The King's Ultimate Perspective

Zechariah 9:9 ESV

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

The passage we read from John’s Gospel earlier in the service showed Jesus fulfilling this messianic prophecy. There he rode, the King of Kings with, riding in righteousness and salvation - humble, and mounted on a donkeys colt. Whether cognizant or not, the people shouting “hosanna, hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord” were seeing their King, the King - the King not just of Jerusalem or Israel, but the King of all.

We open our passage today, this final chapter in the great book of Isaiah, with another Kingly vision of the Lord. It is fitting that Isaiah, who was so early in his ministry struck and humbled by a glorious, kingly vision of the Lord, should at the end of his writings return to that vision where God reveals himself to have a throne so immense that it encompasses the heavens, and a footstool so large that the whole earth is just fit enough to do the job.

This chapter is almost a repeat, maybe a restatement of Chapter 65. It serves, then, as a final word - a final warning - a final verdict. It seems so simple, and modern man cannot stand the simplicity with which the scriptures delineate man’s eternal destiny. Yet Isaiah brings the idea to an ultimatum. As if he is saying, “ok, you know the parameters, you know the options, you have all the information necessary - so what will it be?”

And of course, it’s not simply Isaiah making that call, it is the Lord Himself. As we saw Him at the beginning of 65 holding out his hands, extending a gracious call, here that call is assumed, and the responses to it are examined. It becomes clear - simply having “Israel” as your heritage would not mean salvation in God’s final analysis. The eternal experiences in Isaiah 66 extend to every person in all the nations.

The King of Kings is on his throne as the examiner, and what does he see? What will be the outcome? What does the King See?

Isaiah 6:1 ESV

In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple.

That vision of the Holy One was undoubtedly burned into Isaiahs memory all his life. The prophecies in Isaiah probably span a large portion of his life. And as he begins to round out this final one, the Lord reminds him of that awesome vision.

Psalm 11:4 ESV

The Lord is in his holy temple; the Lord’s throne is in heaven; his eyes see, his eyelids test the children of man.

If we could only catch a glimpse of God’s perspective, then our eyes would be opened. And I pray that in this journey of studying Isaiah, our eyes have been opened. Opened to God’s holiness. Opened to the seriousness of sin. Opened to the depth of wickedness that breaks the heart of the righteous Lord. Opened to the mercy and covenant faithfulness of God. Opened to the beauty of salvation and forgiveness. Opened to the wonders to be revealed in the New Heaven and the New Earth, and also opened to the terrors of God’s righteous anger.

When thinking of the Lord’s perspective, we should see that as the ultimate view, the ultimate perspective. We should concern ourselves not with what is our take on things, what is our analysis of how things are going, but with what does the Lord see? He is, after all, the one who knows the end from the beginning. The one who sees eternity as if it were passed by. And as Isaiah gives this final word to his people Israel, people who by and large had rebelled against their king, he holds out eternity, the final state, and asks, do you see what the Lord sees?

The King has given us a glimpse of His eternal perspective. What will we do with His gracious revelation?

What Does the King See?

There are many themes in Isaiah 66, but this is the main question that we will highlight today. And clearly, the Lord sees all things! There is nothing that he is unaware of, but what is the vision of His in this passage that he shares with us?

1. He Sees our Deeds and our Hearts - 1-6

The chapter begins, again, with this vision of God in his immensity and greatness. Now, the tabernacle and then the temple were built, by God’s direction, as a place where his presence would dwell. The ark of the Covenant was, again, a place where God’s “mercy seat” would signify his presence. In the Holiest of these places, there was a sense of exclusion and mystery. God’s presence was there in a special way.

But here, The way the Lord is speaking indicates that the people had some sort of idea that if they could just rebuild the temple, if they could erect a place for God to dwell again, then all their troubles would be over. But in a humiliating way God says, “the whole of heaven is my throne and the earth is small enough to be my footstool. Do you really think you can build a place to hem me in?” In a broader sense, God is repudiating the idea that man can erect some kind of edifice that would hem him in or ensure his presence and favor.

God says, I’ve made everything - everything that has come to be has done so because of my power, and you think you can guarantee my presence and favor by building me a house, no matter how great?

I remember walking once down the streets of Manhattan and walking into St. Patrick’s Cathedral on 5th avenue. Its a magnificent structure, beautiful inside and out. I remember walking up toward the altar and taking in the architecture, the craftsmanship. I stopped to read a little placard that was talking about a restoration project that was going to take place there, and under it was a donation box with the moniker - “Be a Cathedral Builder.” The idea being, that by donating you could be a part of this great restoration process.

People like to be a part of something larger than themselves. People give to projects like that restoration, the building of parks and schools and orphanages because there is a sense of transcendence you receive when you take part in a greater cause. There is a sense of achievement, and a sense of accomplishment even.

But what the Lord is saying from his immense and enormous throne, is this: regardless of the size and grandeur of the edifice you might build for me, regardless of the sense of achievement that you have garnered by your efforts, my gaze is not caught by the loftiness of your accomplishments. Rather, I look at the humility and contrition of your heart.

To stay with the imagery of a cathedral, God is not concerned with the height of man’s steeples, but rather the lowliness of man’s altars. He can see past the complexity of our works and gaze into the motives and the inner man.

Proverbs 15:11 ESV

Sheol and Abaddon lie open before the Lord; how much more the hearts of the children of man!

That is, death and the grave are no mystery to God, and neither are the hearts of mankind. We can muster enough false bravado to fool our peers and even ourselves, but the Lord is the ultimate examiner.

We find that the examination is based on mankind’s response to God’s word, to his revelation. And there really are two responses that the King sees, and only two.

Isaiah 1:27–28 ESV

Zion shall be redeemed by justice, and those in her who repent, by righteousness. But rebels and sinners shall be broken together, and those who forsake the Lord shall be consumed.

So this is nothing new, it is a call of Isaiah’s from the beginning, and here at the end the call is confirmed and brought to ultimatum. God gazes upon the contrite and the humble, but puts the rebellious to shame.

A. Repentance

Whom does the King set his gaze upon? The Contrite and Humble. These are not signs of perfection in mankind. Rather, contrition is something quite imperfect. It literally means to be lame or crippled. God sees those who are broken and crippled in spirit, those who are humble before him. He sets his gaze upon them. The towering edifice of false righteousness does nothing to earn the favorable gaze of the Lord, but the meager, humble, broken contrition of his servants is a beautiful image in God’s eyes.

The attitude toward God’s revelation by the repentant is this: they tremble at his word. Do we tremble at God’s Word? Do we view his revelation of himself, his call to trust and follow him, his warnings against the opposite, as a holy and awesome thing?

What did Isaiah do when he first saw that kingly vision? He said, “Woe is me! For I am undone!” And what is the response of our hearts when we catch a glimpse of God in His Word? Certainly there is great joy and gladness in God’s revelation, but there ought always to be a sense of trembling.

B. Rejection

But what about those who take the opposite position?

In Verses 3-5, we see a parallel to Chapter 65 in that the Lord is condemning the false worship and false holiness of those who reject His ways. The end of Verse 3 gives the crux of the issue again, and its that “they have chosen their own ways.”

What was their response to God’s revelation? Verse 4 - when I called, no one answered. When I spoke, they did not listen. It is not as if they were ignorant. No one is ignorant. Romans 1 teaches us that we have a natural, universal knowledge of God, but we suppress it. These, God’s people, who had even the specific revelation of God had suppressed that knowledge and reject it.

This is speaking specifically of the rebellious Israelites, and verse 5 shows us that they had gotten even to the point of hating their faithful brothers, of casting them out in this false holiness. God says, they will be put to shame. Just like those in the last chapter who said, “go away, we are too holy for you,” so these, in their false holiness, their assumption that they will obtain God’s Glory, will receive recompense.

In verse 6, we can supply the verb “listen.”

Psalm 34:15–18 ESV

The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous and his ears toward their cry. The face of the Lord is against those who do evil, to cut off the memory of them from the earth. When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.

2. He Sees our Eternal State - 7-24

The fact that the King sees eternity is tied to what he sees in the heart of man.

Isaiah 66:18 ESV

“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,

“The time is coming” - based on the Lord’s knowledge of mankind’s works and mankind’s thoughts, there is this vision of the Day of the Lord.

Really, all of the rest of the Chapter from verse 7-24 is a vision of the eternal state. There are elements of comfort and joy, and there are elements of terror and judgment. When we view these things, our assurance must rest on that reminder right in the middle, that the Lord “knows their thoughts and their deeds.”

What we can infer from this is that our eternal state is not left up to chance or guesswork. We can entrust it to the perfect judgment and wisdom of the King of All. Now, that can serve to bring great comfort and it does so for God’s people. But the opposite is also true, as comforting and joyous as God’s wisdom is for the humble and contrite, it is something hated and despised by those who would reject Him.

Now, as Isaiah speaks of our eternal state, we have to be reminded that he speaks in terms of what we can know and experience now. That is, our finite minds can only comprehend based on familiar terms. So there is a sense in which the actual experience will be much more than the vision that we see here.

There are two things that popped out in the ending portion of Isaiah. And it is that eternity is not just an idea, but it is both an existence and an experience. It is an existence in that it is real, tangible, physical, and at least in some way analogous to how we exist now. And if it is a real existence, then it is a real experience. That is, our senses and emotions are alive and well.

A. Experience

Isaiah looks forward, for the righteous to a time of joy and comfort. A blissful experience in the New Heaven and the New Earth, a parallel to the passage we looked at last week in chapter 65.

Jerusalem’s children, that is, God’s true and faithful servants will rejoice. Verses 9-11. It is this sense in which, even though there was great destruction and ruin in the earthly jerusalem, there is great anticipation of joy in the heavenly jerusalem. Those who love the Lord will not be put to shame and disappointment.

Verses 12-14 - God speaks of comforting his people like a mother comforts her children. God will give “peace like a river.” A constant flowing stream. And not just a menial stream, but an “overflowing” stream. As David prayed in Psalm 23 - “my cup runs over” - so the cup of God’s blessing will be poured out into an overflowing river of joy forever.

Verses 18-21 - Because of this great joy for the New Jerusalem, God promises to send out “survivors,” that will spread the glory of God to nations that have never heard. Tarshish would be in modern Spain. Pul and Lud in Northern Africa. Tubal in Modern Turkey. Javan would be Asia Minor, and the coastlands far away. All of these surrounding places “who have not heard my fame or seen my glory.” Even the gentiles from these faraway places would submit themselves to the Lord.

Acts 1:8 ESV

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

The time of gathering is coming, as Isaiah sad, and God’s message is going out to all the earth. His fame is spread abroad in the Gospel - His revelation brought to bear on those in all the earth. And the great experience of Joy in the Kingdom of God is available for all who come near. All who find themselves “contrite and Humble” before the good news of Christ will come to this heavenly jerusalem, experiencing the comfort and joy with all of God’s true children.

Matthew 11:28 ESV

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

But for those who reject, the devastation is as great as the joy and comfort is for the believers. 14-17.

Show his indignation

Lord will come in fire

Anger in fury

those slain will be many

come to an end

This, I believe, is in line with the image that Peter gives in 2 Peter 3

2 Peter 3:10–12 ESV

But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn!

God’s day of judgment of evil and rejection shows the futility of that evil and rejection. All the efforts to find fulfillment in something other than God’s revelation, yet it will all be put to shame.

B. Existence

There is an eternality at play here. Isaiah speaks in terms of this life, in terms of what we can understand, but there is hint of more.

22-23 - as the new heavens and new earth remain before the Lord. There is no time limit placed on that remaining. They seem to remain as long as the Lord remains. How long does the Lord remain? Forever. A concept beyond our understanding, so its no wonder it is revealed to Isaiah in such simple terms. And part of this eternal existence is the consistent, ongoing, true worship of God. “from new moon to new moon, sabbath to sabbath, all flesh - that is, all flesh in the new heavens and new earth, shall worship before the Lord.”

So for the faithful, that is the existence that can be expected! An eternal existence of constant worship before the Lord. We often think of heaven in terms of all the positive attributes that are experientially better than this world, but do we think of it in terms of its purpose? An eternal worship experience, where everyone present is both engaged and sincerely devoted to the worship and praise of the King of Kings.

That is critical to our understanding, because the concept in verse 24 is very stark.

Isaiah 66:24 ESV

“And they shall go out and look on the dead bodies of the men who have rebelled against me. For their worm shall not die, their fire shall not be quenched, and they shall be an abhorrence to all flesh.”

There will be a sense in which the righteous will understand the eternal state of the wicked. They will be an abhorrence. The way that it is described is unreal. Unfathomable. This imagery comes from the heaps of dead bodies in the valley of hinnom. It could be from the image of the 185,000 Assyrians slaughtered as Isaiah prophesied in chapter 35. Jeremiah speaks later of decomposing bodies in the valley of Hinnom, where horrible human sacrifices took place. Either way, the picture is gruesome. It is pictured as a burning place, a place where “their worm” does not die. Note the personal nature of the state of the rebellious. “Their worm” and “their fire” are eternal.

This would be perhaps something that we could try to relegate to human history, some kind of graveyard or battleground, yet the imagery is almost impossible. How can the fire never burn out? How can the worm of their destruction never die? It would be tempting to ignore that, except for the fact that Jesus very clearly taught that this was an image and a reference to the eternal state of the wicked.

Mark 9:43–48 ESV

And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than with two hands to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame than with two feet to be thrown into hell. And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell, ‘where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.’

Why would Isaiah end on such terms? Why would Jesus, then, bring such unimaginable terms to bear in the New Covenant? Because the warning is real. The ultimatum is set. As Isaiah ends his great work of prophecy, and As the King of Kings looks out, what does he see? He sees our hearts, and he sees our eternal destiny. What will be our response to His revelation, to this glimpse?

If you are tempted to say, there, that “it is not fair!” “It is not just!” Know this, dear one. There will not be one person in eternal judgment that would wish to be in God’s heaven. Heaven is a place filled with the love, worship, and presence of God. Certainly, like the rich man in Jesus’ parable, the people in torment will wish for relief, but wishing for relief is not the same as wishing for God. That is why it is so critical to remember that God is the ultimate judge of our hearts, our desires. Heaven is not a place for those with good behavior, it is a place for those who love God, who are redeemed by His mercy and grace.

Four Takeaways

Every ounce of evil and wickedness will be repaid.

From the Lord’s eternal perspective, there is no injustice. We may experience great evil in this world. Even the shooting that took place in Colorado this week makes us feel like evil is unchecked. But in the eyes of the King, all will be repaid.

The King of All is the final arbiter of our eternal destiny.

This, again, is both infinitely comforting for the contrite and humble, and something to be detested by those who reject the Lord.

The Lord has given us a sure test to know our fate - repentance and faith is the way of the righteous, but rejection and rebellion is the way of the world.

Our finite understanding of eternity is but a shadow of the reality.

If you were to ask me, what are heaven and hell like? I could not give an answer. I can point to scripture and give the pictures there, but all I can say for certain is that analogies are just a shadow of their realities. That is a frightening thought, for when we see the way that the Bible, when we see the way that Jesus speaks of hell, we are given only a shadow of the reality.

But likewise, as Paul said, the sufferings of this life aren’t worthy to be compared to the glory to be revealed. Just as what we know of hell is only a shadow, so too for what we know of heaven! We can only compare its glories with what we experience now, but how much greater must it truly be?

1 Corinthians 2:9 ESV

But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”—

So I go back to the beginning of Isaiah, and give you this initial call. A call that most of you have accepted, I believe.

Isaiah 1:18 ESV

“Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.

The King has given us a glimpse of His eternal perspective. What will we do with His gracious revelation?