The King in His Beauty
—Isaiah 33:17
This one small verse (Isaiah 33:17) is rich with hope and encouragement, not only for Jerusalem in its dark days, but also for us in these Last Days. One day, the righteous will be given new eyes to behold the Heavenly King, in the new Jerusalem, in that faraway land where the righteous will dwell forever.
¶"Your eyes will behold the King in His beauty; they will see the faraway land" (Isaiah 33:17)
1 Your Eyes Shall See
John tells us that when the Son of God is revealed "we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is" (1John 3:2). With the eyes of our earthly bodies, we cannot see Jesus as he now is. "Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice..." (1Peter 1:8).
When those who truly follow Jesus eventually see the King in his beauty, it will be with new and different eyes in a body like his.
Paul tells us that God will "transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body..." (Philippians 3:21 NKJV). In our glorious bodies we shall see the King and the heavenly city in the faraway land over which he will reign forever.
This promise is made personal. It does not say, "Their eyes shall see", or "his eyes shall see," but "your eyes shall see the King... your eyes shall see Jerusalem" (Isaiah 33:17,20).
APPLYING THE PROMISE
This promise applies to the faraway land where Jesus will take his followers when he comes back to this world (John 14:1-3). That will be this world's last day. The dead, both righteous and wicked, will be awakened and will join those still living to see the King come (John 5:28-29).
John writes, "Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him —even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen" (Revelation 1:7 NKJV).
This raises the obvious question: Your eyes shall see him, but for how long? Will it be forever in the faraway heaven? Or will it be only long enough to see him gather his followers and leave you behind —with no choice but to follow Satan into the place prepared for him?
2 The King in His Beauty
Now let's concentrate on the King and his beauty. He will be beautiful to his true followers. They will marvel at his beauty "...when he comes, in that Day, to be glorified in his holy people and to be admired among all those who believe" (2Thessalonians 1:10).
The King will be beautiful also in the eyes of those who rejected him; nevertheless they will be "punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power" (2Thessalonians 1:8-9 NKJV). They will never see him ever again.
When the King came to dwell among men, it had long been written, "There is no beauty that we should desire Him. He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him" (Isaiah 53:2-3 NKJV ). They saw no beauty in the Crucified King.
However, the King arose from the dead, and ascended to heaven, and was glorified. "In that day the Branch of the LORD shall be beautiful and glorious; And the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and appealing For those of Israel who have escaped" (Isaiah 4:2 NKJV). His faithful followers awaited his return and still do.
3 In a Faraway Land
When the book of Isaiah looks ahead to the nearer future, it says that Judah and Jerusalem will undergo great suffering and loss. However, there is a time in the far distant future, when a descendant of Judah will reign as King in a new Jerusalem and a new world that will never pass away (Isaiah 33:17, 66:22).
This kingdom is a faraway land because it is in God’s Heaven where the King is enthroned. In Isaiah s day it was also distant in time. It may yet be, even in our day. Meanwhile, the King "has made us a kingdom, priests to His God and Father" (Revelation 1:6).
"For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ" (Philippians 3:20 NKJV).
