Humble before God. Humbled before God.

And so we end the longest book of the Old Testament, save for the Psalms.

In this final chapter of Isaiah, we see the distinction God makes between the righteous and the unrighteous. Who is the righteous person?

God puts it this way:

This is the one I esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word. (Isaiah 66:2)

The righteous person is humble.

He knows that he doesn’t know it all. He knows his sins; he knows his weaknesses. And he keeps a spirit that is contrite when he sins.

He never takes the words of God lightly; rather, he trembles at God’s word, knowing that in them there is life.

What is an unrighteous person? God says of them,

They have chosen their own ways, and their souls delight in their abominations…

For when I called, no one answered, when I spoke, no one listened. They did evil in my sight and chose what displeases me. (Isaiah 66:3–4)

Unlike the righteous person, they despise the word of God. They consider it passé. They ignore it and do whatever they like, and as a result, end up sinning in God’s sight.

Not only that, they mock those who would obey God’s word.

But God says of them that they will be put to shame and reap the consequences of their sin. (5–6)

Meanwhile, the righteous will rejoice, knowing peace, God’s comfort, satisfaction, and ultimately blessing. (10–14)

God says here of Israel that the people who survived the exile would go out among the nations declaring his glory, and bring back fellow Jews who had been scattered.

God will even choose some of them to be his priests and Levites. (19–21)

In the same way, we who are righteous are to go out and declare his glory among the nations, bringing people to the Lord. And when we do, the people we touch will become priests and servants of the Lord too.

Ultimately, on that day of judgment when the new heavens and new earth are created, all mankind will come and bow before God. (23)

The only question is will we come humbly before God? Or will we have to be humbled?

To those whose hearts were humble and contrite before God, there will be forgiveness, and a name that will endure.

But for those who rebelled, they will be humbled, and Isaiah closes by saying,

Their worm will not die, nor will their fire be quenched, and they will be loathsome to all mankind. (Isaiah 66:24)

Let us humble ourselves before God before that day of judgment. For only in doing so can we find mercy. Only in doing so can we find true life, here on earth, and in the life to come.