Verse 18
The Lord knows the works and thoughts of rebels against His will, and He will assemble them all to witness a display of His glory. At Babel, humankind assembled to display its own glory (Genesis 11:1-9), but God will bring all the rebels together to witness His glory. The church’s preaching of the gospel is hardly the fulfillment in view. It is rather the return of Christ to the earth and the judgment of the nations then (cf. Matthew 25:32).
"Vv. 18-24 have a close affinity with Zechariah 12-14, so much so that one could consider the Zechariah passage to be an expansion on these verses in Isaiah." [Note: Oswalt, The Book . . . 40-66, p. 687.]
"In New Testament perspective, this final section [Isaiah 66:18-24] spans the first and second comings of the Lord Jesus Christ: his purpose for the world (18), his means of carrying it out (19-21), the sign set among the nations, the remnant sent to evangelize them (19) and the gathering of his people to ’Jerusalem’ (20) with Gentiles in full membership (21)." [Note: Motyer, p. 540.]
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