Isaiah 65:23

[Jamdoc]

So.. in reading this previously, I had glossed over, and in fact now I realize that my preference for the King James Bible actually hindered me here. I didn't really understand this verse, and thought it was just about working, and it was curious that offspring was mentioned here.
Here it is in the King James:

They shall not labour in vain, nor bring forth for trouble; for they are the seed of the blessed of the LORD, and their offspring with them.

but I posted this verse elsewhere and moused over, and it showed me a different translation of this verse, and scales fell off my eyes.

here are other versions

New International Version

They will not labor in vain, nor will they bear children doomed to misfortune; for they will be a people blessed by the LORD, they and their descendants with them.

New Living Translation

They will not work in vain, and their children will not be doomed to misfortune. For they are people blessed by the LORD, and their children, too, will be blessed.

English Standard Version

They shall not labor in vain or bear children for calamity, for they shall be the offspring of the blessed of the LORD, and their descendants with them.

Berean Standard Bible

They will not labor in vain or bear children doomed to disaster; for they will be a people blessed by the LORD—they and their descendants with them.

NASB 1995

They will not labor in vain, Or bear children for calamity; For they are the offspring of those blessed by the LORD, And their descendants with them.

Just... wow.. all this time I'd been taught that this was Millennial Kingdom, and only unbelievers who survived the 70th week would be able to have children, we'd all be Eunuchs after the Resurrection.
But this is specific. This is redeemed people having children, whether on the New Earth or Millennial Kingdom this is after the resurrection. I believe New Earth because God says New Earth.

and this throws back to Genesis 3

16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.

Isaiah 65:23 is a direct reversal of this curse, In fact from Isaiah 65:17 on is a reverse of the curse on the entire Earth, and on Adam as well. The only one not uncursed is the serpent "dust shall be the serpent's meat."
just language differences...

Genesis 3

17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;
18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;
19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

while Isaiah 65

22 They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree are the days of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands.

Work on this current cursed Earth is toil, exhausting, painful, it wears you down, work on the New Earth, enjoyable.

 

[Carl Emerson]

Work on this current cursed Earth is toil, exhausting, painful, it wears you down, work on the New Earth, enjoyable.

Work in His Kingdom now, within His blessing and Kingship is free from the curse and is fulfilling.

 

[Jamdoc]

Work in His Kingdom now, within His blessing and Kingship is free from the curse and is fulfilling.

I think it's still affected by the curse. It still exhausts people, and still results in pain and suffering. Nothing on earth is free of the curse.
Not this Earth.


So when Jesus was talking to the disciples in the upper room, He had asked them when He sent them out to evangelize if they were ever lacking anything, and they replied nothing (it's in Luke 22). That was because God was literally on the Earth providing for them.
But when Jesus was going to be leaving Earth, He told them to buy swords. They were going to be back in a cursed world fending for themselves.

The New Earth, God provides again, as originally in the Garden of Eden, God provided. Oh God still provides... but it's not the rule, it's the exception to the rule. Christians do go through seasons where they lack things they need. Christians die of starvation, Christians die of exposure, natural disaster. It is still a cursed world. Isaiah 65 is not fulfilled.

When Jesus said "seek first the Kingdom of God", He did not mean "do a prayer and God will then give you everything you need on this Earth" He was talking about the Kingdom in the New Heavens and New Earth, seek that, seek God's righteousness, and in the Kingdom, God would add all those things needed to them.

as we come back to Isaiah 65 we see this:

24 And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.

The response from God to prayer will be much more than it is now.

We also see the level of God's providence on the New Earth in Revelation 21

6 And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.
7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.

This Earth is cursed, even for Christians, the next one, without the curse, God provides in a way that we have never known. You may think you know, but none of us do.

 

[Carl Emerson]

We don't see it the same way sadly...

Yes we are not released from the curse of the Fall before resurrection.

However, through obedience, we benefit from the blessings of the Kingdom promises now. This includes fulfilment from working in the tasks of His choosing.

Sadly many miss out on these blessings and miss the blessed life He intends for us.