Isaiah 2

Verses 1-5

1. “The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
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.
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.
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.
5. O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the LORD.”

What is meant by the ‘last days’ in this text (which continues into the next two chapters)? When the Temple and Jerusalem were first attacked? Or, perhaps when it was ravaged by Rome in 70 AD? When teaching this book many years ago, I noticed that Isaiah tends to run two lines of prophecy at the same time, like railway tracks running in parallel. Thus, this chapter may also follow this pattern, referring to a more immediate vision and, at the same time, a second one. In which case the meanings are dual.

However we muse upon the text, it applies definitely to the end of time, but before the second coming of Christ, because it ties in with the prophecy that the mantle of Gospel preaching will one day be placed on the shoulders of Jewish Christians, after being removed from the West. If this is the case, then it means enemies will not be able to destroy Jerusalem again – otherwise this chapter makes no sense.

If we look at this as parallel truths, then one meaning is more immediate – that Jerusalem and the Temple will remain fixed and free-standing until they are finally destroyed, The power now showered upon papal Rome will shift to Jerusalem... the centre of all religion will be removed from the harlot (Rome) and returned to Jerusalem and will be evidenced in the Church (spiritual not physical: thus, the Christian faith will be the new ‘Jerusalem’). Then, instead of trudging without true reason to Rome, they will instead joyfully make pilgrimages to Jerusalem (spiritual).

Not as they exist today, because modern pilgrimages are a delusion, but as the real centre of worship in that day... the heart. Having said that (the first meaning), we can also define this activity as people worldwide hearing preaching by saved Jews, who will proclaim the last opportunity for human beings to realise the truth about the Gospel and will flock to God in large numbers, ‘Jerusalem’ being a symbol of God in His ‘house’. Both meanings can be applied.

So, Isaiah begins this chapter by saying the Christian church will arise by way of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Though the physical Temple will be destroyed (70 AD), another Temple will arise on the ‘mountain’ (the heart). All who believe and have been elected to salvation will be the new Temple… both Jew and Gentile (in other words, everyone from all people). The Gospel will be heard everywhere, openly. Today, Christians are hated and reviled, but when God chains Satan before the very end, the saved will arise like flowers in a desert. And also, like a rock, a defence against evil and Satan’s envoys.

At that glorious time nothing will be able to topple the ‘temple’ within each saved person, and so Christian faith will be supreme, bringing about the destruction of world philosophies and sinful ideas. And heresies and false religions will simply vanish… Christian faith will cause the erroneous false ways to dissolve, and for more saved people returning to truth to “walk in His paths”. The truth will “go forth out of Zion” – those chosen by God to salvation.

Evil will be highlighted and removed, and many will be rebuked (v4), leading to a period of peace before the End, simply because when saved people live biblically, there is always peace and equity. And so wars will cease. Therefore, said the Lord to Israelites (Israel and Judah) – walk in the light ('ôr) of the Lord! That is, live in the sunlight of God, the purity of His word, which alone leads us to Him securing our safety.

Verses 6-10

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:
9. And the mean man boweth down, and the great man humbleth himself: therefore forgive them not.
10. Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty.”

Isaiah brings a serious charge against Israelites, from God – that they have discarded their own people and ways, the ways of God. They have allowed strangers to fill the land, take delight in marrying into false-god worship and practice magic (v6). At that time many became wealthy and owned luxuries like horses and chariots… the equivalent of modern day fancy cars, mansions and vast salaries. All brought about by spiritual prostitution (v8). The ‘work of their own hands’ then, appears to speak of making figurines of false gods. By doing all this, men of every status, low to high, have ruined themselves before God. Today, men say ‘just carry on and forgive’. But, God says “forgive them not”!  In our day there is a superfluity of easy-forgiveness that minimises grave sin and vaunts evil. There is no line drawn between bad and good, Satan and God. And so everyone lives as if neither exists, making it easier to be sinful.

Verses 11-19

11. “The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and 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 be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low:
13. And upon all the cedars of Lebanon, that are high and lifted up, and upon all the oaks of Bashan,
14. And upon all the high mountains, and upon all the hills that are lifted up,
15. And upon every high tower, and upon every fenced wall,
16. And upon all the ships of Tarshish, and upon all pleasant pictures.
17. And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low: and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day.
18. And the idols he shall utterly abolish.
19. And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.”

Both in his era and in what is to come, God will be feared, causing men to hide in caves (using sinful strategies) away from His burning gaze. But, it is futile, for God sees us even when we are in darkness. Those who think they are something will be cut down and only God and His Name will be visible (v11)… such is the pride of mankind. All such men will suddenly be brought down (v12), here likened to cedars of Lebanon and oaks of Bashan, all of whom thought they were too strong to be brought down. Once they were proud and revered, now they will be dashed down by the Lord Who made them. Isaiah then names the kind of pride that will disappear when the Lord looks upon them – high mountains, high towers (many were built throughout Judah), every high wall, the famed ships of Tarshish called here ‘pleasant pictures’ (though there may be other meanings).

The time is fast coming when all proud and arrogant men will be dashed to the ground, as the glory and power of God is made manifest for all to see, including those who attack us for believing in the Lord. At that time everything false and idolatrous will also be crushed, and will be found hiding away in caves and under rocks, where they should always have been. The screaming hordes will also hide away for fear of God’s retribution, but they will be found and dealt with by our all-seeing Lord. Then, the Lord will avenge His people and those He deals with will at last know the reality of Almighty God. Once they were standing tall, smirking, now they will be shown to be wicked and of no worth.

Verses 20-22

20. “In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which they made each one for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats;
21. To go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.
22. Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted of?

That day will come, sooner than we think. And when confronted by the sudden realisation of God as a real, all-powerful being, those who were once enemies of truth and God’s people will cast aside everything they own in fear (v20). Suddenly, they (the majority) will see the endless glory and power of the God they scorned and rejected. They will try to hide from His gaze and touch, in vain, as the whole world sees what happens when men laugh at God and His very Presence shakes the foundations of the universe. Man is as nothing if he does not fear the Lord and obey. Turn from Man to God, for in God there is life; in Man there is death and foolish pride.

© 13 April 2025

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