ISAIAH 2
Hope And Fear
FIRST the hope of the Messiah's reign.
Verse 1 tells us a word concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
“The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.”
The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw…tells us this was revealed to Isaiah in some kind of vision, because this was a word that HE SAW.
WE KNOW NOW THAT THIS PROPHECY (continues on through Isaiah 4) is directed towards the SOUTHERN kingdom Judah and its capital Jerusalem.
INTERESTINGLY ENOUGH…Isaiah 2:1-3 is REPEATED in Micah 4:1-3. Since Isaiah and Micah WERE contemporary prophets, it isn't surprising that the same Spirit of the LORD could give these two prophets the SAME WORD, to establish and emphasize His word.
Verses 2-3 tells us the exaltation of Judah and Jerusalem
“Now it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow to it. Many people shall come and say, "Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, and we shall walk in His paths." For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of THE LORD from Jerusalem.”
In the latter days…In context of THIS prophecy, the term LATTER DAYS refers to the "time of the Messiah," when the Anointed of the LORD reigns over the earth. This speaks of the time MANY TODAY REFER TO AS THE MILLENNIUM, the thousand-year reign of Jesus on this earth spoken of and confirmed in (Psalm 72, Isaiah 11:4-9, Jeremiah 23:5-6, Luke 1:32-33 and 19:12-27, Matthew 5:18).
The mountain of the LORD's house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow to it…SINCE WE HAVE ALREADY STUDIED REVELATION, we KNOW during the millennium, Israel will be the "SUPERPOWER" of the world. It will be THE LEADING NATION in ALL the earth, and the CENTER OF ISRAEL will be the mountain of the LORD's house - the temple mount, which will be the "capital" of the government of the Messiah. All nations shall flow TO the "capital" of the government of Jesus, AMEN?
Come, let us go to the mountain of the LORD … He will teach us His ways, and we shall walk in His paths…During the millennium, the citizens of earth, SAVED AND LOST, WILL ACKNOWLEDGE AND WILL SUBMIT to the Lordship of Jesus. It will be a time of PERFECTLY administrated & PERFECTLY enforced righteousness on this earth.
Verse 4 tells us the peaceful nature of the Messiah's reign
“He shall judge between the nations, and rebuke many people; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.”
They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks…THE VISION ISAIAH SAW, TELLS MORE DETAILS OF THE 1000 YEAR REIGN OF JESUS ON EARTH.
There will be NO MORE war. That is NOT TO SAY THERE WILL NOT BE CONFLICTS BETWEEN NATIONS & INDIVIDUALS, but they will be justly and decisively resolved by the Messiah INSTANTLY & BEFORE THEY CAN ACCELERATE and those who reign with Him (He shall judge between the nations, and shall rebuke many people).
It isn't the reign of the Messiah itself that will change the heart of man.
WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?
Citizens of earth, THE LOST AND UNSAVED, will STILL NEED TO REPENT AND INVITE JESUS INTO THEIR HEARTS AND LIVES AND THEY WILL NEED to trust in Jesus and His work on their behalf for their personal salvation during the millennium. BEING ABLE TO SEE OR TOUCH OR BE IN PROXIMITY TO JESUS WILL NOT SAVE IN THE MILLENIUM, ANY MORE SIGHT, TOUCH, NOR PROXIMITY SAVED PEOPLE IN THE NEW TESTAMENT.
LOST MANKIND MUST STILL CHOOSE.
THAT WILL NEVER CHANGE.
But war and armed conflict will NOT be tolerated.
Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore…It is important to see that this is NOT THE PEACE of capitulation.
This is the peace of ENFORCED RIGHTEOUSNESS. There is NO MORE WAR, and NO MORE NEED OF SWORDS AND SPEARS, so why not make them into plowshares and pruning hooks, AMEN?
But there is no more war because there is a NEW RULER on earth, Jesus Christ.
Psalm 2:9 tells us what the Messiah WILL DO TO the disobedient in that day: “You shall break them with a rod of iron; You shall dash them to pieces like a potter's vessel.”
We long for the day when there is NO MORE NEED for a military budget, when the money that goes for weapons and armies can go to schools and parks and towns and peoples needs. But we are only safe doing that when the Messiah reigns among us, AMEN?
MARTIN SAYS OF THIS VERSE…"Men yearn for peace, but they will not acknowledge the hopelessness of their own efforts to achieve it. It is only when the word of the Lord goes forth from Jerusalem, when He Himself is reigning over the nations, that lasting peace will come."
Verse 5 tells us a plea to walk in the light of the LORD.
“O house of Jacob, come and let us walk In the light of the LORD.”
You notice, Isaiah AFTER painting the picture of the glory of the Messiah's reign, Isaiah then challenges Judah (house of Jacob) to live in the Messiah's reign RIGHT now.
To walk in the light of the LORD means to order your life after God's truth and God's ways. The ultimate reign of the Messiah may be many years away, but Jesus CAN REIGN in our lives, in our minds, and in our hearts RIGHT NOW.
We don't have to wait for the enforced righteousness of the millennium to have the blessing of Jesus' righteousness in our lives right now, AMEN?
ALSO…to walk in the light of the LORD means you ENJOY the blessings of the Messiah's reign right now. You don't have to live a dark, depressing, discouraged Christian life. You can walk in the light of the LORD NOW!
What is it that gets you down, that brings darkness into your life? What can it compare to the light of the LORD? Is the darkness of spiritual attack, of unfaithful friends, of bad circumstances, of shame, of guilt, of anything greater than the light of the LORD? We think not!
CHARLES SPURGEON SAYS IT WELL…"You know that, if you were to go to Australia in a good sound ship, you would get there even if you were always to lie down in the hold among the luggage and the rats; but I should like to go in a first-class cabin, and I do not see why you and I, if we are going to heaven, should not go first-class."
Verses 6-9 tells us the sins that prevent Judah from walking in the light of the LORD.
“For You have forsaken Your people, the house of Jacob, because they are filled with eastern ways; they are soothsayers like the Philistines, and they are pleased with the children of foreigners. Their land is also full of silver and gold, and there is no end to their treasures; their land is also full of horses, and there is no end to their chariots. Their land is also full of idols; they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made. People bow down, and each man humbles himself; therefore do not forgive them.”
They are filled with eastern ways … they are soothsayers like the Philistines … they are pleased with the children of foreigners…Judah had allowed the false gods, false cultures, false morals/mores of foreigners TO CAPTIVATE their attention.
CONTRARY TO WHAT SOME BIBLE CRITICS SAY…This was NOT an anti-immigrant statement. God is NOT against the cultures and customs of other peoples, except where those customs and cultures honor and worship FALSE GODS & FALSE TEACHERS & FALSE UNGODLY MORALS/VALUES/MORES.
IN the name of SOCIAL AND RELIGIOUS "diversity," the leaders and people of Judah were ALLOWING AND BEING TOLERANT OF the worship of false gods, false social norms WITHIN THEIR OWN PEOPLE.
Their land is also full of silver and gold…Judah had allowed the false gods of wealth and materialism to ALSO CAPTIVATE their attention.
ANDDDDDD…because Judah was in a time of economic prosperity (full of silver and gold … no end to their treasures … full of horses … no end to their chariots), they were far more prone to economic idolatry.
The love & worship of MONEY!
AND NO, CONTRARY TO WHAT SOME BIBLE CRITICS SAY OF THIS VERSE…This was NOT an anti-wealth statement. God is NOT against wealth and riches, and may choose to bless some with significant resources.
This is GOD’S rebuke of the LOVE & WORSHIP of riches, and any trust in wealth TO MEET THEIR NEEDS & DESIRES…INSTEAD OF LOOKING TO AND DEPENDING ON JESUS.
Their land is also full of idols…Judah had allowed idols to captivate their attention. Because everyone has an innate tendency to worship themselves (the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made), we are tempted to worship what we have made and accomplished instead of worshipping ALMIGHTY GOD, the One who made us, gave us the skills, the talents, the abilities, and the blessings, TO ACHIEVE THEM, AMEN?
AND AGAIN, CONTRARY TO BIBLE CRITICS…This was NOT an anti-work statement. God WANTS us to work hard, and show forth the work of our own hands, and to see the accomplishments that our own fingers have made.
This is GOD’S rebuke of the WORSHIP of what we have made and what we have done. AS IF ALL WE ARE, ALL WE HAVE, COME FROM OUR OWN EFFORTS AND NOT THE FAVOR AND BLESSING OF JESUS.
People bow down, and each man humbles himself…There was plenty of worship (bow down) in Judah, and plenty of people humbling themselves. They were simply worshipping the WRONG THINGS, and humbling themselves before the WRONG THINGS!
We KNOW how to BOW down, we KNOW how to HUMBLE ourselves; we just don't find it EASY to direct it properly towards THE LORD. We are more than happy to bow down and humble ourselves for something of OUR PREFERRED choosing, but often find it difficult to do it FOR THE LORD.
The application is sobering…Therefore DO NOT forgive them. Their worship of foreign gods, of riches, and of idols WAS sincere. It may have been ennobling or helpful to society.
BUT THE PROBLEM?
ALL THIS SINCERE WORSHIP COMPLETELY REJECTED THE LORD GOD, & WAS THEREFORE UNFORGIVEABLE.
Verses 10-22 tells us a description of the Day of Judgment.
“Enter into the rock, and hide in the dust, from the terror of the LORD and the glory of His majesty. The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day. For the day of the LORD of hosts shall come upon everything proud and lofty, upon everything lifted up; and it shall be brought low; upon all the cedars of Lebanon that are high and lifted up, and upon all the oaks of Bashan; upon all the high mountains, and upon all the hills that are lifted up; upon every high tower, and upon every fortified wall; upon all the ships of Tarshish, and upon all the beautiful sloops. The loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be brought low; the LORD alone will be exalted in that day, but the idols He shall utterly abolish. They shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, from the terror of the LORD and the glory of His majesty, when He arises to shake the earth mightily. In that day a man will cast away his idols of silver and his idols of gold, which they made, each for himself to worship, to the moles and bats, to go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the crags of the rugged rocks, from the terror of the LORD and the glory of His majesty, when He arises to shake the earth mightily. Sever yourselves from such a man, whose breath is in his nostrils; for of what account is he?”
ISAIAH’S VISION IS GRAPHIC…IS IT NOT?
We notice that the BEGINNING of the chapter described THE GLORY of the Messiah's reign (Isaiah 2:1-4).
The second part of the chapter described the CURRENT CORRUPTION of Judah (Isaiah 2:6-9).
How will the earth be transformed from its current corruption to the glory of the Messiah's reign? It will happen by THE VICTORY of the Messiah in the day of the LORD of hosts.
DID YOU KNOW…the term DAY OF THE LORD (used more than 25 times in the Bible) does NOT necessarily refer to JUST ONE specific day.
It speaks MORE of GOD‘S TIME! The idea is that now is the day of man, but the day of man will NOT last forever. One day, the Messiah will end the day of man and bring forth the day of THE LORD that shall NEVER END.
In the day of THE LORD, men will be TERRIFIED…Enter into the rock, and hide in the dust, from the terror of THE LORD and the glory of HIS MAJESTY.
In the day of THE LORD, men will be HUMBLED…The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and THE LORD ALONE shall be EXALTED in that day.
In THAT DAY, there will be NO MORE idolatry; THE LORD alone shall be exalted.
In THAT DAY, God WILL BE GLORIFIED, and all will see the terror of THE LORD and the glory of HIS MAJESTY.
The high tower, the fortified wall, the ships of Tarshish and the beautiful sloops all ARE EXPRESSIONS OF THE LOFTINESS OF MEN & WOMEN and THE HAUGHTINESS OF MEN & WOMEN. In the day of the LORD, every proud, arrogant achievement of MEN & WOMEN will be humbled, and the LORD alone will be exalted in that day.
I EMPHASIZE MEN AND WOMEN HERE, BECAUSE WHEN THE BIBLE AND PROPHETS SAY MAN, & SPEAKS GENERALLY OF “MAN” ….IT MEANS MANKIND, USUALLY LOST & UNSAVED & REJECTING MANKIND…AND THAT INCLUDES WOMEN TOO.
CHARLES SPURGEON SAYS OF THESE VERSES…"Man in all matters of religion, and in all his dealings with God, is proud. It is wonderful how apparently humble men will be when they worship false gods. They will cut themselves with knives, and roll themselves in the mire. We have known some votaries to kneel before the representation of the Virgin Mary and lick the very pavement with their tongues by way of penance, and perform the most degrading rites in honor of their false gods. Man seems to be humble enough in his dealings with a false deity, but as soon as ever he comes to deal with the true God, the first things that have to be got out of him are his pride, his high looks, his haughtiness."
Sever yourselves from such a man…Because the days of idols and human pride are numbered, WHY DARE ASSOCIATE with those who cling to what will certainly be defeated? We should see that such men are of NO account, and walk in the light of THE LORD instead.
What strange sin WITHIN us, MAKES US WILLING TO give more account to men who can only hold as much breath as their nostrils will contain - who depend on every breath for life - than to THE LORD GOD who will shake the earth mightily! It simply makes sense for us to honor and obey God than to follow men into sin.
For of what account is he? If men are only men, why do we give so MUCH attention to the opinions of men? Why rise so high on the praise of men, and get so low at their disapproval? We have something - Someone - FAR BETTER to live for IN OUR PRECIOUS JESUS CHRIST, AMEN?
CHARLES SPURGEON SAYS IT BEST….'But they say.' What do they say? Let them say. It will not hurt you if you can only gird up the loins of your mind, and cease from man. 'Oh, but they have accused me of this and that.' Is it true? 'No, sir, it is not true, and that is why it grieves me.' That is why it should not grieve you. If it were true it ought to trouble you; but if it is not true let it alone. If an enemy has said anything against your character it will not always be worth while to answer him. Silence has both dignity and argument in it."
"Brethren in Christ, let us think more of God and less of man. Come, let the Lord our God fill the whole horizon of our thoughts. Let our love go forth to him; Let us delight ourselves in him. Let us trust in him that liveth for ever, in him whose promise never faileth, in him who will be with us in life, and in death, and through eternity. Oh that we lived more in the society of Jesus, more in the sight of God! Let man go behind our back, and Satan too. We cannot spend our lives in seeking the smiles of men, for pleasing God is the one object we pursue. Our hands, and our heads, and our hearts, and all that we have and are, find full occupation for the Lord, and therefore we must 'Cease from man.'"
IN MY LIFE, I HAVE MET PEOPLE FROM ALL WALKS OF LIFE. AND WHAT GIVES ME THE FIRST CLUE TO THE STATE OF THEIR HEART, THEIR THOUGHTS, THEIR BELIEFS IN THE THINGS OF THIS WORLD AND THE THINGS OF JESUS CHRIST, IS THOSE WHO HAD THE MOST HUMBLE, APPROACHABLE, KIND, & CARING, OTHERS CENTERED. THEY WERE AND ARE, INTELLIGENT LIVES AND WEALTHY…BUT YOU WOULD NEVER BELIEVE THEM TO BE INTELLIGENT NOR WEALTHY BY APPEARANCE OR POSSESSIONS.
THAT DOES NOT MEAN THAT THEY DID NOT LIVE COMFORTABLY WELL, BUT THEY DID NOT OWN EYE-CATCHING, BREATH-TAKING SYMBOLS MANKIND INSTANTLY VIEWS AS ELITEST, ICONIC, WEALTHY.
JUST AS I HAVE SEEN AND BEEN INTRODUCED TO PEOPLE WHO SPOKE OF NOTHING ABOVE, WHO THEY KNEW, THE DESIGNERS THEY WORE, THE JEWELS, TRIPS, CARS, BOATS, PLANES AND TRIPS THEY HAD TAKEN…WHILE BORING ME TO TEARS…WITH THEIR SELF POSSESSED LOVE AFFAIR WITH THEMSELVES AND ALL THEY HAD DONE AND MADE AT THE EXPENSE OF ANYONE AND EVERYONE ELSE.
GOD IS TELLING US THAT HE HAS NOTHING AGAINST WEALTH, HIS CHOSEN MEN ABRAHAM AND SOLOMON WERE TWO OF THE WEALTHIEST MEN TO EVER WALK THE FACE OF THE EARTH…BOTH OR EITHER MAKE THE TOP 5 WEALTHIEST IN THE WORLD TODAY:BILL GATES, CARLOS SLIM HEU, WARREN BUFFET, LAKSHMI MITAL, & MUKESH AMBANI LOOK LIKE CURB-STORE CLERKS.
BUT AS WITH ABRAHAM…OVER AND OVER AND OVER IN HIS LIFE, HE LET ANYONE AND EVERYONE KNOW THAT ALL HE HAD WAS A GIFT AND BLESSING AND FAVOR FROM GOD….THAT IT WAS ALLLLLLLLL GOD’S.
HOW MUCH BETTER THIS ENTIRE WORLD WOULD BE IF THEY BUT ACKNOWLEDGED EVERYTHING THEY HAD, DID, CREATED, EARNED….WAS BECAUSE OF THE BLESSINGS AND FAVOR OF GOD.
ISAIAH 2 TEACHES US TO REMAIN EVER THANKFUL & AWARE THAT ALL WE ARE, ALL WE HAVE, COMES FROM THE PROTECTIONS, THE FAVORS, AND THE BLESSING OF JESUS CHRIST.
ISAIAH TEACHES US TO REMAIN HUMBLE, EVER REPENTANT, AND EVER SEEKING TO BE WHAT JESUS WANTS AND CALLS US TO BE…
AND THAT IS AS JESUS WAS DURING HIS ENTIRE WALK ON THIS EARTH….SELF-LESS, OTHERS CENTERED, HUMBLE, FORGIVING, PRAYERFUL, SEEKING AND CLINGING TO HIS FATHER’S WORD AND HIS PROMISES…
SEEK JESUS FIRST IN ALL THINGS AND HE WILL HANDLE AND DEAL WITH AND PROTECT US AND OVERCOME FOR US ANYTHING THAT COMES AGAINST US IN THIS LIFE.
TRUST IN JESUS CHRIST…AND JESUS CHRIST ALONE!