Isaiah 66 … Consider Him Who Shows His Hand

Originally posted: 4/28/2021

Then you will see this, and your heart will be glad,
And your bones will flourish like the new grass;
And the hand of the Lord will be made known to His servants,
But He will be indignant toward His enemies, (66:14).

The book of Isaiah ends much like the book of Revelation with the prophetic look at what is surely coming as nations are gathered to worship Him before His throne.

 “For I know their works and their thoughts; the time is coming to gather all nations and tongues. And they shall come and see My glory. ¹⁹ I will set a sign among them and will send survivors from them to the nations: Tarshish, Put, Lud, Meshech, Tubal and Javan, to the distant coastlands that have neither heard My fame nor seen My glory. And they will declare My glory among the nations. ²⁰ Then they shall bring all your brethren from all the nations as a grain offering to the Lord, on horses, in chariots, in litters, on mules and on camels, to My holy mountain Jerusalem,” says the Lord, “just as the sons of Israel bring their grain offering in a clean vessel to the house of the Lord,” (66:18-20).

After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands; (Revelation 7:9).

It is the prophetic look at what is surely coming, when all will see the culmination of life as we know it, revealed in His creation of the new heavens and the new earth.

“For just as the new heavens and the new earth
Which I make will endure before Me,” declares the Lord,
“So your offspring and your name will endure.
²³ “And it shall be from new moon to new moon
And from sabbath to sabbath,
All mankind will come to bow down before Me,” says the Lord, (66:22-23).

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. ² And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband, (Revelation 21:1-2).

And the prophetic look to the time when “the hand of the Lord will be made known to His servants,” and when “He will be indignant toward His enemies;” will be the time when He Shows His Hand.

Hand: “3027. יָד yāḏ,  יַד אַבְשָׁלוֹם yaḏ ʾaḇšālôm: A feminine noun meaning hand, strength… Metaphorically, it signifies strength or power… authority or right of possession…”  Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance.

show one’s hand: “to let someone know what you intend to do or what methods you have of doing it; to make one’s plans, intentions, ideas, or resources known to others, especially those that were previously hidden or kept secret (emphasis added),” dictionary.com.

And there will be no denying it, for all will know. All will know His Strength, His Power, His Authority, and His Right of Possession over all of heaven and all of earth as He Shows His Hand to reveal what was previously hidden.

And when He Shows His Hand, the divide will be forever set as He Shows His Hand of Grace and Mercy to those who humble themselves before Him in surrendered faith; but to those who persist in hypocrisy and rebellion, He will Show His Hand of Judgment and Retribution.

Consider Him Who Shows His Hand

He Shows His Hand, revealing His Majestic Omnipotence.

Thus says the Lord,
“Heaven is My throne and the earth is My footstool.
Where then is a house you could build for Me?
And where is a place that I may rest?
² “For My hand made all these things,
Thus all these things came into being,” declares the Lord… (66:1-2).

He Shows His Hand of Salvation:

• He Shows His Hand, pouring out His Grace and Mercy.
  • “But to this one I will look,
    To him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word,” (66:2).

• He Shows His Hand, fulfilling His Promise of Deliverance.
  • “Shall I bring to the point of birth and not give delivery?” says the Lord.
    “Or shall I who gives delivery shut the womb?” says your God, (66:9).

• He Shows His Hand, bestowing His Joy, Satisfaction, and Delight.
  •  “Be joyful with Jerusalem and rejoice for her, all you who love her;
    Be exceedingly glad with her, all you who mourn over her,
    ¹¹ That you may nurse and be satisfied with her comforting breasts,
    That you may suck and be delighted with her bountiful bosom,” (66:10-11).

• He Shows His Hand, extending His Peace and Comfort.
  •  For thus says the Lord, “Behold, I extend peace to her like a river,
    And the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream;
    And you will be nursed, you will be carried on the hip and fondled on the knees.
    ¹³ “As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you;
    And you will be comforted in Jerusalem,” (66:12-13).

• He Shows His Hand, bringing His Blessings and Prosperity.
  • “Then you will see this, and your heart will be glad,
    And your bones will flourish like the new grass
    And the hand of the Lord will be made known to His servants…” (66:14).

He Shows His Hand of Wrath:

• He Shows His Hand, choosing the Deserved Judgment.
  • “So I will choose their punishments
    And will bring on them what they dread.
    Because I called, but no one answered;
    I spoke, but they did not listen.
    And they did evil in My sight
    And chose that in which I did not delight,” (66:4).

• He Shows His Hand, avenging His Name.
  • Hear the word of the Lord, you who tremble at His word:
    “Your brothers who hate you, who exclude you for My name’s sake,
    Have said, ‘Let the Lord be glorified, that we may see your joy.’
    But they will be put to shame,” (66:5).

• He Shows His Hand, manifesting His Indignation.
  • “…And the hand of the Lord will be made known to His servants,
    But He will be indignant toward His enemies,” (66:14).

• He Shows His Hand, releasing His Anger and Rebuke.
  • “For behold, the Lord will come in fire
    And His chariots like the whirlwind,
    To render His anger with fury,
    And His rebuke with flames of fire,” (66:15).

• He Shows His Hand, executing His Judgment.
  • “For the Lord will execute judgment by fire
    And by His sword on all flesh,
    And those slain by the Lord will be many,” (66:16).
    

And when He Shows His Hand, all will know it is both enduring and unquenchable.

“For just as the new heavens and the new earth
Which I make will endure before Me,” declares the Lord,
“So your offspring and your name will endure…
²⁴ “Then they will go forth and look
On the corpses of the men
Who have transgressed against Me.
For their worm will not die
And their fire will not be quenched;
And they will be an abhorrence to all mankind,” (66:22, 24).

How do we respond to Him Who Shows His Hand?

All will see His Hand. The question we must really ask is, which side of His Hand will we see? Will we see the enduring blessings of His salvation or will we bear the unquenchable fire of His fury and wrath?

He has Shown His Hand in His strength, His power, His authority, and His right of possession over all His creation; and He Has Shown His Hand in His intentions and His means to accomplish His plan in His Son. What was previously hidden and kept a mystery, is revealed in Jesus Christ.

He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him ¹⁰ with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth, (Ephesians 1:9-10).

that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints, ²⁷ to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory, (Colossians 1:26-27).

He Shows His Hand, which is Christ in us, the hope of glory. And this is another question we must ask ourselves, do we have His hope living in us? Are we certain that we have seen His Hand of Mercy and have been born again to a living hope through His resurrection?

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, (1 Peter 1:3).

And He Shows His Hand in His Word, written that we may know His intention for our future.

And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. ¹² He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life. ¹³ These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life, (1 John 5:11-13).

Oh, don’t let another day pass without being sure, for He has told us what is coming and we are without excuse. But as we humble ourselves in repentance and holy fear of His Word, we can be sure that He will look to us to Show His Hand of Salvation.

“But to this one I will look,
To him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word,” (66:2).

Let’s Grow Together!