The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
Isaiah 1 opened the book as a vision. Now a fresh heading stands over a new section, naming the prophet, his father, and the subject he saw. The verse looks like a simple label. But it answers two questions that shape the whole prophecy: what this message is, and who it is about.
The book's first verse called Isaiah's message a vision. Here he uses a different word for the same subject, and what follows speaks of good things still to come.
Isaiah 1 is introduced as a "vision;" Isaiah 2 is "the word;" but again concerning Judah and Jerusalem. The opening verses say more about the good things that will come when redemption by judgment takes place. The first thing is that the house of Jehovah will be established and lifted high. It is always so, and must be. God must have His rightful place, and from that place blessing will flow out to men.
Isaiah does not say he heard the word — he says he saw it. Two titles given to such men show God's side and the man's side.
The word translated "prophet" in the Old Testament comes from "bubbling or pouring forth." It points to God's action in inspiring him. "Seer" points to the vision that marked such men out.
The verse names its own subject, and that subject should govern the reader. Ignoring it has caused long-standing mistakes.
The first verse says that the vision was concerning Judah and Jerusalem. If readers had paid proper attention to this, they would not have assigned so many things to the church in the chapter headings, and they would have understood the prophecy better.
The verses that follow promise the law going out from Zion. Many people take them as a picture of the gospel spreading through missionary work.
No doubt we have all often heard this passage quoted at missionary meetings and on other similar occasions, quoted in connection with the spread of the gospel. But however important missions and the spread of the gospel may be — and I would never undervalue them for a moment — they are not the subject of the passage before us, and they are in no way connected with it. This passage records "the word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem." Judah and Jerusalem are the subject, not the Church and its missions. "Out of Zion," not out of the Church, "shall go forth the law: and the word of the Lord," not from Britain, but "from Jerusalem."
The prophecy under this heading appears almost word for word in Micah. Commentators have argued over which prophet had it first.
Clearly we have here the same prediction, or nearly the same, that Micah gives in his prophecy (Micah 4:1-3). The two prophets lived at the same time. So the question comes up: who first delivered it from God? Three answers are possible... The certain fact is that one prophet uses another prophet's words, with only the changes the inspiring Spirit was pleased to allow. We find Daniel doing the same, drawing light from the word of Jehovah to Jeremiah, still waiting to be fulfilled (Daniel 9:2).
This title stands over more than one chapter. Glory stands at each end of the section, with something very different in between.
Isaiah 2-4. Here the kingdom, pictured as "a mountain," is looked for at the beginning, and shown in some of its glories at the end. But corruption and judgment are the main material of this burden in the middle, between that opening and closing in glory. Yet the remnant appear for a moment (Isaiah 3:10)... Scripture gives the judgment of God its usual title, "the day of the Lord."
That order matters for anyone who reads the promise on its own. The chapter itself shows what brings the blessing in.
If you take the trouble to read that chapter, you will find that it is about Judah and Jerusalem. It describes the blessing as brought in by the dreadful judgment of Jehovah. Men will go into the clefts of the rocks for fear of Jehovah and for the glory of His majesty, when He rises to shake the earth terribly. No wonder the Spirit of God adds, "Cease from man."
- Source. The message is not Isaiah's own. He saw it. "Prophet" points to God pouring the message out; "seer" points to the vision the man received.
- Subject. God names the topic Himself: Judah and Jerusalem. That subject is the key to the chapter.
- Safeguard. Reading the first verse with care stops readers from handing these chapters to the church. The law goes out from Zion, not from any missionary centre.
- Shared. The same prophecy stands in Micah 4. One prophet used another's words with the Spirit's approval, just as Daniel later drew on Jeremiah.
- Sequence. Chapters 2-4 open and close in glory, with corruption and judgment in between. The blessing comes through the day of the Lord, not before it.
And it shall come to pass in the end of days, [that] the mountain of Jehovah's house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be lifted up above the hills; and all the nations shall flow unto it.
Isaiah's second chapter opens with a picture of the world's future: one mountain raised above all the rest, with the nations streaming toward it. It raises three questions — which mountain, which "last days," and has any of it happened yet?
The verse names a place, not an idea. One writer names the mountain and sets it apart from the New Jerusalem. He also contrasts that coming day with the city's state now:
The meaning seems to be the supremacy that God will give, in the last days, to Mount Moriah. That mountain is the seat and centre of the worship of Jehovah, just as Zion was and will be the seat of royalty, given in the grace of God after man's king had failed. When the mountain of Jehovah's house is lifted above all rivals, great or small, all nations will flow to it. For the city of the great king — the earthly Jerusalem under the Messiah and the New Covenant — is the appointed capital of the world during the millennium. The New Jerusalem of John is another and higher thing, and this passage does not refer to it. What is predicted stands in contrast with what is going on now. Now the house is left desolate, Jerusalem is trampled down by the nations, and nation rises against nation.
The same phrase in the New Testament points to a very different time:
The familiar term "the last days" is found in both the Old and New Testaments, but it does not always point to the same time. In 2 Timothy 3:1 we read, "But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty." Read on in that passage, and you find many of the features we see around us today. This confirms that the "last days" of 2 Timothy 3:1 are the closing days of the history of the church, just before the rapture. But when the Old Testament uses this expression, it points to the period after the removal of the church.
Many read verse 2 as a forecast of worldwide missionary success. One writer heard it used that way and answered from the prophecy's own address:
No doubt we have all often heard this passage quoted at missionary meetings and on other such occasions, quoted in connection with the spread of the gospel. Missions and the spread of the gospel may be very important, and God forbid that I should undervalue them for a moment. But they are not the subject of the passage before us, and they are not connected with its subject in any way… Judah and Jerusalem are the subject, not the Church and its missions. "Out of Zion," not out of the Church, "shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD," not from Britain, but "from Jerusalem."
The next verses give a second reason. What God does to the nations here is not what the gospel does:
Some might think that the law goes out of Zion by the gospel. But the gospel does not work by carrying out judgment on the nations, as it is here. God will deal with the nations by public judgment and righteousness on earth. The subject here is not the church but the Lord, and this has clearly never happened yet.
The picture of nations flowing runs against nature:
Rivers flow down; that is their natural course. But the peoples will flow up, around the sanctuary of Jehovah — then indeed a house of prayer for all. The change will be supernatural everywhere. Heaven and earth will gladly bear witness to the glory and the power of Jehovah… That day will proclaim the Lord. It will sweep away everything man takes pride in. It will prove that, though man may have done his best, the time has come for God to show a greatness no one can dispute.
Notice the order in the verse. God lifts the house first, before a single nation moves:
The first thing is that the house of Jehovah will be established and exalted. This is always the way, and it must be. God must have His rightful place, and from that place blessing will flow out to men.
Verse 2 opens a passage that ends in worldwide peace. So how does that peace arrive? Not by human effort:
What ends the strife and wars that have ruined the earth for so many ages? Not the slow, gradual spread of peaceful principles. It is God stepping in with judgment at the coming of the Lord… Does the Spirit say, "Make every effort — put out all your energy — work with all your might to fill society with principles that will bring in the golden age of peace and harmony"? No, my friends, it is this: "Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!"
- Established — God lifts His house first, above every rival. He takes His rightful place before anything else can move.
- Exalted — the mountain is Mount Moriah, the centre of worship, and the city is Jerusalem on earth, the world's capital under the Messiah. It is not the New Jerusalem, and not the church.
- Flowing — the nations move uphill, against the way rivers run. Only God can bring that about.
- Timing — Isaiah's "last days" are not the hard last days of 2 Timothy 3. The two phrases point to different times.
- Method — peace comes when God steps in with judgment, not through missions or slow progress. He will be exalted; man will not.
And many peoples shall go and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of Jehovah, 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 Jehovah's word from Jerusalem.
Isaiah looks ahead to a day when many nations go up to Jerusalem. Nobody drives them there; they come to be taught. Two questions follow: when does this happen, and why from Zion?
Commentators agree that this scene has not yet arrived. One writer says it of the whole passage, not just this verse.
It is a great mistake to think that Isaiah 2:2-4 is yet accomplished.
Why not? Some read the law going out of Zion as the spread of the gospel. One writer answers that the two work in different ways.
Some might think that the law goes out of Zion through the gospel. But the gospel does not work by carrying out judgment on the nations, as this passage does. God will deal with the nations by public judgment and righteousness on earth (vv. 1-4). The passage speaks of the Lord, not of the church, and this has clearly never happened yet.
The verse says "law," not "gospel," and it names a real city. One writer holds both words to their plain sense.
The prophet does not say that the gospel goes out of Zion, as it does now, but that the law shall go out of Zion. It is not the Father's word, which we know, but Jehovah's word from Jerusalem. Even those who turn the passage into a symbol are not bold enough to deny that Jerusalem here means the real Jerusalem. Yet they drop that at once and slip in the gospel and the church... It is "the kingdom"; and the Great King will judge among the nations, and will rebuke many peoples.
Zion has a history of its own. It was not the temple site, and one writer sets it against Sinai, the mountain where the law was given.
Zion was not the place of the temple. It was the place of royalty — but first of all, the place of grace. It was where God was linked, in grace, with the earth before the temple was built, and where David had prepared a place for the ark. It stands in contrast with Sinai, the place of law for the earth. And from Zion, too, the law was to go out in grace, from the city of the great King.
The nations come freely. One writer links that to what they will have seen God do.
They need no force then, no incentives, and no rivalry. They have seen Jehovah's hand lifted up; they have seen His arm laid bare. His judgments have been in the earth, and the people of the world are now learning righteousness.
One writer finds a preview in an older story: a woman from outside Israel who travelled to Jerusalem to hear Solomon's wisdom.
In this honoured woman from outside Israel we have a sample, or picture, of the nations later on. She lived in the days of Solomon, the son of David — the days of a glory that was only a picture. She went up to Jerusalem, looking for the wisdom that was in the Lord's anointed one. In the same way, in the age of the real glory, the thousand-year reign of the true Solomon, the nations will wait in that same city, with the same desire and purpose of heart.
One writer identifies the teacher here as the God of Israel, who has become man.
The "He" who reigns like this is Jehovah. But having become man, He is also the Messiah, the Son of Man, given universal rights.
The verse is often read out in support of missionary work. One writer draws a firm line between Zion and the church, and between Jerusalem and any country that sends missionaries.
Missions and the spread of the gospel may be very important, and God forbid that I should undervalue them for a moment. But they are not the subject of the passage before us, and they are not connected with its subject in any way... "Out of Zion," not out of the Church, "shall go forth the law: and the word of the Lord," not from Britain, but "from Jerusalem." ... Ours is a far higher calling — a heavenly one; a calling above earthly things and earthly scenes altogether.
- Place — The verse names a literal city. The law goes out from Zion, not the gospel from the church. Do not swap the words.
- Grace — Zion is the place of royalty and of grace, set against Sinai, the place of law. So the law goes out from it in grace, from the city of the great King.
- Teacher — The one who teaches is Jehovah Himself. He became man, and He reigns as Messiah, the Son of Man.
- Learners — The nations arrive without compulsion or incentive. They have seen God's judgments in the earth. They come wanting to be taught, just as one visitor to Solomon pictured long before.
- Timing — Commentators agree this has never yet happened. The verse describes a coming kingdom on earth, not the work Christians are given now. Their calling is a heavenly one.
And he shall judge among the nations, and shall reprove many peoples; and they shall forge their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning-knives nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
Isaiah's opening chapter is full of a nation's failure. Then the prophet sees the end of the road: a settled world, where weapons become farm tools and no one studies war any longer. The commentators press three simple questions. Who is the "He" that judges? When does this happen? How does it come?
Everything in the verse hangs on one Person. One writer identifies Him:
The "He" who reigns like this is Jehovah. But having become man, He is also the Messiah, and the Son of man, with universal rights given to Him.
One writer shows how far His rule reaches:
His wisdom will settle every problem and put every wrong right. The groaning creation will reach the end of its pain and will rejoice in the power and presence of Emmanuel.
One writer is blunt — this is still future:
It is a great mistake to think that Isaiah 2:2-4 has already been fulfilled.
Another writer answers a common misuse of the passage — reading it as a promise about missionary work:
However important missions and the spread of the gospel may be — and God forbid that I should undervalue them for a moment — they are not the subject of this passage, and they are not connected with it in any way. This passage records "the word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem." Judah and Jerusalem are the subject, not the Church and its missions. "Out of Zion," not out of the Church, "shall go forth the law: and the word of the Lord," not from Britain, but "from Jerusalem."
The judging comes before the disarming. One writer says what actually brings wars to an end:
Wars have laid the earth waste for age after age. What puts an end to them, and brings in the time of universal peace, is not the slow and gradual progress of peaceful principles. It is God solemnly stepping in with judgment at the coming of the Lord. And what lesson does the Holy Spirit draw from all this? Is it, "Make every effort — put out all your energy — work with all your might to fill society with principles that will bring in the golden age of universal agreement, harmony and peace"? No, it is this: "Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."
One writer explains why organised peace efforts cannot produce this result:
This, according to the Bible, is the reign of peace — then, and not before. Meanwhile all the efforts of peace societies are at best a pleasant illusion, at worst an unbelieving confidence in man, and always ignorance of God's word… Wars certainly have their roots in the passions and lusts of man. To escape the bad fruit you must first make the tree good. But the day of the Lord will deal with man in righteousness and power, and peace will follow according to His mind and glory.
Another writer names the reason wars keep going:
Riots, bloodshed, turmoil, strife and crime continue in the world to this day, despite all its boasted progress. The reason is that men reject the rightful King. They will not own the Prince of Peace. They will not have Jesus as Lord.
Elsewhere in Scripture the same picture runs backwards, and one writer sets the two side by side:
Nations will some day no longer turn, as they do now, their plowshares into swords, but change their swords into plowshares. Righteousness and peace will surely kiss each other and creation's curse and travail pains will end.
One writer describes what people will do instead of fighting:
That age of peace will be an age of farming. Men will go back to the land, and God's original purpose for man on the earth will come into effect (Genesis 2:15). The forge and the anvil will no longer groan and ring out the death of millions. They will ring out their gladness along with the songs of the field and vineyard.
The same writer turns the two tools on the believer's conduct today:
As for the nations, we cannot escape the sorrow and strife they are caught up in, though in spirit we may be apart from it. But God has set us in His field (1 Corinthians 3), which is His assembly. We are not there to use the sword and spear of party strife, but the ploughshare and the pruning hook, as workers together with God in His garden.
- Judge first. Peace begins with a Person — Jehovah, become man, judging between the nations.
- Judgment, then ploughshares. Wars end by God's intervention at the coming of the Lord, not by the slow spread of peaceful principles.
- Bad tree, bad fruit. Wars grow out of the passions of man, so peace schemes stay an illusion until the tree itself becomes good.
- Zion, not Britain. The prophecy is about Judah and Jerusalem, not the church's missionary work. It is not yet fulfilled.
- Ploughshares now. Until that day, the believer works God's field with plough and pruning hook, not with the sword of strife.