Isaiah 2

The word of the Lord came to Isaiah concerning Judah and Jerusalem. It is actually concerning the remnant seed and remnant weed, the faithful and unfaithful of God. Isaiah as historiographer in the palace had no interest in pure history for history sake. He was interested in the history of religion and the religious aspects of each king, including Uzziah and Hezekiah. He started the chapter with the eschaton “now it will come about that in the last days” (v. 2a-b). At that time the mountain of the house of the Lord, heavenly Zion will be established as the chief of the mountains (v. 2c-d). God will create a new earth and new heaven so that a rearrangement will take place about the mountain of His house. We know it is Zion since v. 3f tells us that “the law will go out from Zion.” Zion is the new Jerusalem since the next verse equates Zion with Jerusalem “the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem” (v. 3g). The mountain of the Lord will “be raised above the hills and all nations will stream to it and many peoples will come and say ‘Come let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob’” (v. 2e-f and 3a-d). The reason is that the Lord may teach them concerning His ways and that they may walk in His ways and paths, a walking that involves the law of God “for the law will go out from Zion” (v. e-g). People think that Christ is the end of the law. He is not the end of the moral law, only the sacrificial ceremonial law. The moral law of God is why there are sin today on this earth and why Satan sinned in heaven as was cast out. Instruction in the law is life and peace. There will be in the end-time, before this event, which is at the Second Coming, before the Second Coming, an Investigative Judgment “and He will judge between nations and will render decisions for many peoples” which is a judgment on behalf of the faithful people of spiritual Israel (v. 4a-b). The Second Coming rewards these faithful remnant of spiritual Israel and they are the ones who “will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks” from military array to farming implements (v. 4c). Nation will not lift up a sword against another nation after the resurrection of the dead at the Second Coming (v. 4d). “And never again will they learn war” for in heaven, there will be no need of military science (v. 4e). From vv. 5-9, Isaiah is talking about the remnant of his own time. This may be interpreted preteristically. Isaiah is pleading to the remnant of his own day “come house of Jacob and let us walk in the light of the Lord” (v. 5a). Every generation has a remnant of God and this one was the remnant of God in Isaiah’s day. Isaiah says that God has abandoned the house of Jacob because they are filled from the east (v. 6b); soothsayers like the Philistines (v. 6c); they strike with the children of foreigners (v. 6d); they are wealthy (v. 7a-b); many horses (v. 7c); lots of chariots (v. 7d); lots of idols (v. 8a); works of their hands (v. 8b); “they worship the work of their hands that which their fingers have made” (v. 8b-c). As a result of this the Lord humbled and abased them (v. 9a-b) “and do not forgive them” (v. 9c). It is because they continue in their bad actions. At the Second Coming these remnant weed and other evil people will “enter the rock and hide in the dust from the terror of the Lord and from the splendor of His majesty” (v. 10). It is a central thought in eschatology of the Second Coming and Paul mentioned it in 2 Thessalonians 1:9 and John mentioned it in Revelation 6:15. The “proud look of man will be abased” (v. 11a). “For the Lord of Hosts [angels] will have a day of reckoning against everyone who is proud and lofty and against everyone who is lifted up that he may be abased” (v. 12) and it means that there is an executive judgment coming in which the Lord will exterminate all evil. God will be against “cedars [leaders] of Lebanon (v. 13a); “oaks [leaders] of Bashan” (v. 13b); “lofty mountains [power-bases]” (v. 14a); “hills [networks] that are lifted up” (v. 14b); high tower [military powers] and fortified wall (v. 15a); ships of Tarshish and beautiful craft (v. 16a-b). The pride of man will be humbled in that day and also the loftiness of men will be abased (v. 17a-b). In the eschatological day of the Lord “only the Lord alone will be exalted in that day” (v. 17c). Isaiah then copied a hymn in to his writing which is structured in content according to a pattern of A-B-C-D followed by A’-B’-C’-D’. A idols will vanish (v. 18) and A’ cast away are the idols of silver and gold (v. 20b); B men will go into caves (v. 19a-b) and B’ in order to go into caverns of the rocks to hide from (v. 21a); C it will be before the terror of the Lord and the splendor of His majesty (v. 19c-d) and before the terror of the Lord and the splendor of His majesty (v. 21b); D it will happen when the Lord “arises to make the earth tremble” (v. 19e) which will be when He arises to make the earth tremble (v. 21c). The repetition is very obvious so that one can assume it to be a hymn sung by a chorus in various parts. This literary formula is well-known in the Ancient Near East so that Isaiah was a learned man. Isaiah addresses his own generation again and all generations to follow with a dictum: Stop making humanism the center of meaning “stop regarding man whose breath is in his nostrils for why should he be esteemed?” (v. 22).

Dear God

We have a tendency to uplift man instead of the Man Jesus Christ, to cling to what is our favorite things, to worship ourselves and the works of our hands. Turn our attention to the Lord, Jesus Christ Who died for our sins and let us walk in Your law and be instructed by it. Amen

Koot van Wyk, (DLitt et Phil; ThD) Kyungpook National University, Department of Liberal Education, Sangju, South Korea; conjoint lecturer of Avondale College, Australia