Isaiah 66:18

"For I know their works and their thoughts: the time cometh, that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come, and shall see my glory. And I will set a sign among them, and I will send such as escape of them unto the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, that draw the bow to Tubal and Javan, to the isles afar off, that have not heard my fame, neither have seen my glory; and they shall declare my glory among the nations. And they shall bring all your brethren out of all the nations for an oblation unto Jehovah, upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, and upon dromedaries, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, saith Jehovah, as the children of Israel bring their oblation in a clean vessel into the house of Jehovah. And of them also will I take for priests and for Levites, saith Jehovah."

Following the terrible picture of the judgment in Isaiah 66:15-17, this paragraph returns to the glory of the New Dispensation, the rescue of the righteous remnant of Israel who, after accepting Christ, appear here as missionaries of the Gospel to the "ends of the earth," as did Paul and others. The names of Tarshish, Pul, and Lud here, the actual location of which is not known, merely indicate the worldwide preaching of the Gospel. It was in Paul's plans to go to Spain (where Tarshish was located); and presumably he made the journey.

The proof of the focus in this paragraph is God's promise here that priests of God will be enrolled from among the Gentiles. This came to pass in the designation of all Christians as "kings and priests unto God" (Revelation 1:6; 1 Peter 2:5,6).

"And I will set a sign among them ..." (Isaiah 66:19). The only "sign" that our Lord ever gave to the unbelieving Jews was "The sign of the prophet Jonah, that like as Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights, so shall the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights" (Matthew 12:39-40), in short, the Resurrection of Christ! We believe those writers are wrong who refer this promise to some miraculous wonder that Christ is supposed to perform at the beginning of the Millennium. The miracle of His Resurrection appeared at the beginning of the real Millennium, namely the Christian Dispensation.

"They shall bring all your brethren from all the nations ..." (Isaiah 66:20). "The middle wall of partition has been broken down (Ephesians 2:14). Gentiles from all the nations will be brought with redeemed Jews (from that righteous remnant) as brethren, as one new man, unto Jehovah."[21] There is no longer any distinction whatever in the sight of God between Jews and Gentiles.

The scene here of all nations making pilgrimages to Jerusalem to worship God should not be misunderstood. Christians are not come, nor shall they ever come, "Unto a mount that might be touched (nor to a city that can be touched) ... but ye `Christians' are come unto Mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem ... to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant" (Hebrews 12:18-24). It is a tragic misinterpretation to find in this glorious prophecy the restoration of the old Jerusalem, the rebuilding of the temple, and other things sometimes erroneously imported into these verses!