Good Morning Friends,
Isaiah closes with a two-fold prophecy of the
future. In the first part of the prophesy, God looks to the new heaven and new
earth and those who will dwell in it for eternity. It is a promise, spoken many
times in the Bible, that people from all nations will be a part of it. People
from all nations will gather together to proclaim the glory of the Lord.
“I will set a sign among them, and I will
send some of those who survive to the nations -- to Tarshish, to the Libyans
and Lydians (famous as archers), to Tubal and Greece, and to the distant islands
that have not heard of my fame or seen my glory. They will proclaim my glory
among the nations. And they will bring all your brothers, from all the nations,
to my holy mountain in Jerusalem as an offering to the LORD -- on horses, in
chariots and wagons, and on mules and camels,” says the LORD. “They will bring
them, as the Israelites bring their grain offerings, to the temple of the LORD in
ceremonially clean vessels. And I will select some of them also to be priests
and Levites,” says the LORD. “As the new heavens and the new earth that I make
will endure before me,” declares the LORD, “so will your name and descendants
endure.” (Isaiah 66:19-22)
What a glorious vision. God is in the process
of sending His Word to the nations. God’s Word will not return empty. There
will not be a nation or a people that will not be represented in His eternal kingdom.
Together, we will worship the Lord.
The second part of the prophecy is not so
glorious. Not everyone will be part of the eternal worship of the Lord. Not
everyone will respond to His Word. To those who reject Him and rebel at His
Word, there is a different message.
“And they will go out and look upon the dead
bodies of those who rebelled against me; their worm will not die, nor will
their fire be quenched, and they will be loathsome to all mankind.” (Isaiah
66:24)
There is eternal joy and praise on one side
of the vision and eternal fire on the other side. That’s why we proclaim His
message of salvation to those around us and those around the world!
His, by Grace,
Steve
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