The next four chapters (2-5) represent a connected discourse addressed to Judah and Jerusalem. The discourse finishes in Chapter 5 with the parable of the Lord's vineyard and His subsequent judgment on that vineyard because despite the extraordinary care given it by the Lord Himself, it produced not sweet grapes but wild, inedible grapes suitable only for dumping.
The first 4 verses in chapter 2 picture the millennial kingdom...Zion's future glory. God's special people would be restored, Jerusalem would be the city of the great King and the law would go forth from it and all the nations flow to it. In those days, the people would not learn war anymore...the Prince of Peace would be on the throne. Instead, pilgrimages would be made to the House of the God of Jacob to meet with God and have Him teach them His ways. The desire of the people would be to walk in His paths.
What a contrast to what was currently going on in Jerusalem and Judah during the time that Isaiah prophesied...what a contrast to what is going on today. The prospect of the glory of the future Zion prompts Isaiah to exhort the people to repent in verse 5 and walk in the light of His countenance. It is also a good exhortation for us.
Verses 6-22 speak to the coming judgment not only for Judah and Jerusalem but also to the time of great tribulation (the time of Jacob's trouble) that would come upon the whole earth before the establishment of God's kingdom. Some of it echoes Revelation saying that the people would seek shelter in the holes of the rocks and the caves of the earth from the terror of the Lord. The people had forsaken their God, filled themselves with eastern ways and had trusted in man, silver, gold, horses and chariots. They had worshiped idols...bowed down and humbled themselves before the works of their own hands. Verse 10 tells the people to enter into the rock and hide in the dust from the terror of the Lord and the glory of His majesty. 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--Verse 17 says the loftiness of man shall be bowed down and the haughtiness of men shall be brought low. The Lord alone will be exalted.
We are made by God...in His image. Formed by Him and redeemed by Him. We are made to fulfill His purposes for us...to serve Him. We are here to do His will. Going our own way is the way of sin and death and for the most part sorrow both in this life and in the next. These words are not just written for the people of Judah and Jerusalem but for us. God is not mocked...He suffers long but judgment comes. He stands at the door and knocks and dwells in those whose hearts are for Him. The Lord will shake the earth and judgment will come like a tremendous storm devouring all in its path. Man's attempt to find security and make a resting place for his feet in this world, while ignoring his Creator who created all that he sees for His glory and for His purposes, is in vain and doomed from the very start for failure. Look at those things that you are depending on....awaken to reality and put them aside for the glory and majesty of the One who can be depended on. Anything else is foolish....when the end comes if you are not in Christ...In the Ark of Him who is your confidence, you will find yourself bereft of all security and will seek shelter in vain...You cannot hide from the Lord.
Verse 22 says this: Sever yourselves from such a man, Whose breath is in his nostrils; for of what account is he? It echoes the center verse of the Bible (Psalm 118:8) which says: It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man. Don't look to the right or to the left but to Him who died for you...walk in His truth...be found in Him.
Love
Mom
Isaiah 2
The Future House of God
1 The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
2 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.
3 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.
4 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.
2 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.
3 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.
4 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.
The Day of the LORD
5 O house of Jacob, come and let us walk
In the light of the LORD.
6 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.
7 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.
8 Their land is also full of idols;
They worship the work of their own hands,
That which their own fingers have made.
9 People bow down,
And each man humbles himself;
Therefore do not forgive them.
10 Enter into the rock, and hide in the dust,
From the terror of the LORD
And the glory of His majesty.
11 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.
12 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—
13 Upon all the cedars of Lebanon that are high and lifted up,
And upon all the oaks of Bashan;
14 Upon all the high mountains,
And upon all the hills that are lifted up;
15 Upon every high tower,
And upon every fortified wall;
16 Upon all the ships of Tarshish,
And upon all the beautiful sloops.
17 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,
18 But the idols He shall utterly abolish.
19 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.
20 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,
21 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.
22 Sever yourselves from such a man,
Whose breath is in his nostrils;
For of what account is he?
In the light of the LORD.
6 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.
7 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.
8 Their land is also full of idols;
They worship the work of their own hands,
That which their own fingers have made.
9 People bow down,
And each man humbles himself;
Therefore do not forgive them.
10 Enter into the rock, and hide in the dust,
From the terror of the LORD
And the glory of His majesty.
11 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.
12 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—
13 Upon all the cedars of Lebanon that are high and lifted up,
And upon all the oaks of Bashan;
14 Upon all the high mountains,
And upon all the hills that are lifted up;
15 Upon every high tower,
And upon every fortified wall;
16 Upon all the ships of Tarshish,
And upon all the beautiful sloops.
17 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,
18 But the idols He shall utterly abolish.
19 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.
20 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,
21 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.
22 Sever yourselves from such a man,
Whose breath is in his nostrils;
For of what account is he?
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