Isaiah 33:17-24 NLT
“17 Your eyes will see the king in all his splendour,
and you will see a land that stretches into the distance.
18 You will think back to this time of terror, asking,
“Where are the Assyrian officers
who counted our towers?
Where are the bookkeepers
who recorded the plunder taken from our fallen city?”
19 You will no longer see these fierce, violent people
with their strange, unknown language.
20 Instead, you will see Zion as a place of holy festivals.
You will see Jerusalem, a city quiet and secure.
It will be like a tent whose ropes are taut
and whose stakes are firmly fixed.
21 The Lord will be our Mighty One.
He will be like a wide river of protection
that no enemy can cross,
that no enemy ship can sail upon.
22 For the Lord is our judge,
our lawgiver, and our king.
He will care for us and save us.
23 The enemies’ sails hang loose
on broken masts with useless tackle.
Their treasure will be divided by the people of God.
Even the lame will take their share!
24 The people of Israel will no longer say,
“We are sick and helpless,”
for the Lord will forgive their sins.”
The verses in our Scripture passage today bring the chapter to a beautiful conclusion. After describing God’s judgment on Assyria, Isaiah turns to a vision of the future security, peace and restoration of God’s people. The passage moves from fear to confidence, from an enemy army to God’s kingdom, and from sickness and sin to complete restoration. There is a King coming, Isaiah writes, and the King will come in all His splendour. Is this the same King who Isaiah wrote about in the previous chapter? “Look, a righteous king is coming! And honest princes will rule under him“. It has to be Jesus the King because who else is worthy of the accolade “splendour”? The ultimate hope of God’s people is not simply to live in a safe land but to see their King in all His glory. Some years ago, Andre Crouch recorded a song, “Soon and very soon we are going to see the King” and subsequent verses start with “No more crying there” and “No more dying there”. He was excited enough about the prospect of seeing the “righteous King” that he burst into a song of praise. Andre has passed and is now in the presence of the King he could only see through his eyes of faith. Are we pilgrims excited with the thought that one day we will see our King? We should be, because the experience will be beyond anything we can ever imagine.
In the Bible, there are recorded instances of visions of the King. Daniel had such a vision, and he wrote, “As my vision continued that night, I saw someone like a son of man coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient One and was led into his presence. He was given authority, honour, and sovereignty over all the nations of the world, so that people of every race and nation and language would obey him. His rule is eternal—it will never end. His kingdom will never be destroyed” (Daniel 7:13-14). Daniel’s vision ends with the judgment of the beast and “Then the sovereignty, power, and greatness of all the kingdoms under heaven will be given to the holy people of the Most High. His kingdom will last forever, and all rulers will serve and obey him” (Daniel 7:27). Daniel’s vision was of Jesus, as Ruler and King of an eternal and indestructible Kingdom, God’s Kingdom, and we pilgrims are, tantalisingly, a part of it just now. Can we feel within us a longing for such a Ruler, as God Himself? Can we feel a rise within our spirits to be part of God’s spiritual Kingdom as we go about our daily business in the kingdom of this world? Such a vision in our hearts will support and sustain us in this sad and bad world.
Isaiah had a life-changing vision of the Lord in the Temple one day. “It was in the year King Uzziah died that I saw the Lord. He was sitting on a lofty throne, and the train of his robe filled the Temple. Attending him were mighty seraphim, each having six wings. With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. They were calling out to each other, “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of Heaven’s Armies! The whole earth is filled with his glory!” Their voices shook the Temple to its foundations, and the entire building was filled with smoke” (Isaiah 6:1-4). Isaiah’s vision was of the Lord’s holiness, a vision with an impact so real that he could only respond with “ … It’s all over! I am doomed, for I am a sinful man. I have filthy lips, and I live among a people with filthy lips. Yet I have seen the King, the LORD of Heaven’s Armies“. Have we pilgrims ever had a glimpse of God’s holiness and then looked at ourselves, seeing the “filthy rags” of even our most righteous deeds? Isaiah did, and it changed him forever. His vision continued, “Then I heard the Lord asking, “Whom should I send as a messenger to this people? Who will go for us?” I said, “Here I am. Send me””. Have we pilgrims had a vision of the Lord that has resulted in life changes for the good? Of course we have, and we dwell on the Man upon the Cross, always reminded of what He did for us.
Ezekiel had a vision of God, as we read in the first verse of his book. “On July 31 of my thirtieth year, while I was with the Judean exiles beside the Kebar River in Babylon, the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God“. What did Ezekiel see in his vision? He saw living beings, and his account included a detailed description of what they looked like. They had wheels within wheels, and “The spirit of the living beings was in the wheels. So wherever the spirit went, the wheels and the living beings also went” (Ezekiel 1:20). And the chapter finishes, “Above this surface was something that looked like a throne made of blue lapis lazuli. And on this throne high above was a figure whose appearance resembled a man. From what appeared to be his waist up, he looked like gleaming amber, flickering like a fire. And from his waist down, he looked like a burning flame, shining with splendour. All around him was a glowing halo, like a rainbow shining in the clouds on a rainy day. This is what the glory of the LORD looked like to me. When I saw it, I fell face down on the ground, and I heard someone’s voice speaking to me”. Ezekiel’s vision was of God’s glory, and the next chapter records his God-given mission to the “rebellious nation of Israel”.
The Apostle John had a vision of the Son of Man. Revelation 1:12-16: “When I turned to see who was speaking to me, I saw seven gold lampstands. And standing in the middle of the lampstands was someone like the Son of Man. He was wearing a long robe with a gold sash across his chest. His head and his hair were white like wool, as white as snow. And his eyes were like flames of fire. His feet were like polished bronze refined in a furnace, and his voice thundered like mighty ocean waves. He held seven stars in his right hand, and a sharp two-edged sword came from his mouth. And his face was like the sun in all its brilliance“. Who was this Son of Man? Revelation 17:14 records that He is the Lord of all lords and the King of all kings, and the verse ends, “… And his called and chosen and faithful ones will be with him“. But John saw the ultimate vision of God, and he wrote about it in Revelation 21: “And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them” (Revelation 21:2-3). How can we ever get our minds around the fact that one day, not only will we be living in a New Earth, but God Himself will be living with us? What a comfort to John this vision must have been as he languished in prison, exiled to the Isle of Patmos.
I’m sure there are many other visions of God not recorded in the Bible. We may have even had one ourselves. I once heard God’s voice, coming from the back seat of my car, as I rushed to be at the bedside of my very sick daughter, whom the medics thought was in her last hours. The Voice said, “Trust Me”. That was all, but it sustained me in the hours and days ahead, and I’m pleased to report that she survived her illness and is still with us today, 40 years or so on, and through God’s grace we have grandchildren and now great-grandchildren. Just two little words that changed my life.
Isn’t it interesting that a vision of God precedes a commissioning for doing His work? In faith, though, we see our wonderful Saviour. In John 20:28, we read, “Then Jesus told him, “You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who believe without seeing me””. Do we pilgrims hear and feel that commission in our own lives? If not, we must kneel before God and pray that He will reveal Himself to us. Be warned. We will never be the same after an encounter with the Living God.
Dear Heavenly Father. We cannot see You with our physical eyes, but within our spirits we know and feel Your presence, even “seeing” You in dreams and visions. We thank You for entrusting us with Your work and leading us in Your ways. Amen.
