'They Will Have to See My Glory'

Does Jehovah take notice of Christendom's reprehensible actions and false teachings?  Read the following words of Jehovah, as recorded by Isaiah, and see what you conclude:  "As regards their words and their thoughts, I am coming in order to collect  all the nations and tongues together; and they will  have to come and see my glory."  (Isaiah 66:18) Jehovah is aware of and prepared to judge not only the words but also the thoughts of those who profess to be his servants.  Judah professes to believe in Jehovah, but her idolatrous works and pagan practices belie that claim.  It is to no avail that her citizens "purify" themselves according to pagan rites.  The nation will be cut down, and when that occurs, it will be in full view of her idol worshiping neighbors.  These will 'see Jehovah's glory' in that they will witness the events and be forced to admit that Jehovah's word has come true.  How does all of this apply to Christendom?  When she meets her end, many of her former friends and business partners will be forced to stand by and watch helplessly as Jehovah's word is fulfilled. -Jeremiah 25:31-33; Revelation 17:15-18; 18:9-19.

Does Jerusalem's destruction in 607 B.C.E. means that Jehovah will no longer have witnesses on earth?  No. Outstanding integrity-keepers, such as Daniel and his three companions, will continue to serve Jehovah even as exiles in Babylon.  (Daniel 1:6, 7)  Yes, the chain of faithful witnesses of Jehovah will remain intact, and at the end of 70 years, faithful men and women will leave Babylon and return to Judah to restore pure worship there.  That is what Jehovah alludes to next:  "I will set among them a sign, and I will send some of those who are escaped to the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, those drawing the bow, Tubal and Javan, the faraway islands, who have not heard  a report about me or seen my glory; and they will for certain tell about my glory among the nations." -Isaiah 66:19.

The hose of faithful men and women who return to Jerusalem in 537 B.C.E. will serve as an astonishing sign, evidence that Jehovah has delivered his people.  Who would have dreamed that the captive Jews would one day be free to pursue pure worship at Jehovah's temple?  In a comparable way in the first century, the ones serving "as signs and as miracles" were anointed Christians to whom meek ones wanting to serve Jehovah flocked.  (Isaiah 8:18; Hebrews 2:13)  Today anointed Christians, prospering in their restored land, serve as an astonishing sign  in the earth. (Isaiah 66:8) They are living evidence of the power of Jehovah's spirit, attracting meek ones whose hearts impel them to serve Jehovah. 

How, though, after the restoration in 537 B.C.E., will men of the nations who have not heard a report about Jehovah come to know him?  Well, not all faithful Jews will return to Jerusalem at the end of the Babylonian captivity.  Some, like Daniel, will remain in Babylon. Others will scatter to the four corners of the earth. By the fifth century B.C.E., there were Jews living throughout the Persian Empire.  (Esther 1:1; 3:8)  No doubt some of them told the pagan neighbors about Jehovah, for many from whose nations became Jewish proselytes.  Such was evidently the case with  the Ethiopian eunuch, to whom the Christian disciple Philip preached in the first century.  (Acts 8L26-40) All of this took place as an initial fulfillment of the words of the prophet Zechariah:  "It will be in those days that ten men out of all the languages of the nations will take hold, yes, they will actually take hold of the skirt of a man who is a Jew, saying: 'We will go with you people, for we have heard that God is with you people.' " (Zechariah 8:23)  Indeed, Jehovah sent out light to the nations! -Psalm 43:3.

Next time: Bringing "a Gift to Jehovah"

From the Book Isaiah's Prophecy Light for all Mankind, Volume II, 2001