The Global Glory and the Final Contrast Text: Isaiah 66:18-24
Introduction: The Unfashionable Optimism of God
We come now to the final verses of this majestic prophecy of Isaiah, and what we find here is a bucket of ice water thrown on the smoldering, pessimistic eschatology that has dominated so much of the evangelical world for the last century. We have been taught to think of the Church as a tiny, beleaguered remnant, huddled in a lifeboat, waiting to be raptured out of a world that is inexorably spiraling down the drain. The story of history, in this telling, is the story of Satan's triumph, right up until the last moment when Jesus comes back to blow everything up and start over.
But that is not the vision of the prophet Isaiah. That is not the vision of the Word of God. The Bible is a book that drips with an unfashionable, robust, and muscular optimism. It is not an optimism rooted in human potential or the spirit of the age, but rather in the sovereign decree and unstoppable power of Almighty God. What Isaiah lays out here at the very end of his book is nothing less than the blueprint for the Great Commission. It is a prophecy of the worldwide victory of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is a picture of a globe conquered, not by force of arms, but by the power of the Word and Spirit.
This passage gives us the grand sweep of history as God intends it. It describes a global harvest, a new international priesthood, a new and enduring creation, universal worship, and the final, stark reality of God's justice. This is not a picture of failure, but of glorious, globe-encompassing success. It is the end of the story, and God wins. And because God wins, we win. This is the faith that turns the world upside down, and it is the faith we must recover if we are to be of any earthly good.
The Text
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. 19I 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. 20Then 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. 21I will also take some of them for priests and for Levites,” says Yahweh.
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.
23And it shall be from new moon to new moon And from sabbath to sabbath, All mankind will come to worship before Me,” says Yahweh.
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.”
(Isaiah 66:18-24 LSB)
The Great Commission Foretold (vv. 18-20)
The section begins with God declaring His intention to act on the world stage. He knows the rebellious works and thoughts of men, but His response is not retreat. It is invasion.
"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." (Isaiah 66:18)
God's plan has never been tribal. It has never been limited to one ethnicity or one geographic location. The promise to Abraham was that through him all the families of the earth would be blessed. Here, at the climax of Isaiah, that promise comes into sharp focus. God is going to gather all nations and tongues. This is not a threat of judgment, but a promise of grace. They will come, not to be destroyed, but to see His glory. The ultimate apologetic, the final argument, is the direct revelation of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
How will this happen? Verse 19 tells us the mechanics of this global ingathering.
"I will set a sign among them and will send those who have escaped from them to the nations... And they will declare My glory among the nations." (Isaiah 66:19)
God will set a "sign." What is this sign? It is the great sign of the Son of Man, the cross and the empty tomb. It is the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, the definitive sign that He is Lord of heaven and earth. And who are the messengers? They are "those who have escaped." This refers to the remnant of Israel, the apostles and the early disciples who escaped the judgment that fell on Jerusalem in A.D. 70. They were the survivors, commissioned to go out from that collapsing old world into the new. They were sent to the ends of the earth, to Tarshish (Spain), Put and Lud (Africa), Javan (Greece) and the distant coastlands. They were sent to the Gentiles who had never heard the report, who had never seen His glory. And their task was simple: declare His glory.
This is the Great Commission in embryonic form. It is the marching order for the Church. We are the escapees, saved from the wreck of the old humanity in Adam, and sent out as ambassadors of the new humanity in Christ. Our task is to declare His glory, to tell the nations what God has done in His Son. And what is the result of this declaration?
"Then they shall bring all your brothers from all the nations as a grain offering to Yahweh..." (Isaiah 66:20)
The result is a massive harvest. The missionaries go out, and they come back with their arms full. They bring their converts, described here as "brothers from all the nations," and present them to God as a pleasing offering. This is the fruit of evangelism. Notice the scope of it. They come on horses, in chariots, on mules and camels. This is a picture of the wealth and diversity of the nations streaming into the kingdom of God. This is not a picture of a failing mission. It is a picture of a triumphant, global success.
A New International Priesthood (v. 21)
The next verse contains a theological revolution. It is a direct assault on the principle of ethnic exclusion that had defined the Old Covenant ministry.
"I will also take some of them for priests and for Levites,” says Yahweh." (Isaiah 66:21)
Under the Mosaic law, the priesthood was sealed shut. You had to be from the tribe of Levi, and from the family of Aaron. It was an exclusive, hereditary office. But here God says He is going to do something new. He will take "some of them," that is, some of these Gentile converts from all the nations, and He will make them priests and Levites. This is an astounding promise. The wall of partition is being torn down.
This is fulfilled in the New Covenant. In Christ, there is no Jew or Greek. The Church is a "royal priesthood, a holy nation" (1 Peter 2:9). Every believer, whether from Jerusalem or from Javan, is a priest with direct access to God through our great High Priest, Jesus Christ. This doesn't abolish ministerial office, but it does ground it in grace and giftedness, not in genealogy. God now calls His ministers from every tribe and tongue, and the old barriers are obsolete.
An Enduring Kingdom and Universal Worship (vv. 22-23)
The prophet then grounds the permanence of God's people in the permanence of God's new creation.
“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." (Isaiah 66:22)
The new heavens and new earth are not something that appear out of nowhere after a seven-year tribulation. The new creation was inaugurated by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. He is the firstfruits. The kingdom of God has come, and is coming. As the gospel advances, it transforms cultures, families, and nations. It creates a new social order, a new way of being human. This new order, the new heavens and new earth, is as permanent as God's decree. And because we are part of it, our spiritual seed, our name in Christ, will also endure. This is the ultimate covenant promise of succession. Our children and our children's children have a place in this enduring kingdom.
And what is the central activity in this new creation? It is worship.
"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." (Isaiah 66:23)
The language is drawn from the Old Covenant calendar, but the scope is universal. "All mankind" will come to worship. This is the goal of the Great Commission. Not just to get individual souls into heaven, but to establish the true worship of the true God over the entire face of the earth. The rhythm of "sabbath to sabbath" points to the central place of corporate worship in the life of the kingdom. The Lord's Day is the central, repeating sign of the new creation. And the promise is that this worship will fill the earth. The knowledge of the glory of the Lord will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea.
The Great and Terrible Contrast (v. 24)
The book ends with a jarring, sobering, and necessary final note. The triumph of grace does not eliminate the reality of judgment. In fact, it highlights it.
“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.” (Isaiah 66:24)
As the redeemed gather for worship in the new Jerusalem, they will be able to look out upon the consequences of rebellion. The imagery is drawn from the Valley of Hinnom, Gehenna, the garbage dump outside Jerusalem where fires were constantly burning and maggots were constantly working. Jesus takes this very verse and applies it to the final state of the damned.
This is a picture of final, irreversible, and conscious judgment. The "worm" speaks of internal corruption and torment. The "fire" speaks of external, divine wrath. That neither dies nor is quenched means that this state is eternal. It is the great horror, the final end of all who persist in their transgression against God. And it will be an object of "contempt." The universe will look upon the ruin of the wicked and agree with God's verdict. They will not pity the rebels; they will see the justice of their condemnation.
This is not here to curdle our joy, but to establish it. The security and peace of the new creation are guaranteed by the fact that all rebellion has been finally and eternally dealt with. God's justice is the bedrock of His mercy. The glory of heaven is magnified when seen against the black backdrop of the hell that we all deserved. We are saved from that. And seeing it clearly should do nothing but fill our hearts with an eternal and overflowing gratitude for the grace of God that has made all the difference.
Conclusion: The Unending Story
So Isaiah ends not with a question mark, but with a sharp and clear exclamation point. History is going somewhere. God has a plan, and that plan is the conquest of the globe by the gospel of His Son. He is gathering a people from every nation. He is establishing a new creation. He is filling the earth with His worship.
And at the end of it all, there are only two destinations. There is the enduring city of God, filled with light and worship and life. And there is the valley of the shadow, filled with worms and fire and death. There is no third way. There is no neutral ground. Every man, woman, and child will end up in one of these two places.
The call, then, is to believe the good news. It is to turn from your transgression, to trust in the sign of the cross, and to be brought in as a living offering to the living God. It is to take your place in the royal priesthood, to join the great chorus of worship that is even now beginning to swell, and that will one day fill the entire earth. And it is to go out, as one who has escaped, and declare His glory among the nations, until the end of the age.