Isaiah 2

Isaiah 2:1

2. Future Blessing Through Cleansing (Chaps. 24)2:1-3 The son of Amoz now looks beyond the current chaos to the glorious kingdom of the Messiah. In that day Jerusalem will be established as the religious and political capital of the world. The Gentile nations will make pilgrimages to Zion for worship and for divine instruction. 2:4 The King will arbitrate international problems and settle disputes for the people. As a result, there will be universal disarmament. The funds formerly spent on munitions will be spent on agricultural equipment. These opening verses resemble Mic_4:1-3, either because they are inspired by the same Holy Spirit or because one prophet could be quoting the other. 2:5 The glorious prospect of Christ’s kingdom moves Isaiah to call the people of Judah to repentance immediately. 2:6-9 Then addressing God directly, Isaiah rehearses the sins which led to the nation’s calamity. Instead of looking to the Lord, the people consulted diviners from the East and became soothsayers like the Philistines. They made forbidden alliances with the heathen. In disobedience to the law of God, they heaped up financial treasures and horses and chariots, trusting in these for security. They worshiped idols which they themselves had made. Those are the reasons God has humbled them, and does not forgive them. The expression “filled with eastern ways” aptly describes the current popularity of eastern religion in Western countries. 2:10, 11 Turning now to the people, the seer warns them to seek refuge from the coming terror of Jehovah’s wrath which will lay low the lofty looks of man. 2:12-18 In a sudden transition, Isaiah jumps forward to the judgments of the day of the LORD which will precede Christ’s reign. The LORD of hosts will deal with all human arrogance, whether of individuals (cedars and oaks), governments (high mountains and hills), military might (tower and wall), or commerce (ships and beautiful sloops). Man’s loftiness will be leveled and the LORD alone will be exalted. Idols will be abandoned. 2:19-22 People will seek for shelter wherever they can hide. It will be clear then that fleeting man is unworthy of trust. Only the Lord is worthy of the undivided confidence of His people.