743_Declare God’s glory among nations (Isaiah 66)
Isaiah 66: 1-2 Thus says the Lord:
“Heaven is my throne,
and the earth is my footstool;
what is the house that you would build for me,
and what is the place of my rest?
2 All these things my hand has made,
and so all these things came to be,
declares the Lord.
But this is the one to whom I will look:
he who is humble and contrite in spirit
and trembles at my word.
Have you ever noticed how tourists often return from a breathtaking place with hundreds of photographs? But after a while, you realize that the pictures are not really about the place—they are mostly about themselves standing in front of it. Even the most glorious sights are turned into opportunities for self-display.
That tendency can shape our spiritual lives as well. We can become more occupied with our own experiences than with the God whose grace and glory permeate them. The final chapter of Isaiah redirects our attention away from ourselves to Him. God’s greatest purpose has always been to love his people with a love that makes his glory manifest to all the universe. And this love calls for our heartfelt response.
Looking back over the entire book, we see God confronting Israel’s sin in his own goodness and holiness. We see him warning the peoples of Israel’s world of judgment, in his justice. We see him promising restoration in his great grace. We see him promising the coming of his servant to bring salvation. And all of this is what God’s glory is about.
Now all those themes converge into one, as we see God’s restored people humble and joyful, proclaiming His glory to the ends of the earth. Israel had often forgotten this calling. They boasted of being God’s chosen people but forgot the One who had chosen them. They took pride in their land, their temple, and their religious heritage, but drifted from their covenant faithfulness to God. God’s greatness was no longer visible in the privileges they enjoyed.
Therefore, Isaiah 66 opens with the glorious words, “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool; what is the house that you would build for me?” (Isaiah 66:1, ESV). For the returned exiles, rebuilding the temple was one of their highest priorities, and rightly so. Yet, as they read these words, long after they were written, they would remember that no temple could contain or replace God. It would only remind them to worship him in spirit and in truth.
For this is where he dwells: “This is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word” (Isaiah 66:2). People build magnificent structures to honor God, but throughout Scripture this remains His desire. David wrote, “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit” (Psalm 51:17). The Sermon on the Mount begins, “Blessed are the poor in spirit” (Matthew 5:3). Without a humble heart, outward ritual and grandeur means less than nothing. His presence rests where His Word is received with trembling reverence and obedience.
This real danger still confronts us today. The people continued offering the sacrifices that God had ordained to teach them the truth. However, their worship had become empty ritual. The Lord abominates worship without obedience. This message was repeated from the opening chapter of the book. We may attend church faithfully, sing hymns enthusiastically, and maintain every outward spiritual habit while our hearts are far away from the Lord. External religion may satisfy people, but it never satisfies God.
Yet even in those difficult days, there remained a faithful remnant – those “who tremble at his word” (Isaiah 66:5). They were mocked and rejected by their fellow Israelites. But God assured them that he would remember and vindicate them. The Lord may delay judgment, but He never abandons justice, nor does He forget those who trust Him.
And theirs is the astonishing joy of the redeemed. Jerusalem is pictured as giving birth before labor begins, a vivid picture of God’s miraculous restoration. The Lord asks, “Shall I bring to the point of birth and not cause to bring forth?” (Isaiah 66:9). For he fulfils every detail of his sovereign plans. Evil cannot prevail. What seems impossible to human eyes is never impossible for God.
Again and again in Scripture, He accomplishes in a moment what His people could never achieve through years of striving. Abraham and Sarah waited decades before Isaac was conceived in their old age. The Red Sea parted before the fleeing Israelites as the Egyptian army waited to pursue them. The Lord was crucified in weakness, but he was raised up in power on the third day, having conquered death itself. God always finishes what he begins.
And so Jerusalem becomes both a place of comfort and of the revelation of God’s justice. His people experience His peace, deep and lifegiving like a river (Isaiah 66:12). The rebellious face His righteous judgment. We sometimes struggle to hold these truths together, but Scripture never separates them. God’s love does not diminish His righteousness or goodness. His mercy never compromises His justice. And so at the cross he showed himself to be both just, and able to justify everyone who comes to Christ.
And at the climax of the chapter. God declares, “I am coming to gather all nations and tongues. And they shall come and shall see my glory” (Isaiah 66:18). When He called Abraham, He promised that through him all the families of the earth would be blessed. Israel was called to be the instrument of God’s saving plan. He says, “I will send survivors to the nations… and they shall declare my glory among the nations” (Isaiah 66:19). The redeemed become messengers as they describe his greatness and the mercy they have experienced.
This theme echoes throughout the entire Bible. The shepherds came to see the Christ who had been born in a manger, and they glorified God. The Lord sent home the man delivered from demon possession, to declare what God had done for him. Before ascending to heaven, Christ commissioned His apostles to make disciples of all nations. Peter reminds believers that we are “a chosen race, a royal priesthood… that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9). Salvation is never meant to stop with us. In our blessed happiness in Christ, we shine with his light so that others may see and give glory to God.
Isaiah predicts that people from every nation will be brought to God’s holy mountain. Astonishingly, the Lord says that some from among these nations will become priests and Levites. Under the old covenant, the priesthood belonged to one tribe. But through Christ, God’s grace extends beyond every boundary. People from every language and culture are redeemed to become a royal priesthood, united in worshiping the same Savior, as the book of Revelation tells us.
And beyond all history, God promises a new heavens and a new earth that will endure forever. The story of redemption does not end with Israel’s restoration or even with the spread of the gospel. It culminates in a renewed creation where righteousness prevails. His glorious holiness, goodness, justice, and love will be the light of his people. They will be eternal testaments to his glory. They will testify, before the universe, that he is always faithful to his words.
As we leave this final chapter of Isaiah, one truth rises above everything else. God’s supreme purpose on earth is to reveal the glory of his image in the people he has created and chosen in love. All he does, whether salvation, discipline, or restoration, is in accordance with his glorious name of love. That image was fully revealed in our Lord and Christ, who makes us his living letters. As recipients of the riches of God’s grace, we are called to point people towards him in our lives at home, in the workplace, in our conversations, in our worship, and in all our daily choices.
Our lives are given to us to reveal the presence of Christ who is our life. In every blessing and every trial, in every opportunity He places before us, he reveals himself to us and to the world. In grateful and humble response, let us tremble at His Word, delight in His presence, and live faithfully before him. Thus, we will declare His glory among the nations until the day when the whole earth joins in joyful worship before His throne. God bless.