Second Sunday after Pentecost (OT)

Isaiah 66:17-24

¹⁷ “Those who sanctify and purify themselves to go into the gardens, following one in the midst, eating pig’s flesh and the abomination and mice, shall come to an end together, declares the Lord.

¹⁸ “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, ¹⁹ and I will set a sign among them. And from them I will send survivors to the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, who draw the bow, to Tubal and Javan, to the coastlands far away, that have not heard my fame or seen my glory. And they shall declare my glory among the nations. ²⁰ And they shall bring all your brothers from all the nations as an offering to the Lord, on horses and in chariots and in litters and on mules and on dromedaries, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, says the Lord, just as the Israelites bring their grain offering in a clean vessel to the house of the Lord. ²¹ And some of them also I will take for priests and for Levites, says the Lord.

²²    “For as the new heavens and the new earth

that I make

       shall remain before me, says the Lord,

so shall your offspring and your name remain.

²³    From new moon to new moon,

and from Sabbath to Sabbath,

       all flesh shall come to worship before me,

       declares the Lord.

²⁴ “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.”

Isaiah gives us the best picture of Eternal damnation. You will look out on the field of dead men. These dead are those who have rebelled against God. They have followed the lies of Satan, the ancient serpent. They have followed knowledge rather than truth.

God knows the thoughts and works of every one of us. He knows when we put ourselves first. He knows when we help others for our own advantage. God knows that we are still rebelling against him. God sees our secret sins. On account of these sins and rebellion we should be numbered with the dead.

Thanks be to God, he is making all things new. He is gathering his children from across this creation. God is collecting his chosen people as witnesses to his Son Jesus Christ. He is pouring out his Spirit upon people to be made alive. In the Death of Christ he has made you alive. He has claimed you to be his very own. He is preparing a new creation for you.