¿Cómo "cumplió" Jesús la Ley? (Mateo 5:17-19)

⮜ Preguntas Respondidas

Respuesta rápida: Jesús, con la palabra "cumplir", quiso decir que "confirmaría" y "completaría" las partes proféticas y tipológicas de la Ley y los Profetas. Por lo tanto, (como la mayoría de los cristianos admitirán) "algunas" jotas y tildes de la ley han pasado, pero de ninguna manera "toda" la ley. Jesús no vino ni para abolir la ley ni para preservar cada jota de ella sin cambios hasta el fin de los tiempos.

Introducción

La mayoría de los cristianos están familiarizados con el Sermón del Monte de Jesús. Pero a menudo no se dan cuenta de la importancia de las palabras introductorias de Jesús: 17 “Don’t think that I came to destroy the law or the prophets. I didn’t come to destroy, but to fulfill. 18 For most certainly, I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not even one smallest letter or one tiny pen stroke shall in any way pass away from the law, until all things are accomplished. 19 Therefore, whoever shall break one of these least commandments and teach others to do so, shall be called least in the Kingdom of Heaven; but whoever shall do and teach them shall be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven. Matthew 5:17-19WEB Jesús lo dejó claro al comienzo de su sermón: nada de lo que estaba a punto de decir debe interpretarse como anular o abolir la ley. Dijo "Yo no vine a abolir [la ley] ...". Esta declaración era necesaria, porque los judíos del primer siglo, que solo habían escuchado las enseñanzas falsas de los fariseos (basadas en la llamada "ley oral"), podrían pensar que Jesús de alguna manera estaba anulando La ley escrita de Dios. Pero solo estaba anulando las falsas manipulaciones de la ley por parte de los fariseos (por ejemplo, Mateo 15: 3 y siguientes). Greg Bahnsen escribió un capítulo completo en su libro "Teonomía en la ética cristiana" sobre el pasaje de las escrituras anterior. El capítulo se tituló: "La vigencia permanente de la ley en detalle exhaustivo (Mateo 5: 17-19)". Hay mucho valor en la discusión del pasaje del Dr. Bahnsen, y definitivamente vale la pena leerlo. El Dr. Bahnsen resumió los diversos enfoques de la palabra "cumplir" de la siguiente manera:

Ha habido una variedad de sentidos sugeridos para "cumplir" en este pasaje. ¿Indica que Jesús pone fin a, ⁴⁵ reemplaza, ⁴⁶ complementa (agrega), ⁴⁷ tiene la intención de obedecer activamente, ⁴⁸ hacer cumplir, ⁴⁹ o confirmar y restaurar la ley?

El Dr. Bahnsen discutió cada una de estas opciones en detalle. En última instancia, argumentó que "cumplir" debe entenderse en el sentido de "confirmar" y "establecer" (en directa antítesis de la palabra "abolir" anteriormente en el versículo). Uno Una de las implicaciones de la opinión del Dr. Bahnsen es que la ley sigue siendo vinculante, incluso en el Nuevo Pacto, en "detalles exhaustivos" (de ahí el título de su capítulo). El escribio:

Es difícil imaginar cómo Jesús pudo haber afirmado más intensamente que cada parte de la ley sigue siendo obligatoria en la era del evangelio.

Según el Dr. Bahnsen, las notas y los títulos de la ley siguen siendo vinculantes hasta el fin del "universo físico":

Cristo ... establece que la ley seguirá siendo válida al menos mientras dure el universo físico, es decir, hasta el fin de la era o del mundo. ... [C]uando tomamos en cuenta el final real del cielo y la tierra, vemos que las Escrituras enseñan que será en el regreso de Cristo ... Al menos hasta ese momento, los detalles de la ley permanecerán. ... Παρέλθῃ se usa dos veces en este verso: primero del universo físico y segundo de los detalles más pequeños de la ley de Dios.

Propondré una comprensión diferente de la palabra "cumplir" de Jesús que la del Dr. Bahnsen. Para que este ensayo sea relativamente breve, interactuaré sólo mínimamente con lo que escribió. Mostraré que Jesús, con la palabra "cumplir", quiso decir que él confirmaría y completaría las partes proféticas y tipológicas de la ley y los profetas. Por lo tanto, algunas jotas y tildes de la ley han pasaron, pero de ninguna manera todas. Jesús no vino ni para abolir la ley ni para preservar cada jota tipológica de ella hasta el fin de los tiempos.

Jesús confirmó y completó la Ley y los Profetas

Jesús dice que vino a cumplir dos cosas: la Ley y los Profetas. La mayoría de las personas que han leído el evangelio de Mateo entienden lo que Jesús quiso decir cuando dijo "cumplir" "los profetas". De hecho, este es un tema recurrente de "cumplimiento" en el evangelio de Mateo: 15 and was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, “Out of Egypt I called my son.” Matthew 2:15WEB Jesus' mission as Messiah fulfilled many Old Testament prophecies, and Matthew is constantly pointing out when this happened (Matt. 1:22; 2:17,23; 4:14; 8:17; 12:17; 13:35; 21:4; 26:54,56; 27:9). As Jesus fulfilled these prophecies, he accomplished two additional things:

1. He confirmed that the prophecy was true. [See, for example, Luke 24:25-26.]
2. He completed the prophecy.

With respect to number 2 above: by completing the prophecy, Jesus also ensured that it never needed to be fulfilled again. So, for example, once we recognize that the branch from the root of Jesse has already come (see Isaiah 11:1-10, quoted in Rom. 15:12), we do not continue examining the future generations of Jesse for additional branches. The prophecy accomplished God's purpose and is now complete. What about the law, though? Did Jesus "complete" the Law in the same way, ensuring that it would never need to be fulfilled again?

Yes -- but only parts of the Law. There are two major ways in which Jesus "fulfilled" the Law:

1. Jesus confirmed and completed certain specific prophecies in the Law by causing them to come true.
2. Jesus confirmed and completed the typology embedded within certain parts of the law (e.g. sacrificial), manifesting himself as the "body"/antitype to which the "shadow"/type of the law was pointing.

Let's take a closer look at these two aspects.

Jesus completed specific prophecies in the Law

Fortunately for interpreters of Matt. 5:17, Jesus told his disciples (and us) exactly how he meant the word fulfill: 44 He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you, that all things which are written in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms concerning me must be fulfilled.” Luke 24:44WEB "All of the things written in the Law of Moses ... concerning me" refers to specific prophecies (and prophetic typologies, as I show in the next section) that were embedded in "the Law of Moses" (the phrase references Joshua 8:34, and means the Torah of Genesis through Deuteronomy) which predicted the person and work of the coming Messiah. D. A. Carson, commenting on Matt. 5:17-19, writes:

The best interpretation of these difficult verses says that Jesus fulfills the Law and the Prophets in that they point to him, and he is their fulfillment… Therefore we give pleroo (‘fulfill’) exactly the same meaning as in the formula quotations, which in the prologue (Matt 1-2) have already laid great stress on the prophetic nature of the OT and the way it points to Jesus. Even OT events have this prophetic significance (see on 2:15). A little later Jesus insists that ‘all the Prophets and the Law prophesied’ (11:13). The manner of the prophetic foreshadowing varies. The Exodus, Matthew argues (2:15), foreshadows the calling out of Egypt of God’s ‘son.’

Jesus was telling people that he came to "fulfill" (as in "accomplish what was prophesied") all the unfulfilled prophesies which were in both "the Law and the Prophets." Christians don't often think about "the Law" as a textual genre that contains prophecy, but there is lots of prophecy in the Law, not just "the Prophets." Here are three important prophecies from the Law which Jesus fulfilled.

1. Jesus was the prophet like Moses

The apostle Peter, speaking before the people in Acts 3, quoted from a prophecy in Deut. 18:18-19: 20 and that he may send Christ Jesus, who was ordained for you before, 21 whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God spoke long ago by the mouth of his holy prophets. 22 For Moses indeed said to the fathers, ‘The Lord God will raise up a prophet for you from among your brothers, like me. You shall listen to him in all things whatever he says to you. 23 It will be that every soul that will not listen to that prophet will be utterly destroyed from among the people.’ Acts 3:20-23WEB

2. Jesus was the promised "seed" of Abraham

Right after Peter spoke the above, he said: 25 You are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘All the families of the earth will be blessed through your offspring.’ 26 God, having raised up his servant Jesus, sent him to you first to bless you, in turning away every one of you from your wickedness.” Acts 3:25-26WEB Depending upon the translation you are using [on our wiki, the passage above can vary, depending upon your choice of translation], the Greek word σπέρματί might be translated "offspring," "family," or "descendant," rather than the more literal "seed." Jesus Christ was that "seed" of the prophecy which the apostle Peter was quoting. The apostle Paul also confirmed that this was the proper interpretation of that promise: 16 Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his offspring. He doesn’t say, “To descendants”, as of many, but as of one, “To your offspring”, which is Christ. Galatians 3:16WEB Again, this passage is best understood in a translation which renders the Greek σπέρματί in a consistently literal way. Paul is making a point based upon the fact that the word is singularly referring to Jesus Christ.

3. Jesus was the lion of the tribe of Judah

2 I saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the book, and to break its seals?” 3 No one in heaven above, or on the earth, or under the earth, was able to open the book or to look in it. 4 Then I wept much, because no one was found worthy to open the book or to look in it. 5 One of the elders said to me, “Don’t weep. Behold, the Lion who is of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome: he who opens the book and its seven seals.” Revelation 5:2-5WEB The above is a reference to the following prophecy in the Law: 9 Judah is a lion’s cub. From the prey, my son, you have gone up. He stooped down, he crouched as a lion, as a lioness. Who will rouse him up? 10 The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs. The obedience of the peoples will be to him. Genesis 49:9-10WEB There are many of other prophecies in the Law which Jesus fulfilled (such as the Song of Moses), but the three above are enough to establish the point.

Jesus completed the typology of the law

Certain Sinai Covenant laws (e.g. the sacrificial ones) prefigured the work of Christ. This function of prefiguring is called "typology." In theological study, the word "type" (Greek: τύπος -- often translated "pattern") is a label for something which is an abstracted (simplified) representation of the real thing (which comes later). The real thing which comes later is labeled the "antitype" (Greek: ἀντίτυπος, see 1 Pet. 3:21). You might also have heard these called "shadows," as the apostle Paul does in Col. 2:17. The type corresponds to the antitype, just as a shadow cast by someone's body is an abstracted representation of that body. Thus, Paul says "the body is of Christ" (Col. 2:17). This metaphorical "shadow" of Christ is cast back into many parts of the Hebrew Scriptures, and we see it most often in the sacrificial laws.

For example, the apostle Paul wrote: 7 Purge out the old yeast, that you may be a new lump, even as you are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, has been sacrificed in our place. 8 Therefore let’s keep the feast, not with old yeast, neither with the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. 1 Corinthians 5:7-8WEB Jesus was the antitype to which the type of the Passover lamb pointed. On this understanding, once the reality (Christ and his once-for-all sacrifice) has been accomplished, the original type/pattern/shadow either no longer exists, or -- if it does still exist -- its original function is no longer necessary; thus, we must treat the type/pattern/shadow differently than we did before. We no longer sacrifice a lamb on Passover as the law required (Num. 9:1-3).

When the apostle Paul wrote the following: 4 For Christ is the fulfillment of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. Romans 10:4WEB Paul was not suggesting (contrary to Jesus' own words in Matt. 5:17) that Christ "ended" (as in abolished) the whole law. The Greek word (typically translated as "end" in the passage above) which Paul used is telos, (from which we get our term "teleology"). It can mean either "temporal end" or "goal." No matter which of these translation options we take, it fits with Jesus' purpose of fulfilling the law by completing its typological/didactic purpose:

1. Christ was the temporal end of many of the sacrificial laws which foreshadowed his once-for-all sacrifice. These laws were covenantally-bound, and are no longer binding.
2. Christ was the final goal of the law, which pointed towards his finished work in many ways.

As another example, Jesus' own priesthood abolished the laws which related to the Levitical priests. There are no Levitical priests in the New Covenant. When the Sinai Covenant ended in A.D. 70, the Levitical priest regulations were abolished with it.

The typological goal of the law is what Paul was referring to when he wrote: 23 But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law, confined for the faith which should afterwards be revealed. 24 So that the law has become our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. Galatians 3:23-25WEB As a tutor, the typological law led God's people toward a goal, preparing them for the coming final work of the Messiah. The tutorial laws which Paul says "we are no longer under" are the covenantally-bound laws (like the typological laws), because Jesus completed them and made them obsolete.

All things are accomplished?

Once we have established what Jesus meant by "fulfill," we can understand what he meant by a particular clause in the next verse (18): "until all things are accomplished." Notice that the exact same phrase is used in the following verse: 32 Most certainly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all things are accomplished. Luke 21:32WEB

This verse in Luke is a parallel verse to Matt. 24:34.

Without going too much into the eschatology (which others, such as Gary Demar, have already written extensively on), I will merely assert that the words "this generation," in the Gospels, always means the generation of people to whom Jesus was speaking. These are the people who were alive circa A.D. 30. This is a mainstream preterist interpretation, which you can find in many commentaries. Therefore, we can know with certainty that "all things" (whatever that phrase specifically refers to) would be "accomplished" by the end of the first century. Jesus was evidently not saying "until all things that will ever happen are accomplished." He clearly intended the phrase "all things" to have a scope of meaning limited to the first century "generation."

We know that Jesus came to fulfill/complete many Old Testament prophecies and to fulfill/complete certain laws by means of his final, finished sacrifice. Therefore, when he says "until all things are accomplished" (v. 18) in the context of "fulfilling" the Law and the Prophets, we can reasonably limit the reference of this phase to: "until all things prophesied or foreshadowed in both the Law and the Prophets are accomplished."

A chiasm of fulfillment

But if Jesus did cause some of the laws to "pass away," then what are we to make of that other part of his claim: "until heaven and earth pass away, ..."? All of these phrases must be treated together, because they form an interlocking chiasm of meaning:

A until the heaven and the earth pass away, B one jot or one tittle may by no means pass from the law A' until all things are accomplished.

[A chiasm is a common Biblical literary structure which uses forms of repetition and structural reversal for emphasis.]

Clearly, the central clause (B) of this chiasm is dependent upon both the first (A) and third (A') clauses. Dr. Bahnsen himself made this point:

Ηως ἂν πάντα γένηται states unconditionally "until all things have taken place (are past)." Thus this phrase is functionally equivalent to "until heaven and earth pass away." These two ἕως clauses parallel (a common literary device) and explain each other.

I completely agree with Dr. Bahnsen's claim above. We must allow these ἕως clauses each to inform and explain our interpretation of the other. I have already made the case that the second clause ought to be interpreted in the light of how Jesus used these words in Luke 21:32. If "all things" (which Jesus was intending to fulfill) were going to be fulfilled before that generation passed away, then how do we understand "heaven and earth"?

Let's work backwards, using logic. Here is a syllogism:

1. No jots and tittles of the law will pass away before heaven and earth pass away.
2. Some jots and tittles of the law have passed away.
3. Therefore, heaven and earth have passed away.

The above syllogism is logically valid. Premise #1 is scripturally certain (rephrased from Matt. 5:18). What about premise #2?

Jots and tittles have passed away

We all recognize that certain jots and tittles of the law have passed away. No Christian should dispute this fact. For example:

1. We do not circumcise our male babies on the 8th day of life, as the law required: Lev. 12:3.
2. We do not consider ourselves to be unclean when we eat pork: Lev. 11:7-8.
3. We do not search for a Levitical priest (or any kind of priest) to determine whether an ulceration on our skin requires us to be quarantined: Lev. 13:2-3.
4. We do not teach women that they should consider themselves to be ritually "unclean" for 80 days after birthing a girl: Lev. 12:5.

Most Christians neither observe nor teach others to observe these laws, because they were bound to the Sinai Covenant and have now passed away. In Theonomy In Christian Ethics, Dr. Bahnsen himself discusses a law which was "annulled" by the New Covenant:

The Levitical priesthood, representing the Mosaic system of ceremonial redemption, could not bring perfection and so was intended to be superseded (Heb. 7:11 f., 28). ... when Jesus instituted a change in the priesthood (for He was of the tribe of Judah, not Levi) the ceremonial principle was altered as well.... The former commandment with reference to ceremonial matters was set aside, then, in order that God's people might have a better hope.... The commandment which was anulled was "a commandment with respect to the flesh" (i.e. concerning external qualification of physical descent of the priests....).

Of course, Dr. Bahnsen suggests that this "anulling" of priestly qualification was "implied in Psalm 110:1,4," therefore he does not consider it to be a contradiction with his interpretation of Matt. 5:17f. But this "fulfillment" of the law is exactly what Jesus was talking about in Matt. 5:17-19. The changeover to the New Covenant required a change in the covenantally-bound portions of the law, just as the author of Hebrews wrote in Heb. 7:11.

In a book on theonomy published later, Dr. Bahnsen again admitted that "parts of the law have been laid aside or altered":

Jesus is the one who spoke about categorical and exhaustive support for the law - down to the least commandment. It is also the word of Jesus elsewhere which gives us our theological justification for saying parts of the law have been laid aside or altered. There is nothing illegitimate or unique about our Lord teaching by means of sweeping declarations which are given particular qualifications later.

It is therefore evident from "later" scripture that Jesus fulfilled the law by confirming and 'completing certain parts. When these parts were complete, they were "laid aside." We are not bound to do the parts of the law which have been "anulled" and "laid aside" (using Dr. Bahnsen's terms). We are not to teach them as being binding. These laws are the jots and tittles which have passed away.

¿El cielo y la tierra pasaron?

What about #3 above (the conclusion of our syllogism)? How can "heaven and earth" have passed away? First, we should note that this is not a figure of speech meaning "never." Jesus himself affirmed: 34 Most certainly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things are accomplished. 35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. Matthew 24:34-35WEB Entonces sabemos que "el cielo y la tierra" podrían (y pasarían). También sabemos que nuestro silogismo anterior es lógicamente válido. Sabemos que las dos primeras premisas son ciertas. Por tanto, la verdad de la conclusión es lógicamente necesaria. Pero, ¿en qué sentido han pasado "el cielo y la tierra"? La respuesta es que Jesús estaba usando un lenguaje simbólico (como lo hacía a veces), y se estaba refiriendo a la destrucción del Segundo Templo y la abolición del Pacto del Sinaí en el año 70 d.C. (antes de que esa generación falleciera). Aquí es donde ayuda saber algo sobre la terminología judía del Segundo Templo, y el historiador Josefo es nuestra mejor referencia para esto. Resulta que los judíos de esa época en realidad usaban la frase "cielo y tierra" para referirse a la estructura del tabernáculo (y más tarde al templo). Josefo escribió:

esta proporción de las medidas del tabernáculo resultó ser una imitación del sistema del mundo; porque la tercera parte que estaba dentro de los cuatro pilares, a la cual los sacerdotes no fueron admitidos, es, por así decirlo, un cielo peculiar de Dios. Pero el espacio de los veinte codos es, por así decirlo, tierra [ge, también traducible como 'tierra'] y mar, en el que viven los hombres, por lo que esta parte es exclusiva de los sacerdotes ... Cuando Moisés distinguió el tabernáculo en tres partes, y permitió dos de ellas a los sacerdotes, como un lugar accesible y común, denotó la tierra y el mar, siendo estos de acceso general para todos; pero apartó la tercera división para Dios, porque el cielo es inaccesible para los hombres.

[Otras referencias contemporáneas se enumeran en (Fletcher-Louis, "Jesús, el templo y la disolución del cielo y la tierra", 126)]

Crispin Fletcher-Louis escribe:

In the last 20 years there has been widespread recognition that in both the biblical and post-biblical periods the Temple is invested with a set of cosmological meanings: the Temple stands at the centre of the universe; it is the place from which creation began; it is the meeting point of heaven and earth -- the 'Gate of Heaven'; it is the place where, at the end of days, as at the dawn of creation, the forces of chaos would be defeated and, most importantly for our purposes, it is a miniature version of the whole universe -- a microcosm of heaven and earth.

Fletcher-Louis also relates Matt. 5:18 to Matt. 24:35 in the following way:

There are, I suggest, three interlocking referents in the expression 'until heaven and earth pass away' at 5:18d: (1) the destruction of the Jerusalem temple in AD 70 confirming the obsolescence of the Old Covenant; (2) Jesus' death and resurrection confirming the institution of the New Covenant and its messianic Torah; (3) Jesus' life, ministry and teaching as the embodiment of the new creation and the setting-up of the messianic Torah which His new community follows.
...
It seems now that when the close parallel to Matthew 5:18 at 24:35 refers to the passing away of heaven and earth and endurance of Jesus' words, the first of the three referents in the former text is to the forefront. With the temple cult gone, Jewish Christians should not feel its loss since they still had Jesus' teaching.

Es razonable concluir que Jesús estaba hablando usando los términos simbólicos que se usaban en ese momento: que cuando dijo "cielo y tierra" estaba hablando del templo, y usándolo como metonimia para el Pacto del Sinaí (del cual el templo era la característica central). Esta identificación entre la frase "cielo y tierra" y el Pacto del Sinaí no es una novedad teológica moderna. Por ejemplo, esto es lo que escribió el teólogo puritano John Owen sobre esta frase, tal como la usa Pedro en 2 Pedro 3:

Sobre este fundamento afirmo que los cielos y la tierra aquí pretendían en esta profecía de Pedro, la venida del Señor, el día del juicio y la perdición de los hombres impíos, mencionado en la destrucción de ese cielo y la tierra, ¿Se relacionan todos ellos, no con el juicio final y final del mundo, sino con esa total desolación y destrucción que se produciría en la iglesia y el estado judío?

Note el siguiente paralelo entre Mateo 5:18 y Jesús profetizando la destrucción del templo y Jerusalén en Marcos 13 (paralelos en Mateo 24 y Lucas 21):

Mateo 5:18	Marcos 13:30-31
18 For most certainly, I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not even one smallest letter or one tiny pen stroke shall in any way pass away from the law, until all things are accomplished. Matthew 5:18WEB	30 Most certainly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things happen. 31 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. Mark 13:30-31WEB

Jesús afirmó que "el cielo y la tierra" pasarán "en el mismo contexto que la destrucción del templo y Jerusalén. Algunos comentaristas quieren dividir estos versículos en "ya" y "todavía no", porque presuponen que Jesús debe estar hablando del literal y físico "cielo y tierra". Pero si solo estaba usando un término simbólico judío estándar para el templo ("cielo y tierra") como una metonimia del Pacto del Sinaí, entonces todo lo demás encaja perfectamente con Mateo 5:17-19. Así podemos concluir que Jesús:

1. cumplido (confirmado y completado) todas las tipologías y profecías en la Ley y los Profetas (Mateo 5:18)
2. hizo provisión para el remanente de Israel y los gentiles en el Nuevo Pacto (Lucas 22:20)
3. regresó para juzgar a Israel en el año 70 d.C., causando la destrucción del Segundo Templo (Mateo 24: 2), y así
4. abolió el Pacto del Sinaí (Heb. 8:13), sin abolir la ley por completo (Mat. 5:17)
5. logró todo esto dentro de la vida de "esa generación" (exactamente como él profetizó en Lucas 21:32, Marcos 13:30, Mateo 24:34).

Nuevos cielos y tierra significa "nueva creación". En otras palabras: 17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new. 2 Corinthians 5:17WEB John Owen también entendió que los "cielos nuevos y tierra nueva" se cumplirían ahora mismo. El escribio:

Ahora, ¿cuándo será esto que Dios creará estos "cielos nuevos y tierra nueva, en los cuales mora la justicia?" Dice Pedro: "Será después de la venida del Señor, después del juicio y destrucción de los hombres impíos, que no obedecen al evangelio, que yo predigo". Pero ahora es evidente, desde este lugar de Isaías, con el capítulo 66:21-22, que esta es una profecía de los tiempos del evangelio solamente; y que la plantación de estos nuevos cielos no es más que la creación de las ordenanzas del Evangelio para que permanezcan para siempre. Lo mismo se expresa en Hebreos 12:26-28.

The "New Creation" is already here. Jesus is our current, reigning King (just as prophesied in Dan. 2:44); the laws which weren't covenantally-bound continue to be binding, just as God intended; and we have two simultaneous, ongoing commissions: to subdue the earth (Gen. 1:28), and to preach the Gospel of the current Kingdom (Matt. 28:18).