Isaiah 2
By Richard P. Joseph
8/31/2024
Wherever the gospel is believed by a new convert who has no biblical training, they are usually encouraged to read one of the New Testament gospels first. That is a good thing. The gospels are written in story form and are not that hard to grasp, well, so it seems. While it is not that difficult to follow the basic story of a man named Jesus of Nazarath from his miraculous birth to his death, burial and resurrection, there is yet very much that goes right over the new, and many times even long time, believers' heads. This is because the New Testament is written in the same type of vernacular that the Old Testament was written in, including cultural nuances and beliefs. Therefore, it is very necessary that all believers, new and old, get familiar with the Old Testament and its historical setting, otherwise they fall into the common trap of misunderstanding the New Testament. I just happen to be going through the book of Isaiah at this time and would therefore like to share just a tidbit from chapter 2.
Chapter 2, like many other chapters in Isaiah, are messianic in context. Isaiah, not only addressed many issues of his day, also prophesied about future events, most notably the coming messiah.
I encourage you to have the 2nd chapter open as I highlight some of the passages. You need to read the entire chapter to get the full effect.
Isaiah starts out by identifying the subject matter right off by naming Judah and Jerusalem. He is not talking about the United States, or Russia or China, he is talking about the land that he lived in and the land that would be affected by the coming Messiah which concerns this prophecy. Although this prophecy would eventually have worldwide concern, the starting place would be the land of Judah. He then identifies a certain time frame; “the latter days”. Out of context, this could mean anything but in context it only means the latter days of Judaism. He then talks about the mountain of the LORD’S house would be “on top of the mountains and hills. In other words a lofty and lifted up place as if it is a spiritual dwelling, not physical. And all the nations will flow into it. It will be a place that will judge the nations as if it will be the international law and it will be a place of peace. He then goes into a judgment of the people of Israel and deems them idolaters and full of Eastern mysticism. He then says in verse 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—
Whenever you see “the day of the LORD” that is a statement that refers to God’s judgment. John the Baptist warned that that very judgment was now (in his day) upon the nation of Israel.
Matthew 3:10 And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
Isaiah 2:19 gives a vivid description of the terror that will come upon them in the latter days.
They shall go into the holes of the rocks,
And into the caves of the [f]earth,
From the terror of the Lord
And the glory of His majesty,
When He arises to shake the earth mightily.
Revelation 6:15-16 sounds a lot like this prophecy.
15 And the kings of the earth, the great men, [j]the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, 16 and said to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! 17 For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?”
There were two great judgments that occurred after Isaiah’s day upon Jerusalem. The first was the Babylonian captivity in 586 BC and the second was the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in AD 70. In both cases the Temple was demolished, famine and pestilence insured and most of those that did not perish were taken away as slaves. During the Babylonian crisis, the Jews were allowed to return to their homeland after a period of 70 years which the prophet Jeremiah foretold. The second crisis had no return date, it only had an expiration date. As predicted by Isaiah and others, the fall of Jerusalem during the time of the messiah would be a final act. It would close down the Mosaic economy and usher in the messianic kingdom that has no end. That is why Isaiah’s prophecy has a spiritual tone to it. It is not predicting an earthly physical kingdom but rather it is talking about a spiritual kingdom that has no end and cannot be infiltrated by evil. While religion has been fully invaded and infiltrated by evil, the kingdom of Jesus Christ can’t and never will. While all of the Old Testament prophets addressed the concerns of their day, they often would see into the future of a different kind of world. They addressed the physical worldly kingdoms of their day but could see a day when a spiritual kingdom would unite, not only Jews, but also all the peoples of the earth. They would no longer have to fight over a piece of land, they would actually inherit the earth. They would no longer slave under an earthly king but be ruled by justice and righteousness by their heavenly king. We would be united by the blood of the lamb, not the blood of war. In this kingdom we will beat our swords into plowshares and our spears into pruning hooks. While the physical world around us can’t understand what is going on in our kingdom, we can understand it. The physical world around us will always hate us and use every source at their disposal to destroy us but it can never be done. We are in the everlasting kingdom of Jesus Christ. Read all about it; in the old and new testaments!
Isaiah 2:4
He shall judge between the nations,
And rebuke many people;
They shall beat their swords into plowshares,
And their spears into pruning [a]hooks;
Nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
Neither shall they learn war anymore.
