Isaiah – End Times and Millennium
Many students of the Word of God would consider Isaiah to be the greatest prophecy in the Old Testament. It certainly contains the heart of the Old Testament in 52.13-53.12. Besides the prophecies of judgment Isaiah is largely millennial, dealing with the thousand-year reign of the Lord Jesus Christ after the end of this age. This is set forth in Rev. 20.3-4. It is the purpose of this paper to examine these millennial passages in Isaiah to see what we may learn from them. My main purpose is to highlight the millennial passages for personal study, but I will comment as need be. I will mention judgment, but I want to dwell on the millennium, showing what lies ahead for the people of God. Of course, the book of Revelation should also be read in this connection. Keep in mind that the book of Isaiah was written to Jews long before the New Testament era. The promises are made to them. But with the coming of the Lord Jesus into the world we see that he brings into being a new Israel, a new people of God (see Rom. 9.6-8, Gal. 6.16, 29, Phil. 3.3), but this does not mean that the Jews have no future. God will keep his promises to them in their Holy Land, and he will keep these same promises spiritually to his new Israel in Heaven. Judaism will be fulfilled in Christianity when the Jews accept their Messiah.
The prophecy begins in 1.1 with, “The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. The prophecy begins with a vision and is directed to Judah and Jerusalem. They have turned from God and have reaped the results of failure to repent, as the rest of chapter 1 shows. In 2.1 we read of a word that Isaiah saw. We do not think of a word as something seen, but as something heard. Putting these two verses together, 1.1 and 2.1, I would say that this statement that Isaiah saw the word means that he perceived the thought of God that was behind it. He saw it in his heart. He understood God’s mind on this matter. We often speak of the need of vision. We do not usually mean seeing with the physical eyes, but having a concept of what can and should be, but does not yet exist. I do not know if Isaiah had visions in which he saw something with his physical eyes, though some have had that experience, but he grasped in his heart and mind the thought of God. Paul speaks of the eyes of the heart in Eph. 1.18: “the eyes of your heart being enlightened, that you may know….” This is the same as in Isaiah – vision, knowing in the heart the thought of God.
I will number the passages we will study to keep us from confusing them.
1. Isaiah continues in chapter 1 to show the deep sinfulness of his people and pronounces judgment both in Isaiah’s day and at the end of this age. Then he begins his description of the millennium in this way in chapter 2:
And it will come to pass in the last days that the mountain of I AM’s house will be established on the top of the mountains and will be exalted above the hills, and all nations will flow to it. And many peoples will go and say, “Come and let us go up to the mountain of I AM, to the house of the God of Jacob, and he will teach us of his ways and we will walk in his paths” For out of Zion will go forth the law, and the word of I AM from Jerusalem. And he will judge between the nations, and will decide concerning many peoples. And they will beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, neither will they learn war anymore.
This passage is repeated in Mic. 4.1-3. It is the eternal reign of righteousness that we see in 2 Pt. 3.13.
2. Then Isaiah goes back a bit to the last days of this age and the coming of the Lord in 2.12-22:
For there will be a day of I AM of hosts that will come on all that is proud and haughty and on all that is lifted up, and it will be brought low, and on all the cedars of Lebanon that are high and lifted up, and on all the oaks of Bashan, and on all the high mountains and on all the hills that are lifted up, and on every lofty tower and on every fortified wall and on all the ships of Tarshish and on all beautiful vessels. And the loftiness of man will be bowed down and the haughtiness of men will be brought low, and I AM alone will be exalted in that day. And the idols will utterly pass away. And men will go into the caves of the rocks and into the holes of the earth from before the terror of I AM and from the glory of his majesty when he arises to shake the earth mightily. In that day men will cast away their idols of silver and their idols of gold which have been made for them to worship to the moles and to the bats, to go into the caverns of the rocks and into the clefts of the rugged rocks from before the terror of I AM and from the glory of his majesty, when he arises to shake the earth mightily. Cease from man whose breath is in his nostrils, for of what account is he?
Here is judgment at the end of the age. Compare this passage with Rev. 6.15-17.
3. Then we see some of the glorious days of the millennium in 4.2-6:
In that day the Branch of I AM will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land will be excellent and comely for those of Israel who have escaped. And it will come to pass that he who is left in Zion and he who remains in Jerusalem will be called holy, everyone who is written among the living in Jerusalem, when the Lord will have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and will have purged the blood of Jerusalem from its midst, by the Spirit of justice and the Spirit of burning. And I AM will create over the whole habitation of mount Zion and over her assemblies a cloud and smoke by day and the shining of a flaming fire by night. For over all the glory will be spread a covering. And there will be a pavilion for a shade in the daytime from the heat and for a refuge and for a cover from storm and from rain.
The Branch is the Lord Jesus. See also Jer. 23.1-8 and 33.14-17 and Zech. 3.8-10 and 6.11-13. The name Branch has to do with the descent of the Lord Jesus from David (Jer. 23.5 and 33.17, Mt. 1.1, and Lk. 3.31). “David will never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel.” His Son the Lord Jesus will reign forever and ever.
4. In 9.1-7 we read:
But there will be no gloom to her that was in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he has made it glorious, by the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations [or Gentiles]. The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light. Those who dwelled in the land of the shadow of death, upon them the light has shined. You have multiplied the nation, you have increased their joy. They rejoice before you as the joy in harvest, as men rejoice when they divide the spoil. For the yoke of his burden and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, you have broken as in the day of Midian. For all the armor of the armed man in the tumult and the garments rolled in blood will be for burning, fuel for the fire. For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given, and the government will be on his shoulder. And his name will be called Wonder, Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from then and forever. The zeal of I AM of hosts will do this.
5. Matthew tells is in 4.12-16,
And having left Nazareth, when he came he dwelt in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the territories of Zebulun and Naphtali, 14that what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, saying,
15“Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali,
Way of the sea, beyond the Jordan,
Galilee of the Gentiles,
16The people who were sitting in darkness
Saw a great light,
And those who were sitting in the region and shadow of death,
Light dawned on them.”
We see here that this prophecy of Isaiah applied both to the first coming of the Lord Jesus, the Light of the world dawning on the land of darkness, and to the second coming when God will redeem the remnant of Israel. The land of Zebulun and Naphtali were parts of the territory invaded by Assyria in the eight century B.C. when the ten tribes were deported and scatter to the winds, never to be heard from again in this age. No one knows where they are or even if they exist as such. But – God knows them and he will gather them back to their land when they will see a great Light, the glory of the Son of God bursting through the skies and as he returns to the Mount of Olives and his people home from the ends of the earth. So begins the millennium. Glory be to God!
The Child who became this great King of kings will free his people and end war. He will reign in the millennium and forever. He will be a Wonder, like nothing ever seen before by the eyes of man on this earth. He will be a Counselor, able to bring every person to full capacity. He will be almighty. He will be an Eternal Father. Every person who ever lived on this earth experienced the loss of his or her father, and not all fathers have been a good father, and none perfect. This Father will be a perfect Father and we will never lose him. There will be endless peace, both internally with all hearts at rest outwardly with no war or any kind of conflict. We will all be guided by the will of God and will not have conflicts with each other. This is our millennium, and our eternity. What a Savior!
6. Now we come to Is. 10.20-27:
And it will come to pass in that day that the remnant of Israel and those who have escaped of the house of Jacob will no more again lean on him who smote them, but will lean on I AM, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. A remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God. For though your people Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant of them will return. A destruction is determined, overflowing with righteousness. For a full end, and that determined, will the Lord, I AM of hosts, make in the midst of all the earth.
Therefore thus says the Lord, I AM of hosts, “My people who dwell in Zion, do not be afraid of the Assyrian, though he smite you with the rod and lift up his staff against you, as in Egypt. For yet a very little while and the indignation against you will be accomplished and my anger will be directed to their destruction.” And I AM of hosts will stir up against him a scourge, as in the slaughter of Midian at the rock of Oreb, and his rod will be over the sea, and he will lift it up as in Egypt. And it will come to pass in that day that his burden will depart from your shoulder, and his yoke from off your neck, and the yoke will be destroyed because of fatness.
The one who smote the Jews was Assyria and other empires that conquered and ruled over Judah and Israel, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome, and other smaller enemies before the rise of these empires, and the antichrist at the end of this age. A remnant will return: in ancient days this would include those who returned to Jerusalem after the exile to Babylon. Then, as often occurs in biblical prophecy, what begins with ancient times telescopes to the end times. At the end of this age a remnant of Jews faithful to God, even though not messianic, will be gathered home, as we have seen already. They will see their Messiah when he returns, recognize him and mourn, and they will repent and be saved (Zech. 12.10).
The Lord speaks to Israel, “For yet a very little while and the indignation against you will be accomplished….” The conquering of Israel by these enemies occurred because Israel was unfaithful to God, worshipping idols and living in sin. Down to our day many Jews are scattered throughout the world and many are under persecution. This is the ongoing judgment of God because of their continued sin, especially the crucifixion of their Messiah and their continuing rejection of him. May Jews are atheists, denying God altogether. They are under judgment (Lk. 21.24 and Rom. 11.25).
When God’s indignation against the Jews is accomplished, his indignation will turn to the antichrist and his followers. Notice that the Lord says, “ … my anger will be directed to their destruction.” In the end days the Jews will be leaning on the antichrist, who will make a covenant with them (Dan. 9.27). He will promise to take care of them, but in the middle of that seven year covenant he turn against them, bringing on the great tribulation, “the time of Jacob’s trouble” (Jer. 30.7). But God’s “anger will be directed to their destruction.” The antichrist will be cast into hell and his followers will be killed (Rev. 19.20-21). The destruction will like that of Midian at Oreb, Jud. 7.24-25, under Gideon’s leadership. Satan will be bound in hades, the prison of the dead, during the millennium (Rev. 20.1-3).
“And it will come to pass in that day that his burden will depart from your shoulder, and his yoke from off your neck, and the yoke will be destroyed because of fat [or oil].” The times of the Gentiles will come to an end. Their yoke will be removed from their necks and will be destroyed. It is difficult to know what Isaiah meant by “because of fat [or oil]. The same Hebrew word means both “fat” and “oil.” On interpretation is that the yoke rubs a sore place on the ox’s neck and it swells so that it breaks the yoke. Another interpretation is that the oil represents anointing: “the yoke will be destroyed because of the anointing.” I fail to grasp just what this would mean. This is one of those statements in the Bible that we ponder over.
Next we come to 11.1-12.6. It is lengthy so I will break it up into segments. First we will deal with 11.1-5, which deals with some of the judgment of the Lord and his coming as he sets up his reign, we might say.
And there will come forth a shoot out of the stock of Jesse, and a branch out of his roots will bear fruit. And the Spirit of I AM will rest on him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of I AM, and his delight will be in the fear of I AM. And he will not judge after the sight of his eyes nor decide after the hearing of his ears, but with righteousness he will judge the poor and decide with equity for the meek of the earth. And he will smite the earth with the rod of his mouth and with the breath of his lips will he slay the wicked. And righteousness will be the belt of his waist, and faithfulness the belt of his loins.
We need not comment at length here. This shows the Lord Jesus establishing justice on the earth where there has been so much injustice. He will slay the wicked and righteousness will reign.
7. 11.6-9:
And the wolf will dwell with the lamb and the leopard will lie down with the kid, and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together, and a little child will lead them. And the cow and the bear will feed. Their young ones will lie down together and the lion will eat straw like the ox. And the nursing child will play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child will put his hand on the adder’s den. They will not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of I AM as the waters cover the sea.
This is one of the loveliest passages in all the Bible and describes the peace that will prevail in the kingdom of God during the millennium, and into eternity. How many times have we prayed for peace? Here it is.
11.10: “And it will come to pass in that day that the Root of Jesse, will stand as a banner for the peoples, for the nations will seek him, and his resting place will be glory.” The Lord Jesus is a Root or Son of Jesse, the father of David. We see here again that not only will the Jews be gathered to their Messiah in Jerusalem as the Christians are raptured to Heaven, but the nations will seek the Lord Jesus as well.
8. 11.11-16:
And it will come to pass in that day that the Lord will set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people that will remain, from Assyria and from Egypt and from Pathros and from Cush and from Elam and from Shinar and from Hamath and from the islands of the sea. And he will set up a banner for the nations, and he will assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. The envy also of Ephraim will depart, and those who harass Judah will be cut off. Ephraim will not envy Judah and Judah will not harass Ephraim. And they will fly down upon the shoulder of the Philistines on the west. Together they will plunder the sons of the east. They will put forth their hand on Edom and Moab and the children of Ammon will obey them. And I AM will utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea and with his scorching wind he will wave his hand over the River and will smite it into seven streams and cause men to march over dryshod. And there will be a highway for the remnant of his people that will remain, from Assyria, as there was for Israel in the day that she came up out of the land of Egypt.
The Lord will set his hand the second time. That is, he called his people back to Jerusalem after the Babylonian captivity and he will do it again at the end of this age as he calls his people from the ends of the earth back to their ancient homeland. And again we see the banner for the nations that will look to the Lord. We see Israel’s plundering of their enemies as a part of the Lord’s judgment on the enemies of Israel. The River is the great Euphrates, and the Lord will wave his hand over that great river so that his people may pass over it dryshod, as with the Red Sea as they left their bondage in Egypt. Isaiah speaks of the way for his people from Assyria. As we have seen, Assyria was the nation that destroyed ancient Samaria, the land of the ten lost tribes, and that Assyria stands for the antichrist. There will be a way for deliverance from the antichrist and his persecution at the end of the age.
9. 12.1-6:
And in that day you will say, ‘I will give thanks to you, I AM, for though you were angry with me your anger is turned away and you comfort me. Look, God is my salvation. I will trust and will not be afraid, for YAH, I AM, is my strength and song and he has become my salvation.” Therefore with joy you will draw water out of the wells of salvation. And in that day you will say, “Give thanks to I AM, call upon his name, declare his doings among the peoples, make mention that his name is exalted.” Sing to I AM, for he has done excellent things. Let this be known in all the earth. Cry aloud and shout, you inhabitant of Zion, for great in the midst of you is the Holy One of Israel.
Isaiah closes out this segment of his prophecy with a word of praise and thanksgiving to God for all that has been prophesied in chapter 11. “YAH” is a shortened form of the Hebrew name of God, YHWH in English letters, hwhy if you want to see it in Hebrew (Ex. 3.4, Hebrew words are read from right to left). Isaiah says that “with joy you will draw water out of the wells of salvation.” This verse became to the Jews a prophecy of the Holy Spirit being poured out, and it is related to Jn. 7.37-3, a prophecy which was fulfilled on the day of Pentecost.
10. 19.18-25 is the next passage we want to consider:
In that day there will be five cities in the land of Egypt that speak the language of Canaan and swear to I AM of hosts One will be called the city of destruction. In that day will there be an altar to I AM in the midst of the land of Egypt and a pillar at its border to I AM. And it will be for a sign and for a witness to I AM of hosts in the land of Egypt, for they will cry to I AM because of oppressors, and he will send them a Savior and a Mighty One and he will deliver them. And I AM will be known to Egypt and the Egyptians will know I AM in that day. Yes, they will worship with sacrifice and oblation and will vow a vow to I AM and will perform it. And I AM will smite Egypt, smiting and healing, and they will return to I AM, and he will be entreated by them and will heal them.
In that day will there be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian will come into Egypt and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians. In that day Israel will be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth, for I AM of hosts has blessed them saying, “Blessed be Egypt my people and Assyria the work of my hands and Israel mine inheritance.”
This is a most remarkable passage. Egypt had been the land of Israel’s slavery and Assyria had destroyed Samaria, the northern kingdom of the Jews. Both were full of idolatry. One would think that they would be judged by the Lord, and they were. Assyria disappeared in ancient days after the rise of Babylon, and Egypt, while still existing as such, was never a world power again. But this remarkable passage says that in the millennium Egypt will speak the language of Canaan. It is interesting that in the days of the Lord Jesus on earth Greek had become the common language if the Roman Empire. Many Jews had gone into Egypt, and the Hebrew Bible, our Old Testament, was translated into Greek. That translation was called the Septuagint, abbreviated LXX. So much of Israel and Egypt would have spoken Greek, one of the languages of Canaan. But that refers to the times of the Lord Jesus, and I believe the passage here refers to the millennium. The Egyptians will swear allegiance to I AM.
There will be a pillar at the border and an altar in the midst of Egypt to I AM for a witness to I AM. Egypt will cry for deliverance from oppressors and I AM will send a Savior and a Mighty One, the Lord Jesus. This would apply to the end of this age with its wars and judgment and the Lord’s intervention to put an end to the age and bring in the millennium. The Egyptians will know and worship I AM in that day.
Then Isaiah says that I AM will smite them and heal them. We have all experienced this. God smites us for our sins in our consciences and perhaps by sending difficulty into our lives because of what we have done. We have all hurt ourselves by sin. This reminds us of Hos. 6.1: “Come and let us return to I AM, for he has torn, and he will heal us; he has smitten, and he will bind us up.” If we repent God does not destroy us, but he will punish, but then heal.
Then there will a highway between Egypt and Assyria and they will have interchange. These ancient enemies will worship God together. Then we have this amazement statement: “In that day Israel will be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth, for I AM of hosts has blessed them saying, “Blessed be Egypt my people and Assyria the work of my hands and Israel mine inheritance.” If one will look at a map of the biblical boundaries of Israel, never yet reached in this age, he will see that the full territory that God has in mind for Israel includes parts of Egypt and Assyria:
Assyria was in modern day Iraq. In the millennium Israel will include all this territory. The ancient enemies of Israel and of each other will be, with Israel, a blessing in the midst of the earth. How great is our God! Egypt will be blessed. Assyria will be the work of God’s hands. Israel will be his inheritance. Eph. 1.18 speaks of the riches of the glory of God’s inheritance in the saints. This is addressed to the Christians in Ephesus, but I believe it also includes the faithful Jews. God’s inheritance is not a thing. It is his people.
11. We come to Is. 24.21-25.10a, first 24.21-22:
And it will come to pass in that day that I AM will punish the host of the high ones on high and the kings of the earth on the earth. And they will be gathered together as prisoners are gathered in the pit and will be shut up in the prison, and after many days will they be visited.
The first paragraph, verses 21-22 of chapter 24, is a picture of judgment on the wicked. The host of the high ones on high are spiritual forces of evil (Eph. 1.21, 2.2, 3.10, 6.12, Col. 1.16, 2.15). The kings of the earth are those who have ruled over their people for their own benefit, not that of their people, and have practiced much injustice. They had caused wars that have killed literally millions, many millions, and many innocent civilians, and soldiers who have had to fight for evil causes. These dictators do not care how many of their own people die or are maimed for the benefit of the ruler.
These spiritual forces and evil rulers “will be gathered together as prisoners are gathered in the pit and will be shut up in the prison.” This pit or prison is hades, the prison of the wicked spirts and the wicked dead awaiting final judgment. See 2 Pt. 2.9, 17 and Jude 6. It is not hell. Hades and hell are different. As noted hades is the prison of evil spirits and the lost dead. That has probably existed since Gen. 6. Hell is the lake of fire into which the antichrist and his false prophet will be cast at the coming of the Lord (Rev. 19.20). They will be the first one in hell. No one is there yet. These evil spirits and lost dead are awaiting the final judgment, the great white throne judgment of Rev. 20.11-15. Then they will be cast into hell.
Then Isaiah says that these prisoners will be visited after many days. A visitation can be good or bad. In Lk. 19.43-44 we read,
For days will come on you and your enemies will cast a mound for sieging around you and they will surround you and hem you in on every side and will level you to the ground, and your children within you. And they will not leave a stone on a stone within you because you did not know the time of your visitation.
This is the Lord Jesus speaking to Jerusalem. He is prophesying the destruction of the city and its temple in A.D. 70. This visitation was a good visitation. The Lord Jesus visited his people to save them, but the Jewish people as a whole rejected him and were judged. Those who did receive him were saved spiritually. The visitation Isaiah is writing about is a bad visitation. It is a visitation of judgment on the evil spirits and the lost dead, the final judgment, being cast into the lake of fire.
But then Isaiah turns to what he says in vs. 24.23 to 25.1-10a. 24.23: “Then the moon will be abashed and the sun ashamed, for I AM of hosts will reign on mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and before his elders will be glory.”
The glory of the Lord at his return will be greater than that of the sun. In Rev. 21.23 we read, “And the city has no need of the sun or the moon that they might shine on it, for the glory of God illumines it, and its lamp is the little Lamb.” One our gospel songs has a line, “I’ve got a home in glory land that outshines the sun.” I don’t know about the home, but the Lord will outshine the sun as he reigns on Mt. Zion, the ancient hill of David in Jerusalem.
25.1-5:
I AM, you are my God. I will exalt you, I will praise your name, for you have done wonderful things, counsels of old, in faithfulness and truth. For you have made of a city a heap, of a fortified city a ruin, a palace of strangers to be no city. It will never be built. Therefore a strong people will glorify you. A city of terrible nations will fear you. For you have been a stronghold to the poor, a stronghold to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shade from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall. As the heat in a dry place you will bring down the noise of strangers. As the heat by the shade of a cloud the song of the terrible ones will be brought low.
This age is done. Evil has been done away with in this reign of righteousness, except that there still be hidden evil in some hearts as shown by the final rebellion at the end of the millennium (Rev. 20.7-10). The people of God recognize him as their God. They praise him for his wonderful deeds. His counsels of old he has fulfilled, such as Israel dwelling in eternal safety in their promised land as the head of the nations, not the tail (Dt. 28.13). The cities where the wicked rulers did their evil deeds are no more. Rev. 18.21 reads, “And one strong angel took a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea saying, ‘Thus with violence will Babylon the great city be thrown down, and it will be found no longer,’” Babylon, the ancient symbol of the world and false religion, gone forever. And see Jer. 50-51.
“A strong people will glorify you,” people strong in their Lord, more than conquerors in him. The Lord was a stronghold for the poor in this world, and he will be forever, but those who were poor in this world will not be poor in the kingdom of God. “A refuge from the storm, a shade from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall.” That is all over. “As the heat in a dry place, you will bring down the noise of strangers. As the heat by the shade of a cloud, the song of the terrible ones will be brought low.” All of that will be no more. So much to praise the Lord for.
But that is the negative side. We have 25.6-10a, beginning with vs. 6-8:
And in this mountain I AM of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined. And he will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering that covers all peoples, and the veil that is spread over all nations. He has swallowed up death forever. And the Lord I AM will wipe away tears from all faces and the reproach of his people will he will take away from all the earth, for I AM has spoken it.
Fat in the Old Testament symbolizes the best, the finest. God will make a feast of the finest foods and wine on the lees. I do not drink, but I can read about wine. Lees are the settlings of wine during fermentation and aging that develop full flavors. Only the best for God’s people.
“And he will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering that covers all peoples, and the veil that is spread over all nations. He has swallowed up death forever.” What is the covering that covers all peoples? What is the veil that is spread over all nations? Death. Death is certain for all but Enoch and Elijah and those alive at the return of the Lord. And some believe the two witnesses of Rev. 11 are Enoch and Elijah and they will die yet. We have all made the sad trip to the cemetery. We will be there ourselves unless the Lord comes first. We see in 1 Cor.15.26 that death is the last enemy. It is the scourge of mankind. Our God will destroy death. He will swallow it up. Thus he can “wipe away tears from all faces.” The reproach of his people is the aspersions that the world casts on those who are faithful to the Lord, Jews and Christians. The Lord Jesus says in Mt. 5.11, “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you and falsely speak every evil against you for my sake.” Those revilings and persecutions are reproaches. See also 1 Pt. 4.14. God will take these reproaches away. There will no one to give reproach, only God’s people. “I AM has spoken it.”
Vs. 9-10a: “And it will be said in that day,’ “Look, this is our God. We have waited for him and he will save us. This is I AM. We have waited for him. We will be glad and rejoice in his salvation. For in this mountain will the hand of I AM rest.’”
Many times in the Bible God tells us to wait. Ps. 27.14 is a good example. Many people have waited for long years without receiving what they were waiting for. The Lord does that for developing endurance in us (Heb. 12.1). We are in it for the long haul. This world is just our training ground. We are living for the millennial kingdom and eternity. The faithful Jews waited long years: “These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen and greeted them at a distance and having confessed that they were strangers and sojourners on the earth.” This world is not our home. “And these all, having received a testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, God having foreseen something better for us, that they might not be perfected without us.” God made great promises to the Jews that have never been fulfilled. Why? Because he wanted to send his Messiah to save them and to call out a people for his name from the Gentiles, the church (Acts 15.14). He had something better planned, a heavenly people and an earthly people, realized through the Messiah.
There will be the rest, the Sabbath rest of Heb. 4.9, an eternity at rest, not idle, but resting without worry and fear in our Lord. We will rejoice in that salvation. “For in this mountain will the hand of I AM rest.” Mt. Zion, the heavenly Mt. Zion of Rev. 14 as well as the earthly Zion in Jerusalem. Blessed be the name of the Lord.
12. 26.1-4, 19:
In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah: “We have a strong city. He will appoint salvation for walls and ramparts. Open the gates that the righteous nation which keeps faith may enter in. You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you because he trusts in you. Trust in I AM forever, for in YAH, I AM, is an eternal rock.
Your dead will live. My dead bodies will arise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in the dust, for your dew is as the dew of the dawning and the earth will cast forth the spirits of the dead.
Jerusalem and the heavenly Jerusalem (Rev. 21.2) will be strong, unassailable, covered by the salvation of God. Actually there will no one to try to assail. This promotes peace in our hearts, and we read about the perfect peace of God for those who trust him. Everyone in that holy city will trust and be at peace. God is an eternal, unmovable rock. This passage is millennial and shows the perfect peace of that era, but those who trust in God now know that perfect peace in this life. Real trust yields peace.
In v. 19 we read of resurrection life. There are two interpretations of this verse. One is that this verse, since it is to the Jews in the Old Testament, is the same as Ezekiel, “Can these bones live?” Yes they can. At the end of this age God will raise the nation of Israel and they will rust in their Messiah and know resurrection life as a nation. The other is that the verse refers to individual Jews who have been faithful to even in their lack of knowing their Messiah, but will be raised from the dead just as Christians will be as we see in 2 Thess. 4.15-17. We have already seen that these faithful Jews, both living and dead, but raised from the dead, will see their Messiah as he comes, mourn over their rejection and crucifixion of him, and receive him and be saved. There are faithful Jews and have been from the beginning of their existence with Abraham, until this day. Those who have not accepted the Lord Jesus as this Messiah, but are still looking for the Messiah in ignorance, will be the remnant that will be saved.
Is. 66.14 says, “And you will see it and your heart will rejoice and your bones will flourish like the tender grass, and the hand of I AM will be known to his servants….” He mentions that their bones will flourish like tender grass. We do not think of bones as flourishing grass, but in comparing this statement with 26.19, we see that “you who dwell in the dust, for your dew is as the dew of the dawning and the earth will cast forth the spirits of the dead.” Those who dwell in the dust are the dead, dry bones. When they rise the dew will moisten the newly raised dry bones and the bones will flourish like moist, tender grass. A beautiful poetic way of describing resurrection to life that will never end.
13. 27.1-3, 6, 13, beginning with vs. 1-3:
In that day I AM with his severe and great and mighty sword will punish Leviathan the swift snake and Leviathan the crooked snake, and he will slay the monster that is in the sea. In that day: A vineyard of wine, sing to it! “I, I AM, am its keeper. I will water it every moment so that none will hurt it. I will keep it night and day.
Leviathan is Satan and we have here a further reference to his demise. This the beginning of the millennium so this is actually the time when Satan is imprisoned in the abyss, hades (Rev. 20.1-3). After the millennium and the final rebellion he will be thrown into the lake of fire and that will be the end of him.
The next verses, 2 and 3, show us a bit of the millennial kingdom. There will be a vineyard of wine, and wine is a symbol of the Holy Spirit as joy. This will be a thousand years of great joy, and it will go on into eternity. Some Hebrew manuscripts say that this will be “a vineyard of delight.” Either way it is joy.
Vs. 6 and 13:
In days to come will Jacob take root, Israel will blossom and bud, and they will fill the face of the world with fruit.
And it will come to pass in that day that a great trumpet will be blown, and they will come who were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and those who were outcasts in the land of Egypt, and they will worship I AM in the holy mountain in Jerusalem.
In these last days at the coming of the Lord and the beginning of the millennium the faithful Jews will take root and blossom. Those who were about to perish and were outcasts will come and worship I AM, and remember that the Lord Jesus called himself I AM in the good news of John. The Jews will not just worship I AM and their ancient God, but the Lord Jesus, their Messiah. This rooting and blossoming will be the finally coming into all that God had for them from the beginning. That will truly be a time of glory and great rejoicing.
Isaiah then takes a short step backwards and says that a great trumpet will be blown. This is the trumpet that announces the return of the Lord Jesus, the trumpet of Mt. 24.31, the last trumpet of 1 Cor. 15.52, the trumpet of God of 1 Thess. 4.16 that will raise the dead in Christ, and of Rev. 11.15, the seventh trumpet when great voices in Heaven will say, “The kingdom of the world has become our Lord’s and his Christ’s, and he will reign to the ages of the ages.” May the Lord hasten this day. Amen, come Lord Jesus!
14. 29.17-24:
Is it not yet a very little while until Lebanon will be turned into a fruitful field and the fruitful field will be esteemed as a forest? And in that day the deaf will hear the words of a book and the eyes of the blind will see out of obscurity and out of darkness. The meek also will increase their joy in I AM and the poor among men will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel. For the terrible one is brought to an end and the scoffer ceases, and all those who watch for iniquity are cut off, who make a man an offender in his cause and lay a snare for him who reproves in the gate and turn aside the just with confusion.
Therefore thus says I AM, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob, “Jacob will not now be ashamed nor will his face now grow pale, but when he sees his children, the work of my hands, in the midst of him they will sanctify my name. Yes, they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob and will stand in awe of the God of Israel. They also who err in spirit will come to understanding and those who murmur will receive instruction.
This is another statement of the end of evil things and the blessings awaiting the Lord’s people.
15. 30.18-26:
And therefore I AM will wait, that he may be gracious to you, and therefore he will be exalted, that he may have mercy on you, for I AM is a God of justice. Blessed are all those who wait for him. For the people will dwell in Zion in Jerusalem. You will weep no more. He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry. When he hears he will answer you. And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your teachers will not be hidden anymore, but your eyes will see your teachers and your ears will hear a word behind you saying, “This is the way. Walk in it,” when you turn to the right hand and when you turn to the left. And you will defile the overlaying of thy graven images of silver and the plating of your molten images of gold. You will cast them away as an unclean thing. You will say to it, “Go.”
And he will give the rain for your seed with which you will sow the ground, and bread of the increase of the ground, and it will be fat and plenteous. In that day your cattle will feed in large pastures. The oxen likewise and the young donkeys that till the ground will eat seasoned fodder which has been winnowed with the shovel and with the fork. And there will be on every lofty mountain and on every high hill brooks, streams of waters in the day of the great slaughter when the towers fall. Moreover the light of the moon will be as the light of the sun and the light of the sun will be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that I AM binds up the hurt of his people and heals the stroke of his blow.
In this passage we see a bit more of the Lord’s chastening of his people in this age and his healing of them in the next, and the plenty that he will provide for them. We are reminded again of Hos. 6.1.
16. 32.1-4, 15-20, beginning with vs. 1-4:
Look, a King will reign in righteousness and princes will rule in justice. And a Man will be as a hiding place from the wind and a covering from the tempest, as streams of water in a dry place, as the shade of a great Rock in a weary land. And the eyes of those who see will not be dim and the ears of those who hear will listen. And the heart of the rash will understand knowledge and the tongue of the stammerers will be ready to speak plainly.
The King and the Man and the Rock are the Lord Jesus in the millennium. There will be righteousness instead of injustice in his reign, and his princes will rule in justice. The princes may well be the disciples of Mt. 19.28, “Amen I say to you that you, the ones who have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man sits on the throne of his glory, you will also sit on twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” There are places of responsibility in the kingdom and faithful and obedient Christians will occupy those places. In 2 Tim. 2.12 we read, “If we endure we will also reign with him.” Perhaps some of these as well as the disciples will be princes.
“And the eyes of those who see will not be dim and the ears of those who hear will listen.” One of my very favorite lines from a hymn comes from “O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing”: Hear him, you deaf, his praise, you dumb, your loosened tongues employ. You blind, behold your Savior come, and leap, you lame, for joy.” All of these scourges that so many people endure will be done away with. Those who are alive at the Lord’s coming who are deaf will hear the trumpet. The speechless will praise him audibly. The blind will see him come. The lame will leap toward him as they are taken up! The rash, those who speak hastily without understanding, like many of us (!), will have understanding and knowledge. Stammerers will speak plainly. Oh, bless the Lord!
… until the Spirit be poured on us from on high, and the wilderness become a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be esteemed as a forest. Then justice will dwell in the wilderness and righteousness will abide in the fruitful field. And the work of righteousness will be peace and the effect of righteousness, quietness and confidence forever. And my people will abide in a peaceable habitation and in safe dwellings and in quiet resting places. But it will hail in the downfall of the forest and the city will be utterly laid low. Blessed are you who sow beside all waters, who send forth the feet of the ox and the donkey.
This verse as I have presented it begins with a small letter, in the middle of a sentence, because the foregoing is a bit of a lengthy statement of the terrible condition of the Lord’s people at the end of this age just before the Lord returns to end the great tribulation and save his people (see Zech. 13.8 and 14.2). That will be the situation “until the Spirit be poured on us from on high.” Remember that Joel prophesied that at the closing of this age the Holy Spirit would be poured out (Joel 2.28-29). Peter said that this took place on the day of Pentecost. That was a forerunner of the outpouring on all flesh that Joel prophesies.
When that occurs “the wilderness [will] become a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be esteemed as a forest.” That is, all the good things will be greatly magnified in the millennial kingdom. Those who have studied something of the increase in harvests with the coming of modern farming techniques will understand this. For example, one crop had a yield of 25-45 bushels per acre in 1900 and 137-144 in 2000. That would be called exponential. I do not know if what Isaiah is referring to her includes crops, but it is the principle. We have all known God’s blessings. In the millennium they will increase exponentially. We cannot imagine what that will be. Justice, righteousness, peace, safety in abundance. “Quietness and confidence forever.” What a beautiful phrase.
Then Isaiah seems to break into this glorious thought with a horrible thought: “But it will hail in the downfall of the forest and the city will be utterly laid low.” Whatever could he mean? It seems that he is having a flashback, saying that all of this cannot take place until the forest comes down and the city is laid waste. In Is. 30.30-31 we read,
And I AM will cause the majesty of his voice to be heard and will show the descending of his arm with the indignation of his anger and the flame of a devouring fire, with a blast and tempest and hailstones. For through the voice of I AM the Assyrian will be dismayed. With his rod will he smite him.
We have already seen that Assyria is a symbol of the antichrist, and that at the end of this age he will be judged by God and thrown into the lake of fire.
Then Isaiah goes back to his original thought: “Blessed are you who sow beside all waters, who send forth the feet of the ox and the donkey.” In the millennial kingdom we will go about our business without fear, without looking over our shoulders or jumping at a sound. Peace and rest.
17. 33.5-6, 17-24:
I AM is exalted, for he dwells on high. He has filled Zion with justice and righteousness. And there will be stability in your times, abundance of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge. The fear of I AM is your treasure.
Your eyes will see the King in his beauty. They will behold a land that reaches afar. Your heart will meditate on terror: here is he that counted, where is he that weighed the tribute? “Where is he who counted the towers?” You will not see the fierce people, a people of a deep speech that you cannot comprehend, of a strange tongue that you cannot understand. Look on Zion, the city of our appointed times. Your eyes will see Jerusalem, a quiet habitation, a tent that will not be removed, whose stakes will never be pulled up, nor will any of its cords be broken. But there
I AM will be with us in majesty, a place of broad rivers and streams in which no galley with oars will go, nor will a gallant ship pass by it. For I AM is our judge, I AM is our lawgiver, I AM is our king. He will save us. Your tackle is loose. It could not strengthen the foot of the mast It could not spread the sail. Then the prey of a great spoil was divided. The lame took the prey. And the inhabitant will not say, “I am sick.” The people that dwell in it will be forgiven their iniquity.
This is a passage that requires little explanation. It speaks further of peace and safety. There is one statement that is very enlightening, “The lame took the prey.” We think of the strong taking the prey, and that is true in this world to some extent. But in spiritual matters it is the weak who prevail. Paul writes in 2 Cor. 12.9, “’My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.’ Most gladly therefore will I rather boast in my weaknesses, that the power of God may tabernacle over me.” As long as we think that we can do it ourselves we will fail, but if we can surrender ourselves, weakness and all, God can show his power through us. A good example is Jacob. He was a man who wanted the things of God, but he was in it for himself. He wanted to use God instead of letting God use him (see Gen. 28.20-21 – how relieved God must have been that Jacob would stoop to letting God be his God!). He was very strong in the flesh, as exhibited by his relationship with his father-in-law, whom he cheated until he became rich. By the way, Laban was a cheat, too! But when Jacob returned to the land of promise and realized his brother Esau, who had sworn to kill him, was on his way to meet him, he was terrified. That night he wrestled with God. When God saw that he had not prevailed against Jacob he touched the hollow of his thigh and crippled him. Jacob gave into God, but he limped on his thigh the rest of his life. He was weak, but God was strong through him. The lame take the prey. Let us all confess our weakness, yield to God, and let him be strong through us.
18. 40.1-11.
Beginning with chapter 40 the tenor of the book of Isaiah changes, so much so that some have come to believe that someone else wrote these chapters, but the New Testament is clear in attributing passages in Isaiah 40 and following to the prophet himself (Mt. 8.17 and Lk. 4.17-18, Jn. 7.38, Acts 8.30 and following verses, and Rom. 10.16 and 20-21). The first thirty-nine chapters were prophetic, but they were largely historical and dealt much with judgment. This latter part of Isaiah is much more messianic. It speaks clearly of the Messiah, of his sufferings and the glory to follow. God has set forth the guilt of his people, but he also speaks of repentance and deliverance.
We begin with vs. 1-2:
“Comfort, comfort my people,” says your God. “ Speak to the heart of Jerusalem, and call to her that her warfare has ended, that her iniquity has been pardoned, that she has received of I AM’s hand double for all her sins.”
After all of the conviction and judgment of 1-39 Isaiah begins with, “’Comfort, comfort my people,’ says your God. ‘ Speak to the heart of Jerusalem, and call to her that her warfare has ended, that her iniquity has been pardoned, that she has received from I AM’s hand double for all her sins.’”
Her warfare has ended. Israel has been at war for most of her existence, from the conquering of the Promised Land to the minor wars with her neighbors, to the great empires of Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome to her scattering to all the world with much persecution. She has endured Nazi Germany. When her nation was reestablished in 1948 she was immediately attacked by her neighbors and has been several times since, and even today, this very day, she endures missiles fired into her land and is under constant threat of destruction. At the end of this age and the return of the Lord all this will end, and “neither will they learn war anymore.” Peace. Eternal peace.
“Double for all her sins.” Is Isaiah saying that Israel was doubly punished for all her sin or that she was being doubly blessed in repentance? It cannot mean that Israel was doubly punished. That would be unjust on God’s part. If it does refer to punishment, it would mean that Israel was doubly guilty, having sinned against God by idolatry disobedience, and against man by injustice.
I take it that the verse refers to God doubly rewarding Israel. She has been judged, but she has repented and God is restoring double to her. This is the abundance of God’s grace. Think of the prodigal son. He had already received his inheritance, but his father, who owed him nothing, gave him more. Such is our God.
Vs. 3-5:
A voice of one calling out, “Prepare in the wilderness the way of I AM. Make level in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley will be exalted and every mountain and hill will be made low, and the uneven will be made level and the rough places a plain. And the glory of I AM will be revealed and all flesh will see it together, for the mouth of I AM has spoken it.”
This is the well-known reference to the work of John the Baptist. Verse 3 is quoted in all three of our synoptic gospels, and Luke adds vs. 4-5: “Prepare in the wilderness the way of I AM.” John came into a literal wilderness, but the more important spiritual meaning is that he came into the wilderness of tis godless world. It is the way of I AM. We know that I AM is the English translation of the Hebrew name of God, YHWH (Ex. 3.14). We also know that in John’s account of the good news the Lord Jesus several times called himself I AM. John was to prepare a way in this wilderness of a world for the Lord Jesus, the Son of God.
How was he to prepare that way? By preaching, “Repent, for the kingdom of the heavens has come near.” These people he was preaching to were God’s people, but many of them had wandered away from God, if they ever had a right relationship with him. We know about the Sadducees, the priestly caste, and the Pharisees, the keepers of the law. They led the way in the way in the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus. Judaism had largely become a dead religion of ceremonies. John preached, “Repent!” That is the way to prepare for the coming of the Lord. Many if not all the revivals over the last couple of hundred years have come because a few or many of the Lord’s people were convicted of sin and began to confess to the Lord and ask forgiveness.
There have been examples of someone standing up in a church service and saying that he, or she, needed to make a confession of sin and ask forgiveness, often to a specific person. That has convicted others and has set off revival. I well remember a when I was still in seminary that such a revival started at a nearby Christian college. Several of us drove down to see what was going on. The large auditorium was full and there was a line all across the back of the room and down the side and across to the pulpit of students awaiting their turns to speak with their confessions. They were repenting.
There are many of us, millions I believe, who are praying for revival in our country. The country at large has gotten so far from God, so materialistic, so immoral, so tolerant of such evils as abortion, for which we richly deserve God’s judgment. But more important, there are many Christian who are lax in their living and following the Lord and in their toleration of evil. Could it not be that we as Christians should pray the prayer of Ps. 139.23-24: “Search me, God, and know my heart, try me and know my thoughts, and see if there be any wicked way in me. And lead me in the way everlasting.” Could it be that we need to confess to God and to others we have wronged and seek forgiveness? I think so. Peter says, “For it is time for the judgment to begin from the house of God….” Revival is for Christians, not for the world. The word “revive” means to bring back to life. The world is not spiritually alive. We are. If we have allowed a measure of spiritual deadness into our lives we need to be revived with a fresh infusion of the Holy Spirit. If we are revived many in the world will come to Lord, but it begins with our repentance. People being saved follows revival in most or all cases.
“And the glory of I AM will be revealed and all flesh will see it together, for the mouth of I AM has spoken it.” If there is revival the glory of the Lord will be revealed. When the Lord Jesus came and many turned to him they saw something of the glory of God in him. I believe this statement is primarily referring to the end of this age. When the Lord comes again there will be a burst of glory that lights up the universe (Ti. 2.13). That will be revival! Let us live a life of continual repentance as needed, as John the Baptist says in the New Testament. The Lord Jesus preached exactly the same thing: “Repent, for the kingdom of the heavens has come near.” Lord, given us repentant hearts.
A voice saying, “Call out.” And one said, “What should I call out?” All flesh is grass, and all the loveliness of it is as the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades because the breath of I AM blows on it. Surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.
Here John shows us the need of the Lord. We are like grass and flowers. We may look good for a while, but as the grass withers and the flower fades, so do we. Life may seem long, but it is oh so short, and eternity is forever. The “word of our God will stand forever.” It is so important that we follow the teachings of the word of God, repent, trust in him for forgiveness and salvation, and live our lives for him.
Go up into a high mountain, Zion, you who brings good news. Lift up your voice with strength, you who tells good news to Jerusalem. Lift it up, do not be afraid. Say to the cities of Judah, “Look, your God!” Look, the Lord I AM will come as a mighty one and his arm will rule for him. Look, his reward is with him and his recompense before him. He will feed his flock like a shepherd. He will gather the lambs in his arm and carry them in his bosom, and will gently lead those who nurse their young.
What is Zion? Historically it is a hill in Jerusalem. In David’s day the hill of Zion was held by the Jebusites and was considered impregnable, but David and his men captured it and it became known as the City of David and David made his home there. (2 Sam. 5.6-9). David was the father of the Lord Jesus (Mt. 1.1) and his reign will last eternally through the Lord. God promised David in 1 Kings 2.4: “There will not fail you a man on the throne of Israel.” So Zion became a symbol of the Lord’s people. We see this in Is. 37.22: “The virgin daughter of Zion has despised you and laughed you to scorn. The daughter of Jerusalem has shaken her head at you.” Never mind the context of this verse at this point. Just be aware that it shows that the terms “virgin daughters of Zion“ and “virgin daughter Zion and Jerusalem” are symbolic names for the people of God. In Rev. 14.1 we see 144,000 people standing on Mt. Zion with the Lamb of God, the Lord Jesus. These are the overcomers of the church (see Rev. 2-3) who are raptured to the Mt. Zion in Heaven before the great tribulation. Here Zion is symbolic of the Christian people of God. See also Heb. 12.22, Mt. Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem.
What is the good news?
Look, the Lord I AM will come as a mighty one and his arm will rule for him. Look, his reward is with him and his recompense before him. He will feed his flock like a shepherd. He will gather the lambs in his arm and carry them in his bosom, and will gently lead those who nurse their young.
This statement has to do with the millennium. In Rev. 22.12 the Lord Jesus says, “I am coming quickly, and my reward is with me to give to each one as his work is.” Is this not good news? That is why it is so important to live for the Lord. Rewards are given “to each one as his work is.”
19. 41.8-20:
But you, Israel my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend, 9you whom I have taken hold of from the ends of the earth and called from its corners and said to you, “You are my servant. I have chosen you and not cast you away. 10Do not be afraid, for I am with you. Do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you. Yes, I will uphold you with the right hand of my righteousness. 11Look, all those who are incensed against you will be put to shame and confounded. Those who strive with you will be as nothing and will perish. 12You will seek them, and will not find them, those who contend with you. Those who war against you will be as nothing, and as not existing. 13For I, I AM, your God, will hold your right hand, saying to you, “Do not be afraid. I will help you. 14Do not be afraid, you worm Jacob, and you men of Israel. I will help you,” says I AM, and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel. 15 Look, I have made you to be a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth. You will thresh the mountains, and beat them down and will make the hills as chaff. 16 You will winnow them and the wind will carry them away and the whirlwind will scatter them. And you will rejoice in I AM. You will glory in the Holy One of Israel.
17 The poor and needy seek water and there is none, and their tongue fails for thirst. I, I AM, will answer them. I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them. 18 I will open rivers on the bare heights and fountains in the midst of the valleys. I will make the wilderness a pool of water and the dry land springs of water. 19 I will put in the wilderness the cedar, the acacia, the myrtle, and the olive tree. I will set in the desert the fir tree, the pine, and the box tree together, 20 that they may see and know and consider and understand together that the hand of I AM has done this, and the Holy One of Israel has created it.
This passage says that in the millennium all the suffering of God’s people will not be present. Enemies will be destroyed. The poor and needy will no longer be poor and needy, but will have water in abundance. They will not be hungry, but will have the fruit of all the trees. The evil mighty ones of the world will be gone, and the worm, the weak of this world who are the Lord’s, will be exalted.
20. 42.1-13. We begin with vs. 1-4:
Look, my Servant whom I uphold, my chosen in whom my soul delights. I have put my Spirit upon him. He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles. 2 He will not cry or lift up his voice or cause it to be heard in the street. 3 A bruised reed will he not break, and a dimly burning wick will he not quench. He will bring forth justice in truth. 4 He will not fail or be discouraged till he has set justice in the earth, and the coastlands will wait for his law.
In the previous passage we saw Jacob, symbolic of Israel, called God’s servant. But the Jews failed in their calling as God’s servants, falling into idolatry and every sin. In the present passage we see the Lord Jesus as the Servant who fulfills the calling that Israel did not. These verses are quoted in Mt. 12.18-21, with one difference. The Hebrew reads, “… and the coastlands will wait for his law.” Matthew says, “… and in his name the Gentiles will hope.” The first verse in Hebrew says that the Lord Jesus “will bring forth justice to the Gentiles.” It is not entirely clear what “coastlands” means exactly, but it is generally accepted that it refers to the nations beyond Israel, and probably specifically to the Mediterranean coastlands, because the Mediterranean Sea was the world of that day and place. The word can also mean “islands” so that it would include the islands in the Mediterranean, which of course also have coastlands. So the coastlands would be Gentiles or nations (the Hebrew word means both, as does the Greek word.) The Greek translation on the Old Testament has “Gentiles” in this verse and that is what Matthew is quoting.
There are some who believe that the Jews were to be God’s people, but they failed so God had to think up plan B and decided to go to the Gentiles. Christianity was a kind of afterthought. No! The Old Testament is quite clear that God has always planned to include the Gentiles among his people. Isaiah himself writes in 42.6 , in this passage we are dealing with, and 49.6 that the Jews were to be a light to the Gentiles, but instead they looked down on the Gentiles as beneath them, as defiled creatures. The Lord Jesus, God’s true Servant, included the Gentiles, not so much is the gospels, but in Mt. 28.18-19 and from Acts 1.8 on. He called Peter to be about taking a people for himself from among the Gentiles, and Paul to be the apostle to the Gentiles (Acts 9.15, Rom. 1.5, 11.13, 15.10, Gal. 1.16, 2.7-8, Eph. 3.1, 8, 1Tim. 2.7, 2 Tim. 4.17). Yes the Lord Jesus included the Gentiles. Heb. 12.39-40 says, “And these all, having received a testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, 40God having foreseen something better for us, that they might not be perfected without us.” God had something better in mind than just one race, the Jews, but he wanted to include all mankind, children of the first Adam, in the last Adam, the new Man, as the people of God.
5 Thus says God, I AM, he who created the skies and stretched them forth, he who spread abroad the earth and that which comes out of it, he who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk on it. 6“I, I AM, have called you in righteousness, and will hold your hand and will keep you and give you for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles, 7 to open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, and those who sit in darkness out of the prison. 8 I am I AM, that is my name, and my glory will I not give to another, nor my praise to graven images. 9 Look, the former things have come to pass, and new things do I declare. Before they spring up I am telling you of them.”
In Lk. 4.18-19 Luke tells of the Lord Jesus quoting Is. 61.1-2. Much what Isaiah says here in 42.5-9 is included in that passage. The Lord Jesus opened blind eyes and brought prisoners from the dungeon and from darkness out of the prison. Here again he is the Servant of the Lord doing what Israel failed to do, but he is doing it spiritually. He is opening the eyes of the spiritually blind and releasing those imprisoned in spiritual bondage and darkness. Getting back to Isaiah, let us say that this is a millennial passage in Isaiah. All of these evil things will be done away with at the coming of the Lord and I AM will watch over his people, keeping them in perfect safety and blessing.
10 Sing to I AM a new song and his praise from the end of the earth. You who go down to the sea and all that is in it, the coastlands and the inhabitants of them. 11 Let the wilderness and its cities lift up their voice, the villages that Kedar inhabits. Let the inhabitants of Sela sing. Let them shout from the top of the mountains. 12 Let them give glory to I AM and declare his praise in the coastlands. 13 I AM will go forth as a mighty man. He will stir up zeal like a man of war. He will call out. Yes, he will shout aloud. He will do mightily against his enemies.
This passage closes with a fitting word of praise to our God. Praise him indeed!
21. 43.1-7, 18-21
5 Do not be afraid, for I am with you: I will bring your seed from the east and gather you from the west. 6 I will say to the north, ‘Give them up,’ and to the south, ‘Do not keep them, back. Bring my sons from far and my daughters from the end of the earth, 7 everyone who is called by my name and whom I have created for my glory, whom I have formed, yes, whom I have made.”
18”Do not remember the former things or consider the things of old. 19 Look, I will do a new thing. Now it will spring forth. Will you not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. 20 The beasts of the field will honor me, the jackals and the ostriches, because I give waters in the wilderness and rivers in the desert, to give drink to my people, my chosen, 21the people whom I formed for myself that they might declare my praise.”
The preceding verses have to do with the trials of Israel, the deep waters and the fires of trial that have gone on through all her history to this very day (6/7/21), but now God says, “Do not be afraid, for I am with you,” and goes on to promise that he will gather his people from every corner of the earth to which they have been scattered. This is prophecy of the end of the age when the Jews will come back to their land and will see and recognize their Messiah at his return. God’s ancient promise to his people was the land and in the end they will have it in safety forever.
On their journey back to their land God will do a new thing. He will make a way in the wilderness of this world and provide rivers of water for their journey through deserts. Even the animals will honor God for what he is doing for his “people, my chosen, the people whom I formed for myself that they might declare my praise.” The remnant of the nation that crucified their Messiah will declare his praise.
22. 44.1-5, 21-23. We begin with vs. 1-5:
But now hear, Jacob my servant and Israel whom I have chosen. 2 Thus says I AM who made you and formed you from the womb, who will help you, “Do not be afraid, Jacob my servant and you, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen. 3 For I will pour water on him that is thirsty and streams on the dry ground. I will pour my Spirit on your seed and my blessing on your offspring. 4And they will spring up among the grass as willows by the waters. 5 One will say, ‘I am I AM’s,’ and another will call himself by the name of Jacob, and another will write with his hand, ‘I AM’s,’ and name the name of Israel with honor.”
As the end comes and the millennial kingdom begins, God speaks to his people, Jacob, standing for the entire nation, and Jeshurun, a poetic name for Israel that means “the upright one.” Israel has not always been upright, but has known much sin, but in the end she will be purified by God and made an upright people. He tells them that he “will pour water on him that is thirsty and streams on the dry ground. I will pour my Spirit on your seed and my blessing on your offspring. Much of Hebrew is written in what is called Hebrew parallelism, that is, saying something and then repeating it in different words. This is such a case. Water in the Bible is often a symbol of the Holy Spirit. God is not speaking here so much of material water as of the water of the Holy Spirit. Just as the Lord poured out the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, so will he pour out the Holy Spirit on his repentant Jewish people.
Israel has been a name of dishonor and hatred to many people down through the centuries. Many of the Arabs have hated them. There has been much persecution simply because they are Jews. Many Muslim countries today want to wipe Israel off the face of the earth. Some Jews have tried to hide their identity as Jew in fear of this persecution. But at the end of this age and the onset of the millennium, the Jews will spring up like trees by the water. One will say openly, I am I AM’s! Another will identify himself with Israel. Another will write on is hand, “I AM’s.” They will name the name “Israel” with honor. As we saw in Is. 40.2, her warfare is ended – forever. Such is our God.
Vs. 21-23:
Remember these things, Jacob and Israel, for you are my servant. I have formed you. You are my servant, Israel. You will not be forgotten by me. 22 I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, your transgressions and, as a cloud, your sins. Return to me, for I have redeemed you. 23 Shout joyfully, heavens, for I AM has done it. Shout, lower parts of the earth. Break forth with a joyful shout, mountains, forest, and every tree in it, for I AM has redeemed Jacob and will glorify himself in Israel.
Rom. 11 teaches that God has set Israel aside since their rejection of their Messiah, and Acts 15.14, that he is taking a people for him name from among the Gentiles. But he has not rejected them permanently. He will yet keep his ancient promises to them of their land, and he has promised that all the families of the earth will be blessed in them (Gen. 12.1-3). God will reclaim his ancient people at the end of this age. They are his servant. He has not forgotten them. At the end he will forgive: “I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, your transgressions and, as a cloud, your sins” (more parallelism). He calls them back to himself and redeems them. There will be great rejoicing. God intended Israel to display his glory, and they yet will. And we as Christians will share in that glory.
23. Chapter 51. We begin with vs. 1-3:
“Listen to me, you who follow after righteousness, you who seek I AM. Look to the rock from which you were hewn and to the pit from which you were dug. 2Look to Abraham your father and to Sarah who bore you, for when he was but one I called him, and I blessed him and made him many.” 3For I AM has comforted Zion. He has comforted all her waste places and has made her wilderness like Eden and her desert like the garden of I AM. Joy and gladness will be found in it, thanksgiving and the voice of melody.
God begins with speaking to the Jewish people of Isaiah’s day, a day of much trouble for them because they were very sinful and soon to be judged by God through Babylon. He tells them to look to the foundation of the Jewish people, the calling of Abraham to become the father of the Jewish people. What does he say about Abraham? That we was a rock. And how was Abraham a rock? By faith. He trusted in God fully and that made him firm in faith, a rock to build on. Gen. 15.1-6 says,
After these things the word of I AM came unto Abram in a vision saying, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.” 2 And Abram said, “Lord I AM, what will you give me, since I am childless, and he who will be possessor of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 And Abram said, “Look, to me you have given no seed and, look, one born in my house is my heir.” 4 And look, the word of I AM came to him saying, “This man will not be you heir; but he who will come forth out of your own body will be your heir.” 5 And he brought him outside and said, “Look now toward the heavens and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” And he said to him, “So will your seed be.” 6 And he trusted in I AM and he credited it to him for righteousness.
“He trusted in I AM and he credited it to him for righteousness.” Abraham was considered righteous because he trusted in God, not because of anything he did. He was a man of faith and faith is the foundation of our relationship with God, whether Jew or Christian. This, of course, prefigures the salvation that comes to us by faith in the Lord Jesus, not by works.
In Isaiah’s day the people were not people of faith. They were sinners and were facing judgment. But Isaiah says to them to go back to Abraham, to faith, to put their trust in God. Because of their great sinfulness judgment was inevitable, as discipline of a child is necessary (Heb. 12.4-11). For those who would not trust in God the judgment would just be judgment, but for those who put their trust in God it would be discipline, training them up in the ways of God.
Then Isaiah relays God’s promise of redemption for those who repented and trusted in him: “For I AM has comforted Zion. He has comforted all her waste places and has made her wilderness like Eden and her desert like the garden of I AM. Joy and gladness will be found in it, thanksgiving and the voice of melody.” This verse takes us from Isaiah’s day to the end of this age and the millennial kingdom. In the end, those Jews who trust in God and in their Messiah when they see him coming, it will be a garden of Eden, a time of joy and gladness, thanksgiving and melodies of praise. And it is the same for Christians, those who put their faith in the Lord Jesus. The prophecies made to the Jews will be fulfilled for them in their Land of Promise, and for Christians spiritually in Heaven.
Vs. 4-8 deal largely with judgment, but a pair of verses speak of better things. The end of v. 6 reads, “… but my salvation will be forever and my righteousness will not be abolished,” and the end of v. 8 repeats this.
Vs. 9-12:
Awake, awake, put on strength, arm of I AM. Awake as in the days of old, the generations of ancient times. Is it not you who cut Rahab into pieces, who pierced the monster? 10 Is it not you who dried up the sea, the waters of the great deep, who made the depths of the sea a way for the redeemed to pass over? 11 And the ransomed of I AM will return and come with joyful shouting to Zion, and everlasting joy will be on their heads. They will obtain gladness and joy and sorrow and sighing will flee away.
Isaiah or some other speaker calls on the Lord to do again his great deeds of old in delivering his people. The reply is that the ransomed, the remnant at the end of the age, will return to Zion with joyful shouting and gladness, and “sorrow and sighing will flee away.” All of God’s people, Jew and Christian, will know such joy.
Vs. 12-23: These verses speak much of the suffering that Israel has been through in this world, suffering that has come because of their unfaithfulness to God, but v. 22 says that “Thus says your Lord I AM and your God who pleads the cause of his people, ‘Look, I have taken out of your hand the cup of staggering, the bowl of the cup of my wrath. You will drink it no longer.’” The end of their suffering in the kingdom of God.
24. 52.13-53.12. We begin with 52.13-15: Much has rightly been made of Is. 53, but 52.13-15 is part of the passage also. We have seen that Israel was called to be God’s servant, but failed in that calling. Now we see the coming of the Lord Jesus as the Servant who does fulfill that calling, and how he does it. Let me say here that Is. 53 is probably the highlight of the Old Testament, the clearest picture of the Messiah in that part of the Bible. I do not consider myself, or perhaps anyone, capable of dealing with that chapter adequately. I will simply set forth the Scriptures with as little comment as possible because it is mostly self-evident. We being with 52.13-15.
Look, my Servant will deal wisely. He will be exalted and lifted up and will be very high. 14 Just as many were astonished at you: his visage was so marred more than any man and his form more than the sons of men, 15 so will he sprinkle many nations. Kings will shut their mouths at him, for that which had not been told them they will see, and that which they had not heard they will understand.
The servant failed. The Servant will not. Isaiah points out first that Israel’s Messiah “will be exalted and lifted up and will be very high” as we see in Phil. 2.9-11. But suddenly he turns and says, “Just as many were astonished at you,” as though speaking to Messiah himself, then as suddenly changes to third person, “he” instead of “you”: “his visage was so marred, more than any man and his form more than the sons of men.” This beginning with the Servant being exalted very high and then marred was very confusing to the ancient Jews. They could not see how the Messiah both suffer and reign. Some of them concluded that there would be two Messiahs, one who suffered and one who reigned. Then Isaiah goes back the exaltation: “Kings will shut their mouths at him, for that which had not been told them they will see, and that which they had not heard they will understand.” In the end kings would understand this confusion. The same man did both suffer and reign. We as Christians know that he reigns because he suffered. He was obedient to his Father in submitting to death (Phil. 2.5-8), and God highly exalted him.
The Scriptures are quite clear that sin must be died for. That is the point of all the sin offerings in the Old Testament, and Paul writes that “the wages of sin are death.” But Heb. 10.4 says, “For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.” A person must die for his own sins. But the only way to do that is to be lost forever. A sinful man cannot die for another sinful man. “All have sinned.” Unless God could come up with a way to overcome that. He could. He sent his own Son from Heaven to earth to live a sinless life and thus be able to die for sinful men. Remember that all of the sacrifices in the Old Testament had to be unblemished. The Lord Jesus never sinned, and so could be an unblemished Lamb. It is ingenious and only God could do it. The Servant of God suffered for our sins and was exalted far above all.
I said I would not comment much! Now that I have set the stage I will try to hold it to a minimum. I do not want to be facetious here. We are on most holy ground.
Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of I AM been revealed? 2 For he grew up before him as a tender plant and as a root out of a dry ground. He has no form or comeliness and when we see him there is no beauty that we should desire him. 3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And as one from whom men hide their face he was despised and we did not esteem him.
4 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. Yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God and afflicted. 5 But he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was on him, and with his stripes we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way, and I AM has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed, yet when he was afflicted he did not open his mouth. As a lamb that is led to the slaughter and as a sheep that before its shearers is dumb, so he did not open his mouth. 8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away, and as for his generation, who among them considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living for the transgression of my people to whom the stroke was due? 9 And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.
10 Yet it pleased I AM to bruise him. He has put him to grief. When you make his soul an offering for sin he will see his seed, he will prolong his days, and the pleasure of I AM will prosper in his hand. 11 He will see of the travail of his soul and will be satisfied. By his knowledge my righteous Servant will justify many and he will bear their iniquities. 12 Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he will divide the spoil with the strong because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors. Yet he bore the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors.
The only comment that I want to make on a passage that speaks for itself and bows all our hearts in worship has to do with vs. 10 and 11: “… he will see his seed…. He will see of the travail of his soul and will be satisfied.” The word “seed” is used many times in the Bible to refer to offspring, descendants. The Lord Jesus himself is called “seed of Abraham” (Gal. 3.16 and 19) and “seed of David” (2 Tim. 2.8). Here in Is. 53 we read that the Lord Jesus “will see his seed.” Who are the seed or descendants of the Lord Jesus? All who put their trust in him. As a woman has travail as she gives birth, so the suffering of the Lord Jesus on the cross was the travail that gave birth to the church, all the saved. It is very instructive that Acts 2.24 says that when God raised the Lord from the dead he loosed “the birth pains,” or travail of death. Our Lord Jesus travailed, suffered the birth pains of death, and gave birth to a numberless multitude of those who love him. Blessed be the name of the Lord!
25. Chapter 54. I present this chapter largely without comment, for it is clear in its meaning. I will put a few comments at the end of the chapter.
“Shout joyfully, barren one, you who did not bear. Break forth into joyful shouting and call out aloud, you who did not travail with child, for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife,” says I AM. 2 Enlarge the place of your tent and let them stretch forth the curtains of your dwelling places. Don’t spare. Lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes. 3 For you will spread abroad on the right hand and on the left and your seed will possess the nations and make the desolate cities to be inhabited.
4 Do not be afraid, for you will not be ashamed, nor will you be confounded, for you will not be put to shame. For you will forget the shame of your youth and the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more. 5 For your husband is your Maker. I AM of hosts is his name. And the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer. The God of the whole earth will he be called. 6For I AM has called you as a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit, a wife of youth when she is cast off,” says your God. 7”For a small moment I have forsaken you, but with great mercy I will gather you. 8 In overflowing wrath I hid my face from you for a moment, but with everlasting kindness I will have mercy on you,” says I AM your Redeemer.
9 For this is as the waters of Noah to me, for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah will no more go over the earth, so I have sworn that I will not be angry with you or rebuke you. 10 For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my mercy will not depart from you, nor will my covenant of peace be removed,” says I AM who has mercy on you.
11You afflicted one, tossed with tempest and not comforted, look, I will set your stones in antimony and lay your foundations with sapphires. 12 And I will make your pinnacles of rubies and your gates of crystals and all your border of precious stones. 13 And all your children will be taught by I AM and great will be the peace of your children. 14 In righteousness you will be established. You will be far from oppression, for you will not be afraid, and from terror, for it will not come near you. 15 Look, they may gather together, but not because of me. Whoever will gather together against you will fall because of you. 16 Look, I have created the smith who blows the fire of coals and brings forth a weapon for his work, and I have created the spoiler to destroy. 17 No weapon that is formed against you will prosper and every tongue that will rise against you in judgment you will condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of I AM, and their righteousness which is from me,” says I AM.
Just as the church is pictured as the bride or wife of Christ in the New Testament (Eph. 5.32, Rev. 19.7, 21.2, 9, 22.17), so is God the Father pictured as the husband of Israel in the Old. Here in 54.5 we see God saying to Israel, “For your husband is your Maker. I AM of hosts is his name.” Vs. 6-8 tell us that God rejected his wife for a time because of her sinfulness. In Hosea we see that this sinfulness is idolatry and adultery with gods who are no gods. Jer. 2.2 reads, “Go and call out in the ears of Jerusalem saying, ‘Thus says I AM, ”I remember about you the kindness of your youth, the love of your betrothals, how you went after me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown.”’” This was the beginning of God’s love affair with Israel, but Israel committed spiritual adultery by going to other gods, and thus God judged her and sent her away. But God’s judgment was done to cause a remnant to repent and come back to him, and he will take Israel back as his wife in the end. We will see more of this in Is. 62.4-5. See also Jer. 31.32.
Vs, 9-10 tell us that God judged the earth in the time of Noah, but promised not to flood the world again. He left a remnant of eight, Noah and his family, who he saved through the flood. Though many Jews fell under the judgment of God, he will always have a faithful remnant. Many of these are ignorant of their Messiah, but they are faithful to God the best they know. In the end their faithfulness will be rewarded along with those who see the Lord, whom they pierced, at his coming and mourn and repent. And neve “r forget that we also pierced the Lord. He died for my sins and for yours. “My mercy will not depart from you, nor will my covenant of peace be removed.” Forever.
V. 11 speaks of one who has been tossed by the storms of life and not comforted. Many of us have experienced deep hurts in life and have not been comforted. We go on trusting the Lord, but some things are too deep to forget. Here in vs. 11-12 God tells us that he “will set your stones in antimony and lay your foundations with sapphires.2 And I will make your pinnacles of rubies and your gates of crystals and all your border of precious stones.” What are these precious stones?
The book of 1 Corinthians tells us in chapter 3, v. 12 that we can build on the foundation of Christ with gold, silver, and precious stones or with wood, hay, and straw. What we build on the foundation will pass through the fire of judgment. If what we build is burned up, the wood, hay, and straw, we will be saved, but will suffer loss, the loss of reward in the millennium. If what we build is gold, silver, and precious stones it will not be burned up, but will purified by the fire. How do we get these treasures of gold, silver, and precious stones?
These things are produced deep in the earth in darkness and heat and great pressure. They picture the trials of our lives. If we resist the Lord’s efforts to produce these precious things by our trials, we will have nothing. But if we submit to him and let him use these trials to mature us and strengthen us, just as an athlete is strengthened and made fit for his sport through hard training, he will produce these precious things in us. They will go into the making of the new Jerusalem in Heaven, the foundation and the walls and the street of gold. Dear one, do not complain to God about what he is doing in your life to produce something precious in you, something eternal. Yield to him and let him do his work. What we have in this world will pass away. What he forms in us is eternal.
V. 17 tells us that “No weapon that is formed against you will prosper.” This does not mean that we will not suffer in this world, but that the weapons of this world are temporary, and that God will actually use them to grow us up in him. We are not living for this world, but for the millennium and eternity.
“’This is the heritage of the servants of I AM, and their righteousness which is from me,’ says I AM.”
26. 55.1-5, 12-13. We begin with vs. 1-5:
Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters, and he that has no money, come, buy and eat. Yes, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. 2 Why do you weigh out silver for that which is not bread and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me and eat that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. 3 Incline your ear and come to me. Listen, and your soul will live and I will make an eternal covenant with you, the sure mercies of David. 4 Look, I have given him for a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander to the peoples. 5 Look, you will call a nation that you do not know; and a nation that did not know not you will run to you, because of I AM your God and for the Holy One of Israel, for he has glorified you.
This paragraph is a clear statement of the freely given provision and joy of Heaven. In. v. 3 Isaiah speaks of the “sure mercies of David.” What does he mean by this term? David was a shepherd boy, the youngest of his family, certainly not the one to be king. But God does not look on the outward man, but on the heart (1 Sam. 16.7). He chose David to be king and promised that he would have a son who would rule on his throne forever. David sinned grievously, but he repented and God forgave him. We may think that unjust, that he deserved to die for what he did. He did indeed deserve to die, but do we not deserve to die for our sins? Like David we are all recipients of grace. God’s mercy to David was sure, and so it is with all his people.
Then Isaiah says, “I have given him for a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander to the peoples.” I do not believe Isaiah was speaking of David in this statement, but of his Son, the greater David, the Lord Jesus Christ. He is our Leader and Commander and all that we will ever need. We have already seen that the nations will turn to Jerusalem and the people of God, where he is King of kings and Lord of lords. Because of this,
you will go out with joy and be led forth with peace. The mountains and the hills will break forth before you into joyful shouting, and all the trees of the fields will clap their hands. 13 Instead of the thorn the fir tree will come up and instead of the brier the myrtle tree will come up. And it will be a name to I AM for an eternal sign that will not be cut off.
27. 56.4-8:
For thus says I AM, “To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths and choose the things that please me and hold fast my covenant: 5 To them I will give in my house and within my walls a memorial and a name better than that of sons and of daughters. I will give them an eternal name that will not be cut off.
6Also the foreigners who join themselves to I AM, to minister to him and to love the name of I AM, to be his servants, everyone who keeps the Sabbath from profaning it and holds fast my covenant, 7I will bring them to my holy mountain and make them joyful in my house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar, for my house will be called a house of prayer for all peoples.” 8TThe Lord I AM, who gathers the outcasts of Israel, says, “Yet will I gather others to him besides his own that are gathered.”
In this passage God first speaks to the eunuchs. In Lev. 21.20 and Dt. 23.1 we learn that eunuchs are not allowed to participate in the priesthood of Israel. This would be because the priesthood prophetically represented the Lord Jesus. We see this in Heb. 8.1, “We have such a High Priest,” and throughout Hebrews. He is an unblemished Lamb, and so must his priesthood be. But God tells the faithful eunuchs among his people that they will not be excluded in Heaven. In his house, because of their faithfulness to him in a difficult situation, they will have a memorial and a name of honor “better than that of sons and of daughters.” Probably several of you could never have a child and it has been deep suffering to you. You will have a memorial and a name of honor in God’s house that is better than sons and daughters. That is a message to us all. All us have been in or are or will be in a difficult place. Are we faithful to God in that place? See also Mt. 19.12.
Then he turns to the foreigners, non-Jews, who have come to him and served him. These faithful ones, who could not serve in the priesthood, will know the same acceptance in God’s house of prayer, “for my house will be called a house of prayer for all peoples.” This is one of the plans of God that the Jews missed. We have mentioned Is. 42.6 and 49.6. Now we come to Is. 56.7. In their own Bible they are told to be a light to the Gentiles and to maintain a house of prayer for all peoples, yet they could not grasp what those verses say and rejected these peoples.
8TThe Lord I AM, who gathers the outcasts of Israel, says, “Yet will I gather others to him besides his own that are gathered.” God will gather people from every people and tribe and tongue and nation (Rev. 5.9, 11.9). In Jn. 17.20 we read, “But not for these only am I asking, but also for those trusting in me through their word.” These would include all, Jews and Gentiles, who come to the Lord through the testimony and preaching of the disciples and Paul and all such who follow them. “Yes, he included me. When the Lord said whosoever he included me.”
28. Chapter 60:
Arise, shine, for your light has come and the glory of I AM has risen on you. 2 For, behold, darkness will cover the earth and gross darkness the peoples, but I AM will arise on you and his glory will be seen on you. 3 And nations will come to your light and kings to the brightness of your rising.
4Lift up your eyes round about and see. They all gather themselves together. They come to you. Your sons will come from afar, and your daughters will be carried in the arms. 5Then you will see and be radiant and your heart will thrill and be enlarged because the abundance of the sea will be turned to you. The wealth of the nations will come to you. 6 The multitude of camels will cover you, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah. All those from Sheba will come. They will bring gold and frankincense and will proclaim the praises of I AM. 7 All the flocks of Kedar will be gathered together to you. The rams of Nebaioth will minister to you. They will come up with acceptance on my altar and I will beautify the house of my beauty. 8Who are these who fly as a cloud and as the doves to their windows? 9Surely the coastlands will wait for me. And the ships of Tarshish will be first to bring your sons from afar, their silver and their gold with them, for the name of I AM your God and for the Holy One of Israel because he has beautified you.
10And foreigners will build up your walls and their kings will minister unto you, for in my wrath I smote you, but in my favor I have had mercy on you. 11Your gates also will be open continually. They will not be shut day nor night that men may bring to you the wealth of the nations and their kings led captive. 12For that nation and kingdom that will not serve you will perish. Yes, those nations will be utterly wasted. 13The glory of Lebanon will come to you, the fir tree, the pine, and the box tree together, to beautify the place of my sanctuary; and I will make the place of my feet glorious. 14And the sons of those who afflicted you will come bending to you, and all those who despised you will bow themselves down at the soles of your feet and they will call you “The city of I AM, The Zion of the Holy One of Israel.”
15Whereas you have been forsaken and hated so that no man passed through you, I will make you an eternal excellency, a joy of many generations. 16You will also suck the milk of the nations and will suck the breast of kings, and you will know that I, I AM, am your Savior and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob. 17For brass I will bring gold and for iron I will bring silver, and for wood brass, and for stones iron. I will also make your officers peace and your magistrates righteousness. 18Violence will no more be heard in your land, desolation or destruction within your borders, but you will call your walls salvation and your gates praise. 19The sun will be no more your light by day, nor for brightness will the moon give light to you, but I AM will be to you an eternal light and your God your glory. 20Your sun will no more go down, nor will your moon withdraw itself, for I AM will be your eternal light and the days of your mourning will be ended. 21All your people will be righteous. They will inherit the land forever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified. 22The little one will become a thousand and the small one a strong nation. I, I AM, will hasten it in its time.
This chapter also requires little comment. It pictures the beauty and glory of the millennial kingdom for the people of God, the Jews. It shows again the ingathering of all the scattered Jews back to their land, the wealth of the nations flowing into the land when Israel is the head and not the tail (Dt. 28.13), the absence of violence, and God as its light. And we believe as Christians that these promises will be kept for us spiritually in Heaven.
I would like to make one word of explanation. I think most Christians believe that there are two kinds of people in the world, the saved and the lost, and at the end of this age all the saved will be in Heaven and the faithful Jews, having owned their Messiah, will be in the Holy land. But the Bible says in 1 Cor. 10.32 that there are three kinds of people in the world, Jews, Gentiles, and the church, Christians. The Jews are still the people of God though they are at present living in unbelief in their Messiah, many even as atheists. Christians are Jews and Gentiles who have accepted the Lord Jesus as their Savior. They are no longer Jews or Gentiles, but the church. That leaves the Gentiles, all who are not Jews or Christians.
It is quite clear from these passages we have been considering that there will be nations, or Gentiles – the Hebrew and Greek words mean both – in the millennial age. Where do these nations come from? We are usually taught in conservative churches, as noted above, that all people are either saved or lost. But Paul writes in Rom. 2.13-16,
For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous with God, but the doers of the law will be justified. For when Gentiles, not having the law by nature, do the things of the law, these not having the law are a law to themselves, who show the work of the law to be written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness, their thoughts among one another accusing or else defending them, on which day God judges by my good news the secrets of men through Christ Jesus.
God looks on the heart. It is incomprehensible to me that people who lived in far flung places all over the world, many a thousand years before Christ had even come, who never heard of him, or even of ancient Judaism, would be lost and sent to hell because they did not “get saved.” The same goes for many people, perhaps millions, living today who have never heard of Jesus. I believe there will be many people saved who never heard of Jesus because God judges by the heart. He knows who should be saved and who should not.
An example of this is Mt. 25.31-46. Here we read of Gentiles, neither Christian nor Jew, who are separated by God as sheep or goats. The sheep are saved and the goats are not. I do not have a Bible verse that says this, but from what seems to me to be logical deduction from this passage and those in Isaiah that speak of the nations coming to Israel in the millennium, that these nations are made up of Gentiles who were neither Christian nor Jew, but were saved at the coming of the Lord. They are the sheep.
29. 61.1-11. In Luke 4.18 the Lord Jesus read in the synagogue vs. 1-2b of this passage:
”The Spirit of the Lord I AM is on me because I AM has anointed me to preach good news to the meek. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison to those who are bound, 2 to proclaim the year of I AM’s favor….”
This passage is messianic as well as millennial. Here Isaiah prophesies the coming Messiah and tells of some of the good news. This prophecy will be literal for Jews under persecution and perhaps both literal and spiritual for suffering Christians. It is of interest that he stops in the middle of a sentence, which goes on to say, “and the day of vengeance of our God….” Why did he do this? When the Lord Jesus read this prophesy he was speaking of his mission to the world of his day. He did come to preach good news, comfort to people of his day and throughout this age. But he will not come for “the day
of vengeance of our God” until the end of this day when he will come in judgment on the enemies of God.
Vs. 2c-6: Then he relates the comforting of people in his own day on earth to his future coming:
to comfort all who mourn; 3 to clothe those who mourn in Zion: to give to them a garland for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness, that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of I AM, that he may be beautified.
4 And they will build the old wastes. They will raise up the former desolations and they will repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations. 5 And strangers will stand and feed your flocks and foreigners will be your plowmen and your vinedressers. 6 But you will be named the priests of I AM. Men will call you the ministers of our God.
Let me break in at this point to show a great part of God’s eternal plan that will not be fulfilled until the millennium comes. In Ex. 19.5-6 he says, “Now therefore, if you will obey my voice indeed and keep my covenant, then you will be my own possession from among all peoples, for all the earth is mine, and you will be to me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation.” It has been God’s plan from eternity past for his people to be a kingdom of priests, that is, a kingdom in which every man and woman can dwell in the very presence of God. But because of sin in general and because the people in fear of the terrible happenings on Mt. Sinai said to Moses in Ex. 20.19, “You speak to us and we will listen, but don’t let God speak to us or we will die,” and because of their immorality and idolatry seen in Num. 25.1-9, God closed the people out from himself, set up a priestly caste, the Levites, and allowed only one person to come into his presence, and that on only one day of the year. That was the High Priest, who could enter the Holy of Holies only on the Day of Covering, the holiest day of the Jewish year (see my article A Kingdom of Priests).
We see here in Is. 61.6 a lovely little verse that says, “But you will be named the priests of I AM. Men will call you the ministers of our God.” In the millennial age all the faithful Jews will dwell in the very presence of God. They will all be priests, just as we as Christians are now (1 Pt. 2.9-10 and Rev. 1.6: “… and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father…,” and 5.10: “… you made them to our God a kingdom and priests). Perhaps the priests, all the faithful Jews, will be priests and ministers to the nations as well as ministering to God.
Vs. 6c-7c:
You will eat the wealth of the nations and in their glory you will boast. 7Instead of your shame you will have double and instead of dishonor they will rejoice in their portion. Therefore in their land they will possess double.
The double portion is another biblical truth.
In the Old Testament it was the law that the firstborn son of a family would have both the birthright and the blessing. The birthright was the right to inherit a double portion from the father and the headship of the family. That is, if there were two sons, the older would get 2/3 and the younger 1/3. If there were four, the older would get 2/5 and the others would get 1/5 each. If you will look up the phrase “double portion” in your Bible, you will find that this double portion applies spiritually as well. The blessing was also the right of the firstborn. The father would bless each son, but the oldest would get the best blessing. The best example of all of this is Jacob and Esau (quoted from my article The Birthday and the Blessing, which see).
Vs. 7d-9:
Eternal joy will be to them. 8For I, I AM, love justice. I hate robbery in the whole burnt offering and I will give them their recompense in truth, and I will make an eternal covenant with them. 9 And their seed will be known among the nations and their offspring among the peoples. All who see them will acknowledge them, that they are the seed which I AM has blessed.
There will be complete justice in the millennium, something that is in short supply in this world. “Liberty and justice for all” goes only so far. God loves justice. He hates robbery, not just in money, but in robbing people of their rights or their reputations or how many other things. And in robbing him (Mal. 3.8-9). Another way of robbing God is in the whole burnt offering of Lev. 1 and throughout the Old Testament. Most of the sacrifices required a symbolic portion to be burnt to God, with the rest becoming the food of the priests. But the whole burnt offering required the burning of the entire animal to God. This is symbolic of the offerer giving his who self to God, and of the Lord Jesus giving his whole self to his Father throughout his life and particularly at the cross. Paul urges us to present ourselves as a sacrifice to God (Rom. 12.1). If a priest were to withhold a portion of the animal for himself that would be robbery of God. It does not refer to the whole burnt offering, but we see an example of such robbery of God in 1 Sam 2.12-17.
Vs. 10-11:
10I will greatly rejoice in I AM. My soul will be joyful in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation. He has covered me with the robe of righteousness as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. 11 For as the earth brings forth its bud and as the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring forth, so the Lord I AM will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.
This chapter closes with a great doxology of praise to God for all his goodness. In his millennial kingdom there will be righteousness and praise throughout.
30. 62.2-5, 8b-9, 12
I want to deal with the millennial parts of this chapter, 62.2-5, 8b-9, and 12, but I need to quote the entire chapter to quote set the context.
“For Zion’s sake I will not hold my peace and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest until her righteousness goes forth as brightness and her salvation as a lamp that burns.”
What he is wanting here has not yet taken place, so this is not millennial. He is talking to Isaiah in Isaiah’s day. But in v. 2 the millennial part begins:
2 And the nations will see your righteousness and all kings your glory, and you will be called by a new name which the mouth of I AM will name. 3 You will also be a crown of beauty in the hand of I AM and a royal diadem in the hand of your God. 4 You will no more be termed “Forsaken,” nor will your land any more be termed “Desolate,” but you will be called Hephzibah and your land Beulah, for I AM delights in you, and your land will be married [Hephzibah means “my delight is in her” and Beulah means “married”]. 5 For as a young man marries a virgin, so will your sons marry you, and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so will your God rejoice over you.
The meaning here is obvious. I will give just one comment. V. 2 says that Israel will be called by a new name. This applies to the Jews to whom he is prophesying. In Rev. 2.17 the Lord promises the overcomers of the church a new name.
6 I have set watchmen on your walls, Jerusalem. They will never hold their peace day or night. You who remember I AM, take no rest, 7 and give him no rest till he establish and till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth.
These verses go back to Isaiah’s time. God tells Isaiah, and us, to “give him no rest till he establish and till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth.” I believe this applies to the millennial kingdom. Jerusalem will not be finally established or a praise in the earth until the Lord Jesus returns. It has been a city of war for most of its history, as has most of the world. The word “Jerusalem” is thought to mean “foundation of peace.” Certainly the “salem” part does mean peace. God intended his creation to be a place of peace, but because of sin conflict and fighting have prevailed for virtually all of its existence beginning with Cain and Abel. There has hardly been a year in the history of the world when there was not war somewhere. And there have been smaller conflicts every day since Cain killed Abel, I would say. The problem is that the Lord Jesus is peace (Mich. 5.5a), but he is rejected by virtually all the world. There will be no real peace until his feet land on the Mount of Olives and he takes the throne of the world in Jerusalem (Zech. 14.4). It is our command from God to give him no rest until he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth. PRAY FOR THE PEACE OF JERUSALEM (Ps. 122.6)!
8 I AM has sworn by his right hand and by the arm of his strength, “Surely I will no more give your grain to be food for your enemies and foreigners will not drink your new wine for which you have labored, 9 but those who have garnered it will eat it and praise I AM, and those who have gathered it will drink it in the courts of my sanctuary.”
Now we come back to the millennium. How many times has Israel, or some other country or person, been overrun by some evil country or person that has taken their crops, and much else? In the millennial this will be no more. Each one will enjoy the fruits of his labor, but those who produced it will have what is rightfully theirs. I do believe, though, that we will all be unselfish, “Mine, mine, mine.” We will have forgotten self, the foundation of all our troubles, and will happily share with one another.
10 Go through, go through the gates. Prepare the way of the people. Build up, build up the highway. Gather out the stones. Lift up a banner for the peoples. 11Look, I AM has proclaimed to the end of the earth, “Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Look, your salvation is coming. Look, his reward is with him and his recompense before him.’” 12 And they will call them The holy people, The redeemed of I AM, and you will be called Sought out, a city not forsaken.
John the Baptist preached, “Prepare the way of the Lord.” Here someone says, “Prepare the way of the people.” Who are these who are told to prepare the way of the people? I don’t know, and we are not told who they are. My thoughts on the matter are that they might be the apostles and evangelists and missionaries who lead people to the Lord. They might be the overcomers of the church (Rev. 2-3 and chapter 12). They may be the armies of Heaven of Rev. 19.14 riding with the Lord Jesus as he rides out of Heaven to come to the earth to strike down the evil nations (see also Zech. 14.3) and set Israel free forever. What do you think?
The Lord says, “Look, your salvation is coming. Look, his reward is with him and his recompense before him.” Full salvation is on its way in God’s time. This last statement reminds us of what the Lord Jesus says in Rev. 22.12: “Look, I am coming quickly, and my reward is with me to give to each one as his work is.” We mentioned rewards briefly at the end of our dealing with section 18, Is. 40.1-11. The Bible teaches very clearly that there are rewards in the millennial kingdom and these can be lost. Rom. 14.10 and 2 Cor. 5.10 say that we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ to give account of our works, not for salvation, a settled mater, but for rewards. Perhaps the plainest passage on this truth in 1 Cor. 3.10-15. Paul says that he has laid a foundation for the church and that foundation is Jesus Christ. Then he says that whatever each Christian builds on that foundation will one day be tried by fire. If our works amount to wood, hay, and straw, they will be burned up, but if they amount to gold silver, and precious stones, they will be proved by the fire. Those whose works are proved will receive a reward. Then v. 15 says: “If any man’s work be burned, he will suffer loss, but he will be saved, but so as through fire.” The Lord Jesus says in Rev. 3.11: “Hold fast what you have, so that no one take your crown.” He was speaking to Christians in the model church, Philadelphia. And isn’t it interesting that 2 Sam 1.10 says, “And I took the crown that was on his head.”
When God has completed this work he says, “12 And they will call them The holy people, The redeemed of I AM, and you will be called Sought out, a city not forsaken.” Lord. Hasten the day!
31. 65.8-10, 13-25. We begin with vs. 1-17:
This is another of those glorious passages in Isaiah that set for the beauty and wonder and joy of the millennial kingdom. It has that marvelous statement, “’The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox, and dust will be the snake’s food. They will not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain,’ says I AM.” It really needs no comment, but one. V. 20 may indicate that there may be death in the millennium. If so, this would be among Jews on earth and among those in Heaven. And even if they die, they will live again forever. Other than this, just read these verses and rejoice.
Thus says I AM, “As the new wine is found in the cluster and one says, ‘Do not destroy it, for a blessing is in it.’ so will I do for my servants’ sake, that I may not destroy them all. 9 And I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob, and out of Judah an inheritor of my mountains, and my chosen will inherit it, and my servants will dwell there. 10 And Sharon will be a fold of flocks and the valley of Achor a place for herds to lie down in for my people who have sought me.”
Therefore thus says the Lord I AM, “Look, my servants will eat, but you will be hungry. Look, my servants will drink, but you will be thirsty. Look, my servants will rejoice, but you will be put to shame. 14 Look, my servants will shout for joy of heart, but you will cry for sorrow of heart, and will wail for grief of spirit. 15 And you will leave your name for a curse to my chosen and the Lord I AM will slay you and he will call his servants by another name, 16 so that he who blesses himself in the earth will bless himself in 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 hid from my eyes.
17““For, look, I will create new skies and a new earth and the former things will not be remembered or come to mind. 18 But be glad and rejoice forever in that which I will create, for, look, I will create a rejoicing Jerusalem and a people of joy.
Here God says that he will create new skies and a new earth. This is repeated in 66.22. We see this explained in 2 Pt. 3.10-13. I will quote from my exposition of that passage, which see:
New skies and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells. Rev. 21.1 says, “And I saw a new sky and a new earth, for the first sky and the first earth went away, and the sea is no more.” Having done away with Satan and wicked people, the Lord purifies his creation of any defilement caused by their presence and activity. Every trace of evil is burned up and a new sky and a new earth in which only righteousness dwells become the fitting dwelling place of the triune God, his angels, and his people. (See Is. 65.17, 66.22). This is a promise of God, and he cannot lie and he can deliver.
Vs. 19-25:
19 And I will rejoice in Jerusalem and joy in my people. And there will be heard in her no more the voice of weeping and the voice of crying. 20 There will be no more from then an infant of days, or an old man who has not filled his days, for the child will die a hundred years old, and the sinner being a hundred years old will be accursed. 21 And they will build houses, and inhabit them and they will plant vineyards and eat the fruit of them. 22 They will not build and another inhabit. They will not plant and another eat. For as the days of a tree will be the days of my people, and my chosen will long enjoy the work of their hands. 23 They will not labor in vain or bring forth for calamity, for they are the seed of the blessed of I AM, and their offspring with them. 24 And it will come to pass that before they call I will answer, and while they are yet speaking I will hear. 25 The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox, and dust will be the snake’s food. They will not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain,” says I AM.
32. 66.7-14, 18-24
Before she travailed she brought forth. Before her pain came she delivered a boy. 8 Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Will a land be born in one day? Will a nation be brought forth at once? For as soon as Zion travailed she brought forth her children. 9“Will I bring to the birth and not cause to bring forth?” says I AM. “Will I who cause to bring forth shut the womb?” says your God.
In this concluding chapter of the great prophet, Isaiah begins with seeming impossibilities. Can a woman give birth be she travails? I have heard of a woman who did not know she was pregnant having a baby, but no labor? “Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things?” Then Isaiah tells us what he is talking about. At the end of this age when the Lord Jesus comes to call his people home and his people back to their land, it is as though Israel is born in a day. The Israel of this age was born on May 14, 1948, but much travail went into that birth. The millennial Israel will be born in a day. This is God’s doing: “’Will I bring to the birth and not cause to bring forth?’ says I AM. “’Will I who cause to bring forth shut the womb?’”
10 “Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad for her, all you who love her. Rejoice for joy with her, all you who mourn over her, 11 that you may nurse and be satisfied with the consolation of her breast, that you may suck and be delighted with the abundance of her glory.”
It is instructive that Ezk. 38.12 says that Israel is the navel of the earth, the source of nourishment for the whole world. The Lord Jesus says that salvation is of the Jews (Jn. 4.22, that vessel of God through whom salvation comes. And here God says that the breast of Jerusalem is the comfort and source of nourishment of those who love her. What more tender and beautiful picture is there than a mother nursing her baby? We sometimes use the phrase “mother earth,” and that thought has become something of an issue in this day of extreme environmentalism and so called global warming. Gal. 4.26 says that the Jerusalem above is our mother. Do you love Jerusalem?
12 For thus says I AM, “Look, I will extend peace to her like a river and the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream. And you will nurse. You will be carried on the side and will be dandled on the knees. 13 As one whom his mother comforts, so will I comfort you, and you will be comforted in Jerusalem.” 14 And you will see it and your heart will rejoice, and your bones will flourish like the tender grass, and the hand of I AM will be known to his servants, and he will have indignation against his enemies.
Isaiah continues with these tender pictures. Nursing. Being carried and dandled by mother. Being comforted by mother. So, God says, will I comfort you. What rejoicing there will be! I like the statement about the bones flourishing. At my age I understand that! “The hand of I AM will be known to his servants.” God’s servants are not slaves or hired hands whom he barely knows. They are his children, his sons and daughters, whom he love tenderly as these pictures of mother and baby show.
18“For I know their works and their thoughts. The time will come that I will gather all nations and tongues and they will come and will see my glory. 19 And I will set a sign among them. And I will send such as escape of them to the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, that draw the bow, to Tubal and Javan, to the coastlands afar off who have not heard my fame, nor have they seen my glory, and they will declare my glory among the nations.
As all the nations come to see God’s glory, he will set a sign among them. This sign is perhaps the surviving Jewish people who come out of the final battle on this age seen in Zech. 13.8 and 14.2-3. Two thirds of the Jews will die and the Lord Jesus will descend in judgment and destruction of his enemies. I all of this carnage how can anyone survive? Those who do will be a sign of God’s salvation of his people. This refers to Jews, for Christians will have been caught up to meet the Lord in the air (1 Thess. 4.16-17).
Then God will send some of these survivors to Tarshish, a city possibly in Spain; Pul or Put, possibly Libya; Lud, not known for sure, possibly in Africa; Tubal, on the southeast coast of the Black Sea; Javan, Greece; and the coastlands, which we have seen to be the Gentiles nations in general. I would say that all these names mentioned represent all the Gentile nations. In Mt. 28.19 the Lord Jesus tells his disciples to make disciples of all the nations. In the same way God says to Israel, as we saw in Is, 49.6, “I will also give you for a light to the Gentiles….” But he adds, “… to become my salvation to the end of the earth.” I believe that a part of the work of the Jews in the millennium, for there will be work, will be to go into the nations to instruct them in the ways of God. Is. 42.6, which also says that Israel is to be a light to the Gentiles, goes on to say in v. 7, “… to open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, and those who sit in darkness out of the prison.” They are to teach the Gentiles, show them the way out of their prison of sin, and deliver them from spiritual darkness.
I will not go into it here, but I believe God will have work for us as Christians to do in the millennium and throughout eternity. We do not know the nature of that work, but we will not spend eternity lying on clouds and playing harps. Work in this age can be drudgery, boring, very hard, and so on. In Heaven work will be done in rest. It will be inspiring and energizing and joyful. Our God is a Creator. He thought of everything there is before it existed and he made it all with a word. He has not run out of ideas. It will be a part of the exhilaration of Heaven to see God’s unknown ideas unfold and to take our part in bringing them to fullness. Praise him!
20 And they will bring all your brothers out of all the nations for an offering to I AM, on horses and in chariots, and in litters and on mules, and on camels, to my holy mountain Jerusalem,” says I AM, as the children of Israel bring their offering in a clean vessel into the house of I AM. 21 “And of them also will I take for priests and for Levites,” says I AM [see comments on Is. 61.6].
22 “For as the new skies and the new earth, which I will make, will remain before me,” says I AM,” so will your seed and your name remain. 23 And it will come to pass that from one new moon to another and from one Sabbath to another all flesh will come to worship before me,” says I AM.
New skies and a new earth. See the comments on this verse under 65.13-25 above.
“’And it will come to pass that from one new moon to another and from one Sabbath to another all flesh will come to worship before me,’ says I AM.” There will endless worship in Heaven, and not of the sometimes boring kind with all the ceremonies and so forth. I think some people believe that God wants to torture us by making us go to a church service once a week. Those of us who know what real worship is know the joy of pouring out the rejoicing and worship of a heart filled with love for God for all that he menas to us. If you think that is wonderful, just wait till you see worship in Heaven! Amen!
Copyright © 2021 by Tom Adcox. All rights reserved. You may share this work with others, provided you do not alter it and do not sell it or use it for any commercial purpose. “Freely you have received, freely give” (Matthew 10.8). Also you must include this notice if you share it or any part of it.
Old Testament quotations are the author’s updates of the American Standard Version.
Quotations from the New Testament are the author’s translations.