterity of David might not be cut off. But because some interruption arose from the treachery and ingratitude of the people, the restoration effected by Christ actually confirmed that prediction. Justly, therefore, does Isaiah say, "Your sons shall succeed to you, and your grandsons shall succeed to your sons;" and as God will establish the world, that it may never perish, so the succession of the Church shall be perpetual, that it may be prolonged through all ages. In a word, he explains what he had formerly said about renewing the world, that none may think that this relates to trees, or beasts, or the order of the stars; for it must be referred to the inward renewal of man. The ancients were mistaken when they thought that these things related absolutely to the last judgment; and they had not sufficiently weighed the context of the Prophet or the authority of the Apostle. Yet I do not deny that they extend as far as to that judgment, because we must not hope for a perfect restoration before Christ, who is the life of the world, shall appear; but we must begin higher, even with that deliverance by which Christ regenerates his people, that they may be new creatures. (2-Corinthians 7:1.)
For as the new heavens and the new earth - (See the notes at Isaiah 65:17).
Shall remain before me - They shall not pass away and be succeeded by others. The idea is, that the state of things here described would be permanent and abiding.
So shall your seed and your name remain - (See the notes at Isaiah 65:15).
For as the new (i) heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the LORD, so shall your seed and your name remain.
(i) By this he signifies the kingdom of Christ in which his Church will be renewed, and where before there were appointed seasons to sacrifice in this there will be one continual Sabbath, so that all times and seasons will be meet.
For as the new heavens, and the new earth, which I will make,.... Not "have made"; for this is not to be understood of the heavens and the earth made new in the beginning, and which continue so without any change or alteration; though sometimes the perpetuity of the church, which is here predicted, is set forth by the duration of those, Psalm 89:36 but either of the new state of things under the Gospel dispensation, which still continues, promised Isaiah 65:15, or rather, since that would be an illustration of it by the same thing in different words, it may be interpreted literally of the new heavens and the new earth, which will be made when the present ones shall wax old and perish, and be no more, as in the New Jerusalem state, 2-Peter 3:10,
shall remain before me, saith the Lord; these shall continue, not only throughout the Millennium, or thousand years' reign, but for ever:
so shall your seed and your name remain; not the natural seed of believers; all have not such seed, and they that have, they are not all converted persons; but the spiritual "seed" of the church, born in her, and brought up by her; which shall continue in successive generations to the end of time, notwithstanding the persecutions of men, and the craft of false teachers, and the reproaches and banters of a vain world, Psalm 22:30, and their "name" also; the name of Christ they name and confess, and that is called upon them, and from whence they are called Christians; this shall endure as long as the sun, Psalm 72:17 or the new name of sons and daughters of the Almighty; or their fame and glory, the memory of them; they shall be had in everlasting remembrance, Psalm 112:6.
"For as the new heaven and the new earth, which I am about to make, continue before me, saith Jehovah, so will your family and your name continue." The great mass of the world of nations and of Israel also perish; but the seed and name of Israel, i.e., Israel as a people with the same ancestors and an independent name, continues for ever, like the new heaven and the new earth; and because the calling of Israel towards the world of nations is now fulfilled and everything has become new, the former fencing off of Israel from other nations comes to an end, and the qualification for priesthood and Levitical office in the temple of God is no longer merely natural descent, but inward nobility. The new heaven and the new earth, God's approaching creation (quae facturus sum), continue eternally before Him (lephânai as in Isaiah 49:16), for the old ones pass away because they do not please God; but these are pleasing to Him, and are eternally like His love, whose work and image they are. The prophet here thinks of the church of the future as being upon a new earth and under a new heaven. But he cannot conceive of the eternal in the form of eternity; all that he can do is to conceive of it as the endless continuance of the history of time.
The new heavens - The new state of the church to be raised up under the Messiah. Remain - As I intend that shall abide, so there shall be a daily succession of true believers for the upholding of it.
*More commentary available at chapter level.