1The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
The main difference between the first verse of chapter 2 and the first verse of chapter 1 is that no time frame is given in 2:1. Perhaps this difference is due to the difference in focus of the two chapters. Unlike chapter 1, chapter 2 focuses on Israel’s distant future. Verses 1-4 speak of future blessing, and verses 10-22 speak of future judgment. Sandwiched between these two sections are verses 5-9, which address conditions then current in Israel, conditions which required that Israel be judged as the other nations would be.
2And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. 3And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, 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 the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. And 4he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
Almost the same words found in these verses are also written in Micah 4:1-3. Micah and Isaiah were contemporaries (see Micah 1:1). In view of the introduction given in the first verse of Isaiah 2, it seems likely that this prophecy was first received by Isaiah and then quoted by Micah.
These verses foresee the end of the situation of competing world governments. Isaiah prophesied that in the future, mount Zion, where the LORD’s temple will be located, “shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills.” This description implies that the government which the LORD will establish will have no rival. Jerusalem will be the center of His government, and all nations will be in submission to Him. The phrase, “out of Zion shall go forth the law,” is probably intended to imply that the law of God’s future kingdom is to be contrasted with the law that went forth out of Sinai. As is true today because of the New Covenant, all true believers on earth will have a heart desire to know and obey His Word (Jeremiah 31:33). Under Yahweh’s rule with absolute authority, there will be world peace. Chapter 1 intimated of this future for Jerusalem with the words, “thou shalt be called, the city of righteousness, the faithful city” (1:26).
The beating of swords into plowshares and of spears into pruninghooks is very different from the call to battle in Joel 3:9-10 : “Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles; Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up: beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruninghooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong.” In those verses, God was calling Israel’s enemies to a final battle in which their enemies would be destroyed. That battle will take place just prior to Christ’s return to reign. When His kingdom is exalted above all other kingdoms, there will be no more need for swords or spears.
5O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the LORD.
Isaiah exhorts the descendants of Jacob to live in accord with the revelation that God has given in His Word. In this verse is found the first of 25 references to “light” in the book of Isaiah. It is a theme progressively developed throughout the book, climaxing in the promises of 60:19-20:
“The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: but the LORD shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory. Thy sun shall no more go down; neither shall thy moon withdraw itself: for the LORD shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended.”
Isaiah makes the exhortation in verse 5 just after the prophecy in the previous verses about blessing in the last days. Logically, if in the future the word of the LORD will come from Jerusalem and be sought by people from all nations, the people of Judah in Isaiah’s day ought to live in accord with His Word then.
6Therefore thou hast forsaken thy people the house of Jacob, because they be replenished from the east, and are soothsayers like the Philistines, and they please themselves in the children of strangers. 7Their land also is full of silver and gold, neither is there any end of their treasures; their land is also full of horses, neither is there any end of their chariots: 8their land also is full of idols; they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made: 9and the mean man boweth down, and the great man humbleth himself: therefore forgive them not.
In verses 6-9, Isaiah speaks to the LORD about the sins of Israel and Judah. He begins by saying, “thou hast forsaken thy people...because...,” and ends by saying, “therefore forgive them not.” Isaiah says that God is right to judge His people.
The words “be replenished” in verse 6 are a translation of the same verb “be full” that is used three more times in these verses. Isaiah says that the house of Jacob is “full from the east,” “filled with silver and gold,” “filled with horses,” and “filled with idols.”
The words “full from the east” and the statement that “they please themselves in the children of strangers” are probably to be understood in the light of the middle phrase, “and are soothsayers like the Philistines.” Instead of walking in the light of the LORD, the people of Judah were desiring and imitating the lifestyle and practices of the nations around them.
In the Law given through Moses, God gave Israel warning about future kings’ seeking to amass wealth and putting trust in earthly might:
“But he [the king] shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he should multiply horses: forasmuch as the LORD hath said unto you, Ye shall henceforth return no more that way. Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away: neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold.” (Deuteronomy 17:16-17)
Yet, Solomon did greatly seek to multiply horses, silver, and gold, and had many wives (I Kings 10:26-29; II Chronicles 1:15-17; I Kings 11:1-3).
The “fulness” of imported lifestyle, silver, gold, treasures, horses, and chariots in Judah which Isaiah spoke of in verses 6-7 does not match the description of Judah in 1:5-7 as being “sick,” “faint,” “desolate,” and “burned with fire.” Clearly, the two time frames are different. It is likely that in chapter 2, Isaiah is looking back to the wealth from the time of Solomon that remained in Judah during the reigns of Uzziah and Jotham. Even though Uzziah and Jotham were good kings, the people of Judah still did evil:
“And he [Jotham] did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father Uzziah did....And the people did yet corruptly.” (II Chronicles 27:2)
The land of Judah was full of wealth, but it was also “full of idols.” Both the men of low position and the men of high position in the land were bowing down to idols (verses 8-9). “Therefore,” Isaiah prayed, “forgive them not.”
10Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty. 11The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day. 12For the day of the LORD of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low: 13and upon all the cedars of Lebanon, that are high and lifted up, and upon all the oaks of Bashan, 14and upon all the high mountains, and upon all the hills that are lifted up, 15and upon every high tower, and upon every fenced wall, 16and upon all the ships of Tarshish, and upon all pleasant pictures. 17And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low: and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day. 18And the idols he shall utterly abolish. 19And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth. 20In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which they made each one for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats; 21to go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.
Verses 10-22 form the third section of this chapter. Like the first section (verses 1-4), this part of the chapter looks to the distant future. Whereas the first section foresaw the day of blessing which the future reign of Christ will bring, the last section foresees the judgment on the earth that will precede His return as King. The middle section, verses 5-9, gives the reason that Israel also must be included in the time of judgment which is to come on the other nations.
The expression, “for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty,” is found in verses 10, 19, and 21, both showing the unity of the section and emphasizing the terror that will be experienced by those who face the return of Christ as judge. The expression may also be translated, “from the face of the dread of the LORD, and from the splendor of His exaltation.” People will go into caves and holes to seek to hide from the face of the One who will be their Judge. These words are like those found in Revelation 6:15-16, referring to the time after the opening of the sixth seal and just prior to Christ’s return:
“And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; and said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb....”
Verse 11 contains the first use of the expression “in that day” in the book of Isaiah. Verse 12 defines “that day” as “the day of the LORD of hosts.” The words “in that day” are then repeated in verses 17 and 20. This expression – “that day” or “the day of the LORD” – occurs about 50 times in the book of Isaiah. It usually refers to the time in the future when “the lofty looks of man shall be humbled” and “the LORD alone shall be exalted.” Thus, the expression “the Day of the LORD” encompasses both the judgment which will come on the earth prior to Christ’s return to reign and the blessing which His exaltation will bring. Like the prophecy in verse 2 that “the mountain of the LORD's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills,” verses 13-16 prophesy that every high thing – cedars, oaks, mountains, hills, towers, walls, ships, luxuries – will be brought low. The cedars and oaks may refer to world leaders (Ezekiel 17:22-24; 31:3; Daniel 4:10-28). The mountains and hills may refer to world governments (Revelation 17:9-10).
These verses imply that there will still be idols of gold and silver at Christ’s second coming. We know that during the seven years prior to His return, the world will make and worship an image of the Antichrist (Revelation 13:14-15). It may be that “home images” will also be made. But certainly, the luxuries that people cherish more than they cherish God will be cast aside as worthless when the inhabitants of earth are faced with the judgment of God. In His eyes, all of the world’s avarice is idolatry (Colossians 3:5).
22Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted of ?
The closing words in this chapter are an admonition to stop trusting in man, who continues to breathe only as long as God allows and who cannot save himself or others from the judgment to come. This verse also fits closely with the words in the first verses of the next chapter.
Note: All Scriptures are quoted from the King James Version of the Bible.