19/03/17 Isaiah 2:1-9 “The future
restoration of a destroyed Jerusalem”
Isaiah 2:1 – The word that Isaiah
the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
word – When referring to God it always means a statement of
absolute truth, often used as a statement of authority in prophecy. Also used
in Isaiah 1:10 & 2:3.
This is the next section of the
prophecy, often introduced by a statement that it is the word of God or
similar.
saw – see; perceive; look; behold; prophesy; provide.
This is probably as a result of
the vision Isaiah had of God on the throne in Ch.6. Many prophecies are
acknowledged as visions. John saw or beheld much of what he wrote in
Revelation; much of what Ezekiel wrote was acknowledged as seen by him.
However, the word “saw” can also mean a prophesying, although it is clear it
was by vision in the case of Isaiah here.
Judah and Jerusalem are again the
focus of Isaiah’s prophecy. Note carefully that these writings should be
applied to those who are acknowledged to be God’s people. Thus, their
application will mainly apply to those who call themselves God’s people today:
the “Christians” of many different persuasions, many in self-proclaimed
churches. (That is, not all that claim to be ministries are called
as ministries by God.)
Matthew 7:21-23 – 21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of
heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. 22 Many
will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and
in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 23
And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me,
ye that work iniquity.
Isaiah 2:2 – And it shall come to
pass in the last days, [that] the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be
established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills;
and all nations shall flow unto it.
in the last days – usually refers to the end-times, the tribulation leading
up to the millennium, and including the millennial reign of Christ, sometimes
labelled the Messianic age. However, it can just mean the future as yet remote,
such as Genesis 49:1 – And Jacob called unto
his sons, and said, Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you [that] which
shall befall you in the last days.
Sometimes written as “in those
days”, “in the latter days”, or “in that day” as in the following (which is has
a lot of similarity with today’s passage).
Micah 4:1-7 – 1 But in the last days it shall come to pass, [that]
the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established in the top of
the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow
unto it. 2 And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and
let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob;
and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law
shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. 3 And
he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they
shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their
spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war any more. 4 But they shall sit
every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make [them] afraid:
for the mouth of the Lord of hosts hath spoken [it]. 5 For
all people will walk every one in the name of his
god, and we will walk in the name of the Lord our God for ever and ever. 6
In that day, saith the Lord, will I
assemble her that halteth, and I will gather her that
is driven out, and her that I have afflicted; 7 And I will
make her that halted a remnant, and her that was cast far off a strong nation:
and the Lord shall reign over them in mount Zion from henceforth, even for
ever.
The first three verses in this
passage from Micah are almost the same as Isaiah 2:2-4, with Micah adding a bit
more information onto it. Micah, of course, was a contemporary of Isaiah, yet
to have almost the same wording means perhaps a common source for both Micah
and Isaiah.
the mountain of the Lord’s
house – the temple mount, Mt Moriah. The name Zion (or Mt Zion), while a separate mountain to
the south-west of the temple mount, can be (and often is) used to signify the
temple mount itself (as it probably does in such as Psalm 48 below).
top – head; top; summit; chief. Literally “the head or chief
of the mountains”.
Mt Moriah (Mt Zion) is to be
lifted up (exalted) above all the hills around it, either physically, or more probably
in importance over all other mountains and hills, figuratively over all the
earth. Note Daniel 2:35b – and the stone that
smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.
All nations flowing unto
(streaming toward) it suggests that it is seen as the centre of the entire
world. It is the centre of government and majesty, of justice and
righteousness.
Psalm 48:1-2 – 1 Great [is]
the Lord, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, [in] the
mountain of his holiness. 2 Beautiful for situation, the joy
of the whole earth, [is] mount Zion, [on] the sides of the north,
the city of the great King.
In those days Judah shall be
turned into a plain with Jerusalem rising up above that plain. “from Geba to Rimmon” – from the north
to the south.
Zechariah 14:10-11 – 9 And the Lord shall be king over all the earth: in that
day shall there be one Lord, and his name one. 10 All the
land shall be turned as a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem: and it shall be lifted up, and
inhabited in her place, from Benjamin’s gate unto the place of the first gate,
unto the corner gate, and [from] the tower of Hananeel
unto the king’s winepresses.
all nations – goy (nation or
people, usually non-Jew; Gentile) Literally “the nations” or “the peoples”,
signifying a totality of all nations, thus “all the nations”.
See Psalm 72:11 – Yea, all kings shall fall down before him: all nations (goy) shall serve him.
Isaiah 2:3 – And many people shall
go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house
of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his
paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from
Jerusalem.
people – nation; people; kinsmen; fellow countrymen. This term
doesn’t carry the negative implications of goy
(Gentiles; non-Jews). It can mean many peoples (or nations) including both Jew
and non-Jew.
Many (much; a great number of)
people (nations; peoples) will go there and say (say; say in one’s heart;
think; promise: intend): Let us go and let God teach us His ways and we will
walk according to those paths. That is, He will be our God (we will listen to
His commands) and we will be His people (we will obey His commands).
This is an acknowledgement that the
place to be taught is the house of the God of Jacob, and that God’s law and
word are essential to living. It certainly isn’t happening at the moment, with
most people despising the law and word of God (even, sadly, in many that claim
to be churches of God today).
This verse is clearly talking
about a time other than today, for even the church today has lost its desire
for the word and commands of God. This is a yet future time when the millennial
reign is upon the world. The earth has tried to impose its rules and word upon
the peoples for thousands of years now, and has never approached a time such as
spoken of in this passage today.
Isaiah 60:3 – And the Gentiles
shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.
Isaiah 2:4 – And he shall judge
among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their
swords into plowshares, and their spears into
pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they
learn war any more.
rebuke – act as law-giver or judge; rule; govern; arbitrate;
execute judgment.
This verse has been totally
misused by the United Nations which continues to try to impose its rules and
ways of life upon the world, claiming that its mission is to bring peace to the
earth, yet all its efforts to do so appear to have been responsible for more wars
and bloodshed than ever before. This verse above cannot be used before the
millennial reign of Christ, however, and any efforts to make it happen in our time are doomed to failure. For,
without a spiritual change in the hearts of mankind, neither will there be a
change in their hearts toward others. Just as evolution is a failed effort to
impose order upon creation without God, likewise the United Nations is an
effort to impose peace upon the earth without God. And, both are equally doomed
to failure!
Only the Messiah has the authority
to judge the nations; only the Messiah has the authority to rebuke those who
disobey His commands. And only His commands have sufficient authority in
themselves that they must be obeyed, for the authority of a command is only as
great as the One who makes the command. There will not be fighting and war
anymore because people will be listening to and obeying the law as per Vs 2
above; the people will then want to listen and obey. No other may judge as
Christ will judge because no other has the authority to command and it will be
done!
Note that in Joel, God tells the
Gentiles to beat their plowshares into swords and
their pruninghooks into spears, in preparation for Armageddon. This is actually
closer to the truth of what the world is doing today! It’s going to get worse
before it gets better, for the following passage clearly is to occur before the
final redemption of Israel. The farming implements are to be turned into
weapons of war before they are then returned back to being the farm implements
they once were.
Joel 3:9-17 – 9 Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles; Prepare war, wake up
the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up: 10 Beat
your plowshares into swords, and your pruninghooks
into spears: let the weak say, I [am] strong. 11 Assemble
yourselves, and come, all ye heathen, and gather yourselves together round
about: thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O Lord. 12 Let
the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there
will I sit to judge all the heathen round about. 13 Put ye in
the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down; for the press is full,
the fats overflow; for their wickedness [is] great. 14 Multitudes,
multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the Lord [is] near
in the valley of decision. 15 The sun and the moon shall be
darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining. 16 The
Lord also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the
heavens and the earth shall shake: but the Lord [will be] the hope of
his people, and the strength of the children of Israel. 17 So
shall ye know that I [am] the Lord your God dwelling in Zion, my holy
mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass
through her any more.
Isaiah 2:5 – O house of Jacob,
come ye, and let us walk in the light of the Lord.
That is, Israel has to come and
walk in the light (knowledge and understanding) of the Lord God.
2 Corinthians 4:4-6 – 4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of
them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is
the image of God, should shine unto them. 5 For we preach not
ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’
sake. 6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of
darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to [give] the light of the
knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
Habakkuk 2:14 – For the earth shall
be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the
sea.
Israel was always going to be
God’s elect people. Even when God cast them off, it was never for ever. Israel
now has to be the nation that leads the way, the nation of priests to the other
nations, as they had been called in the first place (Exodus 19:6). Even now in
Isaiah’s time, Israel is still God’s nation; even in His anger, God will never
give them completely away, despite the next few verses declaring that they are
so evil they should not be forgiven. Their leaves are withered, their gardens
are dried out, their judgment is cutting deep into their lives. Yet God still
pleads with them to come and walk in His light again. (Note Come now, and let us reason together – Isaiah 1:18).
Isaiah 2:6-8 – 6 Therefore thou hast forsaken thy people the house of
Jacob, because they be replenished from the east, and [are] soothsayers
like the Philistines, and they please themselves in the children of strangers. 7 Their land also is full of
silver and gold, neither [is there any] end of their treasures; their
land is also full of horses, neither [is there any] end of their
chariots: 8 Their land
also is full of idols; they worship the work of their own hands, that which
their own fingers have made:
But the truth is that God’s people
are continuing deeper all the time into sin and evil. Because of their refusal
to walk in the light of the Lord, God has forsaken (rejected; abandoned) His
people Israel, because:
(a) They have filled themselves with the customs and religion
of the east (Syria, Mesopotamia [Assyria, Babylon]). This would include the
groves of trees over their idols, the gardens set out for worship, the burning
of children to Molech (from Ammon [1 Kings 11:7],
which is today part of Jordan, east of Israel). It also included Ishtar
(Ashtoreth – Assyria, Nineveh; Astarte – Babylon). Asherah
(Asherim plural) worship was associated with grove
worship in Israel.
The Valley of Hinnom
(also known as Gehenna), just outside Jerusalem, was where children were
sacrificed to Molech and Baal. It was also called
Tophet, Topeth or Topheth
from a word (toph
– small drum; timbrel; tambourine) that today is associated with “drum” because
of the drums that were beaten allegedly to drown the cries of the children
being sacrificed (by burning them alive). However, tophet may be derived from an
Aramaic word meaning hearth, fireplace or roasting place.
(b) They have become soothsayers (divination; witchcraft;
sorcery; fortune-telling) like the Philistines. Beelzebub (Baal-Zebub) was a god of Ekron, one of
the cities of Philistia. They also worshipped Baal, Dagon and Astarte. The
Philistines relied upon both priests and diviners to determine future courses
of action.
1 Samuel 6:2 – And the Philistines
called for the priests and the diviners, saying, What shall we do to the ark of
the Lord? tell us wherewith we shall send it to his place.
(c) They please themselves in (strike hands with) the children
of strangers (foreigners); that is, they make (commercial) agreements with
foreigners by the striking of hands to seal a deal. King Uzziah’s
reign had started off prosperous with much trade being done between Judah and
surrounding nations. This prosperity diminished after Uzziah
attempted to burn incense in the temple and was struck down with leprosy until
his death. With increased trade, though, came increased knowledge of forbidden
things, especially religions and idolatry. It may also have included mutual
defence pacts.
(d) They have much riches; they are prosperous; there is no shortage
of treasures in Israel (the house of Jacob). They might be living in an oasis
(Jerusalem) in the midst of a ravaged country (Isaiah 1:7-9) but they must
still have been living in luxury while the good times lasted. God has tried to
bring them to their knees through hardships, but only the captivity in Babylon
is going to make them desist from their evil ways. Even then, when they return
from Babylon, they continue their downward slide.
(e) They have an abundance of horses and chariots, both symbols
of luxury and ostentation. The importance of a country was often measured by
the number of horses and chariots it had. A major part of Solomon’s image was
in the number of horses and chariots he possessed.
1 Kings 4:26 – And Solomon had forty
thousand stalls of horses for his chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen.
1 Kings 10:26 – And Solomon gathered
together chariots and horsemen: and he had a thousand and four hundred
chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen, whom he bestowed in the cities for
chariots, and with the king at Jerusalem.
(f) Their land is full of the idols they worship.
idols – of nought;
good for nothing; worthless; a divination; false gods.
King Manasseh was probably the
worst king of Judah because of his idol worship.
2 Chronicles 33:2-7 – 2 But did [that which was] evil in the sight of the
Lord, like unto the abominations of the heathen, whom the Lord had cast out
before the children of Israel. 3 For he built again the high
places which Hezekiah his father had broken down, and he reared up altars for
Baalim, and made groves, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served
them. 4 Also he built altars in the house of the Lord,
whereof the Lord had said, In Jerusalem shall my name be for ever. 5 And
he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of
the Lord. 6 And he caused his children to pass through the
fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom: also he
observed times, and used enchantments, and used witchcraft, and dealt with a
familiar spirit, and with wizards: he wrought much evil in the sight of the
Lord, to provoke him to anger. 7 And he set a carved image,
the idol which he had made, in the house of God, of which God had said to David
and to Solomon his son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen
before all the tribes of Israel, will I put my name for ever:
However, Solomon, that “wisest” of
all people, didn’t do much better!
1 Kings 11:5-8 – 5 For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the
abomination of the Ammonites. 6 And Solomon did evil in the
sight of the Lord, and went not fully after the Lord, as [did] David his
father. 7 Then did Solomon build an high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, in the hill that [is] before
Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of the
children of Ammon. 8 And likewise did he for all his strange
wives, which burnt incense and sacrificed unto their gods.
Uzziah was known as a relatively good king, yet he did not remove
the places of false worship. This must have been an open invitation to worship
on the high places if they wanted to.
2 Kings 15:3-4 – 3 And he did [that which was] right in the sight of
the Lord, according to all that his father Amaziah
had done; 4 Save that the high places were not removed: the
people sacrificed and burnt incense still on the high places.
(g) They worship things that they (or others such as those who
made idols for a living) have made themselves, and not the God who made all
things, including them, His people. If this is referring to the idols (“of no
value”) they worship, it is clear that God is making the point that He is the
only One who may create; all others are His creation and therefore may only
effectively copy! There is effectively no value in false worship!
Making idols was a very lucrative
occupation for those in places where many idols were worshipped.
Acts 19:24-27 – 24 For
a certain [man] named Demetrius, a silversmith, which made silver
shrines for Diana, brought no small gain unto the craftsmen; 25 Whom
he called together with the workmen of like occupation, and said, Sirs, ye know
that by this craft we have our wealth. 26 Moreover ye see and
hear, that not alone at Ephesus, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul hath
persuaded and turned away much people, saying that they be no gods, which are
made with hands: 27 So that not only this our craft is in
danger to be set at nought; but also that the temple of the great goddess Diana
should be despised, and her magnificence should be destroyed, whom all Asia and
the world worshippeth.
All these are a testimony to
Israel forsaking her God; thus it is only justice that God should forsake them
in return. That is, Israel has literally asked for it!
God is giving them exactly what
they have given Him. He is doing to them what they have done to Him!
Isaiah 2:9 – And the mean man boweth down, and the great man humbleth
himself: therefore forgive them not.
mean man – adam (mankind; common man).
At face value, it appears to be
saying that the mean man, or the common or average man, just bows down to these
idols and false gods; he worships them like all the other sheep around him. (As
in “All we like sheep have gone astray”)
great man – man in contrast to woman; human being in contrast to
God; servant; champion; great man.
That is, it could mean man as
opposed to God humbles (to be or to become low) himself before idols. Such
people will not be forgiven. This sounds similar to the unforgiveable sin!
But Isaiah gives a similar verse
later on, where the underlined clause is the same as above
Isaiah 5:15 – And the mean man
shall be brought down, and the mighty man shall be humbled, and the eyes of the lofty shall be humbled:
This consistency strongly suggests
that God is the One who forces (or will force) such people to bend to His
authority. Also, you can see some consistency with Isaiah 2:11 & 17 – we’ll
look at these next week.
The church today arrogantly
determines how God should be worshipped, and how much He should be permitted to
“interfere” with their other pursuits (of pleasure etc).
They “repent” of their sins and demand of God that he accept their sorrow;
however, their sorrow is not godly, but rather remorse (worldly sorrow). They
only grieve over their “sin” when it looks like their waywardness might be held
against them; their only regret is that their “sin” might have made things
awkward for them. They have no respect for God’s commandments, and only obey
when it is convenient to do so. This is the world we live in today, a
hedonistic society where the pursuit of pleasure overrules all other activities.
Even God is only permitted to be part of their worship if He can somehow fit in
with their “fun”. And, in so many churches today, if God were to deny them
their pleasure, they would just find another “God” who doesn’t “interfere” so
much! Yet God is not a convenience; He is God!
Psalm 2:11 – Serve the Lord with
fear, and rejoice with trembling.
Hoppers Crossing
Christian Church homepage