Sing, O heavens, for the Lord has done this wondrous thing.

Shout for joy, O depths of the earth!

Break into song,

O mountains and forests and every tree!

For the Lord has redeemed Jacob

and is glorified in Israel.

Isaiah 44:23

We know that this redemption and glorification of the people of God is only possible because of Jesus first coming as “the Lamb of God”, and that it will be made final at His second coming as “the Lion of the tribe of Judah”.  It all centers on the Death and resurrection of Jesus, and from that resurrection springs an unquenchable hope that God’s work WILL BE COMPLETED.

Notice in this passage that the ones who are called to sing and rejoice are not the people of God.

Who are they?

The Heavens.

The Depths of the Earth.

The mountains, the forests and EVERY TREE!

In this passage God calls on THE ENTIRETY OF CREATION - The Heaven’s the Earth, and the plant life that grows on it - to rejoice in the WONDROUS WORK of God’s redemption and glorification of His people, a work that begins with and centers upon ISRAEL. We realize that though this work has a specific people group at its core, it is a work that results in GOOD NEWS for all that God has made. The idea contained here is simple: This process of redemption and glorification holds great promise for ALL that God has made! This is why we read about forests rejoicing, heavens singing, and the earth shouting out for joy.

It reminds me of the words of Paul in Romans 8 -

Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later. For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are. Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope, the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay. For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us. We were given this hope when we were saved. (If we already have something, we don’t need to hope for it. But if we look forward to something we don’t yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently.)

Romans 8:18-25

Paul paints a clear picture… Just as our SIN in Adam tainted all of creation (subjected it to the curse against its will), so its salvation will be found in ours. We share a hope, a hope that one day we will be set free from the curse and bondage of sin and death ONCE AND FOR ALL!!!

In Isaiah 44 the Lord tells us this work is as good as done, and it is time to start rejoicing because it will SURELY COME TO PASS!