- Isaiah 02 (Contemporary English Version)
- This is the message that I was given about Judah and Jerusalem:
- In the future, the mountain with the LORD's temple will be the highest of all. It will reach above the hills; every nation will rush to it.
- Many people will come and say, "Let's go to the mountain of the LORD God of Jacob and worship in his temple." The LORD will teach us his Law from Jerusalem, and we will obey him.
- He will settle arguments between nations. They will pound their swords and their spears into rakes and shovels; they will never make war or attack one another.
- People of Israel, let's live by the light of the LORD.
- Our LORD, you have deserted your people, Israel, because they follow customs of nations from the east. They worship Philistine gods and are close friends of foreigners.
- They have endless treasures of silver and gold; they have countless horses and war chariots.
- Everywhere in the country they worship the idols they have made.
- And so, all of them will be ashamed and disgraced. Don't help them!
- Every one of you, go hide among the rocks and in the ground, because the LORD is fearsome, marvelous, and glorious.
- When the LORD comes, everyone who is proud will be made humble, and the LORD alone will be honored.
- The LORD All-Powerful has chosen a day when those who are proud and conceited will be put down.
- The tall and towering cedars of Lebanon will be destroyed. So will the oak trees of Bashan,
- all high mountains and hills,
- every strong fortress,
- all the seagoing ships, and every beautiful boat.
- When that day comes, everyone who is proud will be put down. Only the LORD will be honored.
- Idols will be gone for good.
- You had better hide in caves and holes-- the LORD will be fearsome, marvelous, and glorious when he comes to terrify people on earth.
- On that day everyone will throw to the rats and bats their idols of silver and gold they made to worship.
- The LORD will be fearsome, marvelous, and glorious when he comes to terrify people on earth-- they will hide in caves and in the hills.
- Stop trusting the power of humans. They are all going to die, so how can they help?
A time will come, during the reign of Christ at the end of time, when Israel will uphold her end of the covenant with God and fulfill her purpose. Then God would bless her and "all the peoples on earth will be blessed through (her)." (Genesis 12:3) In the meantime Israel has sought her blessing through other nations and their gods. This has brought a reversal of roles. Instead of the nations of the world looking to Israel to be blessed, Israel has looked for her blessing through other nations. This is not what God intended, but His intention will one day be fulfilled.
Meanwhile, God will abandon the house of Jacob "because they are full of divination from the East and of fortune-tellers like the Philistines. They are in league with foreigners." (2:6) Some depict God as angry and capricious and vindictive. But anyone who draws such a conclusion does not understand Genesis 1:1 or John 3:16 - "In the beginning God . . ." and "For God loved the world in this way: He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who . . ." If we understand these passages we realize that God is the source of all that exists, including man, and that what He does comes from a love for those He made. God does not stand for those He has made to give credit for His creation and His blessings to other gods. Not only does it fail to give credit to Him, where it belongs, but it does not lead His people to the blessings He has provided for them. His love drives Him to guide His people, even through discipline, toward the blessings He has for them. If they choose not to seek Him and look instead to other gods for their blessings, God will do as Isaiah 2:6 says, He will abandon them to those gods and those pursuits and to the outcome to which it leads.
When we turn from God, we not only miss the blessings He has for us now, but we face His future judgment which is described in verses 10-16 of this chapter. When God brings judgment on this earth, those who have placed their trust in themselves or in other gods will "Go into the rocks and hide in the dust from the terror of the LORD and from His majestic splendor." (2:10) Then human pride that has claimed to be self-sufficient will be humbled, for then people will realize that it was God all along who has made everything and is the source of all that is good. Then, "the Lord alone will be exalted." (2:11) Not only will "human pride . . . be brought low," people will "throw their silver and gold idols . . . to the moles and the bats," for they will realize they are of no use to them against the true God.
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