Commentary - Isaiah 66:18-24

Bird's-eye view

As the magisterial prophecy of Isaiah draws to its thunderous conclusion, we are presented with a final, glorious vision of the gospel age. This is not a tacked-on epilogue but the very pinnacle of the mountain Isaiah has been climbing. The passage lays out the great end toward which all of redemptive history has been moving: the gathering of all nations to the glory of God in Christ. Yahweh, having just condemned the syncretistic and hypocritical worship of apostate Israel, now declares His intention to display His glory to the entire world. This will be accomplished through a great missionary endeavor, initiated by a remnant of escaped Jews, who will carry the news of God's glory to the farthest corners of the earth. The result is a massive ingathering of converted Gentiles, who are brought to Jerusalem, the Church, as a living offering to God. This new covenant community will have its own priesthood, drawn from all nations, and will endure forever, just as the new heavens and new earth endure. The prophecy culminates in a stark and sobering contrast: the universal, joyful worship of the redeemed set against the horrific, unending judgment of the unrepentant. This is the final word: either eternal worship or eternal waste.

This passage is a foundational text for a robustly optimistic, postmillennial eschatology. It describes the engine of the Great Commission and its worldwide effects. The glory of God, revealed in the finished work of Jesus Christ, is the irresistible magnet that draws all nations. The old covenant categories of Jew and Gentile, priest and layman, are gloriously exploded and reconstituted in the one body of Christ. The worship of God ceases to be provincial and becomes global. And the finality of God's judgment is asserted without flinching. It is a vision of the victory of the gospel in history, culminating in a clear and final separation of the righteous and the wicked.

Outline

Context In Isaiah

Isaiah 66 is the final chapter of a three-part conclusion (chapters 65-66) that contrasts the fate of God's true servants with that of the rebellious apostates. Throughout the book, Isaiah has woven together themes of judgment and hope, condemnation for faithless Israel and promises of a glorious future that includes the Gentiles. Chapter 65 promised a new heavens and a new earth (65:17), a new creation for God's chosen people. Chapter 66 opens with a rebuke of those who would try to contain God within a physical temple, emphasizing that God seeks humble and contrite hearts. This sets the stage for our passage, which reveals how God will create this new people. The judgment on the old, corrupt system (66:15-17) gives way to the glorious construction of the new, global temple, the Church. This passage is the ultimate fulfillment of the promise made to Abraham that in him all the families of the earth would be blessed. It is the majestic crescendo to Isaiah's symphony of redemption.

Key Issues

The Great Ingathering

The end of all things, as Isaiah presents it, is not an evacuation but an invasion. It is not the church being extracted from the world, but the world being conquered by the gospel. God's plan from the beginning was not to save a few people out of a world destined for the scrap heap, but rather to redeem the world itself. This passage is one of the clearest Old Testament expressions of that glorious, globe-encompassing project. The language is that of a great pilgrimage, a worldwide procession to the holy mountain of God. But the pilgrims are not just ethnic Jews; they are from "all nations and tongues." And they are not just coming to observe; they are coming to see God's glory, to be transformed by it, and to become part of the worshipping people of God themselves. This is the fulfillment of God's promise to fill the earth with the knowledge of His glory as the waters cover the sea (Hab. 2:14). It is a picture of the success of the gospel, the victory of Christ in history, and the establishment of His kingdom from shore to shore.

Verse by Verse Commentary

18 “And I know their works and their thoughts; the time is coming to gather all nations and tongues. And they shall come and see My glory.

Yahweh begins with a declaration of His omniscience. He sees the wicked works and rebellious thoughts of the apostates He has just condemned, but His knowledge is not limited to them. He knows the state of all men. Because He is the sovereign God, He declares what He is about to do in history. The "time is coming" points to the dawning of the Messianic era. His action will be to "gather all nations and tongues." This is a direct statement of the international, universal scope of the New Covenant. The curse of Babel, which scattered the nations by confusing their tongues, is here reversed. In the gospel, men from every tribe and language will be brought together. And what is the purpose of this great ingathering? "They shall come and see My glory." God's glory is the manifestation of His perfect character, His weightiness. This glory was supremely revealed in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ (John 1:14). The nations are gathered not to a place, but to a Person. To see His glory is to be converted.

19 I will set a sign among them and will send those who have escaped from them to the nations: Tarshish, Put, Lud, Meshech, Tubal, and Javan, to the distant coastlands that have neither heard My report nor seen My glory. And they will declare My glory among the nations.

How will this great gathering happen? God will first set a "sign" among them. This sign is ultimately the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the definitive sign of God's judgment and salvation. From the cataclysm of judgment that fell upon first-century Jerusalem, there will be survivors, "those who have escaped." This remnant of believing Jews, the apostles and the early church, will be sent out by God Himself. They become the first missionaries. And where do they go? To the nations, to the ends of the known world, represented here by a list of far-flung peoples. Tarshish (Spain), Put and Lud (Africa), Meshech and Tubal (Asia Minor), and Javan (Greece) represent the four corners of the earth. They are sent specifically to those who have never heard the "report" or seen the "glory." Their task is simple and profound: "they will declare My glory among the nations." This is the Great Commission in seed form. The escaped remnant of old covenant Israel is commissioned to preach the gospel to the Gentiles.

20 Then they shall bring all your brothers from all the nations as a grain offering to Yahweh, on horses, in chariots, in litters, on mules, and on camels, to My holy mountain Jerusalem,” says Yahweh, “just as the sons of Israel bring their grain offering in a clean vessel to the house of Yahweh.

The result of this missionary activity is stunning. The missionaries will "bring all your brothers from all the nations." These "brothers" are converted Gentiles, who are now incorporated into the family of God. They are described as a "grain offering to Yahweh." This is sacrificial language. Paul picks up this very imagery in Romans 15:16, where he speaks of his ministry as a priestly service, "that the offering of the Gentiles might be acceptable." These new converts are the offering. The various modes of transport, from horses to camels, depict the wealth and diversity of the nations streaming into the kingdom. They are all heading to God's "holy mountain Jerusalem," which in the new covenant is not a physical place, but the Church, the heavenly Jerusalem (Heb. 12:22). This offering of converted souls is pure and acceptable, like a grain offering brought in a clean vessel to the temple. The gospel creates a holy people from among the unholy nations.

21 I will also take some of them for priests and for Levites,” says Yahweh.

This is a revolutionary statement. In the old covenant, the priesthood was restricted to the sons of Aaron from the tribe of Levi. It was an ethnically exclusive office. But now, Yahweh declares that He will take some "of them," meaning from the converted Gentiles, and make them "priests and for Levites." This is the abolition of the old Levitical system and the establishment of the new covenant priesthood of all believers (1 Pet. 2:9, Rev. 1:6). In Christ, every believer, Jew or Gentile, has direct access to God and is called to offer spiritual sacrifices. Furthermore, it points to the fact that the leadership and ministry of the Church will be international. God will raise up pastors, teachers, and elders from every tribe and tongue.

22 “For just as the new heavens and the new earth Which I make will endure before Me,” declares Yahweh, “So your seed and your name will endure.

God now gives the guarantee for these promises. Their fulfillment is as certain as the permanence of His new creation. The "new heavens and the new earth" refer to the new covenant order inaugurated by Christ. It is not the annihilation of the physical cosmos, but its radical renewal and reordering under the reign of the Messiah. This new order is an enduring one; it will never be replaced. And just as this new covenant world will endure, so will the "seed and your name." Whose seed? This refers to the spiritual offspring of the faithful remnant, the Church, comprised of both Jews and Gentiles. Their identity as the people of God ("your name") is now eternally secure in Christ. The Church will never be vanquished; the gates of hell will not prevail against it.

23 And it shall be from new moon to new moon And from sabbath to sabbath, All mankind will come to worship before Me,” says Yahweh.

The life of this enduring kingdom is worship. The prophet uses the framework of the old covenant calendar, "from new moon to new moon and from sabbath to sabbath," to describe the regularity and rhythm of new covenant worship. This doesn't mean a reinstitution of the ceremonial law, but rather that worship will be constant and perpetual. And who will be worshipping? "All mankind," or literally, "all flesh." This is the triumph of the gospel. The knowledge of God will cover the earth, and the worship of God will be the central activity of all humanity. The vision is one of a thoroughly Christianized world, where the worship of the one true God is the universal norm. This is the goal of history.

24 “Then they will go forth and look On the corpses of the men Who have transgressed against Me. For their worm will not die And their fire will not be quenched; And they will be an object of contempt to all mankind.”

The prophecy ends with this chilling and stark image of final judgment. As the redeemed go about their perpetual worship, they will be able to "look on the corpses of the men who have transgressed." This is a picture of the final, visible separation between the saved and the damned. The language is drawn from the Valley of Hinnom (Gehenna) outside Jerusalem, a place of refuse and fire. Jesus famously quotes this verse multiple times in Mark 9 to describe the horrors of hell. The "worm" represents internal corruption and decay, while the "fire" represents external torment and God's wrath. That they "will not die" and "will not be quenched" speaks to the eternal and unending nature of this punishment. The damned will be an "object of contempt," a public spectacle of the terrifying reality of God's justice. This final verse serves as a necessary and sobering backdrop to the glory of salvation. The joy of heaven is magnified when seen against the horror of hell. It reminds us what we were saved from and instills in the redeemed a profound and eternal gratitude.

Application

This grand conclusion to Isaiah is not a spiritual fantasy; it is the marching orders for the Church. We are the "escaped ones" sent to the nations to declare His glory. The central task of the Church is missionary. We are to be about the business of declaring the glory of God as revealed in Jesus Christ to every person, in every place. We should be filled with a robust optimism, knowing that this project will not fail. God has promised that all flesh will come to worship before Him. Our evangelism, our church planting, our discipling of the nations is not a desperate holding action but a victorious advance.

We must also see that the goal of our mission is the creation of a worshipping people. We bring the nations as an offering to God. This means our gospel must be about more than just a ticket to heaven; it must be about creating vibrant communities of worship that transform the culture around them. We must also take seriously the radical inclusivity of the gospel. The ground is level at the foot of the cross, and God will raise up leaders and priests from every ethnicity and background. Any lingering pride of race or class is an affront to the God who takes priests from among the Gentiles.

Finally, we must never lose sight of the final verse. We live in an age that wants to domesticate God and remove the offense of His wrath. But the Bible does not allow it. The reality of an eternal hell should motivate our evangelism with a holy urgency. It should fill our hearts with gratitude for our own salvation. And it should make us cling all the more tightly to the cross of Christ, the only sign that can deliver us from the unquenchable fire and bring us into the glorious, unending worship of the new creation.