The Lord Judges All Flesh and Gathers Nations
Final judgment reveals God’s glory and secures everlasting worship.
Isaiah 66:15-24 (BSB)
15 For behold, the LORD will come with fire—His chariots are like a whirlwind—to execute His anger with fury and His rebuke with flames of fire.
16 For by fire and by His sword, the LORD will execute judgment on all flesh, and many will be slain by the LORD.
17 “Those who consecrate and purify themselves to enter the groves—to follow one in the center of those who eat the flesh of swine and vermin and rats—will perish together,” declares the LORD.
18 “And I, knowing their deeds and thoughts, am coming to gather all nations and tongues, and they will come and see My glory.
19 I will establish a sign among them, and I will send survivors from among them to the nations—to Tarshish, Put, and the archers of Lud; to Tubal, Javan, and the islands far away who have not heard of My fame or seen My glory. So they will proclaim My glory among the nations.
20 And they will bring all your brothers from all the nations as a gift to the LORD on horses and chariots and wagons, on mules and camels, to My holy mountain Jerusalem,” says the LORD, “just as the Israelites bring an offering in a clean vessel to the house of the LORD.”
21 “And I will select some of them as priests and Levites,” says the LORD.
22 “For just as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, will endure before Me,” declares the LORD, “so your descendants and your name will endure.
23 From one New Moon to another and from one Sabbath to another, all mankind will come to worship before Me,” says the LORD.
24 “As they go forth, they will see the corpses of the men who have rebelled against Me; for their worm will never die, their fire will never be quenched, and they will be a horror to all mankind.”
What is the big idea of Isaiah 66:15-24?
Final judgment reveals God’s glory and secures everlasting worship.
How does Isaiah 66:15-24 point to Christ?
Isaiah 66:15-24 reveals final judgment and universal worship under the LORD’s glory. The gospel proclaims that through Christ people from every nation are gathered into worship while warning of the reality of final judgment.
Authorial Intent
To conclude Isaiah with a vision of final judgment and universal worship, affirming the LORD’s sovereign justice and enduring glory.
Historical Context
The passage transcends immediate historical circumstances, projecting forward to a climactic future judgment and restoration.
Chapter: Isaiah 66
The LORD’s Final Word: The Humble Who Tremble, the Birth of Zion, the Gathering of Nations, and the Judgment of Rebels
The LORD, whose throne is heaven and whose footstool is earth, rejects self-directed religion, looks with favor on the humble who tremble at his word, comforts Zion, gathers the nations to see his glory, establishes enduring new creation worship, and judges rebels with final severity.