The prophet Isaiah lived and worked during some of the most trying times in the land of promise. Neither Israel nor Judah had yet gone into captivity, but both had long since been on their respective roads that would eventually lead them there. Sin abounded and the people had joy in such. As Jeremiah would later say, “The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so…” (Jeremiah 5:31). Thus, as Isaiah dwelt among these sinful people his primary job as God’s spokesman was to warn them of the consequences of their actions. Captivity would come and they would suffer. In fact, Isaiah pictures these captivities in such a profound way, that he speaks as though they were already suffering them. However, along with the warning of consequences came the promise of hope. Judah would one day respond to God’s message of “awake, awake: put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city: for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean” (Isaiah 52:1). And it would be in that day that something great would happen that Isaiah depicts in this way: “The Lord hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God” (Isaiah 52:10). To the multitudinous population of this world, something would be made evident by Judah’s return from Babylon—the power of the salvation of Jehovah God!
Isaiah’s prophetic book, though, is not the first instance in the Bible in which we have seen the reference made to the visual impact of God’s salvation. In Exodus 14, the newly emancipated nation of Israel had made it to the Red Sea with the massive army of Pharaoh hot on their trail. As they stand on the shore of that ancient landmark, they feared and cried out to Moses their displeasure that he had brought them out of Egypt only to now die in the wilderness. The real problem they faced was not the impending meeting with Pharaoh’s mighty men, but rather their complete lack of trust in the God who had in actuality brought them out. And thus, in order to instill what he hoped would be a lifelong lesson in their hearts, Moses stands and says to the people, “Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will shew to you this day…” (Exodus 14:13). What would take place immediately afterwards would be visual evidence of the infinite power of the eternal God. But for Israel, that visual evidence would soon be but a forgotten memory.
Also, though, we find another instance in II Chronicles 20 where man had the opportunity to visually see the power of God’s salvation. During the reign of Jehoshaphat in Judah, the Moabites, Ammonites and others united in an attempt to overcome Judah and oust its godly king. Fearful for the future of his kingdom, Jehoshaphat prayed to God for deliverance, after which verse fourteen reveals that a man named Jahaziel received a prophetic word from the Lord and said: “Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the Lord with you…” (vs. 17). God’s promise of Divine protection was with His people, and after their ultimate deliverance, Jahaziel’s words rang true as verse twenty-nine reveals that “the fear of God was on all the kingdoms of those counties, when they had heard that the Lord fought against the enemies of Israel.” God provided the visual evidence needed of His infinite power and loving mercy, but, yet again, for Israel that evidence would soon be remembered no more and their lives would return to iniquity.
Now, turn attention back to Isaiah. Prophetically, Isaiah was trying to change the minds of the people before they had to suffer what he had assured them they would. And by demonstrating God’s love and mercy upon their eventual release from captivity, it was hopeful that they would change their lives before it all had to take place. But even as they were told that God’s actions would cause all the earth to “see the salvation of our God” (Isaiah 52:10), little attention was paid and that visual evidence was again forgotten, and Israel still trod the road leading them to Babylonian oppression.
The Bible provides for us the same evidence of God’s salvation. Promise after promise after promise, and picture after picture after picture is revealed in Holy Writ to provide man with the same mind changing and life altering information that Exodus, II Chronicles, and Isaiah all explicitly mention. How will we respond? Will we like Israel hear and soon forget the marvelous blessings of our God? Or will we learn from the mistakes of our predecessors and retain the evidence of God’s salvation in our lives, thereby maintaining a life of godliness to enjoy His blessings eternally? Surely, one day all the earth will see the salvation of our God—but will we see it in our mind’s eye as we suffer eternally in torment contemplating what could have been, or will we see it, as it were, face to face?