The Ultimate Gathering

The Little Apocalypse of Isaiah and the Promise of Gathering

24 to 27. It summarizes all the oracles that came before. It's often referred to as the Little Apocalypse of Isaiah because it talks of future things and abstract terminology. And we're about to go on to another section that talks about the folly of trusting in the nations, but here we are wrapping up this Little Apocalypse of Isaiah.

So when you have Isaiah 27 beginning in verse 12, please stand for the reading of God's Word. In that day, from the river Euphrates to the brook of Egypt, the Lord will thrush out the grain, and you will be gleaned one by one, O people of Israel.

And in that day a great trumpet will be blown, and those who are lost in the land of Assyria and those who are driven out to the land of Egypt will come and worship the Lord on the holy mountain at Jerusalem.

You may be seated. Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for your wonderful promises that you give in your Word. We thank you for this promise of gathering your people together. Pray that we would understand this promise rightly and hold on to it fast.

In Jesus' name, amen. Well, we are, in general, in our land, a scattered people. People are scattered in all sorts of different ways. You have people geographically scattered. It's been of interest recently to people in the past couple of elections to look at how not only geographically divided people are, but how that geographic division aligns with political division.

Because people are geographically divided, that makes them ideologically divided. And on top of that, even people who dwell right next to each other often entirely separated and scattered as far as ideology goes.

Now, more than that, people are very often scattered from their own family. People often live far, far away from where their family does. I know I live far away from my family, and there's difficulties in that.

If you think about a lot of the problems in this world, they exist because people are scattered. Why is it that there is so much homelessness? You know, a lot of people say that the solution to homelessness is, you know, more homeless shelters or more programs, and maybe those things can help.

But the reason why a lot of people are homeless is simply because they don't have a family to fall back on. Because people are scattered from their families, you have all kinds of weakness that can be exploited.

Scattering as Judgment and Gathering as Salvation

Now, this idea that scattering is a great problem is something that's confirmed by Scripture. Scripture speaks of being scattered as a curse. Being scattered is a curse. In fact, that's exactly what you see in the Garden of Eden.

When Adam and Eve eat the fruit that they were forbidden to eat, they are removed from the garden. So they're no longer in this place where God's people are to be gathered, but put out into this wide world that doesn't have such a clear such a clear position and gathering.

And then, as Cain sins and he murders his brother, he is scattered from the rest of his family out to the land of Nod. And then again, when God gathers the people into the ark, saves them from this this scattering, this curse of scattering, they go and they build the Tower of Babel.

And how does God punish them for their arrogance and trying to reach the heavens? Does it by scattering them once again, by giving them different languages so that they can't dwell together and they scatter across the face of the earth.

And then, as the northern kingdom of Israel sins against God and their idolatry and failure to trust in him, failure to bow before his king, the king of Judah, he scatters them and they go off to the land of Assyria.

And then, as the southern kingdom of Israel, Judah, as they commit idolatry, God scatters them off into Babylon. You see frequently throughout scripture, scattering is a sign of judgment. And as you might expect, gathering is a sign of salvation.

Scattering is judgment, gathering is salvation. And what we have here in this passage is a promise that God will gather his people. There's a promise that he will gather his people and provide salvation.

So, let's go ahead and begin here in verse 12. In that day, from the river Euphrates to the brook of Egypt, the Lord will thresh out the grain and you will be gleaned one by one, O people of Israel. It speaks of in that day, and it's spoken of in that day frequently.

So, what is that day? Well, first of all, I'd like to observe that he says in that day twice. In verse 13, he also says in that day. He speaks of a great trumpet there. And there are different signals that let us know what that day is.

First, I would point to Isaiah 19, which speaks very similarly to this and speaks of many nations becoming one with God's nation. At the very end of Isaiah 19, it talks about Egypt and Assyria and Israel all becoming one people.

And that's who's mentioned here. It's talking about God's people from Egypt and Assyria. It says in verse 24 of Isaiah 19, in that day, Israel will be the third with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth, whom the Lord of hosts has saying, blessed be Egypt, my people, and Assyria, the work of my hands, and Israel, my inheritance.

All these people are gathered into one. This is a prophecy about the gathering in of the Gentiles. This is a prophecy of what is accomplished in the gospel. So, I think one way to look at this is to see this as being fulfilled in the ministry of Jesus Christ, where he is assigned to his people to gather them together.

And so, this is accomplished in part in the first coming, and yet there is a great gathering that is still yet to happen. There's a great gathering that happens at the end when all God's people are finally gathered physically into one place, when that trumpet is blown.

And so, this has reference to both of these, just as I have pointed out with other passages. For example, the in that day at the beginning of this chapter, in that day, the Lord with his hand and great and strong sword will punish Leviathan, the fleeing serpent.

When is Satan defeated? Well, there is, yes, a great day where God defeats the last of his enemies, and his victory becomes fully manifest. Yet, that victory was already accomplished at the cross. And so, these things have begun at the first coming, and they become fully manifest at a second coming.

It is the same with this gathering. God is promising here a gathering that is something that we can enjoy today, and it is at the same thing, something that we can anticipate for the future when Christ returns.

So, even today, as we are gathered here, we are gathered here in a way where we are enjoying and anticipating that future salvation as well, that future gathering of God's people from being scattered across the face of the earth.

Hebrews 12 and the Heavenly Jerusalem

The passage, which I can't help but quote just about every time I preach in Isaiah, Hebrews 12, he says in verse 22, but you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and then in the next verse, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect.

It says we have gathered into the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven. An assembly is a gathering. This is something that has been accomplished now. It says you have come to Mount Zion.

That's what it speaks of at the end when it says on the holy mountain of Jerusalem. We have been gathered into Mount Zion. Now, we are not physically at Mount Zion. We have not been physically gathered with God's people all across the world just yet, and yet there is, in a significant spiritual way, a way that we can enjoy that gathering today, and we should enjoy that gathering today.

We should recognize who we are gathered with. We are not just gathered with the people you see here, but as it says, we are gathered with all those who are enrolled in heaven. We are gathered with angels and saints, and even God himself are all gathered here today in a spirit of unity, and that will become fully manifest on that last day, but it is accessible to us today here as we worship together, and it's a shame that so many people fail to see what a joy that is, what a great anticipation of a gathering this is.

You know, when I was a, when I was a kid, I would get very excited for Christmas, not necessarily for the right reasons, you know, I just wanted a lot of gifts, but the way I would, the way I would get ready for Christmas is I would out of construction paper make rings, you know, to take one off every day.

I don't know if anyone did this as a kid. You make, you make rings of construction paper, and you link them all together into a chain, you take one off every day. Anyway, I would do that, it would start like in September around my birthday, and I would just make these massive, massive chains because I was so excited to each day anticipate Christmas.

Anyway, you know, if I, if I am anticipating that for earthly gifts, how much more should we, should we anticipate this great gathering that God has in store for us by enjoying it week by week, as he has called us to do?

So he describes this gathering in terms of these people. As I said, Isaiah 19 indicates that this is something more, this is the bringing in of the Gentiles, because the people have been scattered to Assyria, and yet those people that were scattered to Assyria, they lose their identity, they become ultimately the Samaritans that you see in the New Testament, but without, without a way of being restored into one people.

And so to look for a fulfillment of this in a literal sense, that each one of the national, people of national Israel will be gathered back together, I think is misguided. Scripture indicates time after time, including that passage I mentioned in Hebrews 12, that this is fulfilled rather in the church.

The Boundaries of the Promised Land and the Heavenly City

And so consider what is being prophetically indicated in this picture of that people of Israel here in verse 12. From the river Euphrates to the brook of Egypt, the Lord will thresh out the grain and you will be gleaned one by one, O people of Israel.

Well, first of all, what's the brook of Egypt and what's the Euphrates? Well, these are two different rivers on either side of the promised land, and in fact, these are the two rivers which God mentions in Genesis 15 -18 when he's speaking to Moses.

When he's speaking to Moses and promising that he will give him a land, he specifically mentions these two rivers. So when Isaiah mentions these two rivers, he's calling back to that promise that God gave Abraham that he would, that he would build for him a people in this particular land.

And so we are to anticipate this land that God has given us, and as it says in Hebrews 12, we are gathered together on that mountain. As it also says in Hebrews 11, verse 16, that Abraham and Isaac and Jacob were happy to dwell as sojourners and strangers in that very land that God had promised, not just because their descendants would eventually inherit it, but because they knew that God had a better city for them, that is a heavenly one.

Even they, even the original patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob knew that their hope did not lie in this particular physical land, but in the heavenly city that God had prepared for them. That's what he explains in Hebrews 11 -16.

Now this idea of gleaning, they are gleaned. What this is a picture of is when grain is brought into the barn, it's all getting ready to be threshed, and you separate the wheat from the chaff, the kernels of grain from the outer husks.

The outer husks are scattered into the wind, as it says in some parts of scripture, or burned, and the grain is kept and gathered. This is a picture of judgment and also a picture of salvation, a picture of scattering and a picture of gathering.

I'd like you to go ahead and turn to Luke 3, because I believe this verse is very relevant to our considerations of what God has in mind when he speaks of gathering and scattering. In Luke 3, 16 -17, John the Baptist is speaking, and it says, John answered them all saying, I baptized you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming.

This is Jesus he's speaking of. The strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit in fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.

So here it describes Jesus Christ's coming to gather the wheat and to scatter or to burn the chaff. This is something that John the Baptist is saying is even fulfilled not just at the end of time, not just on that final judgment day, but something that was accomplished even in Jesus' ministry on earth.

As he began drawing lines between those who all thought they were part of the kingdom of God, as he begins drawing lines between them, it becomes very clear where that judgment lies, where it is that God's kingdom truly is, as he forms boundaries around his church.

And those who are part of his kingdom, they are gathered together. Those who are not part of his kingdom, scattered, all apart. Those lines are being drawn now. Do not miss it. Do not think that you can just come up with a case for yourself on the day of judgment.

Rather, it is even today that God is calling people. And it's not through our own efforts or anything that we have to offer that we'll be able to make a case before him. Rather, it is only in the mercy of Jesus Christ that we can have forgiveness, that we can have any case before God on that day.

And it says they will be gleaned one by one. Now, can you imagine gleaning one by one? Can you imagine picking up wheat one by one? You know, usually when it's threshed, you've got some fancy equipment.

Of course, we have fancier equipment than they did back then. But gleaning and threshing, that's not something you do one by one. You do that in large clumps. And so, describing it this way, God is describing the care with which he's going to bring each one of his last people into the gathering.

The care with which he's going to do that. Not one is going to be left behind. Just like Jesus described the parable of the good shepherd who's willing to leave the 99 behind to gather the one. Now, that always struck me as odd, because why would Jesus be willing to leave the 99 behind?

Doesn't that mean that he cares about them less than he should? No, what that's indicating is that he is going to save every last one. Every last one is important to him, because he's not just trying to maximize some number.

He wants every last one. In fact, there's a verse in Peter's epistle that speaks of God's patience and how he's not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to a knowledge of the truth.

Now, many people abuse that verse to make it refer to God's intent in salvation and that he doesn't have a particular people. He's trying to reach all equally in the same way. If you consider what that passage is saying, and it's saying that the reason why Jesus tarries is because, is particularly because he's trying to save every last one of his people, when would Jesus come back?

If you were to understand him referring to everyone broadly, he would never come back. There's always going to be more to gather, but if he has a set people for himself, he is gathering each one with particular care, and he will come back on that day when the last one is gathered in.

We should have this kind of mindset and concern when we're sharing the gospel with others. If you're going to tell others with the gospel, know that the heart of Christ is to gather his people one by one.

It's to leave the behind and go and find that one lost sheep. Do not have an attitude that is careless, is calloused, but rather one that desires what Christ desires, which is for every last one of his people to be gathered.

The Great Trumpet, the Cross, and the Final Gathering

He continues on here in verse 13, and in that day a great trumpet will be blown in those who are lost in the land of Assyria, and those who are driven out to the land of Egypt will come and worship the Lord on the holy mountain at Jerusalem.

It speaks of a great trumpet. This is not the only passage that speaks of a great trumpet. I believe there will be a great trumpet on that last day. I see no reason why it would not be even a literal trumpet.

You have in Exodus 19 a description of a trumpet that sounded before God gave the law on Mount Sinai, and it's not just one short little blast, but rather it continues and continues and continues for a significant period of time, and it just gets louder and louder.

Can you imagine that? If you heard an air horn around here that sounded like a warning, it didn't stop. It just got louder and louder over the course of a week. You know, at night you go to rest, and it's still still ringing out, and it's getting louder and louder.

That's how I imagine this. And here's the thing, is if this applies not just to Christ's future coming, but if it also is speaking of his first coming, that trumpet has already been sounded. He has already begun gathering his people, and we should have the mindset, we should have ears of faith that hear that trumpet growing louder and louder and louder, and we should be responding with an increased urgency to the call that he is giving his people to gather, to bring in every one of the lost sheep.

This is something that is prophesied in the New Testament. In John 11, Caiaphas, being a high priest that year, not realizing that he's prophesying, says that it's good for one man to die that the people scattered abroad might be gathered together, right?

And so what he's imagining is unity among the people of Judah, but what he doesn't realize is what ultimately his words refer to is some greater gathering that happens through the blood of Christ. It's through Christ's death, burial, and resurrection that God's people are called together, are gathered together, and that they can enjoy on that last day that final, ultimate gathering.

And as we looked in that previous passage in Isaiah 19 and saw that this refers to not just people being taken from these lands, but also to people who belong to those lands becoming one with the people of God, the Gentiles being brought in.

That should give us a right mindset, too. You know, it's not something we think about. Most of us are not Jewish people, and so therefore, you know, we just take it as a given that this is a mercy that God has on the people across nations.

But let me give you one application that maybe you hadn't considered, is think about the way many people think about church community. They look for church community, and what do they try to find? They try to find a church that has people like them, their age, their interests, has groups that will fit them.

Rarely do you find people who are willing to find church community in a place where people are gathered around the one thing that is central, the one thing that actually provides unity, and that is Jesus Christ, right?

Can you have community at a church where everyone is a different age than you, and they don't share the same interests as you outside of the gospel? Absolutely you can, because the gospel is something so much more central to unity.

It's something that provides so much more than any kind of superficial interest that will one day pass away. So yeah, I would encourage you to think rightly about that, and also if you have friends that as they're, you know, trying to find churches, picking different places where they're going to go, and they talk about community, encourage them to think about community rightly, to think about community not as a place where people share my interests and things outside the gospel, but particularly community where people share interest on the gospel.

That is what's central. And so it says that they will come and worship the Lord on that holy mountain at Jerusalem, the mountain of God. The reason why people worship on mountains in the Old Testament and in the Bible is because that is a place that's closer to God.

You see different people erect temples and place their items of worship on these mountains so they can get closer to their gods, and likewise God has his own mountain, and that mountain is Zion, and that is a mountain that we can all be gathered to even though we are far, far away from Zion.

Jesus told the Samaritan, and remember the Samaritans, who are the Samaritans? They're the ones who have been scattered into Assyria. Jesus told the Samaritan woman that there's coming a time where neither on this mountain or that mountain, but rather people will worship God in spirit and in truth.

Jesus Christ, in coming to dwell with us and sending us his Holy Spirit, wherever someone has faith in God, wherever they have the Spirit dwelling in them, they have Christ dwelling in them, they are a temple for God.

They are a place where God dwells. That's something that we have through Jesus Christ, through his death, his sacrifice. Consider how it is that Jesus died. He died by being scattered, right? He died being scattered away from his friends, away from his disciples, away from his family, outside of Jerusalem.

Hebrews 13 describes that he was pushed outside the camp, treated as one who was cursed. He is one who is essentially bearing that curse that you see in the Garden of Eden. He is bearing the curse that you see in scripture, this curse of scattering, and why is he doing it?

So that his people can be gathered together. We deserve that curse of scattering. We deserve that, and yet he, in bearing it, makes it so that we can be gathered together. And this gathering, this gathering is something so much more significant than the way you might be thinking of gathering.

It's something much more significant than just us being physically in the same place. You know, there are a lot of people who, in their homes, have a sign that says gather. You ever seen that? Just like a wooden sign that says gather.

We even have one. Someone gave it to us. We've got that hanging up in our kitchen. Whenever I see that, you know, I think about how futile the the effort of gathering is apart from Christ, because it doesn't matter whether or not you've got the First Amendment to the Constitution, you know, the right to assemble.

It doesn't matter how much physical proximity you have. The task of gathering, you can only have limited success in having real unity, given that we are under this curse of scattering, given that we do not share ultimately anything lasting and common apart from Jesus Christ.

You think about the people who gather around the things of this world, their interests in this world, and those will all pass away. In fact, on that day of judgment, people will be scattered forever into outer darkness, and it that eternally they will love each other.

In fact, it is just the opposite. As God gives them over to their sin and their sinful desires, there will be nothing but hatred for all eternity. But He has died for us. Christ has died for us, that we might have love for each other, that we might have a true unity.

He has not just forgiven us, but He has transformed us, giving us His Spirit, whereby we might love each other, whereby we might be truly gathered together in a way that will not just last for a season or a lifetime, but for all eternity.

And so I ask you, as you anticipate this future gathering, that you enjoy this current gathering that anticipates it. Let's pray. Dear Holy Father, we thank you for your Son. We thank you for His death.

He was scattered away from His people and taken outside the camp. We thank you that He's borne the penalty that's due to us, that we might be gathered together, and we we pray that He would return quickly, that that gathering might be fully manifest, and that we would be able to fully enjoy all the saints, all the angels, and your Son as we dwell with Him forever.

In Jesus' name, amen.