2:1.
“The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.”
The word “saw”
indicates that the revelation given to the prophet was in the form of a
vision, a mode of communication which God frequently employed when imparting
information to His servants in the OT age. Today’s equivalent is the
enlightenment given by the Holy Spirit, which enables the diligent student
to comprehend the deeper spiritual truth woven into the fabric of the
Bible’s literal language relative to colors, numbers, compass directions,
metals, etc.
2:2.
“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.”
In the present
context “last days” refers to the Millennium; and it is axiomatic that
“mountain” is to be understood here, as frequently in Scripture, to
represent a major center of government (hills represent lesser governments),
so that the truth being taught is that “the mountain of the Lord’s house,”
i.e., Jerusalem, will be the center of world rule during those thousand
years which will bring earth’s turbulent history to a glorious peaceful
close.
“... and all
nations shall flow unto it” means that it will be not only the world center
of government, but also of worship, the people coming from the ends of the
earth to keep the great national religious feasts: Passover, Feast of Weeks,
Feast of Trumpets, Feast of Tabernacles, and Day of Atonement.
It is to be
noted that in the Millennium the Levitical ritual will be the universal mode
of worship, for as in the past that ritual pointed to the coming of the Lord
Jesus Christ, so in the Millennium will it point back to that coming, and to
His perfectly completed work of making atonement for sin.
2:3.
“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.”
The “many”
obedient people is in sharp contrast with conditions in the world today and
in all the centuries past, for in all that time it is the rebellious who
have been in the majority, believers being a very small minority. Nor will
it be then as it is now and as it has been in the past: even though
rebellion will lurk in their hearts, the unconverted will be compelled to
yield at least outward obedience under pain of death, see Isaiah 65:20,
“There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath
not filled his days: for the child shall die an hundred years old; but the
sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed.” The compelled
obedience will be a cardinal factor in the peace and happiness of the
Millennium, for it is man’s rebellion that has made the past six thousand
years such a time of trouble and wretchedness.
As discussed
already, the mountain represents government, but the house of God represents
all that is associated with the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior. In the
Millennium there will be a general seeking after God, and a desire to know
and obey His laws.
It is
significant that Zion, a synonym for Jerusalem, means parched place,
and is associated with the law; while Jerusalem, meaning dual peace shall
be taught: lay (set) ye double peace, is associated with “the word of
the Lord,” the primary purpose of that “word” being to present the Lord
Jesus Christ as Savior. God’s word is as both Zion and Jerusalem: it warns
men of their need of a Savior because of their having broken God’s law, and
it presents the Lord Jesus Christ as that Savior.
It is
instructive also to note that God is referred to as the God of Jacob, rather
than of Israel, the name given Jacob following his conversion. The lesson
being taught is that while the Millennium will begin with only believers on
the earth, the children born during that era will be spiritual Jacobs, i.e.,
unbelievers just as it has always been, and while many of them will become
believers, there will also be an escalating number who will remain
unbelievers, and who will be permitted to live only as long as their sin
remains covert; but overt sin will bring instant death.
2:4.
“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.”
God’s judging
among the nations means that in the Millennium disputes will no longer be
settled by war: the Lord Himself will adjudicate each case, rebuking
(teaching) many people His truth.
The material
and labor that have gone into the production of weapons will then be devoted
to the pursuits of peace, so that the poverty and hunger which have ravaged
large areas of the world for so long will be unknown.
2:5.
“O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the Lord.”
The continued
use of the name Jacob, rather than Israel, reminds us that the old nature
remains with us even after we become believers, the exhortation to Jacob
being the reminder that even conversion doesn’t change the old nature. In
fact it is conversion that reveals the evil character of the old nature, and
begins the conflict between it and the new, a strife that will continue as
long as we are in these bodies of flesh, it being written that, “the flesh
lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are
contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye
would,” Galatians 5:17. See also Romans 7:24-25 relative to this conflict,
in which Paul bewails the activity of the flesh against the Spirit, “O
wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?”
but exults in his deliverance from the dominion of the flesh, in his
triumphant cry, “I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with
the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.”
To walk “in
the light of the Lord” is to walk in obedience to His Word, for it is
written that, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path,”
Psalm 119:105.
2:6.
“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.”
“...
replenish” means to make full or complete again, the evil of this refilling
being disclosed in its having come from the east, i.e., Assyria and Babylon,
for in Scripture the east is always synonymous with departure from God, note
for example that Adam and Eve were driven out of Eden eastward,
Genesis 3:24; and in Matthew 2:1 the wise men came from the east, but
relative to their return to their own land Scripture is careful to record
not that they returned eastward, but that “they departed into their own
country another way,” Matthew 2:12. In all of Scripture there is not
one good reference to the east.
Philistine
means wallowing, and in the seven Scriptural references to wallowing
it is instructive to note that not one has a good connotation. Here it is
associated with soothsaying, i.e., the alleged ability to foretell future
events, but God’s hatred of soothsaying is declared in Micah 5:12, “And I
will cut off witchcrafts out of thine hand; and thou shalt have no more
soothsayers.”
The Judahites’
“pleasing themselves in the children of strangers” is generally understood
to mean that they had made treaties with unbelievers, and cultivated their
friendship; and it isn’t difficult to see in this the symbolic revelation of
the very same evils which have infected the professing but apostate church.
She too loves the friendship of the world, in defiance of God’s command, “Be
ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath
righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with
darkness? and what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he
that believeth with an infidel? and what agreement hath the temple of God
with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I
will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they
shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate,
saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and
will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the
Lord Almighty” 2 Corinthians 6:14-18.
2:7.
“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
In the
symbolic language of Scripture silver represents redemption; gold, glory;
horses, strength, see Job 39:19; and chariots, military might; but here the
language is literal, not symbolic. These were all the actual things that
fostered Judah’s haughty independence of God, and no one should fail to see
in that hauteur the very same arrogance that marks today’s world. Affluence
and military might have fathered contempt for God, and rejection of His
authority.
2:8.
“Their land also is full of idols; they worship the work of their own hands,
that which their own fingers have made:”
Because we
don’t see them, except in what we call heathen countries, we are deluded and
spiritually blind if we fail to recognize that our affluent western world is
full of idols: money, education, social position, pleasure, art being but a
few of the gods we worship: nor are the offerings presented paltry:
consider, for example, the salaries paid to athletes, the stars of stage and
screen, sportsmen, to name but a few.
2:9.
“And the mean man boweth down, and the great man humbleth himself: therefore
forgive them not.”
The language
of the KJ version here is completely ambiguous, better translations being:
The commoner will be bowed down and humbled, and the great men brought low
and abased; mankind shall be brought low and humbled, and unable to raise
himself up again; and it is God Who says that He will not forgive them.
These judgments will occur in the now imminent Great Tribulation.
2:10.
“Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for fear of the Lord, and
for the glory of his majesty.”
The
fulfillment of the terrible judgment mentioned here is recorded in
Revelation 6:15-17, “And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the
rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and
every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the
mountains; and said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from
the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:
for the great day of his wrath is come, and who shall be able to stand?”
This will occur in the Great Tribulation.
A still more
terrible judgment is that which will see each unrepentant sinner cast into
the eternal torment of the unquenchable flame of the lake of fire. He is a
wise man who delivers himself from that judgment by confessing himself a
sinner, and trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ as his Savior.
Relative to
“the glory of his (God’s) majesty,” we read in Revelation 20:11, “And I
(John) saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the
earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.”
2:11.
“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.”
The men of our
sophisticated western society look superciliously on those of less fortunate
nations, forgetting that all they themselves possess has been given by the
grace of the God they ignore. But He reminds us that all we have has been
given by Him, for He asks, “For who maketh thee to differ from another? and
what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it,
why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?” 1 Corinthians 4:7.
We would do well to remember that the brains and bodies of those we may be
tempted to despise were given them by God, and that He might instead have
chosen to give them to us!
This day of
judgment appears to be that of unbelievers at the great white throne
mentioned in Revelation 20:11-15.
2:12.
“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:”
This “day of
the Lord” is generally understood to refer to the era that will begin with
the rapture of the Church and conclude with the purgation of the present
heavens and earth, and their replacement with the new heavens and new earth
at the end of the Millennium, Revelation 21:1
The title “the
Lord of hosts (armies)” speaks here of Jehovah as the omnipotent Executor of
judgment against unbelievers; and reiterates the certainty of the judgment
of the great white throne.
2:13.
“And upon all the cedars of Lebanon, that are high and lifted up, and upon
all the oaks of Bashan,”
Lebanon means
whiteness; and Bashan the shame of them: the fertile: the one in
sleep, so that these cedars of Lebanon may refer to the proud and
haughty unconverted religious leaders; while the oaks of Bashan may
represent their political and military counterparts. The Lord will execute
impartial judgment against all of them.
2:14.
“And upon all the high mountains, and upon all the hills that are lifted
up.”
As has been
noted already mountains and hills represent centers of government,
see verse
2. God will execute judgment against all of them.
2:15.
“and upon every high tower, and upon every fenced wall,”
Tower and wall
are used here as symbols of military might. The terrible weapons of mass
destruction in which nations put their trust today, will be powerless
against the judgments of the Almighty, see 2 Samuel 22:16, “... the
foundations of the world were laid bare, at the rebuking of the Lord, at the
blast of the breath of his nostrils.”
2:16.
“And upon all the ships of Tarshish, and upon all pleasant pictures.”
The “ships of
Tarshish” represent the world’s commerce; and “all pleasant pictures,”
portray its godless religion, refinements, and the arts. The judgments of
the Great Tribulation will destroy all these things, and leave the world in
chaotic ruin.
2:17.
“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.”
Loftiness is a
synonym for pride; and haughtiness means arrogance. The Tribulation
judgments will destroy both, and compel men to acknowledge the supremacy and
glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is a wise man who now gladly owns that
ascendancy, and trusts in Christ as Savior, and obeys Him as Lord, for the
day is fast approaching when every unbeliever will be compelled to make that
acknowledgement, for it is written, “And being found in fashion as a man, he
humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the
cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name
which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and
that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of
God the Father,” Philippians 2:8-11.
2:18.
“And the idols he shall utterly abolish.”
There will be
no idols in the Millennium simply because the very attempt to make one would
be overt rebellion, which would bring instant death to the perpetrator.
2:19.
“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.”
This is the OT
description of the judgment that will devastate the earth following the
opening of the sixth seal described in Revelation 6:12-17, the language of
verse 16 being almost identical with that used here.
Some
understand the reference to be to nuclear destruction.
2:20.
“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.”
Since moles
live in darkness underground, and bats inhabit the dark recesses of caves,
the statement of this verse is that when the Lord visits the earth in
judgment during the Great Tribulation, the idolaters will try to evade His
wrath by hiding their idols, not realizing that nothing can be hidden from
Him Who is omniscient.
2:21.
“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.”
Having cast
away their idols, they themselves will attempt to find hiding places from
the effulgence of the Lord’s glory, but neither the highest mountains nor
earth’s deepest recesses will furnish a place of refuge. One cannot hide
from Him Who is omnipresent.
“... to shake
terribly the earth” refers to the appalling convulsions that will rend the
earth in the Great Tribulation.
2:22.
“Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils: for wherein is he to be
accounted of?”
This is God’s
warning against putting any trust in man who lives only as long as God gives
him breath, and who knows not the moment when he will breathe his last. The
only One worthy of trust is the eternal God.
