Salvation and judgement go hand in hand. Isaiah has been all about salvation, but it is also all about judgement, and it closes with severe judgement. Exactly the same is true of Jesus. He brought salvation, but also spoke a lot about judgement and about hell. When He returns it will bring salvation to those who believe, but judgement on those who have rejected Him.
Verse 17 is referring to various pagan rituals. We talk a lot today about respecting other religions and practices, but what if those religions are false? There is truth, and it matters. The choices we make in life have eternal consequences.
One day all peoples will come and see the Lord's glory. In Philippians Paul says that every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Christ is Lord. In Revelation all the nations are gathered to Armageddon where they are defeated.
So in the Bible it talks about people from all nations being saved, and about people from all nations being judged. Every single person on this planet has a choice, to believe in Christ or not.
Isaiah ends on a very sombre note. There will be an eternal end to all rebellion against God. There is a lot of argument about hell and what it means. One thing we need to remember is that eternity does not mean things just going on and on. Rather, it means we are outside of time. Everything will be completely different and we cannot imagine exactly what it will be like. So there is a limit to any analogy that is used to describe heaven or hell. However, if the best way to imagine hell from our current perspective is to imagine being burned forever, only that can convey the awfulness of hell.
There are many times when in history when we see the awful consequences of some action, whether on a large or small scale, and we say "never again". Yet a few years later and we have forgotten and the same sort of horrors reoccur. After the final judgement it truly will be "never again". We will see the true awfulness of sin and its consequences, and we will never sin again.
Verse 17 is referring to various pagan rituals. We talk a lot today about respecting other religions and practices, but what if those religions are false? There is truth, and it matters. The choices we make in life have eternal consequences.
One day all peoples will come and see the Lord's glory. In Philippians Paul says that every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Christ is Lord. In Revelation all the nations are gathered to Armageddon where they are defeated.
So in the Bible it talks about people from all nations being saved, and about people from all nations being judged. Every single person on this planet has a choice, to believe in Christ or not.
Isaiah ends on a very sombre note. There will be an eternal end to all rebellion against God. There is a lot of argument about hell and what it means. One thing we need to remember is that eternity does not mean things just going on and on. Rather, it means we are outside of time. Everything will be completely different and we cannot imagine exactly what it will be like. So there is a limit to any analogy that is used to describe heaven or hell. However, if the best way to imagine hell from our current perspective is to imagine being burned forever, only that can convey the awfulness of hell.
There are many times when in history when we see the awful consequences of some action, whether on a large or small scale, and we say "never again". Yet a few years later and we have forgotten and the same sort of horrors reoccur. After the final judgement it truly will be "never again". We will see the true awfulness of sin and its consequences, and we will never sin again.
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