Sunday, October 6, 2024 PM

Alright, let's open our Bibles and turn to Isaiah chapter 2, as we continue to look at the mountain of the Lord's house and an encouraging word, a vision of hope and restoration, a picture of salvation given to a people in desperate need of it.

Let's begin with a word of prayer. Father, we thank you for the time you've given to us, pray that you would help us to rejoice in the truth of your word, and we would find here in this vision of the Mount Zion brought about in Christ, that we would rejoice in his truth and pray these things in his name.

Amen.

Okay, Isaiah chapter 2, beginning in verse 1. The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem, now it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills, and all nations shall flow to it.

Many people shall come and say, 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, neither shall they learn war anymore.

O house of Jacob, come and let us walk in the light of the Lord. So we've thought about how this chapter starts and it sounds like a brand new introduction to the book of Isaiah. Isaiah chapter 2, verse 1 would serve very well as the introduction to any other prophetic.

Book.

It's a great way to start. But we've already had the introduction. Chapter 1 is the introduction and we started off with a very similar approach where here is Isaiah, the son of Amoz, and he hears this word concerning Jerusalem and he's sharing this vision from the Lord.

Chapter 1 surveys the wickedness and rebellion of Judah and Jerusalem. This is the best that they can do. This is what they've come up with and this is the disaster in which they live. What hope do they have?

That God takes a personal hand and he does Jerusalem the way he wants and he makes everything new in only the way he can. And so now our attention is not placed on Jerusalem of the old covenant infested with idolatry and unfaithfulness slated for fiery judgment.

Now our attention is upon the new covenant Jerusalem and we have a metaphorical mountain. The mountain of the Lord's house. Everybody knows that's Mount Zion. Everyone knows the Lord's house is the temple.

But this mountain is in the latter days established on the top of the mountains exalted above.

All the hills.

And so we know we're not talking about the granite and the limestone and the chalk and the moral of the physical mountain of Zion being jacked up on some sort of construction equipment so that other mountains like Mount Everest and K2 can be snug underneath it.

We're not going to read it in a ridiculous way. The plainest, most biblical way of reading this passage is that it's a metaphor. And so mountains were the intersection of heaven and earth. Mountains were the location of the ordered arrangements of nations and covenants and.

Worship.

People went up on the hills, the high places to worship, didn't they? Wasn't that the problem? They were always putting altars up in high places. Why were they putting altars up in high places where everybody could see and the prophet could point it out to you and say, you bunch of heretics, why are you worshiping up in the high places?

Why are they hiding away out in the valley or in the middle of a threshing floor like down below in a vineyard or something? No, they went up on top because they all knew that's where you go to worship the gods.

That's the intersection of heaven and earth. But in this case, Mount Zion in the latter days, in the latter days of the old covenant, something new is going to happen. The new covenant is going to happen and there's a mountain of the Lord's house, the mountain that's going to be established on top of all the other mountains.

And now the nations flow up to it. Where are they coming from? The other mountains. See, Mount Zion established on top of the mountains, exalted above the hills. So why is that important? So that the nations that are on those other mountains, the nations that are on those other hills that are identified by all those places, they're flowing up.

They're flowing up into Mount Zion. This is a very similar vision to that which Daniel interprets for King Nebuchadnezzar and Daniel chapter two, wherein the kingdoms of the earth are envisioned in a statue in the shape of a man.

These are man shaped empires. These are empires of men, the golden head of Babylon, the silver chest and arms of Medo-Persia, the bronze waist and thighs of Greece, and then the iron legs and feet of iron and clay of the Roman imperial system.

These are the empires of men. But there's another kingdom. There is a rock uncut by human hands that's flung down from heaven, and it crashes into the feet of that statue, coming in the days of those kings of Rome.

And the statue is destroyed, pulverized, and this rock becomes a mountain that fills the entirety of the earth. We know when the days of the Roman empire happened, quite a long time ago. And we know that Jesus was born at that particular time.

But we also look around and we recognize that there is not some mountain growing like a big cancer on the side of the planet, tilting us the wrong way. How do we view this? We view it, this is a metaphor, this is a picture.

We're being taught that there is a kingdom that's not like the kingdoms of men. It's almost like what Jesus said to Pilate, you say rightly that I am a king, but my kingdom is not of this earth. His kingdom is not planted from the earth up, but from heaven down, which is the picture we get all the time of Mount Zion, the New Covenant, Jerusalem, and so on.

It comes down out of heaven, and that the nations are flowing into it. So that's what we're looking at here in Isaiah chapter 2. And we look at that many peoples are flowing into it. All nations, many people from all nations are coming into it.

And as Zechariah says, 10 men grabbed the sleeve of one Jew and say, bring us on up into Mount Zion. And we know what Jew that is, that's Jesus Christ. Okay, moving on in chapter 2 verse 3, the very first line of poetry there in verse 3 really is attached as a couplet to the last line of verse 2.

So let's put our attention to the second line of poetry in verse 3, and we're looking at what the people are saying now. And hear how these Hebrew parallelisms flesh out, how they flow out as poetry. 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. We shall walk in his paths. For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. So, we have a new introduction in verse 1. We are reminded of the intersection of heaven and earth in verse 2, and here in verse 3 the focus is on instruction.

Who's going to tell us what's true? Who's going to tell us what's right? Who's going to tell us what is wise? Who's going to let us know what is beautiful?

Who gets to say?

All these different nations, all these different cultures, all these different backgrounds. We could say, well, since nobody can agree, nothing is true. Since nobody can agree, nothing is right. Actually, there is a king over all kings.

There is a Lord over all lords. There is a creator, the word become flesh, risen from the dead, reigning over all the rulers of the earth, and he gets to say. The instruction flows from Mount Zion. Instruction flows from the new covenant, Jerusalem.

When those who are made in the image of God leave the word of God, they die. Even as you would cut a flower from the ground, it will wither and die. When those who are made in the image of God leave the word of God, they die.

Adam and Eve died because they left, abandoned, turned their back on the word of God. Did God really say? They rejected God's word. How do you find the new covenant, Jerusalem? How are you brought in?

There's only one who can take you there. Only one shepherd can take you there. Only one is the way unto God. So they come and they bow the knee and they obey their new master. They say, here's where the law is.

Here's where the instruction is. Here's how we know what way to take. Zion is the center of their instruction. Jerusalem is the source of revelation. This is the nature of the new covenant. So this is talked about in a variety of ways in the New Testament.

In that, first of all, the most important principle of this is that Jesus is our teacher. Jesus is our teacher. We are reminded of that in the Mount of Transfiguration. Once again, on the mountain, there was an intersection of heaven and earth, right?

Up the Mount of Transfiguration, Jesus goes with his three inner circle disciples, Peter, James, and John. They go up the mountain, and what happens? Jesus is transfigured before them. They see heaven pouring through Christ, the glory of God the Son incarnate.

And the Shekinah glory cloud comes down and quiets Peter because he was getting a little mouthy. He's getting all excited. He sees glory. He wants to talk. But he's supposed to be quiet and listen. He sees the glory of Jesus Christ talking with Moses and Elijah, and he says, I've got a great idea.

This will be the new center of the universe. Let's build three tabernacles. One for Moses, you get a tabernacle. Elijah, you get a tabernacle. Jesus, you get a tabernacle. You all get tabernacles. What a great idea.

And then, if we want to know anything, if we want to know the truth, we don't know right from wrong, wisdom, and so on, we're just going to come up this mountain and talk to these three gurus and see what they have to say.

And God said, you be quiet.

Hush.

And the Shekinah glory cloud comes down and quiets Peter and all the rest of them, and they are dumbstruck by the glory of God. And what does God say? He does not say anything about Moses. He doesn't say anything about Elijah.

He says something about Jesus of Nazareth. He says, this is my beloved son, with whom I am well-pleased. And notice the instructions, listen to him. That's pretty big if you're a young, if you're a Jewish man.

Thought I was supposed to listen to Moses.

I thought I was supposed to listen to the prophets, Elijah and the rest of them. Well, yeah, but Jesus said, they testify of me. He said that to the teachers. So, God says, here's my beloved son, listen to him.

And it says in the text that when they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus himself alone. Well, there's the way we read the scripture. There's where we find our instruction. There's where we find our truth.

Jesus is our teacher. And he told the disciples that in Matthew 23. He said, don't be like the Pharisees. Don't be like the Sadducees and the scribes. They like to be called fancy names and have fancy positions and so on.

He says, don't let anyone call you father. Don't let anyone call you rabbi. Don't let anyone call you teacher and so on. You have one teacher, Jesus Christ. He's pointing himself, the son of man is your teacher.

Jesus is the teacher. So, that's what's being communicated here. Jesus Christ is our teacher. It's not that the church with its magisterium tells us what to believe. That's Roman Catholicism. They've enthroned the bride at the right hand of the father.

But the bride is not at the right hand of the father. Christ is and we are in him. That's an important balance. Otherwise, you end up in heresy. So, he's at the right hand of the father. He's the one with all the glory.

He's the only one who is worthy to unseal the scrolls. So, we look to him. We've already talked about how he's the temple from John chapter 2. But he brings us to God in his high priestly ministry. Hebrews chapter 2 tells us that in his high priestly ministry, he brings us to God.

He brings many sons to glory as our high priest. He's the one who shows us the way. He is the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the father except through him. He is the fullness of God's law and instruction.

He is the end of the law, the telos, the fulfillment of the law, the satisfying conclusion of the law unto righteousness for everyone who believes. For the Jew first and also for the Greek. Romans 10 verse 4.

2 Corinthians chapter 1 verse 20 says, For as many as are the promises of God in Christ, they are yes. They are yes. Jesus is the word become flesh. That's John chapter 1. And he's both the center and the scope of the new Jerusalem.

As we've already talked about from Zechariah 2 and Hebrews 12. The whole point is that when many people are saying, you say they're coming from all these different hills and all these different mountains.

But notice where they're gathering and how they're gathering and where their unity is. There is a focus on the house of the God of Jacob. They want to go up the mountain of the Lord because they want to be instructed in his ways.

Walk in his paths. Receive his law. Receive his word. So we see the unifying factor for the nations is the authoritative instruction of the word of God from Mount Zion. This is where unity is found. This is how the people are brought together and taught and instructed.

There is an objective truth. There is an objective reality. Objective morality. Objective wisdom. Objective beauty. We can know. That is good news. So many people from all the nations gather to Christ as their savior, their mediator before God.

Now let's put this picture from Isaiah 2 into the context of Revelation 22. There's one road that's mentioned in the new Jerusalem. Again, the new Jerusalem is described as the bride. So the angel takes John up a high mountain and says, I want to show you something.

I want to show you the bride, the wife of the lamb. And he turns around and he sees a city. And the color and the description of the city even includes words like for mascara, but it's on the city. Boy, she's pretty.

She's all dolled up for her wedding day. But the city is the bride. The bride is the city. So the city is not where we're going to live. It's who we are. That's what's said in Revelation 21. All the description of the beauty of the city and so on.

And there's one road, just one road. We sing our spiritual hymn, our spiritual or old time religion songs, and I love them. When they talk about streets of gold, that's not in the text. One street. Now, someone doing the math figures out, okay, the New Jerusalem is a cube 1 ,500 miles every direction, three-dimensionally, 1 ,500 miles.

How are you going to facilitate a municipality that big with one street? Once again, I think we're dealing with a metaphor. But there's only one street, one street of gold, and the gold is so pure that it's glass and you see through it.

Now, we know what pure gold looks like, don't we? It's not transparent. Once again, we're dealing with some sort of metaphor. But the road, the street, goes to the throne. It goes straight to the throne.

And from the throne is also flowing a river of life. And so the street and the river occupy the very same space. And in the very same space is also the tree of life whose leaves are for the healing of the nations.

All in the very same space, all stacked in together, flowing from the throne. Who's on the throne? The Father and the Son are on the throne. Where is the Spirit? What did Jesus call the Holy Spirit? The river of life, the river, the water of life.

That's what he called the Holy Spirit in John chapter 7. So the Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son, flowing from the throne. And who comes up that one golden street to the throne? The nations, because they come up to the tree of life to get their healing that's in the leaves of the tree of life.

What are we being told? All the nations are coming up to Mount Zion. All the nations are coming up into the New Jerusalem. There's one way to God and the Holy Spirit, water of life, coming out, bringing those people up from every nation to the throne.

Because the attention is on bowing the knee to the one in charge. God is in charge, he's our creator. Jesus is in charge, he's the King of kings. We're being brought into submission to his authority and to his truth.

So, the people that are there, the name of God is upon their foreheads. Doesn't matter where you're from, what time frame you're from, what culture you're from, what nation you're from, everyone's got the same name stenciled on their forehead.

We're all owned by the same owner. We're all under the same authority. So, the nations gather to this mountain, into this city, and live by the exalted instruction and law that is mediated through Christ.

To put it another way, every bit of missions and evangelism is colonialism, heavenly colonialism. There is a culture that is foreign to all of us. We're all cretins without Christ. There is a culture that is foreign to all of us.

There is a word that is foreign to all of us. There is a set of values that is foreign to all of us in our sin without, but it's also native to us. Because we are made in the image of God. And Christ, who is the second Adam, is the one who dies for us and raises us to new life by his spirit, so that we will be who we are, made in the image of God for his glory.

So, we need to get our instruction and our law and our marching orders and our word from HQ. And HQ is New Covenant Jerusalem, where Jesus Christ is King. And HQ has a lot to say about how we live in our homes and in our churches and every facet in this world today.

Now, next time, we're going to talk about how that brings world peace. We're going to continue on to verse 4 is the plan, even into verse 5, the Lord allows. And we're going to talk about how this brings world peace.

But I have homework for you. You can finish the homework in one of two ways. On a granite wall across the street from the United Nations building in New York City, there's a granite wall that's across the street that comes from Isaiah chapter 2 verse 4.

Okay?

So, I want you to go find that and look at it and see what stands out to you about what's written there on the granite wall, what's not written there on the granite wall, and why is it important that it's over there by the UN building.

And you can either do that by driving there, or you can do what I did and use Google Street View. And you can use that little yellow man and drop him on those little blue streets and click around and move around and do yourself a little tour of the United Nations complex and see the granite wall and what's written there, what's not written there, and give us some pondering about what it's doing next to the United Nations building.

That'll be homework for next time. All right, let's close by singing the doxology together.

Praise God for all...