18 “For I [h]know their works and their thoughts; [i]the time is coming to gather all nations and tongues. And they shall come and see My glory. 19 I will set a sign among them and will send survivors from them to the nations: Tarshish, [j]Put, Lud, [k]Meshech, Tubal and [l]Javan, to the distant coastlands that have neither heard My fame nor seen My glory. And they will declare My glory among the nations. 20 Then they shall bring all your brethren from all the nations as a grain offering to the Lord, on horses, in chariots, in litters, on mules and on camels, to My holy mountain Jerusalem,” says the Lord, “just as the sons of Israel bring their grain offering in a clean vessel to the house of the Lord. 21 I will also take some of them for priests and for Levites,” says the Lord.
22 “For just as the new heavens and the new earth
Which I make will endure before Me,” declares the Lord,
“So your offspring and your name will endure.
23 “And it shall be from new moon to new moon
And from sabbath to sabbath,
All [m]mankind will come to bow down before Me,” says the Lord.
24 “Then they will go forth and look
On the corpses of the men
Who have [n]transgressed against Me.
For their worm will not die
And their fire will not be quenched;
And they will be an abhorrence to all [o]mankind.”
As we wrap up the last of the prophecies given through Isaiah, God speaks of a coming time when survivors of Israel we be spread among the nations, these names seeming to represent Spain/France, Africa, Eastern Europe, and Greece). Interestingly, this somewhat describes the Greek and Roman empires.
In the former, people were gathered and mixed around, but anywhere they lived, the Greeks brought their language (tongues), which enabled and unprecedented opportunity for communication among foreign nations. The Roman empire certainly included all these regions listed (at least in part, if not in totality). And their persecution of believers led to an incredible missionary work as believers were thus spread through all these regions by that same persecution.
God has an incredible master plan, a work that He began in the garden, in which the redemption of the world and mankind has ever been His goal. We see in v. 22 the new heavens and new earth which will endure forever, and so shall those who follow God. Sadly, this will not be all of mankind, as some refuse to listen to God.
But He isn’t unclear about the consequences, and Paul wrote it most succinctly (to those same Romans), “The wages of sin (disobeying God) is death…” Here we see it more graphically in v. 24, and it’s a sad way to end a passage which promises a future filled with hope. Again, God doesn’t want to be unclear.
Certainly, we are free to choose our own way instead of His. Over and over though, God tells us that He is working things for the best for those who choose Him. Want to “kick against the goads” like Paul did for so long? Then you need to know the end result. It isn’t an ending anyone of us should be satisfied with, not when God wants so much more for us.
He wants us to come live with Him in a new earth, with new heavens, but that means obeying and worshipping the Lord and Creator of all things. It means setting aside our foolish attempts to impress other men, trying to pull the wool over God’s eyes. It cannot be done, and we are fools who choose such a thing. Harsh? Perhaps, but not near so harsh as the end result.
Don’t make the mistake of so many in this world, following vain ambition and selfish gain. We were created for so much more, for an eternity filled with life, and hope, and glory. God has sent His message to all the nations, and to you today. He stands at the door knocking. Ready? Open it and let Him in.