Sunday, October 13, 2024 PM

Let's open our Bibles and turn to Isaiah, chapter 2, and we'll be reading verses 1 through 5. Let's begin with a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, I thank you for the day. Thank you for our time together.

I pray that you would help us as we read your word to understand the meaning of it and rejoice in the truth of it. And that you would have your way in our lives, shaping us into the image of Christ for your glory.

We pray these things for his sake. Amen. All right. Isaiah, chapter 2, verses 1 through 5. Come and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways and we shall walk in his paths.

For out of Zion shall go forth the law and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations and rebuke many people. They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.

Nations shall not lift up sword against nation and neither shall they learn war anymore. O house of Jacob, come and let us walk in the light of the Lord. So, we've been thinking about the way that God is promising to bring to pass all that he has promised concerning Jerusalem, Mount Zion, a long established pattern of peace.

Even as far back as Jacob, prophesying over his sons, said of Judah that from Judah a ruler would come. The scepter would not depart from Judah. And that he would have an heir, a descendant called Shiloh, meaning man of peace.

And the scepter would not depart from between his feet. And that he would rule and bring a peace and abundance in his time. And that all things would belong to him. The obedience of the peoples would belong to Shiloh.

Well, here in Isaiah 2, we have a new covenant Jerusalem, a new covenant Mount Zion, and all the peoples are coming into this new covenant Jerusalem. And to whom is their obedience? Well, the word is coming from the mountain.

The instruction, the law of God is coming from the mountain. And so, when we're told in Hebrews 12 that to come to Jesus Christ means that we come to Mount Zion, and it's a new kingdom in activity here, that we are bowing the knee to him.

He has the authority. So, these are precious promises that have their patterns deeply established in the life of Israel. And so, when an Israelite hears about Mount Zion, when an Israelite hears about Jerusalem, when an Israelite hears about the mount of the house of God, they're thinking about the temple.

So, there's the temple, there's Jerusalem, there's Mount Zion. You may imagine how deeply these themes are worked into the heart of an Israelite who hopefully grew up being taught the scriptures, knowing the stories, handling the promises, singing the Psalms, and so forth.

So, they hear all of this, verses 2 through 4 of Isaiah 2, and then an invitation in verse 5. Here's the invitation, verse 5. O house of Jacob, come and let us walk in the light of the Lord. Isn't that interesting?

In the vision, the nations are doing what? Well, verse 3 says, well, the end of verse 2, and all nations shall flow to it, going to Mount Zion, many people shall come and say, come and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord.

Guess who else gets to come? The house of Jacob. They're invited too. Which tells you what? They're not already there. They need to go there. They're not in the Jerusalem that they need to be in. Oh, they've got the old covenant Jerusalem, sure enough.

What they need to do is go to the new covenant Jerusalem. They've got the old covenant temple, sure enough, but what do they need? They need the new covenant temple. They've got the old covenant Mount Zion.

What they need is the new covenant Mount Zion. Them and all the nations need that, and they're all invited to come up. They're all invited to come, and they need to. And we see in the New Testament, when the preaching of the gospel goes forth, there was at first 100 or so, and then there was 3 ,000, and then 5 ,000, and then so many coming in that they stopped counting in the book of Acts, didn't they?

They counted at first, but then they just gave up counting. There's so many coming in to the new covenant Jerusalem and to the true Mount Zion, being built into a new temple where it's not Jews only and no Gentiles, but it's Jew and Gentile as living stones being built on the foundation of Christ, while all the nations were coming in.

So this invitation, O house of Jacob, come and let us walk in the light of the Lord, is to be taken in its full import and full value. They're not where they're supposed to be, but they're certainly invited to where they need to be.

So when we look at verses 2 through 4 in the theme of peace, the swords are beaten into plowshares. The spears are changed into pruning hooks. This is a picture of peace, and so the accomplishment, the achievement of the promises of God that entail these themes, such as Jerusalem and Mount Zion and the temple and so on, will be brought about not through warfare, but through peace.

So all the promises that God gave to the Jews that are now expanded to the nations are achieved not through warfare, but through peace. This is a necessary point to make, especially since when Jesus came and he was preaching and doing his messianic work, the people wanted a Messiah that would go to war against the Romans.

In fact, that's what the Romans feared, was more messianic movements that would stir up the people to martial action against the Romans. That's why they were scared of messianic movements, and they were trying to put them down rather forcefully and fiercely.

But Jesus told Peter that those who live by the sword die by it, didn't he? Now, he also had just told his disciples, when you're traveling around, you might need to have a couple of swords because, you know, bandits and the like.

But that's different than living by the sword. He wasn't saying live by the sword, he was saying, it's good to have a couple of swords around. But he said those who live by the sword will die by it. So the house of Jacob is invited away from the warfare, away from living and dying by the sword, to come up to Mount Zion and find peace in Christ.

Now, where are things today? Many times we look at the scriptures and we want to know how the scriptures apply today. Let me ask you something. Do you think that ethnic Israel is a people of peace today?

Do you think the political state of Israel is a people of peace today? Do you think that the promises that God gave to Israel are going to be achieved through warfare? I think the Bible says they're going to be achieved through peace, right?

So, we say, well, you know, as a political state, they have to fight in order to survive. 100 they do. That political state will cease to exist if they ever stop going to war. That's not the point. The point is, how did God's promises get fulfilled?

What we have in our situation today is that arrogant men drew foolish boundaries and enacted their violent hubris upon the peoples of the globe. Late 1800s, World War I, World War II, arrogant men drew lines on the globe and have caused more wars by it than anything else.

The war to end all wars, none of you are old enough to remember that firsthand, I don't think. But the war to end all wars, World War I, was funded by a temporary income tax. Just a 1 income tax, and it was only temporary to cease once the war stopped.

Welcome to today.

And that has not ceased in its avalanche of misery and destruction. So, I mean, I don't wish for those who live in the modern state of Israel to be overrun by jihadists. I don't wish that at all. But I also don't wish for the modern state of Israel to wage any kind of holy war wherein all manner of non-terrorist families, many of them Christians, get killed.

That is not biblically sanctioned in the least. Because all the promises of God are fulfilled how? By war or in Christ? In Christ. So the hope of Israel is what? Even as far back as Isaiah, even as far back as Isaiah, they lived in Old Covenant Jerusalem, on Old Covenant Zion, in Old Covenant Promised Land, and then what was the invitation?

Come.

Come.

You are not where you need to be. Come to where you do need to be. That was the invitation that John the Baptist preached. When John the Baptist preached about the coming of Messiah, he did not preach it in the marketplaces of Jerusalem.

He did not preach it in the courts of the temple. Where did John the Baptist preach? Wilderness. Where at in the wilderness? Where at in the wilderness? Do you remember? In the Jordan River. Because, you know, I mean, if you're going to baptize, you've got to have some water.

Pretty plain. But you know that John the Baptist was doing his ministry at the very place that Old Testament Yeshua, Joshua, led the people of Israel into the Promised Land, and John the Baptist was at the very same spot, baptizing people.

And what was he saying to them? Come away from Jerusalem. Come away from the temple. Come away from the sacrificial system. Come away from all of that. You are not where you're supposed to be. He's like, hey, we're in Jerusalem.

We're fine. No, you're not. You need to repent. You need to come away from that and get ready for the Messiah, who's going to lead you into the Promised Land. Because you aren't where you need to be. But Jesus, who is the way, the truth, and the life, will take you where you need to go.

He's the Savior. He's the Shepherd. So this invitation to come means that they are not where they need to be. And that's repeated in many ways throughout the scriptures. The house of Jacob is not where spears and swords, fashioned to spill the blood of the nations, have been retooled into farming equipment.

The house of Jacob is not there. They need to be there. There's no peace for the wicked. In chapter 1 it said they're very wicked, so they need to repent so they may have peace. So, Psalm 122. Psalm 122, verses 1 through 9.

I was glad when they said to me, Let us go into the house of the Lord. Our feet have been standing within your gates, O Jerusalem. Jerusalem is built as a city that is compact together, where the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord, to the testimony of Israel, to give thanks to the name of the Lord.

For thrones are set there for judgment, the thrones of the house of David. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. May they prosper who love you. Peace be within your walls. Prosperity within your palaces. For the sake of my brethren and companions, I will now say, Peace be within you.

Because of the house of the Lord our God, I will seek your good. I'm not going to say anything different than what missionaries in Israel and to the Jews, wherever they are, will say. The peace of Israel, the peace of Jerusalem, is in Jesus Christ.

And that's what Jews need. That's what Gentiles need. All the nations are invited to come up and find our peace in Jesus Christ. So, this invitation should be taken in its full import and say, this is for you too.

And this invitation is made all the more powerful and poignant by the following four verses. Verses six through nine. The invitation, O house of Jacob, come and let us walk in the light of the Lord. Why do they need to do that, is emphasized in verse six and following.

For, speaking to God, the prophet says to God, for you, O God, you have forsaken your people, the house of Jacob. Why did God forsake them? Because they are filled with Eastern ways. They are soothsayers like the Philistines and they are pleased with the children of foreigners.

Their land is also full of silver and gold. There is no end to their treasures. Their land is also full of horses and there is no end to their chariots. Their land is also full of idols. They worship the work of their own hands that which their own fingers have made.

People bow down and each man humbles himself. Therefore, do not forgive them. So what goes on here? Well, there is a contrast going. Notice in verse two of chapter two that the nations flow into Zion.

They are drawn to Zion. Nations going up into Zion. What's the problem with the house of Jacob? Verse six. They are drawn to the nations. The vision is the nations will be drawn to Mount Zion whereas the house of Jacob in verse six are drawn away to the foreign nations.

They are interested in these Eastern ways. They are interested in the Philistines. They are captured. Their affections are captured by the nations and this is in contrast to the nations coming up to Mount Zion.

New covenant Mount Zion. Another contrast. The nations in verse three are seeking instruction. They want to go to the house of God. The house of the God of Jacob to learn his ways. They want to walk in his path.

They are seeking instruction from God in contrast to the house of Jacob who is filling themselves up not with the word of God but with silver and gold and treasures. Verse seven. This is a contrast.

Verse four.

There is a picture of the nations coming together gathering in Christ, gathering in lasting peace contrasted to verse seven that says that the house of Jacob, their land is full of horses and no end to chariots.

Horses were not work animals in the ancient Near East. They were war animals. Donkeys were work animals. Donkeys were peaceful animals but horses were for war. So while the vision is the nations gathering together in peace in Mount Zion, contrast is the house of Jacob gathering up armaments in war.

More war, more fighting, more killing. In verse three, we have the nations submitting to God's word. Let's submit to the law of God. In verse eight, the house of Jacob they invent new gods. The nations are gathering to worship the one true God whereas the house of Jacob is inventing new gods.

Pretty strong contrast. And the nations are coming under the arbitration of the Lord in verse four while Jacob is coming under the condemnation of God that he will not forgive them in verse nine. So what Isaiah does here in verses six through nine is to set up a contrast to the vision.

And so to emphasize the need. The need for the house of Jacob to repent.

Here's the future.

Here's the new Jerusalem that God makes. Here's the new Mount Zion that God makes. And Jacob, come on, let's go. You're invited in because here's what you're doing. Here's how far away you are from the plan, from the pattern, from where everything is going.

It's good to be shown that. Sometimes the rebel needs to see the full scope of blessedness for a better understanding of their own folly. The prodigal, remember the prodigal son? When he came to himself there amongst the pig slop in a foreign land he remembered how blessed his father's house was.

And that set him on his journey home. It's the goodness of God that leads us to repentance, the scripture says. So it's essential for the rebel to lose all faith and trust in his current pursuits. This course of action is no good.

These confidences are no good. Repentance involves as much laying aside of all the vices as well as all the so-called virtues. Someone may comfort themselves in selfish pursuits, have confidence in their own name, their own gods, their own might, their own wealth.

But all these things need to be laid aside. And God is rebuking Israel in all of these confidences. Like you are gathering, you have a lot of money, you have a lot of silver, your economy is great. A plus economy.

You have horses and chariots galore. A plus military. Your land is full of idols and worship. A plus diversity. That your own fingers have made. A plus on your culture. People bow down, each man humbles himself.

So everybody is being polite and respectful. Everyone has had their politeness training drilled in. But these things are not boasts that are legitimate. God is listing these things by His prophet. And then in the following verses, verses 10, chapter 2 verse 10 all the way through the end of chapter 3, He will take each one of those themes that He introduces in verses 6 through 9.

He'll take each one of those themes and in the remainder of chapter 2 and all the way through chapter 3, God will dismantle each one of those confidences, each one of those trusts, and show that none of them are adequate.

So that's how the rest of the structure through the end of chapter 3 plays out. But when you see verse 6, when you see verse 6, it says that God has forsaken His people, the house of Jacob. Why? Because they were filled with Eastern ways.

They are soothsayers like the Philistines. They are pleased with the children of foreigners. And so there's this epitaph written above the condemnation of the house of Jacob. Forsaking and forsaken. This is what defines them right now, that they are forsaking the Lord and thus they are forsaken of the Lord.

Forsaking and forsaken. They are a people that are reeling, reeling, being moved by every wind into one bad security after another. They're like a drunk trying to get home, but doesn't remember that he has no home.

Their journey is one flailing wreck after another. And that's what chapter 2 verse 10 through the end of chapter 3 is going to demonstrate in painful detail. But God is kind, and God is merciful to disrupt them, to interrupt them, to destabilize them.

They are in rebellion against God, but they want to feel they're doing well, so they have these boasts that they can measure. God undoes it all. As we said before, John the Baptist cried from the wilderness, not the marketplace.

He cried from the Jordan River, not the temple courts. There's a need for leaving those boasts, leaving those confidences, leaving Jerusalem, leaving Zion, so they can go to Jerusalem, so they can go to Zion.

They need to leave trust in themselves, so they can trust in the Messiah, who sought to gather them under his wings, but found so many of them unwilling to leave. So we'll leave it there for now, and our plan next time will be to focus in on verse 6, and then verses 7 through 9.

Yes.

So chapter 2, verse 10, through the end of chapter 3.

Yeah.

So to partner that up, it's going to be in a reverse parallel called a chiasm. So verse 7, the beginning part of verse 7, treasures and gold. Chapter 3, verses 13 through 26, silver and gold is prophesied against.

Chapter 2, verse 7, the second half of verse 7, Judah is full of military strength, prophesied against in chapter 3, verses 1 through 12. Isaiah 2, verse 8, Judah is full of idols, prophesied against in chapter 2, verses 20 through 22, and then Judah is full of pride and self-focused religion in verse 9, preached against in chapter 2, verses 10 through 19.

So each one of those themes, the four themes spelled out, 1, 2, 3, 4, gets preached against, 4, 3, 2, 1. Very Jewish way to approach a subject matter. We appreciate more orderly outlines, but anyway, that's how the Jews wrote.

All right.

Well, let's go ahead and close by singing the doxology together.