Seeing Connections in the Bible

FYI, I’ve been writing and formatting my long form posts in Substack and copying it into highlighter to post on nostr. Highlighter seems to have gone away, so I have to paste into Habla, redo all formatting (some doesn’t work, i.e. bold inside quote). Therefore the nostr formatting isn’t quite as nice as the Substack formatting. I will try to continue posting directly on nostr, but will try to include a link to Substack because it might be slightly more readable on Substack. Seeing Connections

I’ve been reading the Bible for about 40 years and reading it from Genesis to Revelation in a year for 20+ years, so I’ve read the Bible a good number of times. None of that counts the books, sermons, podcasts, and blogs on the Bible that I have continually consumed. Recently, I’ve been overwhelmed with all of the connections that run throughout the Bible. There are themes, images, promises, etc. that run throughout the Bible. Many things written in the Old Testament are clarified in the New Testament. Many things written in the New Testament are built upon understanding the history, promises, law, power of God, etc. from the Old Testament.

In this post, I’m not going to go into a deep explanation of the passage, but show you how I connected it to many other passages before and after the passage to see how coherent the Bible is within itself. I’ll also note a few other things that caught my attention including some questions I had that I’m not yet certain of the answer, but I’ll keep seeking the Scriptures and praying the Holy Spirit will make it clear to me.

I was reading Isaiah 65-66

1 “I permitted Myself to be sought by those who did not ask for Me;

I permitted Myself to be found by those who did not seek Me.
I said, ‘Here am I, here am I,
’To a nation which did not call on My name.
2 I have spread out My hands all day long to a rebellious people,
Who walk in the way which is not good, following their own thoughts,
3 A people who continually provoke Me to My face,
Offering sacrifices in gardens and burning incense on bricks;
4 Who sit among graves and spend the night in secret places;
Who eat swine’s flesh,
And the broth of unclean meat is in their pots.5 Who say,
‘Keep to yourself, do not come near me,
For I am holier than you!
’These are smoke in My nostrils,
A fire that burns all the day.6 Behold, it is written before Me,
I will not keep silent, but I will repay;
I will even repay into their bosom,
7 Both their own iniquities and the iniquities of their fathers together,” says the Lord.
“Because they have burned incense on the mountains
And scorned Me on the hills,
Therefore I will measure their former work into their bosom.”

8 Thus says the Lord,

“As the new wine is found in the cluster,
And one says, ‘Do not destroy it, for there is benefit in it,
’So I will act on behalf of My servants
In order not to destroy all of them.
9 I will bring forth offspring from Jacob,
And an heir of My mountains from Judah;
Even My chosen ones shall inherit it,
And My servants will dwell there.
10 Sharon will be a pasture land for flocks,
And the valley of Achor a resting place for herds,
For My people who seek Me.
11 But you who forsake the Lord,
Who forget My holy mountain,
Who set a table for Fortune,
And who fill cups with mixed wine for Destiny,
12 I will destine you for the sword,
And all of you will bow down to the slaughter.
Because I called, but you did not answer;
I spoke, but you did not hear.
And you did evil in My sight
And chose that in which I did not delight.”

13 Therefore, thus says the Lord God,

“Behold, My servants will eat, but you will be hungry.
Behold, My servants will drink, but you will be thirsty.
Behold, My servants will rejoice, but you will be put to shame.
14 Behold, My servants will shout joyfully with a glad heart,
But you will cry out with a heavy heart,
And you will wail with a broken spirit.
15 You will leave your name for a curse to My chosen ones,
And the Lord God will slay you.
But My servants will be called by another name.
16 Because he who is blessed in the earth
Will be blessed by the God of truth;
And he who swears in the earth
Will swear by the God of truth;
Because the former troubles are forgotten,
And because they are hidden from My sight!
New Heavens and a New Earth

17 “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth;
And the former things will not be remembered or come to mind.
18 But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create;
For behold, I create Jerusalem for rejoicing
And her people for gladness.
19 I will also rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in My people;
And there will no longer be heard in her
The voice of weeping and the sound of crying.

20 No longer will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days,
Or an old man who does not live out his days;
For the youth will die at the age of one hundred
And the one who does not reach the age of one hundred
Will be thought accursed.21 They will build houses and inhabit them;
They will also plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
22 They will not build and another inhabit,
They will not plant and another eat;
For as the lifetime of a tree, so will be the days of My people,
And My chosen ones will wear out the work of their hands.
23They 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.

24It will also come to pass that before they call, I will answer;
and while they are still speaking, I will hear.
25The wolf and the lamb will graze together,
and the lion will eat straw like the ox;
and dust will be the serpent’s food.
They will do no evil or harm in all My holy mountain,” says the Lord. (Isaiah 65:1-24) {emphasis mine}

This whole chapter refers to “My chosen ones,” “My servants,” and “My people.” Are these all referring to the same people? When I read Isaiah 65:22:

They will not build and another inhabit,
They will not plant and another eat;
For as the lifetime of a tree, so will be the days of My people,
And My chosen ones will wear out the work of their hands.
{emphasis mine}

I wondered if the two were different. Could “My people” refer to Israel while “My chosen ones” refer to Christians? Since the three terms are used throughout, maybe it is referring generically to Old and New Testament believers or all refer to Israel. Maybe “My people” refers to Israel, “My servants” refers to Old Testament Believers, and “My chosen ones” refers to New Testament believers or Christians. I’m not sure.

“For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth;
And the former things will not be remembered or come to mind.
But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create;
For behold, I create Jerusalem for rejoicing
And her people for gladness.
I will also rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in My people;
And there will no longer be heard in her
The voice of weeping and the sound of crying. (Isaiah 25:117-19) {emphasis mine}

This verse describes a “new heavens and a new earth.” This pointed me to Revelation 21.

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.” (Revelation 21:1-4) {emphasis mine}

Both passages, from the Old and New Testaments, talk about “a new heaven and a new earth,” a special “Jerusalem,” and no more tears or weeping. By looking at both passages and the verses before and after, it can help us to understand Eternity from both the view of the Old Testament Israelites and the New Testament Christians. Each passage talks about the same things, but has different additional information. As is frequently the case, the New Testament fleshes out the Old Testament Prophecy.

I always wondered how there could be no mourning or crying because we would expect to mourn our sin on earth and cry at the loss of friends and family members who never trusted Jesus and are burning in Hell. The Isaiah passage explains how it is possible to never be sad in heaven: “the former things will not be remembered or come to mind.” We can’t mourn something or someone we no longer remember because we are so enthralled by the holiness and majesty of God.

In Deuteronomy 28, the Israelites were warned that disobeying God and following other Gods would lead to the following:

You shall betroth a wife, but another man will violate her;
you shall build a house, but you will not live in it;
you shall plant a vineyard, but you will not use its fruit.
Your ox shall be slaughtered before your eyes, but you will not eat of it;
your donkey shall be torn away from you, and will not be restored to you;
your sheep shall be given to your enemies, and you will have none to save you. (Deuteronomy 28:30-31)

But in Isaiah, the prediction for the Israelites is the opposite of the previous curse.

They will build houses and inhabit them;
They will also plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
They will not build and another inhabit,
They will not plant and another eat; (Isaiah 65:21-22)

In the law God gave a conditional covenant to Israel, so they got blessings if they obeyed, but curses if they disobeyed. On the other hand, God’s unconditional covenants with Abraham and David mean that in the end, God’s mercy will fall upon Israel and they will be blessed in the end times despite their unfaithfulness.

If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself. (2 Timothy 2:13)

Through the conditional covenant, the Jews will experience the judgment of the Tribulation, but through the unconditional covenants, they will be redeemed in the end.

Alas! for that day is great, There is none like it;
And it is the time of Jacob’s distress,
But he will be saved from it. (Jeremiah 30:7)

I could go on, but my posts tend to get too long.

The more I read the Bible, the more I see the connections and the clearer God’s word becomes. Things that seem like contradictions are not. Things that seem impossible to understand, frequently become clear.

May God give you a hunger for His word. May He speak to your spirit, so you can understand not only the explicit text, but the mysteries that are only fully understood with help from the Holy Spirit. May you learn and then teach God’s complete truth.

Trust Jesus.