Isaiah 2
What does the future hold? It’s a question we ask often, particularly like now, when things seem to be changing.
There’s a lot of fear about the future. I hear things like “All these Muslim refugees coming in – they’ll ruin our country”. “The oil price falling, people are losing their jobs, the Krone is falling in value. What’s going to happen?”
What does the future hold?
Well, that’s what I’m here to tell you. I can tell you the future. I can tell you what will happen. We will be judged. Within our children’s lifetime. Unless we turn our hearts back to God.
And the church will continue anyway, no matter how it is persecuted, attacked, torn down, burned or destroyed, or even ruined from the inside it will endure. God’s word will go out into the nations.
And on one Final Day, God will be elevated to the highest place, and everything else that tried to take His place will be brought low.
How I know this will happen? The same way you know it will happen. Because it has been revealed to us by God, through the mouth of Isaiah the prophet. We know the future, and the future is secure.
1. The future is secure.
Is 2:1 This is a vision that Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem: 2 In the last days, the mountain of the LORD’s house will be the highest of all— the most important place on earth. It will be raised above the other hills, and people from all over the world will stream there to worship. 3 People from many nations will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of Jacob’s God. There he will teach us his ways, and we will walk in his paths.” For the LORD’s teaching will go out from Zion; his word will go out from Jerusalem. 4 The LORD will mediate between nations and will settle international disputes. They will hammer their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will no longer fight against nation, nor train for war anymore. 5 Come, descendants of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the LORD!
This is a great prophetic vision, isn’t it? This is the kind of prophecy we like! It’s even the inspiration for the song “Down by the riverside” where the chorus is “I ain’t gonna study war no more”. Imagine a world with no more war. Where weapons like swords are instead made into tools to make food (ploughshares, whatever that is!). Instead of wasting time fighting we’ll all be pulling together to make a better life.
That would have been good news for those in Judah, for their whole life under king Ahaz especially seemed to be war, war, and rumours of war. And it’s good news for us too. Because we are in a time filled with war, war, and rumours of wars. A time when the future is uncertain. And Isaiah assures us that God’s plans are still in motion. God is still on the throne.
Now Biblical prophecy is a weird thing because although it’s pretty straightforward and clear, it often talks about 3 or 4 events at the same time.
It’s like looking at a mountain and its foothills straight on versus from the side. Straight on it looks like one continuous slope rising up to the top. But from the side we can the up and down up and down as the slope rises and falls on its way to the top. The easy walk we thought we had is actually MUCH longer. Ever had that when you’re out hiking?
Prophecy is like that. When we read it here it seems to be talking about one event. But because we are in the middle of the foothills – here - we know what has already come before, and what is still to come. The 3 events Isaiah is talking about is: the return of Judah from exile in 538BC, the coming of Jesus, his death and resurrection and the birth of the church in around AD38, and the second coming of Jesus on 27th September 2015. Well, maybe not – but it could be. He comes like thief in the night. Are we ready?
Ok. The first foothill is the return of Judah from exile, and this was for those Isaiah was preaching to during his lifetime. The Jews of Judah, the Southern Kingdom of Israel.
Isaiah had already warned them of the judgement to come in chapter 1. They are sinful people, dumber even than oxen or donkeys because even oxen know their master – but Judah does not know the Lord. They are being battered and bruised and will be surrounded by their enemies. In fact, in not too many years they will be destroyed by the Babylonians. You can imagine the confusion of people in those times. But why is this happening? Are we not the Lord’s people? What does the future hold?
Well, Isaiah, being a prophet, prophecies which is explaining what is happening now theologically (i.e. from God’s viewpoint). He explains that if we reject God then he will reject us. He explains that empty worship provokes God to anger. What does he want with false religion?
And in this chapter Isaiah warns that all the high places – those places where they used to worship idols, false gods – they will be destroyed. It is their sin which is bringing this judgement upon them. But God has not abandoned them. In chapter 1 we read the amazing words “Come now, let’s settle this,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow.” (v18). God will wipe away their sins! And now we read that he will establish Jerusalem forever and it will be raised up and the word of God will go out into all the world. For the devout Jew who loved God this must have been soothing cream for the soul. Because they would have looked at the country around them, ignorant of God, defiling his ways, worshipping idols – and they would have despaired. God will judge! Repent, you fools! Turn back to Him! Oh, Norway! Repent before it is too late! Repent and accept his forgiveness.
But the devout Jew would have another worry. What is going to happen to God’s promises to bless the whole world through Abraham’s descendants? Have we messed that up with our sin? Have we condemned the whole world?
And so comes this soothing word: God will be raised up. His word will go out from Jerusalem. Comfort when the Assyrians come and surround Jerusalem. Comfort when the Babylonians come and TAKE Jerusalem. Because all is not lost.
We in 2015 have a huge advantage over our brother in the faith in 720BC. Because we KNOW how God fulfilled his promises to them. We know that King Cyrus sent back all the Jews to Judah and rebuilt Jerusalem, the Temple and the walls, through Ezra and Nehemiah, just as Isaiah predicted in Isaiah 44 and 45. But that was only partial fulfilment. Wars had not stopped. The word had not really gone out.
And so we get to the second foothill, the second level of prophecy: 400 years after Jerusalem was restored, the Word of God appeared, born as a baby to Mary, his mother. Jn 1:14 So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son. Jesus, born as a man, yet fully God, washed our sins white as snow in his own blood as he gave his life for us on the Cross. On the mountain of the Lord, the city of Jerusalem, there the Word came.
And from there the Word went out as Jesus ascended and the Spirit came down and the church was born. Just as predicted in v3 the word has gone out to all the nations. 3 People from many nations will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of Jacob’s God. There he will teach us his ways, and we will walk in his paths.” For the LORD’s teaching will go out from Zion; his word will go out from Jerusalem. People from many nations – just look around this room – go to mount Zion, the mountain of the Lord, where we see our King on the Cross. We come to the house of Jacob’s God, the Temple: Jesus. The house of God, the Temple, was where man could meet with God. But Jesus replaced the physical Temple – now anyone anywhere can meet God through Jesus, man and God united. As the Scriptures say, through his body on the Cross we were reconciled to God.
And so we also live in an age of partial fulfilment. The word has gone out and the Lord is lifted up in churches across the world – but the other high places are still there. There are many other “gods” still worshipped today. War is still a daily fact. We are on the slopes of the great mountain, the final prophecy.
We have seen the first two levels of prophecy fulfilled. So we can be certain of the final level of prophecy, which for us is still in the future. We await the final fulfilment, the Day when Jesus will return, this time not as the Suffering Servant, but as the King of Kings. And on that Day every name, every god, every philosophy, every thing that has raised itself up in place of God – they will all be brought low. God will be glorified, and no other. On that day the city of God will come down from the Heavens, shining like the stars. The Lord will call his people out from every tribe and tongue and nations, and we will worship him day and night. There will be no war, no famine, no sickness, no death. Sin will be destroyed forever, and none will ever rebel against the Lord again. Harmony will reign.
That is the future, and the future is secure. God has kept his promises in the past, and will keep them in the future.
Given that that is the future, how should we be living now? If we know that future is secure, how does that change how we live today?
5 Come, people of Notodden (and Bø, Kongsberg, London and Cape Town), let us walk in the light of the LORD!
The future is secure. But for who? For those who belong to the Lord.
2. The future is full of terror!
In v5 Isaiah pleads with the people: Come let us walk in the light of the Lord. Because he’s speaking to a people in darkness. V6For the LORD has rejected his people, the descendants of Jacob,
Why? Because they’ve rejected Him, their God.
V6 because they have filled their land with practices from the East and with sorcerers, as the Philistines do. They have made alliances with pagans. 7 Israel is full of silver and gold; there is no end to its treasures. Their land is full of warhorses; there is no end to its chariots. 8 Their land is full of idols; the people worship things they have made with their own hands.
We saw last week that an idol is not just a statue that you worship (something physical) but can be anything that you put before God. For example, at one point I had made an idol of marriage. I wanted to find a wife, or at least a girlfriend who could one day be a suitable wife! – that would bring me happiness and fulfilment. I put my trust in that. That was what was driving me. I started demanding that of God and getting angry when he didn’t meet my demands. The irony is that made me entirely unsuitable to be a husband! Imagine being married to me when I expected you to satisfy my deepest needs – the needs that only God can fulfil! Ugh. So one day God called me to repent of that. I had to say to God, “if you want me to be single, I am OK with that. You are the boss of my life, not me. You are my source of satisfaction, my deepest delight, and no other.”
And once that idol was smashed, the Lord clearly thought I was ready to get married. 2 months later I met Debby, and 11 months after that we were married!
But idols. What do we place our trust in? Money? Things? Our reputation? That’s a big one I think. Why are we so often quiet about the gospel here in Norway? We’re worried people will think we’re weird. Our neighbours will peer strangely at us, treat us differently.
We need to remember that the future is full of terror for anyone who worships idols. Because those idols will fall. And if you’ve built your life on those idols. Oh, it hurts. God will be glorified and no other.
9 So now they will be humbled, and all will be brought low— do not forgive them. 10 Crawl into caves in the rocks. Hide in the dust from the terror of the LORD and the glory of his majesty. 11 Human pride will be brought down, and human arrogance will be humbled. Only the LORD will be exalted on that day of judgment. 12 For the LORD of Heaven’s Armies has a day of reckoning. He will punish the proud and mighty and bring down everything that is exalted. 13 He will cut down the tall cedars of Lebanon and all the mighty oaks of Bashan. 14 He will level all the high mountains and all the lofty hills. 15 He will break down every high tower and every fortified wall. 16 He will destroy all the great trading ships and every magnificent vessel. 17 Human pride will be humbled, and human arrogance will be brought down. Only the LORD will be exalted on that day of judgment. 18 Idols will completely disappear.
It’s a very clear picture isn’t it? Every idol, every philosophy everything that has raised itself up against God will be shaken down. Like a massive earthquake everything will be shaken and flattened until nothing remains – except the Unshakeable One: Christ himself. He will stand secure. The mountain of the Lord will stand like Mount Kilimanjaro, rising from the African plains, but higher, loftier, exalted!
In the Lord’s mercy he often shakes our idols. I know a number of you have been through that painful but ultimately freeing experience. Some of you trusted in your own performance, keeping the rules. God shook that up. Some it may be the idol of family. Some of you even lost a baby – and that forced you to your knees, to look up to God. Some it was trusting a job or a career. Some it was security, feeling safe. Mia is going through a testing of health – where does she find her security? In her health, or in the Lord? Is she afraid of death because she actually doesn’t trust God – or not? In Mia’s case, this time has shown to all of us that she really does trust the Lord. When the dreaded C-word “Cancer” was spoken, there was tears, yes, but also a deep trust, a deep peace.
A number of years back I went through a terrible experience. I discovered the dead body of my classmate. And that experience was like a wrecking ball that just smashed through my carefully built life. I didn’t really know the Lord then. I said I did, but my life was my life – until suddenly confronted with the finality of death. In front of my face, there was my friend. BAM!
It felt like I was standing in front of my life that I had built – and everything was smashed. Except the foundation I was standing on. And I realised that foundation was Jesus. At the end of the day, nothing else will last, nothing else will stand. In that moment I stood on this empty place where my “life” once was, and realised that he filled it. Christ was there, Christ is enough, Christ is sufficient. He was all I need. I would like to tell you that there and then I totally gave myself over to the Lord – but I can’t. Because I am a subborn and hard-hearted fool, it took another 8 months and another great move of the Holy Spirit to bring the right response. I praise God for his grace!
But there will come a day like that for all of us. On the last day everything will be shaken, and only what we have in Christ will stand. When your life is shaken, what will stand?
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