Isaiah 42:10-17--Sing to the LORD a New Song

Isaiah 42:10-17
English Standard Version

Sing to the LORD a New Song
10 Sing to the LORD a new song,
    his praise from the end of the earth,
you who go down to the sea, and all that fills it,
    the coastlands and their inhabitants.
11 Let the desert and its cities lift up their voice,
    the villages that Kedar inhabits;
let the habitants of Sela sing for joy,
    let them shout from the top of the mountains.
12 Let them give glory to the LORD,
    and declare his praise in the coastlands.
13 The LORD goes out like a mighty man,
    like a man of war he stirs up his zeal;
he cries out, he shouts aloud,
    he shows himself mighty against his foes.

14 For a long time I have held my peace;
    I have kept still and restrained myself;
now I will cry out like a woman in labor;
    I will gasp and pant.
15 I will lay waste mountains and hills,
    and dry up all their vegetation;
I will turn the rivers into islands,[a]
    and dry up the pools.
16 And I will lead the blind
    in a way that they do not know,
in paths that they have not known
    I will guide them.
I will turn the darkness before them into light,
    the rough places into level ground.
These are the things I do,
    and I do not forsake them.
17 They are turned back and utterly put to shame,
    who trust in carved idols,
who say to metal images,
    “You are our gods.”

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There is going to be a new song that will be sung unto the LORD by all the peoples of the earth (not just the people of Israel).  He will have people as a remnant from every Gentile nation--those that are seafarers and those who live in the desert--those who live in the mountains and those who live in the lowlands.  Everyone and everything that has breath will praise the LORD.

Why will they praise Him?  Because the LORD is a mighty warrior, strong in battles.  He will have defeated all of His enemies.  The battle belongs to the LORD, and He is the champion and Savior of His people.  No more will they fear moral or spiritual death, nor the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh or the pride of life, for all sin and temptation has been dealt with forever.

The LORD has been longsuffering, but when the day of His wrath and vengeance comes, it will be like the onset of labor--once it starts, the baby is coming and no one is going to stop it, and that baby is going to come out.  In the same way, when it is time for God's wrath to be poured out, the delivery of God's people is certain as is the destruction of God's enemies.  There will be both great pain and great joy that surround these events.  The LORD will bring equity where there has been none, pictured here by the mountains being made tow and the valleys being made high so that everything is on level footing--yet we know the LORD talks about the New Jerusalem being on His holy mountain, so I believe this speaks less of topology than it does the peoples of the world.  Finally, everyone will be co-heirs of the infinite riches that were won by Christ.  The gospel will put all who inherit eternal life on a level playing field with each other because none of us are there by our own achievements, but all of us made it because of the achievements of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Yes, the ones that reject Him as their Lord and Savior and continue to worship their idols.  For them, they will have no part in this new creation or this new song.  They will have another destiny--another destination.  Their inheritance will be the Lake of Fire prepared for the devil and his angels and all those who like him rebel against the LORD, deny His Christ and the salvation that only He provides, refuse to submit to the Lordship of Christ, and practice lawlessness.  God will not make anyone be a part of His Kingdom that doesn't want to be, but there are only two kingdoms--the Kingdom of God (pictured often by light) and the kingdom of this world (man, the devil, etc. pictured often by darkness).  You cannot have dual citizenship, nor can you be an illegal immigrant.  You will only be allowed into the Kingdom of God (the kingdom of heaven if the one who is both Judge and King lets you in.  His decision is final--there is no arbitration or appeal.  He will either welcome you in based off of the substitutionary atonement of Jesus or you will be denied entry if you try to base your application for entry on your own merits.  It's that simple.  He is the only Way.  There is no other.  Anyone who builds their life on another foundation will be like the man who built his houses on the sand and when the storm came, the house falls with a great crash because it was not built on the Rock who is Christ.