Isaiah 2: 1 – 22
Good News – Bad News
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. 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?
Have you ever thought like me that each time we gather to look into our Precious Adoni Jehovah – The Lord Most High’s Scripture it seems to focus on God’s displeasure with mankind? Well, for one thing our Holy Ruler Is Kind and Faithful to point out where we are wrong. A True Friend who sees us messing with danger, will do something. The 27th chapter of Proverbs describes this truth is a beautiful way, “Open rebuke [is] better than love carefully concealed. Faithful [are] the wounds of a friend, But the kisses of an enemy [are] deceitful.”
Our God Is Love. Yet, part of love means dealing with things that need immediate change. In chapter 2 our Magnificent Holy Trinity wants to point out to us what needs immediate attention. He Is going to point out in verses 6 through 22 the worse of all sins. Do you have a guess which one. The answer is ‘Pride’ Our Holy King has set standards for us and He expects us to try to do them. He tells us to be perfect as He Is Perfect. Sin means missing the mark of His target. All sin is wrong but the first sin that entered the world as you and I know was ‘Pride’ caused by the sin of Lucifer.
I have heard it said that if you have to deal with difficult issues with an individual, it is always good to start off with complements or encouraging words. So, we see our Wonderful Teacher doing likewise as He begins this chapter with ‘Good News’ in verses 1 through 5 o n what He will do for us in the future
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. 5 O house of Jacob, come and let us walk in the light of the LORD.
Did you catch the great incident that occurred in verse one. Take a stab at it? Still do not see it? Let me ask you a question as we look at verse 1 again = “1 The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem” I know you read it and still do not see it. What did Isaiah see? – The word. Was it something written down on paper? So, what did He see? Let us jump over a few pages in our bibles to chapter 6, “1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple.’ You are familiar with the Gospel of John chapter 1, “1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.
I think a lot of us miss the fact of Who Isaiah saw. He saw the Lord Jesus Christ, face to Face and conversed with Him this is how we receive all this information from the prophet. So, our Lord not only taught him but showed him what would happen in the future.
This is what Isaiah saw and recorded for us, .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.”
Isaiah was permitted to be transmitted into the future to see and record for us what things will be like. There weren’t any calendars so John tells us when this will take place – ‘the latter days’ Oh, thanks a lot John, that’s a big help. So, what is ‘the latter days’? I guess we gonna have to dig through the bible to see if there is any more reference to the term, ‘latter days’.
Well, in studying this term I came to find out that it incorporates a few things. For one thing the term is referring to our Precious Holy Spirit. Look at what is said in the book of Joel which the Apostle Peter references happening in chapter 2 of the book of Acts.
Joel 2, “28 “ And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions. 29 And also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days. 30 “ And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: Blood and fire and pillars of smoke. 31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and awesome day of the LORD. 32 And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance, as the LORD has said, among the remnant whom the LORD calls.”
Acts 2, “14 But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them, “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and heed my words. 15 For these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. 16 But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: 17 ‘ And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams. 18 And on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; And they shall prophesy. 19 I will show wonders in heaven above and signs in the earth beneath: Blood and fire and vapor of smoke. 20 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and awesome day of the LORD. 21 And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.’”
We read here that one of the Lord’s early church leader’s informs us that the last days begin on the feast of Pentecost.
Also take a look again at what Joel had to say. There will be great perils as our Holy Ruler unleashes the punishment toward God forsaking mankind, - 19 I will show wonders in heaven above and signs in the earth beneath: Blood and fire and vapor of smoke. 20 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and awesome day of the LORD.” If you think all the horrible earthquakes, tornados, and other terrible conditions are pretty bad now? You haven’t seen anything yet. Humans will be so fearful of these calamities that they will be hiding in caves hoping that they will have everything collapse in on them from the fear that they will have to go through.
Yet there will be hope for us. Just as our Wonderful Faithful God protected the Israelites when they were in Egypt from the plagues, He will watch over us and send for our deliverance our Holy Master, Lord, and Savior Jesus Christ as we learn from the book of 2 Peter 3, “ 1 Beloved, I now write to you this second epistle (in both of which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder), 2 that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior, 3 knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, 4 and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.” 5 For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, 6 by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. 7 But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.8 But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. 11 Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, 12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? 13 Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.”
Then after all this excitement our Lord informs Isaiah that He will place His new home on the top of the mountain in 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.”
This will be the most important place on earth. You can see that people will come from all over the world to see in person the One Who gave His life for us. We will be able to bow down before Him and tell Him how much we love and appreciate Him and join with others in Worshiping Him. Man, will that be great!.
Our Lord Jesus will personally teach us His ways. This point leads me to comment on some things. Why is it that the bible says not to do certain things and they are ignored by so called religious people? Look at these passages and see if you agree with me.
Matthew 23, “8 But you, do not be called ‘Rabbi’; for One is your Teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren. 9 Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. 10 And do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ. 11 But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. 12 And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.
What is it with people wanting to be called ‘Father’, ‘Teacher’, ‘Master’, or ‘Reverend’? These are titles limited to be given to the only One Who deserves these titles. Have we forgotten that the word ‘minister’ means servant. One guy who I like to pick on is when I introduce him as the ‘Highest Most Righteous Reverend Lenny’. It points out the ridiculousness of assuming honor that is not due. If you want to refer to me, sometimes if appropriate you can call me Pastor Tom, or if you prefer, just Tom.
Besides teaching us His ways, our Lord Jesus Christ will also direct our walk in life –“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.” You know, we will walk the walk, not just talk the talk anymore.
It will not be annoying anymore to people to hear about our Great God. They will all be anxious to here anything about Him, “For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.”
We read this in the book of 1 Peter chapter 1 our marching orders as God’s representatives, “22 Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, 23 having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever, 24 because “ All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers, and its flower falls away, 25 But the word of the LORD endures forever.” Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you.”
Look at the power that our Mighty God will display, He will rule and judge from His Throne in Jerusalem as verse 4 informs us., “4 He shall judge between the nations, and rebuke many people.”
Mankind has tried every technique possible to have peace, but the real truth is that there will never be any true and lasting peace in the world until the Prince of Peace rules, then we will see this happen, “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.”
Having personally seen this great future, Isaiah now pleads with the people in verse 5 to get right with our Loving God, “5 O house of Jacob, come and let us walk in the light of the LORD.”
Wouldn’t it be nice if God just wrote us messages on what would happen to us in the future? In a way He has. He has told us the ending of our lives and it is ‘Good’. We will live forever with Him and our love ones who have placed their hope, trust, and belief in the Sacrifice of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. However, the information that goes on between now and then He does not tell us. For one thing, if we knew about some of the things that would occur, we would be like Jonah and try to flee the other way.
Now, our Holy Master is going to fill the people in on some of the things that will happen and it ain’t pretty. Because the people will not heed the prophet’s warning, God will forsake them,
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.
Does this sound familiar? Instead of just depending on the True and Living God, the people turned to the East for enlightenment. “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.”
‘Divination like the Philistines’ meant claiming to know and control the future by the power of demons or by interpreting omens. These practices were forbidden by our Holy Father which we presented to us by Him from these passages;
Leviticus 19, “26 ‘You shall not eat anything with the blood, nor shall you practice divination or soothsaying.”
Deuteronomy 18, “10 There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, 11 or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. 12 For all who do these things are an abomination to the LORD, and because of these abominations the LORD your God drives them out from before you. 13 You shall be blameless before the LORD your God. 14 For these nations which you will dispossess listened to soothsayers and diviners; but as for you, the LORD your God has not appointed such for you.
The people began to worship these phony gods along with our Holy Blessed Trinity. The people had forgotten the first, second and third commandments as pointed out to us in the book of Exodus chapter 20, “ 1 And God spoke all these words, saying: 2 “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 3 “You shall have no other gods before Me. 4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; 5 you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, 6 but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments. 7 “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.”
Not only did the people seek help and direction from the wrong places and sources they thought that their superior economic strength and military power would protect them from everyone - 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.”
Their weekends were not directed to honor God but was filled with sports, entertainment, and all others ways to enjoy life. They had everything but thinking of God in mind. This is called my friends idol worship. “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.’
Why would God be so upset with the people just enjoying themselves? Well, idol worship insults our Precious Holy God because we are giving our attention and loyalty to something He created than to the One Who Created everything. This is why I am so bugged about Christmas. It is good if people give any attention to the Holy Lamb of God but most people treat it as Xmas. They will not even allow Christ’s name appear in the holiday’s name. They just want the money from the sales associated with this holiday. Do you know why they call the Friday after Thanksgiving ‘Black Friday’? It is because the merchants know that their balance sheets will move from the ‘Red’ debt to profit which is in the ‘Black’.
Isaiah is so upset do you see this godly man’s response to the people turning away from the Loving God? What did he say? – ‘Lord, don’t forgive them.’ That is a man who is very zealous in love with the Perfect Pure and Holy Lord.
Don’t worry Isaiah the Righteous King will show the rebels the consequences of their actions.
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.
This is not just a Tornado possibility, it is a Tornado Warning. A funnel has been spotted. The people need to flee for their lives as verse 10 warns, “10 Enter into the rock, and hide in the dust, from the terror of the LORD and the glory of His majesty.” This warning is worse than the consequences of a Tornado.
The issue of pride will be dealt with once and for all. Look at what our Holy Lord says, “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, Everything that displays any type of ;Pride’ will be dealt with.
All these phony religions that have been promoted by a rebellious mankind will be eliminated. They say that there aren’t any atheists in a fox hole. When you are so scared to death then you know and cry out to the only One Who can save you, not to man made gods. – ‘18 But the idols He shall utterly abolish.’
If you have ever lived in the northeast part of the United States then you have personally witnessed ‘panic’. The pretty weather women predict an enormous snow storm. Of course it usually is only a dusting. However, the Television channels must be in cahoots with the grocery stores and hardware stores because everyone buys out all the milk and bread and snow shovels and salt. I admire the car commercial that shows people panicking like the end of the world was happening and then it displays a little snow falling with one type of car that can get good traction in the snow. However, the panic that our Holy Spirit is referring to is real, 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.
In the book of 2 Corinthians chapter 13, the apostle Paul challenges us to examine ourselves. We need to take our own inventory of how we think and act. If we were charged with being a Christian would the evidence presented convict us? Sadly, there are too many undercover Christians in this world.
Our Precious Holy God ends this section with a similar question,
22 Sever yourselves from such a man, whose breath is in his nostrils; For of what account is
he?
Jehovah Elyon – The Lord Most High says to all of us, ‘who do you think you are? Remember, you are just dirt. I AM the One Who made you.” My dad who was very abusive you to say this to me, ‘I am the one who brought you into this world and I am the one who can take you out of it.’ Our Lord Is not mean, yet He must deal with sin. May we all stop trusting in ourselves and start trusting in the One Who Loves us.
