True. Why would there be such a thing as age if we are all to go onto eternity and skip the Millennium? The environment will be vastly improved on earth for those days.
Well? Look here... Sinners were living to be over eight hundred years old prior to the earth change that took place after Noah's flood. Therefore, fallen man can live for a long time under the right conditions.
First, you have not actually addressed the contradiction I am highlighting here: contrary to what Premils indicate there is going to have to be a 2nd glorification of man and the earth, including a rapture of the millennial saints, after Satan's little season. Premils will not acknowledge this.
Second, the problem is not the environment, it is the human heart. It is sinful and rebellious. And that is why we die. Also, nowhere does it talk about these extended life-spans in Rev 20. You force NHNE passages into this imaginary future millennium. You have to. Premil has zero corroboration for all its main tenets. A wicked heart will still be a wicked heart and will pay the consequences in any environment.
The new heavens and new earth of the Millennium will have an ideal environment. Perfect food, air, and no fake news.
"Never again will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days,
or an old man who does not live out his years; the one who dies
at a hundred will be thought a mere child; the one who fails
to reach a hundred will be considered accursed." - Isa 65:20
That speaks of the Millennium. After all? If we are all to simply all enter into eternity? No one would age, nor die in eternity! In the Millennium a person not reaching age 100 will be seen as a mere child. Death will still be with them as a potential.
grace and peace........
I have addressed this many times with Premils. I will represent.
The NHNE comes after the millennium/Satan's season not at the beginning as you argue. Check Rev 20 and 21. Where is a future millennium mentioned in Isaiah 65:19-25? Nowhere! Premils force their beliefs into the sacred text where it does not belong. This is called eisegesis not exegesis. Text, context and co-text do not seem to matter to them.
Let us let the Bible speaks for itself!
Isaiah 65:17-21 declares,
“For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind. But be ye glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create: for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy. And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people: and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying. There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days: for the child shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed. And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them.”
The one thing we know for sure is that Scripture does not contradict itself in any way. The way some theologians explain this passage would lead you to believe that this passage is the one exception to this rule in Scripture. Of course, we know it isn’t (or can’t be). This much-debated passage before us must therefore beautifully correlates with other similar Scripture, which informs us that the Coming of Christ is climactic and that the new earth is totally free of the curse. It is essential that we always interpret difficult passages like this with other clearer and simpler passages.
The first thing we see in this reading is the time period in view; the Old Testament prophet explains that he is specifically speaking of the “
new heavens and a new earth.” This is indisputable and cannot be a matter for theological debate. Whilst there are challenging parts to this passage, we can be sure of the fact that the detail described will be fulfilled in the “new heavens and a new earth.” In fact, the wording is so explicit in relation to the time-period that it removes any ambiguity or uncertainty for the reader on that front. This is the first absolute we can establish with this reading.
Allowing Scripture to interpret Scripture and not imposing a private interpretation on this Old Testament chapter means letting New Testament Scripture locate the “
new heavens and a new earth.” Various passages show the removal of the old corrupt heavens and earth at the coming of Christ and their replacement with the new perfect heavens and earth. Jesus teaches in Matthew 24:35-37:
“Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming (
parousia)
of the Son of man be.”
Revelation expressly locates the new earth after the millennial period and not at the beginning. Revelation 21:1-5 tells us:
“I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new.”
This is beyond dispute. Any other understanding is contradicting Scripture. Notwithstanding, this doesn’t stop some Bible students forcing this passage into a supposed future millennium in between this current age and the new heavens and a new earth in the age to come. This can only occur if one is to ignore the setting clearly outlined by the Holy Ghost elsewhere in Holy Writ.
The next absolute we know from interpreting Scripture with Scripture is that there is no sin or corruption in the new heavens or on the new earth. There is therefore no death or decay, sickness or rebellion. It is a perfect holy environment that is free of iniquity. 2 Peter 3:13 confirms:
“we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.” The Bible makes clear that this current earth is purged at the Second Coming of all the repercussions of the fall and perfected for His glory.
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 ageing, 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 (
Lo')
longer will an infant become like an old man,
No (
Lo')
longer will a child reach one hundred and die.
The original Hebrew does not give us any reason to attribute death to the “child” in this second line. In fact, it does not fit the whole context which is evidently speaking of the removal of ageing and death on the new earth. Interpreting it as we have, seems to (1) match the original, (2) make sense to its context, and (3) taps into the thrust of what the prophet was trying to relay. We need to remind ourselves that the whole idea here is describing the incredible eternal deliverance from the curse of corruption and the joy that “the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind” on the “new earth.”