Dwell in the Word: Isaiah 18:1-7
Consider these questions as you dwell in Isaiah 18:1-7:
1. How does Isaiah's message in this passage emphasize God's role as the sovereign ruler over all nations, not just the Hebrew people? What does it reveal about God's common grace and His desire for all people to come to Him?
2. In verse 7, it mentions that tribute will be brought to the Lord of hosts from people "near and far." How does this concept of people from distant places recognizing and honoring God's authority relate to the broader theme of God's universal sovereignty in the Bible?
3. What significance does Mount Zion hold in this passage, and why do people from various nations bring tribute to that specific location? How does this foreshadow the fulfillment of God's plan for salvation for all people, both Jews and Gentiles, through Jesus Christ?
Transcript:
Well, even though we have had a few weeks off from dwell in the Word, we come back to Isaiah, and we are once again back to a passage of judgment. Are we surprised? No, this is what we have been seeing is we have been working our way through this book of prophecy. We see here that the language isn't quite as harsh, but yet it is very clear that this is about judgment, because we have this idea that Syria has come and has brought judgment on Israel, but then God is going to judge Syria as well. Even though they're the instrument in God's judgment, they will be judged also because they are people in rebellion against God. This message, this oracle, as we read here, concerning push, the idea is that there's these messages going up. People come, and be the ones who bring this judgment upon the Assyrians. Here we have all of this action going on. It goes out, as we see in verse 3, all the inhabitants of the world, those who dwell on the earth. When a signal was raised on the mountains, look, when a trumpet is blown here, God is calling them.
He is the God of the Hebrew people. He is the God of the Jewish people, but yet he is the God of all people. He and his hand is over everyone, and so everyone listens. Now, this is specifically talking about created order, as I mentioned it here. But let's remember, Isaiah is continually pointing forward to a time where message of salvation, the hand of God will be on the Gentiles. There will be more to this than just simply being an ethnic Hebrew. And so, all of this message is continuing to go out into the world, and God says, Hey, everyone is called here to listen. So have these words of judgment. While I said it's not nearly as harsh, we can tell here as we look at it that this is language of judgment, specifically, because we see here in verse 5, before the harvest, when the blossom is over and the flower becomes a ripe grape, he cuts off the sheath, pruning hooks in the spreading branch, and he lops off and plans away. This is language of judgment. This is language that says that God is going to do something. You think you are growing in a particular way.
You think everything is good. The gardener is going to come in and he sees what is truly needing to be done. He is going to cut off branches that he sees. He is the gardener. He gets to do what he wants to do. He is in charge. And so, we see here that this whole thing is pointing to Mount Zion. We see that in verse 7. At that time, tribute will be brought to the Lord of hosts. People are going to be bringing this tribute from a people tall and smooth, from a people, fear, near and far. Again, here's this idea of people outside of the Hebrew people, ethnic Hebrews, fearing God. This description is given here, the people, tall and smooth. If you didn't get that, then he's not referring to people of God there. It's also from the people feared near and far. Everyone is coming together. We see this idea that this judgment is coming from a distance. Where are they going? They're going to Mount Zion, the place of the name of the Lord of hosts. They are the instruments that God is using. These people, regardless of where they're from, are bringing these tribute to the Lord God.
As we think about this passage, I think there's a couple of things that we need to remember. The first one is that God is the God over all people. We remember this idea of His common grace. We remember this idea that He is Lord of all, regardless of whether or not somebody worships Him, He's still Lord. He benefits people. Every day the sun rises, the sun sets. Every day we wake and we have breath and we are blessed by God, regardless of where we are as far as our status of salvation. It's important to remember that God is sovereign over all things. He's not just a God of spiritual things. He is a God of all things, but he is a God of creating everything. But we are reminded here the blessings of God, of how he calls people from all over to himself. And not only are they just called, but they believe they offer this tribute to Mount Zion, a place where the place of the name of the Lord of Host. So, we not only have this grace over us, God gives us breath and the Sun rises. We have this special grace that he has brought.
We are able to say that he is God, that he is Lord of the post, that he is our salvation because Jesus has suffered and died for us for the wrath of God for our sins. So, we have this special grace, this grace that allows us to worship God because he has brought us to himself. So may we be used of God as an instrument for holding this message of faith in Jesus.
