Isaiah 18:3
All ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth, see ye, when he lifteth up an ensign on the mountains; and when he bloweth a trumpet, hear ye. All ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth, see ye, when he lifteth up an ensign on the mountains; and when he bloweth a trumpet, hear ye.
The two descriptions of the audience repeat the same idea in different words for emphasis and do not denote two separate groups. All the inhabitants of the world are summoned to watch when the ensign is lifted up on the mountains and to listen when the trumpet is blown. The prophecy to which the summons belongs concerns southern Africa, though some understand it to refer instead to the New World. The land described in the chapter as the land of rustling wings is taken by many to be the United States of America.
The ensign is the mountain or government of the Lord's people established in the last days, raised for all nations and not for the Jews alone. It is the United States' declaration of independence and constitutional guarantee of civil and religious liberty, which draws people from many nations through immigration. The raised ensign for the nations and the trumpet call for the outcasts announce the gathering of Israel's remnant from captivity, applied as their departure from captivity and westward journey across the sea to America.
The ensign is the last message, arising through God's providence in the United States, and those who receive it are like refreshing dew amid the spiritual barrenness of the last days. That message of ensign and trumpet goes forth before the harvest, when the wicked are cut off, the plagues fall for a year, and God's children are gathered home. The trumpet is a literal trumpet sounded by the Lord at Christ's coming from heaven, not a symbolic trumpet such as that of the seventh angel whose sounding is recognized by the fulfillment of events.