1 Isaiah 2-3 The Rule and Judgment of God One of the things we must remember as we read through Isaiah is that it is not strictly chronological. The context is Judah and Jerusalem through the span of 4 kings (1:1). During the time of Isaiah Assyria is the dominant nation, as the northern Kingdom, Israel is already under their rule. And this time, for Judah, is very near to the time when the Babylonians will rule the region and the world. And eventually, they will conquer Jerusalem, destroy the temple, and tear down its walls. Isaiah speaks of judgment to come. Yet, at the same time, he speaks of hope, and a time when God will establish his rule on the earth, and will one day create a new heavens and new earth. Chapters 2-4 go together as we see 3 major truths. We will only get to two of these today, with the third one coming next week. So for today, we will consider the worldwide rule of God and then judgment, particularly judgment, found in the phrase Day of the Lord. 1. The Rule of God. God will establish his rule over the earth. In cp. 2 Isaiah sees this rule in the picture of a mountain. But, let me go back for a moment. In Gen. 1:26-28, we see that God created Adam and Eve in his image and there was no sin. And God said to Adam Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth. As they multiplied, the image of God would be spread throughout the earth. The glory of God and his beauty would be established. But, sin entered. Adam and Eve fell. And instead of righteousness spreading throughout the earth, unrighteousness flourished and dominated men s hearts. Now fast forward to Judah and Jerusalem. Chapter 1:4: Ah, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, offspring of evildoers, children who deal corruptly! They have forsaken the Lord, they have despised the Holy One of Israel, they are utterly estranged. And in v. 21: How the faithful city has become a whore, she who was full of justice! Righteousness lodged in her, but now murderers. And in the midst of this sin, the Prophet Isaiah proclaims in 2:2: It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord will be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be lifted up above the hills... In John 4 Jesus spoke to a Samaritan woman. And she said to him, We worship on this mountain. You Jews worship on that mountain. We like mountains. They are higher than where we live. Most cultures and most religions of the world have their mountains. I remember when I was at ASU, heading over to Blowing Rock and then to Linville Falls. I would climb to the highest point and sit and read my Bible and pray. There was something about being on the mountain that made me feel closer to God. And Isaiah gives us a picture of the rule of God. Verse 2 again: This mountain, shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be lifted up above the hills and all the nations shall flow to it... And then in v. 3: and many people shall come, and say: Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob... This is a major theme for Isaiah and some of the other prophets. Micah says, And it will come about in the last days That the mountain of the house of the LORD Will be established as the chief of the mountains. It will be raised above the hills, And the peoples will stream to it (Micah 4:1). (See also Is. 27:13; 56:7; 66:20) Daniel also mentions this mountain.
2 Nebuchadnezzar had a dream and he saw this mountain. In 2:44, Daniel says this mountain is an eternal kingdom. Listen to how he describes it. And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever... And then in v. 45 he says, just as you saw that a stone was cut from a mountain by no human hand, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold. A great God has made known to the king what shall be after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation sure. Isaiah is saying the same thing! God s rule from this mountain is sure! Quickly, notice a couple things about this mountain. First, God s mountain is for everyone, the entire world. It isn t simply a Jewish mountain, though it will be established in Zion in Jerusalem (v. 3b) Look at verse 3: the nations shall flow to it... Have you ever heard of water flowing up a mountain? The prophets often say, there is coming a day when you will not believe what God will do. God will include those sinful Gentiles. Brothers and sisters, as sinners by nature, dead in our trespasses and sin, with hearts of stone, we flow naturally away from our creator. But, God says, Come now, let us reason together... though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow, though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool (1:18). Here we see the plan of God to save the world! Look at v. 3 again. He mentions a person. that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths. For out of Zion shall go for the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. Verse 4. He shall judge between the nations and shall decide disputes for many peoples... God is not establishing a physical mountain higher than Mt. Everest! His mountain reaches to the heavens. For the One ruling on this mountain is Jesus Christ! He was born in Bethlehem with Jewish parents. And he came to Jerusalem in the Spirit and his words were righteous and true, and in Him God established forever his kingdom, his rule. When the woman at the well asked Jesus about worship on a mountain and said when the Messiah comes, He will tell us all things. And Jesus said, The One with whom you are speaking is He! And I tell you, a day is coming when you will neither worship on this mountain or that mountain. To the religious leaders, Jesus said, Someone greater than Solomon is here. Someone greater than the temple itself is here (Matt. 12). Let me ask, When do we see this prophesy BEGIN to be fulfilled? Hint: Christmas. Who saw the star in the east and brought gifts to the baby Jesus? Gentiles. Who preached to the Gentiles? Jesus! Do you remember the demon possessed man of the Gadarenes? He was a Gentile? What about the Centurion with great faith? He was a Gentile. What happened at Pentecost? The Jews from different nations heard the praises of God in their languages. And many believed. And they also returned to their homes where the gospel was preached to the nations, which is still happening today. In this way, the Gentiles are flowing to Christ (look at us). Application: God is on his throne. His kingdom will come. His will will be done. Life is short and full of troubles. But, God is on his throne. And his rule will be established! Isaiah s prophecy is found in Christ. In these last days (1 st coming to 2 nd coming of Christ), God s mountain is being built in Christ. Therefore, come let us walk in the light of the Lord (v. 5). Paul says the same thing in Rom. 13:12 to God s people: The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then
3 let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. Life is too short to live for ourselves. Application: True peace is found in Christ. There is no longer any war with God, or with his people. Verse 4. He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide disputes for many peoples; and 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. And we will see the ultimate fulfillment of this in the new heavens and the new earth. 2. The Day of the Lord. In this truth, we see the Judgment of God. I want to highlight 2 things about this phrase: Day of the Lord, first concerning the day itself. Isaiah (as well as the other OT prophets) mentions the word day many times in the Book and it is usually in the context of judgment. We will just consider cps. 2-4. Look in 2:12: For the Lord of hosts has a day... 2:20: In that day mankind will cast away their idols of silver and their idols of gold... 3:7: In that day he will speak out, saying... 3:18: In that day the Lord will take away... We must remember, the term day of the Lord must have multiple fulfilments. This day of judgment had already come to the northern kingdom of Israel as God used Assyria to carry his people away into captivity (722 B.C.). And in the not so distant future, God will do the same with the Babylonians and Judah (586 B.C.). There will be a day of judgment. And throughout Isaiah, we see this day also coming upon other nations. In 13:9 speaking of God s judgment upon the Babylonians, we read: Behold, the day of the LORD comes, cruel, with wrath and fierce anger, to make the land a desolation and to destroy its sinners from it. 10 For the stars of the heavens and their constellations will not give their light; the sun will be dark at its rising, and the moon will not shed its light. (It is interesting that these same words are used over and over again, even in the book of Revelation to describe the day of the Lord. In that day, with the Babylonians, I am certain the stars of the heavens continued to shine and the sun and moon did not stop giving their light. We must remember. These are pictures. God is saying, My judgment will be unlike anything you know. Can you imagine the sun and moon ceasing to give light? This is bad! We must remember this when we come to other passages that say the same thing.) We will see this day again in 70 AD when Rome sacked Jerusalem and, AGAIN destroyed the city and AGAIN tore down the temple. The key to interpreting the day of the Lord is to know there will be a FINAL day of judgment when the Lord Jesus returns. But in the meantime, this day has fallen on many nations and will come in different forms and different ways upon sinful nations and peoples. Now, let me mention the 2 nd truth about this phrase day of the Lord. We must ask, Why does this day come upon the nations? There are many general reasons resulting from SIN. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. With Judah, they trusted in other nations for their wisdom. Verse 2:6 because they are full of things from the east, and of fortune-tellers like the Philistines. They trusted in their wealth. Verse 2:7 Their land is filled with silver and gold, and there is no end to their treasures. They trusted in their military; also v. 7: their land is filled with horses; and there is no end to their chariots. They were idolaters. Verse 8:
4 Their land is filled with idols; they bow down to the work of their hands, to what their own fingers have made. There are lots of other things Isaiah mentions in the book, but for now the reason for judgment is clearly PRIDE. Look at v. 12: For the Lord of hosts has a day against all that is proud and lofty, against all that is lifted up and it shall be brought low... In these verses the people of Judah are proud because they look to themselves and the structures around them as strength. Verse 13, they look to the great cedars of Lebannon and the oaks of Bashan. Verse 14, they look to their grand mountains. Verse 15, they look to their own walls and towers. Verse 16, they look to their trade with the world through their ability to sail the seas. But, the root of this idolatry is pride. Look at v. 17: And the haughtiness of man shall be humbled, and the lofty pride of men shall be brought low, and the Lord alone will be exalted in that day. Let me ask, What is pride? At the end of the day it is the same as idolatry. You shall have no other gods before me. Pride says, I can do it on my own. My works are good enough. I don t really need God. Pride says, Look at me. Look at my abilities. Pride says, I got this. And when we do these things, and have such thoughts in our hearts, we move the spotlight from God and onto ourselves. But, God will not have it! He will not give his glory to another. He will oppose the proud. In cp. 3 we see what happens upon a proud people; the judgment of God. Verse 3:1, considering the coming Babylonian rule, He will take away food and water supplies. Verse 2: military will be depleted. Verses 3 and 4: Rulers will be replace by young boys, and infants. Verse 5: Children will no longer respect their parents and people will repress one another. In v. 8 we see the end of pride: defying the glorious presence of God. Look at v. 18: In that day the Lord will take away the finery of the anklets, the headbands, and the crescents; 19 the pendants, the bracelets, and the scarves; 20 the headdresses, the armlets, the sashes, the perfume boxes, and the amulets; 21 the signet rings and nose rings; 22 the festal robes, the mantles, the cloaks, and the handbags; 23 the mirrors, the linen garments, the turbans, and the veils. He goes on to say that they will be destroyed and the gates of their city will lay on the ground (vv. 25-26); all because of pride. Concerning pride, brothers and sisters, God will oppose the proud, but give grace to the humble. He will not give his glory to another. Therefore, humble yourself in the sight of the Lord. Repent from your pride, which is idolatry. Stop trusting in your own efforts to keep yourself healthy and safe. Stop trusting in human wealth; gold, silver, money, possessions, investments. Stop trusting in human pleasures: entertainment, food, clothing, music, movies, etc. Turn your back on every idol that clamors for the highest place in your heart. For where your treasure is, there your heart will also be! If not, there is coming a day when God will take those things from you. You cannot serve two masters! Application: This truth MUST motivate us to live godly in this life. This truth MUST motivate us to tell others, to warn about this day! Look at 2:22: Stop regarding man in whose nostrils is breath for of what account is he. Kristen and I went to two funerals yesterday. And in the precious lives of two Christians, their breath ran out. And now they are with God. These moments (and others) should cause us to realize what is really important in this life!
5 Application: It is not for us to be concerned with times and seasons as we look for that day. Application: The Lord has a day for all of us. If you are not a Christian, it will be judgment. Look unto Christ! For the Christian it will be discipline. In cp. 4 we see how God does this; by taking away those things that get in the way of his glory. Application: God has his sovereign days as He establishes his rule. And the culmination of this judgment is in the final Day of the Lord when the Lord Jesus returns to judge the living and the dead. Today, God has established his rule in Zion in the person of Christ. And, though there are many days of the Lord in judgment upon nations and people for their idolatry, there is coming a final day of judgment where every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord!