Isaiah 2

Isaiah 2:1

Isaiah: God controls the nations Isaiah declares how God’s people should be living An EasyEnglish Bible Version and Commentary (2800 word vocabulary) on Isaiah chapters 1 to 9 www.easyenglish.info Norman Hillyer This commentary has been through Advanced Checking.

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Chapter 2 God’s ideal plan for Israel v1 A special message about Judah and *Jerusalem that God gave to Isaiah. v2 God’s *Temple stands on a mountain now. But the day is coming when that mountain will be the greatest of all mountains. And the *Temple will attract every nation to come to it. v3 Many peoples will come. Everyone will be saying, ‘Let us go to the *Lord’s mountain and *worship in his *Temple there. And we will obey his instructions.’ In those days God will rule all the nations from *Jerusalem. v4 The *Lord will settle arguments between nations. People will change swords into ploughs, and all tools for war into tools for peace. Nations will not attack each other any more. Nor will they train for war. v5 People in Israel, let us live in the way that the *Lord shows us.

Verses 1-5

All nations used to believe that gods lived on mountains. The *Lord’s mountain (Mount Zion) is ‘the greatest of all mountains’. That is, the *Lord is greater than any god.

 The ‘day is coming’ refers to the ‘Day of the *Lord’. That is when God will be the judge of all nations (see Isaiah 2:12-21). And he will establish peace among them (see Isaiah 9:1-7).

 People respect each other if their society respects God. Israel prefers false gods v6 But the *Lord no longer wants his special people. This is because they gladly accept foreigners from the east who practise magic like the *Philistines. v7 The people in Israel own masses of silver and gold. Nobody can count the number of horses and carriages for war. v8 Everywhere there are images of false gods. People have made them with their own hands. But then they persuade themselves that their images are their gods! v9 The people in Israel are so proud of themselves. Their *Lord can never forgive such an attitude.

Verses 6-7

God has given up his special people. They have refused to live the life that he requires of them. They want to copy all the other nations. They want to follow foreign customs and interests. They aim to heap up more and more money (for provisions) and *weapons of war (for protection).

Verse 8

One cannot count all the gods that the *Lord’s people have shaped out of dead blocks of wood.

Verse 9

And the people in Israel are so proud that they are self-sufficient. They think that they have no need of the *Lord. They have completely forgotten God’s purpose for them to be his witnesses to other nations. But God has not forgotten. Day of judgement v10 People will be in terror. They will hide themselves in caves or in holes in the ground. They will try to escape from the *Lord’s anger. They will be desperate to hide from God’s terrible power and fierce light. v11 A day is coming when all who are proud will suffer complete shame. The *Lord alone will have the right to the highest honour. v12 On that day the *Lord (commander of heaven’s armies) will attack all that are proud. He will bring them to the dust. v13 The huge and famous trees in Lebanon and in Bashan will fall with a great crash. v14-16 The *Lord (commander of heaven’s armies) will reduce to dust every high mountain and hill.

He will cause every high *tower and every high wall to fall. And every proud ship will sink. v17 All who are proud will suffer complete shame. The *Lord alone will have the right to the highest honour. v18 And all images of false gods will completely disappear.

v19 People will be in terror. They will run to caves or to holes in the ground. They will be desperate to hide from the *Lord’s terrible power and fierce light when he rises to shake the earth. v20 In that day everybody will throw their images of gold and silver to the wild animals. v21 When the *Lord shakes the earth powerfully, people will be in terror. They will run to caves in the rocks and to holes in the ground. They will be desperate to escape from the *Lord’s anger. They will try to hide from his terrible power and fierce light. v22 Put no more trust in weak human beings (people)! They are of no use.

Verse 10

There is no way to escape from God. The darkest caves and the deepest holes cannot hide anyone or anything from him.

Verses 11-13

Proud people may think that they do not need God. Then suddenly they will see that God is *Lord of all. And he demands that all must obey him. Nothing in nature, not even vast forests and huge mountains, can compare with the *Lord’s greatness. In fact, it was he who created them!

Verses 14-16

People build strong *towers and great walls to protect their cities. But such structures are weak and unsatisfactory, when one compares them with the powers of God’s Spirit.

Verses 17-20

The *Lord will not share his honour with any person or with any gods that mere men have manufactured.

Verse 21

The nation long remembered the power of that great *earthquake (see Amos 1:1 and Zechariah 14:5).

Verse 22

The only sure *foundation for any human life is God himself.

© 2007, Wycliffe Associates (UK)

This publication is written in EasyEnglish Level B (2800 words).

February 2007

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var w1 = new Array;w1[0]=’<b%3EJerusalem</b%3E ~ at the time of David and Solomon, the capital of the country called Israel. During the time of Isaiah, Jerusalem was the capital of the country called Judah.’;w1[1]=’<b%3ETemple</b%3E ~ special building in Jerusalem where Jews praised God and offered him prayers and gifts.