The Unmistakable Summons of God: Text: Isaiah 18:3
Introduction: God's Global Broadcast System
We live in an age drowning in information. We have endless news cycles, notifications buzzing in our pockets, and a cacophony of voices all demanding our attention. Everyone has a platform, everyone has a megaphone, and the result is that it is very difficult to hear anything at all. It is a kind of globalized Babel, where the sheer volume of words renders most of them meaningless. Men think that by shouting louder, or by broadcasting on more channels, they can make their message stick. They believe that if they can just capture the world's attention, they can direct the course of history.
But this is a profound delusion. It is the creature mistaking his own noisy cricket chirps for the thunder of God. Our God does not need to compete for airtime. He does not need a marketing team or a social media strategy. When He decides to act, when He determines that the time has come for the nations to pay attention, He has His own global broadcast system. It is ancient, it is foolproof, and it is utterly sovereign. He raises a standard on a mountain. He blows a trumpet. And the whole world, whether they like it or not, stops what it is doing and looks up.
The prophet Isaiah is speaking into a particular historical context, a moment of international intrigue involving Cush, Egypt, and the menacing shadow of Assyria. The nations are scheming, forming alliances, and trying to manipulate events to their own advantage. They are playing their little geopolitical games, moving their pieces on the board, thinking they are the masters of their fate. And into this flurry of human self-importance, God speaks through Isaiah and says, in effect, "You are all living in My world. Your plans are footnotes in My story. When I make My move, you will not need a secret memo to understand it. It will be as obvious as a banner on a mountaintop and as unavoidable as the blast of a war trumpet."
This is a truth we desperately need to recover. We are tempted to anxiety by the headlines. We are tempted to despair by the apparent triumph of wickedness. We are tempted to think that God has somehow lost control of the narrative. But this verse reminds us that God is the Lord of history, and He is never silent, even when we can't hear Him. And when He chooses to make His actions plain, they will be unmistakable to everyone. He is the one who sets the agenda, and He will not be ignored.
The Text
All you inhabitants of the world and dwellers on earth,
As soon as a standard is raised on the mountains, you will see it,
And as soon as the trumpet is blown, you will hear it.
(Isaiah 18:3 LSB)
A Global Address (v. 3a)
The first clause of this verse establishes the audience. This is not a private message whispered to a few insiders.
"All you inhabitants of the world and dwellers on earth..." (Isaiah 18:3a)
God here is addressing the entire population of the planet. This is not just for Cush, or Assyria, or even for Judah. This is a universal summons. The language is emphatic and all-encompassing. No one is exempt. The God of Israel is not a local deity, a tribal god who is only concerned with one little strip of land in the Middle East. He is the Creator of the heavens and the earth, and therefore He is the Lord of all nations. What He is about to do is an object lesson for every last person, from the most powerful emperor to the most remote tribesman.
This is foundational to a biblical worldview. We do not believe in a God who is wringing His hands in heaven, hoping that the nations will eventually come around. We believe in a God who governs the nations. As Psalm 2 says, He has the nations as His inheritance. He breaks them with a rod of iron and dashes them in pieces like a potter's vessel. He is not a candidate running for the office of World Ruler; He holds that office by right of creation and redemption. And because He is the ruler of all, He has the right to command the attention of all.
This is a direct affront to the secular humanism of our day, which pretends that mankind is the master of his own destiny. It is a rebuke to the globalists who think they can arrange the world's affairs according to their own designs. God here is pulling back the curtain and reminding us that all the inhabitants of the world are just that: inhabitants. Dwellers. Tenants. They are living in His world, on His property, and He sets the terms. When the landlord decides to make a statement, all the tenants are required to listen.
The Unmistakable Sign (v. 3b)
Next, God describes the first part of His two-fold signal. It is a visual sign, impossible to miss.
"As soon as a standard is raised on the mountains, you will see it..." (Isaiah 18:3b)
A standard, or a banner, was a rallying point for an army. It was a large, conspicuous flag raised on a high place to signal the start of a military campaign or to direct the movement of troops. When the standard was lifted, it meant that the king was on the move. It meant that war was imminent. It was a call to muster, a summons to action.
God says that when He acts in history, it will be like raising such a standard. It will not be subtle. It will not be ambiguous. It will be set "on the mountains," the most visible places on the landscape. There will be no need for pundits to interpret it or for experts to explain it. You will simply see it. The event itself will be its own explanation. God's actions are self-attesting.
What is this standard? In the immediate context, it refers to the mighty acts of God in judging the nations, specifically in the overthrow of the seemingly invincible Assyrian army. But in the grand sweep of redemption, this standard is ultimately a person. Isaiah himself tells us later on: "Then in that day the nations will resort to the root of Jesse, who will stand as a signal for the peoples" (Isaiah 11:10). The ultimate standard, the ultimate banner that God raises on the high mountain of Calvary, is the cross of Jesus Christ. The cross is God's great signal to all the inhabitants of the world. It is the declaration that He is mustering a new army, a new people for Himself. It is the sign that the decisive battle against sin and death has been engaged.
And just as the verse says, when that standard was raised, the world saw it. The crucifixion was not done in a corner. It was a public event, and the gospel of that event has since been raised in all the world. You cannot escape it. You may reject it, you may mock it, you may ignore it, but you cannot claim that you have not seen it. God has lifted up His Son, so that whoever looks to Him will be saved.
The Unavoidable Summons (v. 3c)
The second signal is auditory. It complements the visual standard, ensuring that the message is received by all senses.
"And as soon as the trumpet is blown, you will hear it." (Isaiah 18:3c)
The trumpet, or shofar, was used to sound an alarm, to call an assembly, or to announce the coronation of a king. Its piercing blast cut through the noise of daily life and demanded an immediate response. When the trumpet sounded, you stopped what you were doing and you paid attention. It signified that a moment of great significance had arrived.
God says that His actions in the world will be accompanied by a sound so clear and compelling that everyone will hear it. This is not a whisper; it is a trumpet blast. This is the sound of God's sovereignty breaking into the mundane affairs of men. It is the announcement that business as usual is over.
Throughout Scripture, the trumpet is associated with God's direct intervention in history. The law was given at Sinai with the blast of a trumpet (Exodus 19:16). The walls of Jericho fell to the sound of trumpets (Joshua 6:20). And the New Testament tells us that the final return of Christ will be announced by a trumpet. "For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God" (1 Thessalonians 4:16). "He will send forth His angels with a great trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds" (Matthew 24:31).
The gospel itself is this trumpet blast in the ears of a deaf world. It is the alarm that calls men to flee from the wrath to come. It is the summons that calls them to assemble under the banner of Christ the King. And it is the coronation announcement that a new King is reigning, and His name is Jesus. When God's truth is proclaimed, it has the force of this trumpet. You will hear it. You may harden your heart against it, you may plug your ears, but you have heard it. The sound has gone out into all the earth.
Conclusion: The Only Rational Response
So what does this mean for us, here and now? It means that we are without excuse. God has not hidden Himself. He has not been coy or obscure about His intentions. He has raised the standard of the cross on the hill of Calvary for all to see. He has blown the trumpet of the gospel for all to hear. The message has been sent, and the message has been received.
The question is not whether you have seen the signal. The question is how you have responded to it. When an army sees the standard raised and hears the trumpet, there are only two possible responses. You either rally to the flag and join the king's army, or you are identified as a traitor and an enemy. There is no middle ground. There is no neutrality. To ignore the summons is to declare your rebellion.
We are living in the era between the first great signal of the cross and the final trumpet blast of Christ's return. The standard is still raised. The trumpet of the gospel is still sounding. God is mustering His people from every tribe and tongue and nation. He is calling all the inhabitants of the world to look to the crucified and risen Christ and live. He is summoning them to abandon their petty rebellions and enlist in the army of the King of Kings.
Do not be like the foolish nations in Isaiah's day, who saw God's mighty acts and yet continued in their own futile schemes. Do not be like the modern secularist, who sees the evidence of God's design all around him and hears the echo of God's law in his own conscience, and yet pretends he is autonomous. The signal is clear. The summons is unavoidable. See the standard. Hear the trumpet. Rally to the King.