14Jehovah
says: The Egyptians, Ethiopians, and Sabeans shall be subject to you. They
shall come to you with all their merchandise, and it shall all be yours. They
shall follow you as prisoners in chains and fall down on their knees before you
and say, “The only God there is, is your God!”
15Truly, O God of Israel, Savior, you work in strange, mysterious ways. 16All who worship idols shall be disappointed and ashamed. 17But Israel shall be saved by Jehovah with eternal salvation; they shall never be disappointed in their God through all eternity.[1] (Isaiah 45:14–17)
God Has the
Power to Arouse Nations to Submit and Bow Before Him, The God of Israel. This
is a clear picture of what will happen in the future kingdom of the Messiah.
The Lord Jesus Christ will return to establish God’s kingdom on earth (2:2–4;
18:7; 23:15–18; 60:5–14). This period of history is known as the
Millennium, an era that includes the return of Christ and His reign on earth. On
that day, nations will willingly come to Israel to surrender their worship and
wealth to the Lord (v. 14). Coming in chains means they come willingly and voluntarily as prisoners of
the Lord. The nations will also bow before Israel’s God and make two
confessions:
Ø
That the Lord is the only true and living God.
Ø
That the God of Israel is the true Savior, a God
who works in mysterious ways.
This means
that the only citizens of the Messiah’s kingdom will be those who believe in
the Savior of Israel, who is the Lord Himself. Only the Jews and Gentiles who
truly trust the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal Savior will be left on
earth.
When the
nations submit themselves to the Lord, all idol makers will be put out of
business. Moreover, they will be shamed and disgraced because of their horrible
profession. This is a clear reference to God’s coming judgment on all idolaters
who reject Him and turn to false gods. Their fate will be sealed—they are
doomed to shame and disgrace under the hand of God’s judgment. However, all the
redeemed of Israel will be eternally saved by the Lord (v. 17).
They will never be ashamed or disgraced.
V “Whosoever, therefore, shall confess me
before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But
whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which
is in heaven” (Mt. 10:32–33).
V “Whosoever, therefore, shall be ashamed of me
and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the
Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy
angels” (Mk. 8:38).
V “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth
the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from
the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart, man believeth unto
righteousness; and with the mouth, confession is made unto salvation” (Ro. 10:9–10).
V “Who [Jesus Christ], being in the form of
God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no
reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the
likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and
became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also
hath highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name: That at
the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things
in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that
Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of
God the Father” (Ph. 2:6–11).
V “If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us” (2 Ti. 2:12).
V “They profess that they know God; but in
works they deny him, being
abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate” (Tit. 1:16).
V “But there were false prophets also among the
people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall
bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring
upon themselves swift destruction” (2
Pe. 2:1).
V “Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus
is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son. Whosoever
denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: (but) he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also” (1 Jn. 2:22–23).
V “Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God” (1 Jn. 4:15).[2]
[1] Taylor, Kenneth Nathaniel. 1997. The Living Bible,
Paraphrased. Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House.
[2] Leadership Ministries Worldwide. 2005. Isaiah: Chapters 36–66. Vol. II. The Preacher’s Outline & Sermon Bible. Chattanooga, TN: Leadership Ministries Worldwide.
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