Isaiah 30:23-26 NLT
“23 Then the Lord will bless you with rain at planting time. There will be wonderful harvests and plenty of pastureland for your livestock. 24 The oxen and donkeys that till the ground will eat good grain, its chaff blown away by the wind. 25 In that day, when your enemies are slaughtered and the towers fall, there will be streams of water flowing down every mountain and hill. 26 The moon will be as bright as the sun, and the sun will be seven times brighter—like the light of seven days in one! So it will be when the Lord begins to heal his people and cure the wounds he gave them.”
“In that day”, life appears idyllic for the agricultural communities in Judah. God will put in place everything the people needed to produce bumper crops: “rain at planting times”, “plenty of pastureland”, “good grain” for the working animals that tilled the ground, and “streams of water” available everywhere. But how would this world appear to 21st-century man, who lives in more complex societies where most people work in a profession other than farming? Of course, Isaiah wouldn’t have had a clue about modern technology. Imagine trying to describe to him how a mobile phone works, or the banking system with its ATM’s. And what about the internet and all that happens because of it? So would it be appropriate to extend the “in that day” scenario to include life today? Is it possible to list all the benefits that God could bring to modern societies, blighted as they are by the complex issues encountered in a technological age?
What would a world system today look like if Jesus was running it? How much of the technology we almost take for granted would be needed in the millennial kingdom? But we can find a few hints in the Bible. First of all, Revelation 20:4 refers to Christ’s rule and reign for a thousand years: “Then I saw thrones, and the people sitting on them had been given the authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their testimony about Jesus and for proclaiming the word of God. They had not worshipped the beast or his statue, nor accepted his mark on their foreheads or their hands. They all came to life again, and they reigned with Christ for a thousand years“. And what will happen then can be found in Isaiah 2:2-4, “In the last days, the mountain of the LORD’s house will be the highest of all— the most important place on earth. It will be raised above the other hills, and people from all over the world will stream there to worship. People from many nations will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of Jacob’s God. There he will teach us his ways, and we will walk in his paths.” For the LORD’s teaching will go out from Zion; his word will go out from Jerusalem. The LORD will mediate between nations and will settle international disputes. They will hammer their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will no longer fight against nation, nor train for war anymore”.
But if we take a step back and compare Isaiah’s world with our own, we immediately find that Isaiah’s description of the future is remarkably simple. It consists of rain, crops, livestock, grass, water, food, healing and light. This doesn’t necessarily mean that God intends to take humanity backwards technologically. Rather, Isaiah seems to be emphasising something deeper: the restoration of the conditions on which human life ultimately depends. Our technology is largely a response to a broken creation, blighted by Adam’s sin. Consider what much of modern technology actually does. We build heating systems because we experience cold. We develop medicines because people become sick and build hospitals because people suffer injury and disease. We develop agricultural chemicals, irrigation systems and genetically modified crops because agriculture is vulnerable to drought, disease and pests. We refrigerate food because it decays. We construct enormous transportation systems because people and goods have to travel vast distances. We develop financial systems because billions of people need to exchange goods and services. We build security systems because there is crime, and develop weapons because nations fear one another. Need I continue? None of these things existed in Isaiah’s time, but mankind’s creative abilities have had to develop technological solutions because the world doesn’t work as originally intended. That doesn’t make technology evil. It demonstrates human ingenuity in responding to the difficulties of life in a fallen creation. God didn’t plan any of this. We read, “Then God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was very good! … ” (Genesis 1:31). But as is often the case, human beings go to extraordinary lengths to circumvent the effects of their sins. The Judeans went to great expense to form an alliance with the Egyptians. They risked transporting their wealth across the Negev desert, braving poisonous snakes and spiders in the process. But to receive national security, all they had to do was turn to God. We read in an earlier verse in Isaiah 30, “This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says: “Only in returning to me and resting in me will you be saved. In quietness and confidence is your strength. But you would have none of it“. The Judeans had rejected God, and the consequences came back to bite them when the Assyrians overran Judah.
In our reading today, we notice that the farmer plants and the ground produces. The animals have pasture and sufficient food. There is water. But then the passage moves onto something much more extraordinary: the light of the sun and moon is dramatically increased. What is that all about? Perhaps the Holy Spirit revealed to Isaiah that the problems we experience in our human existence will be reduced or eliminated, because “in that day” the restrictions caused by sin will be removed. Isaiah saw a time when, “…He will open the eyes of the blind and unplug the ears of the deaf. The lame will leap like a deer, and those who cannot speak will sing for joy!” (Isaiah 35:5-6a). And towards the end of Isaiah we read, “In those days people will live in the houses they build and eat the fruit of their own vineyards. … The wolf and the lamb will feed together. The lion will eat hay like a cow. But the snakes will eat dust. In those days no one will be hurt or destroyed on my holy mountain. I, the LORD, have spoken!” (Isaiah 65:21, 25).
In our verses today, we read, “They will hammer their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks”. This quotation from Isaiah 2 is engraved on a wall in the UN Plaza in New York City, and it will strike a chord with all who desire peace. Without threats of war and conflict, the implication is that our defence industries will no longer be required. But another industry, arguably with an even greater impact on our society, is the health industry. In Revelation 22:1-2 we read, “Then the angel showed me a river with the water of life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb. It flowed down the centre of the main street. On each side of the river grew a tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, with a fresh crop each month. The leaves were used for medicine to heal the nations“. No more need for the NHS? Or, come to that, all the supporting industries that make the medical instruments, the scanners and so on? A very different world will emerge when Jesus is in control.
“In that day” will be so wonderful that we can only imagine a small fraction of what life will be like in the New Jerusalem. Isaiah caught the vision and wrote about it, but can we catch his vision as well? Or will we look wistfully into the distance and even dare to wonder about the life to come?
Dear Heavenly Father. Please anoint our imaginations with the truth of the life to come, we pray. But please keep our spiritual feet grounded in Your Word, as we continue to praise and thank You for all You have done for us. Amen.
