Paradise Restored! Chapter Twenty-Eight

"THE nostalgia for paradise is among the powerful nostalgias that seem to haunt human beings.  It may be the most powerful and persistent of all.  A certain longing for paradise is evidenced at every level of religious life."  So says The Encyclopedia of Religion.  Such nostalgia is only natural, since the Bible tells us that human life began in Paradise -a beautiful garden free of disease and death.  (Genesis 2:8-15)  It is not surprising that many of the world's  religions  hold out the hope of future life in a paradise of one kind or another.

In many parts of the Bible, we can read of the true hope of the future Paradise.  (Isaiah 51:3)  For example, the part of Isaiah's prophecy recorded in chapter  35 describes the transformation of wilderness regions into gardenlike parks and fruitful fields.  The blind gain sight, the mute  can speak, and the deaf can hear . In this promised Paradise, there is no grief or sighing, which implies that even death is no more.  What a wonderful promise!  How should these words be understood?  Do they hold out hope for us today?  A consideration of this chapter of Isaiah will provide the answers to these questions. 

Next time: A Desolate Land Rejoices

From the Book Isaiah's Prophecy Light for all Mankind, 2000