Isaiah 66:1-24

All things will be made right at the end.  Today’s world is full of injustice, suffering and idolatry.  God did not create the world to function in this way and it will not function in this way for very long.  Sin is a temporary condition in the history of man.  A time is coming when all the unbelievers who have rejected the Lord will be eternally judged and removed from the presence of God and His children.  God will usher in an eternity of life without the presence of any kind of sin or any of the consequences of sin.  We, who have trusted Christ, will finally be “free at last, free at last; thank God all mighty, we’ll be free at last.” 

GOD IS HONORED BY THE HUMBLE: Men impress themselves by the offerings they bring and the sacrifices they make, but God is not impressed.  Everything we ever offer or any sacrifice we bring to the Lord has first of all come to us from Him.  He has need of nothing.  He takes delight in us when we come before Him in humility and contrition.  Our religious rituals may impress men and allow us to pretend some sort of gift to the Lord but these acts of self-righteousness do not pass for anything more than a veiled form of idolatry.  The poor and humble before God are in a far better position than the haughty religious who condemn the humble.  In the end the humble will be honored by the Lord because He is honored by our humility before Him.

GOD BRINGS JOY TO JERUSALEM: Despite the long history of rebellion, self-righteousness, pride and idolatry; there is hope for the nation of Israel and the city of Jerusalem.  God brought the nation into existence from nothing.  God’s blessings have flown to her and will flow through her to other nations as the Lord shows Himself strong in her life.  God has promised to bring peace to the nation and cause all other nations to rejoice together with her.  This nation that has been scorned through the centuries and been a constant source of irritation to so many of the nations that surround her will become a place of rejoicing and a source of rejoicing to all of these nations.  This transformation seems unthinkable in our current state of affairs but it is the promise of God and will come to pass for His glory and the joy of all of mankind.


GOD DESTROYS THE DISOBEDIENT: The Lord’s return will not be a source of universal joy for all of mankind.  He comes in the flames of His wrath and will judge the flesh of men who have lived in rebellion against Him.  They have completely disregarded the revelation of God’s Word.  Though some members of all nations will be saved and blessed forevermore, there will also be some from every nation who have rejected God and His Word.  These will stand before God without excuse or justification.   Those who have trusted Christ will gather in the New Heaven and New Earth to worship the Lord and bring glory to Him but will look out upon the multitudes of the disobedient who will lie dead in the streets while their souls are eternally tormented because of their sin.  We will be abhorred by this judgment but our Lord will be eternally adored.

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