Future — the big picture

READ Isaiah 61–64

These last chapters of Isaiah give both good news and bad. Jesus quoted the first few lines saying He came to bring “good news to the poor . . . bind up the brokenhearted, proclaim liberty to the captives, and open the prison for those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor,” stopping there. Yet Isaiah goes on to tell of God’s day of vengeance and what He will do that ancient ruins will be repaired and “He may be glorified.” He also will “cause righteousness and praise to sprout up before all the nations.” (Isaiah 61:1–11)

His promise comes as good news: nations and kings will see His righteousness and glory in His people who will be “a crown of beauty” in His hand because salvation will come and they will be called “The Holy People, The Redeemed of the Lord . . . Sought Out, A City Not Forsaken.” (Isaiah 62:11–12)

Isaiah also gives a gory description of judgment because of the rebellion of His people despite all God has done for them. Eventually they cry out:

O Lord, why do you make us wander from your ways and harden our heart, so that we fear you not? Return for the sake of your servants, the tribes of your heritage. Your holy people held possession for a little while; our adversaries have trampled down your sanctuary. We have become like those over whom you have never ruled, like those who are not called by your name. (Isaiah 63:17–19)

They will acknowledge the need for His presence (Are we not doing the same as we hope for Jesus to return?) and say, “From of old no one has heard or perceived by the ear, no eye has seen a God besides you, who acts for those who wait for him” as they confess their sinfulness: “We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away. There is no one who calls upon your name, who rouses himself to take hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us, and have made us melt in the hand of our iniquities. But now, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand. Be not so terribly angry, O Lord, and remember not iniquity forever. Behold, please look, we are all your people.” (Isaiah 64:6–9)

This is a cry for revival. Is this not what we need today? The genuine people of God serve Him, but many call themselves by His name yet put their own comfort above His call to love and serve others. We all need to put away selfishness and return to our ‘first love.’

God says to His OT people and to us: “I was ready to be sought by those who did not ask for me; I was ready to be found by those who did not seek me. I said, ‘Here I am, here I am,’ to a nation that was not called by my name. I spread out my hands all the day to a rebellious people, who walk in a way that is not good, following their own devices.” We need the Spirit of God to turn complacency into hearts on fire for God, for righteousness, for humble and willing obedience. I need Him for everything.

God says that while His servants are cared for and rejoice in Him, those who forsake Him will “be put to shame . . . cry out for pain of heart and shall wail for breaking of spirit . . . . and the Lord God will put you to death.” And the good news is: He will “create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind.” (Isaiah 65:17) Then He will answer us before we call, the “wolf and the lamb shall graze together; the lion shall eat straw like the ox, and dust shall be the serpent’s food. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain.” says the Lord.

He also says, “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool” and will care for those who are “humble and contrite in spirit and tremble at my word” not those who choose their own ways and delight in their abominations and idols, doing what is evil in His eyes.

He promises that His people will rejoice and flourish, knowing Him and seeing His indignation against his enemies. He also points to the second appearance of Christ: “For behold, the Lord will come in fire, and his chariots like the whirlwind, to render his anger in fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire . . . . For I know their works and their thoughts, and the time is coming to gather all nations and tongues. And they shall come and shall see my glory.” At that time, “all flesh shall come to worship before me, declares the Lord.”

All this tells me I must humbly obey Him — rejoicing that eventually He will make all things right. Amen.