All Flesh Will Come to Worship Before Me

By Dan & Brenda Cathcart

The video version is available at: https://youtu.be/Odob2G8YB7o

The scripture reading is: Isaiah 66:1-24

The haftarah reading for this week is a special reading for when a new moon falls on the Sabbath.  The new moon, Rosh Chodesh, is the start of each month on the biblical calendar. It signals the renewal of hope as each month begins anew. This haftarah, Isaiah 66:1-24 is the final chapter in the book of Isaiah. It concludes the entire book of Isaiah, as well as concluding the second part of the book with its message of comfort to Israel because God is coming! The next to last verse in this reading prophesies about a time when all mankind will come to worship God “from one new moon to another.”

Isaiah 66:23 NKJV 23 And it shall come to pass That from one New Moon to another, And from one Sabbath to another, All flesh shall come to worship before Me," says the LORD.

This will be a time when God’s enemies will be destroyed and His servants return to the restored land of Israel. This message of hope is especially relevant at this new moon as we begin the month of Elul.

The meaning of the word Elul is uncertain. Some say it comes from an Akkadian word for the harvest. Others say that it’s derived from an Aramaic word meaning to search. Both possibilities shed light on this month of Elul. During Elul, the late summer harvest is in full swing in Israel. The grapes are ripening and the fruits of the trees are being harvested. The late wheat harvest is ripening in the fields. It is said to be a time when the king is in the field.

The month of Elul, also, coincides with the beginning of Moses’ second sojourn on Mt. Sinai at the end of which the children of Israel received the new set of tablets of the Ten Commandments. While Moses is on the mountain, the children of Israel are at the base of the mountain searching their hearts. They are hoping that at Moses’ return, he will bring the tent of meeting, along with the presence of the glory of God, back into the midst of the camp.

This haftarah speaks of the waiting period as the children of Israel wait for the return of God’s glory to Jerusalem. It opens with a declaration of God’s sovereignty.

Isaiah 66:1-2 NKJV 1 Thus says the LORD: "Heaven is My throne, And earth is My footstool. Where is the house that you will build Me? And where is the place of My rest? 2 For all those things My hand has made, And all those things exist," Says the LORD. "But on this one will I look: On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, And who trembles at My word.

God is the creator of both heaven and earth. He is so much bigger than even the earth; how could man possibly build a house, no matter how big and grand in earth terms, that could possibly serve as God’s dwelling place? Solomon reflected on this as he dedicated the house he built for God.

1 Kings 8:27 NKJV 27 "But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You. How much less this temple which I have built!

Yet, in spite of how small the earth is in relation to God and how small we are in relation to the whole earth, God sees even the lowest of His people. He looks on those who have a humble heart. Solomon continued in his prayer to ask that God see and hear His people.

1 Kings 8:28-30 NKJV 28 "Yet regard the prayer of Your servant and his supplication, O LORD my God, and listen to the cry and the prayer which Your servant is praying before You today: 29 "that Your eyes may be open toward this temple night and day, toward the place of which You said, 'My name shall be there,' that You may hear the prayer which Your servant makes toward this place. 30 "And may You hear the supplication of Your servant and of Your people Israel, when they pray toward this place. Hear in heaven Your dwelling place; and when You hear, forgive.

As Isaiah’s ministry ended, the northern tribes of Israel had gone into captivity into Assyria. In Judah, God had heard Hezekiah’s plea and destroyed the Assyrian army. However, just over one hundred years later, Judah would, also, be taken into captivity and the temple which Solomon built and dedicated to the LORD would be destroyed. The house that Solomon built for God would be gone, and God’s question that He spoke through Isaiah echoes, “Where is the house that you will build me?” The house that Israel and Judah tried to build for God was not one over which God delighted. Isaiah explains:

Isaiah 66:3-4 NKJV 3 "He who kills a bull is as if he slays a man; He who sacrifices a lamb, as if he breaks a dog's neck; He who offers a grain offering, as if he offers swine's blood; He who burns incense, as if he blesses an idol. Just as they have chosen their own ways, And their soul delights in their abominations, 4 So will I choose their delusions, And bring their fears on them; Because, when I called, no one answered, When I spoke they did not hear; But they did evil before My eyes, And chose that in which I do not delight."

The children of Israel chose their own way and delighted in doing so! Because of this, God allowed them to believe in their delusions. He let them think what they wanted to think which was that what they were doing pleased God. They acted on their delusions refusing to hear and accept the prophets who truly spoke God’s word. Isaiah spoke words of encouragement to those who fear God and proclaimed His word. They would be vindicated and judgment would fall on those who twisted God’s word.

Isaiah 66:5-6 NKJV 5 Hear the word of the LORD, You who tremble at His word: "Your brethren who hated you, Who cast you out for My name's sake, said, 'Let the LORD be glorified, That we may see your joy.' But they shall be ashamed." 6 The sound of noise from the city! A voice from the temple! The voice of the LORD, Who fully repays His enemies!

The judgment on God’s own people who rejected Him comes upon them as the sound of noise. The word “noise” is the Hebrew word “sha’own,” number 7588 in Strong’s Concordance meaning an uproar, destruction and tumult. This noise is the uproar caused by the destruction of the city and the temple which was accomplished twice—first by the Babylonians and later by the Romans. The “enemies” that were destroyed by Babylon and Rome were not the Babylonians and the Romans; they were God’s people who had turned away from following Him and, instead, followed after idols.

Yeshua speaks of the judgment coming on the leaders of Israel for the rejection of the prophets God sent to them throughout their history.

Matthew 23:34-35 NKJV 34 "Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes: some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city, 35 "that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.

This judgment was and is inevitable, but those who fear the LORD receive vindication. God promises to restore the nation. He uses the metaphor of a woman giving birth.

Isaiah 66:7-8 MKJV 7 Before she travailed, she gave birth; before her pain came, she delivered a man child. 8 Who has heard a thing like this? Who has seen things like these? Will the earth be brought forth in one day? Or will a nation be born at once? For Zion travailed and also brought forth her sons.

The image that Isaiah conveys here is that the birth occurs so quickly that it is painless. As a woman who has given birth in a very fast labor, I know that a fast labor means one pain right on top of another with no letting up between pains. So, this description of a fast labor is one that is miraculously pain free. I think of the time before the fall of Adam and Eve when birth was pain-free. Is God looking at the time of the restoration of all things including the restoration of the Garden of Eden? This is perhaps the deeper meaning of this verse, but clearly, the plain meaning of the text is that we are looking at the rapid and unexpected birth of the nation of Israel. Right up until 1948, world opinion was that the nation of Israel no longer existed and would not exist in this world. Isaiah says the opposite; that the rebirth of Israel was a certainty and no one could stop it from happening!

Isaiah 66:9 NKJV 9 Shall I bring to the time of birth, and not cause delivery?" says the LORD. "Shall I who cause delivery shut up the womb?" says your God.

We are to rejoice at the re-establishment of Israel just like we rejoice with a mother at the birth of her child! But Isaiah takes this further; all those who rejoice and have mourned with Jerusalem will be blessed at the birth of this child and the nation!

Isaiah 66:10-11 NKJV 10 "Rejoice with Jerusalem, And be glad with her, all you who love her; Rejoice for joy with her, all you who mourn for her; 11 That you may feed and be satisfied With the consolation of her bosom, That you may drink deeply and be delighted With the abundance of her glory."

Isaiah writes of the peace God extends to that kingdom and the comfort He extends to Jerusalem. He, again, uses the metaphor of a woman and her child.

Isaiah 66:12-13 NKJV 12 For thus says the LORD: "Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, And the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream. Then you shall feed; On her sides shall you be carried, And be dandled on her knees. 13 As one whom his mother comforts, So I will comfort you; And you shall be comforted in Jerusalem."

This establishment of Israel will not come without judgment on His own people. Isaiah says to look for that coming judgment when we see Israel restored and Jerusalem comforted.

Isaiah 66:14-16 NKJV 14 When you see this, your heart shall rejoice, And your bones shall flourish like grass; The hand of the LORD shall be known to His servants, And His indignation to His enemies. 15 For behold, the LORD will come with fire And with His chariots, like a whirlwind, To render His anger with fury, And His rebuke with flames of fire. 16 For by fire and by His sword The LORD will judge all flesh; And the slain of the LORD shall be many.

In this passage, those slain by the LORD are those enemies of God that have gone after idols and delude themselves that they are following after God as we saw in verses three through five.

Isaiah 66:17 NKJV 17 "Those who sanctify themselves and purify themselves, To go to the gardens After an idol in the midst, Eating swine's flesh and the abomination and the mouse, Shall be consumed together," says the LORD.

Those who delude themselves about pleasing God are the ones who cast out the real followers of God. These are the leaders who rejected God’s prophets. They are the ones who rejected Yeshua that led to the Roman destruction of the temple. God says that He knows their works and will call on all the nations to observe the judgement of His enemies and the return of His people.

Isaiah 66:18-20 NKJV 18 "For I know their works and their thoughts. It shall be that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come and see My glory. 19 "I will set a sign among them; and those among them who escape I will send to the nations: to Tarshish and Pul and Lud, who draw the bow, and Tubal and Javan, to the coastlands afar off who have not heard My fame nor seen My glory. And they shall declare My glory among the Gentiles. 20 "Then they shall bring all your brethren for an offering to the LORD out of all nations, on horses and in chariots and in litters, on mules and on camels, to My holy mountain Jerusalem," says the LORD, "as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house of the LORD.

Those of God’s enemies who escape His judgment will be sent to retrieve the very people they rejected. They will go to the nations and spread the word of God’s glory. They will go to the nations and bring back all of God’s people! Some of these people will be of the tribe of Levi and the house of Aaron. God will know their lineage!

Isaiah 66:21 NKJV 21 "And I will also take some of them for priests and Levites," says the LORD.

The Levites and the priests will be needed to restore the worship of God for all those who come to before Him.

Isaiah 66:22-23 NKJV 22 "For as the new heavens and the new earth Which I will make shall remain before Me," says the LORD, "So shall your descendants and your name remain. 23 And it shall come to pass That from one New Moon to another, And from one Sabbath to another, All flesh shall come to worship before Me," says the LORD.

These words of Isaiah were partially fulfilled when Hezekiah took the throne of Israel. The temple had been closed during the reign of his father, but Hezekiah opened it as soon as he became king. He gathered the Levites and the priests charging them with the task of restoring the House of God.

2 Chronicles 29:3-5 NKJV 3 In the first year of his reign, in the first month, he opened the doors of the house of the LORD and repaired them. 4 Then he brought in the priests and the Levites, and gathered them in the East Square, 5 and said to them: "Hear me, Levites! Now sanctify yourselves, sanctify the house of the LORD God of your fathers, and carry out the rubbish from the holy place.

Hezekiah explained that many of their people had died and been taken into captivity because they had turned away from God.

2 Chronicles 29:6 and 9 NKJV 6 "For our fathers have trespassed and done evil in the eyes of the LORD our God; they have forsaken Him, have turned their faces away from the dwelling place of the LORD, and turned their backs on Him.  9 "For indeed, because of this our fathers have fallen by the sword; and our sons, our daughters, and our wives are in captivity.

Hezekiah charged the Levites and the priests to be faithful servants of God.

2 Chronicles 29:10-11 NKJV 10 "Now it is in my heart to make a covenant with the LORD God of Israel, that His fierce wrath may turn away from us. 11 "My sons, do not be negligent now, for the LORD has chosen you to stand before Him, to serve Him, and that you should minister to Him and burn incense."

From those who escaped this judgment, Hezekiah chose and sent out runners to all of Israel to bring them back to worship the God of their fathers.

2 Chronicles 30:6 NKJV 6 Then the runners went throughout all Israel and Judah with the letters from the king and his leaders, and spoke according to the command of the king: "Children of Israel, return to the LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel; then He will return to the remnant of you who have escaped from the hand of the kings of Assyria.

All the days of Hezekiah, as long as he followed after God, he and Judah prospered.

2 Chronicles 31:20-21 NKJV 20 Thus Hezekiah did throughout all Judah, and he did what was good and right and true before the LORD his God. 21 And in every work that he began in the service of the house of God, in the law and in the commandment, to seek his God, he did it with all his heart. So he prospered.

We can look at the fulfillments of Isaiah’s prophecies at the time of Hezekiah to understand how these prophecies will be fulfilled in the future. Isaiah prophesied about a time when not only Jerusalem and Israel would worship God, but that all flesh would come to worship at Jerusalem! Then, from out of Jerusalem, all flesh would look on those who were slain because of their sins against God.

Isaiah 66:24 NKJV 24 "And they shall go forth and look Upon the corpses of the men Who have transgressed against Me. For their worm does not die, And their fire is not quenched. They shall be an abhorrence to all flesh."

This did not happen at the time of Isaiah and Hezekiah. Nor has it yet happened! Yeshua quoted this last verse in Isaiah in the context of His followers causing others to stumble. He warns that it would be better to cut off a hand or foot or even gouge out an eye than to face the judgment coming to those who cause one of the little ones, that is, a new believer, to stumble.

Mark 9:42 NKJV 42 "But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea.

Yeshua then quotes Isaiah 66:24 three times to emphasize the certainty of this judgment against tolerating those in the body who sin and cause others to sin also. Yeshua concludes in Mark 9:49 and 50:

Mark 9:49-50 NKJV 49 "For everyone will be seasoned with fire, and every sacrifice will be seasoned with salt. 50 "Salt is good, but if the salt loses its flavor, how will you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace with one another."

The seventeenth century theologian Matthew Poole explains the meaning of this statement:

“It is true, the Lord's sacred fire of his Holy Spirit will, like fire and salt, cause smart while it purgeth out our lusts, like the cutting off of a right hand or foot; but judge you whether it be not better to endure that smart than to endure hell fire, for every one must endure one of these.”

As we enter into the month of Elul, it is a time when our King Yeshua is in the field and the harvest at the end of the year is ripe. It is the time of separation between the enemies of God and the servants of God. It is the time of the establishment of Yeshua’s reign in Israel when all flesh will come to worship the LORD. Let us examine ourselves and have “salt in ourselves” as we seek to remove anything that causes impurity in our lives so that we might be accepted as servants and followers of God through our messiah Yeshua.

Study Questions:

1. Discuss the connection of this teaching to the Torah Portion Va’etchanan Deut. 3:23-7:11.

2. Isaiah refers to those who are cast out for the sake of God’s name in Isaiah 66:5. What does Yeshua say about those who are cast out for His name’s sake?

3. What are the arguments for and against the child described in Isaiah 66:7 being the Messiah. Compare the description of this child with the description of the child in Isaiah 9:6-7 and Revelation 12.

4. Isaiah says that God knows the works and thoughts of those who identify as His followers. What does Yeshua say about knowing the works and thoughts of those who report that they follow God?

5.  Has the restoration of Israel that Isaiah prophesied about been fulfilled in the present state of Israel? Why or why not?

6. What new insight did you gain from this teaching? How do you respond to this new insight? How will you realign your life based on this new understanding?

© 2019 Moed Ministries International. All rights reserved.