←Isaiah 2→BSB

In This Chapter 5 people 12 places 9 terms

People

Jacob (Patriarch) 6 Isaiah 2 Amoz 2 Israel Jeshurun (Israel)

Places

    Key Terms

    Idol 7 Word of the Lord 3 Have a Vision 2 Way of Life 2 Instruction 2 The Way Way of the Lord (Metaphorical) Way to Live Way of Life

    The Mountain of the House of the LORD

    (Micah 4:1–5)

    1This is the message that was revealed to Isaiah son of Amoz concerning Judah and Jerusalem:

    ⓘ God’s gracious salvation would one day extend beyond...

    God’s gracious salvation would one day extend beyond Israel and Judah. This would prompt the nations to come to Zion, not in battle but to be blessed there and live by the rules of God’s kingdom. Isaiah encouraged Judah to look at the benefits that the nations would enjoy. He wanted to stimulate the people of Judah (2:5) to jealousy and provoke them to follow the Lord so that they would not be left out in that day. This section is repeated almost verbatim in Micah 4:1–3.
    2In the last days the mountain of the house of the LORDwill be established as the chief of the mountains;it will be raised above the hills,and all nations will stream to it.
    3And many peoples will come and say:
    “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD,to the house of the God of Jacob.He will teach us His waysso that we may walk in His paths.”
    For the law will go forth from Zion,and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.4Then He will judge between the nationsand arbitrate for many peoples.They will beat their swords into plowsharesand their spears into pruning hooks.Nation will no longer take up the sword against nation,nor train anymore for war.

    The Day of Reckoning

    ⓘ The prophet threatened judgment and scoffed at human...

    The prophet threatened judgment and scoffed at human pride. All human structures (religious, economic, military, social) will come under divine scrutiny and be found deficient on the day of the Lord—that final day in history when God will judge the wicked once and for all (1 Cor 1:8; 1 Thes 5:2; 2 Thes 2:2; 2 Pet 3:10; Rev 20:7–15). At times, the prophets also used the expression “the day of the Lord” (or others like it, such as “that day”) to refer to special instances of God’s judgment upon wickedness during the course of history (see Isa 13:6, 9; Ezek 13:5; 30:3; Obad 1:15). On the day of the Lord, God alone will be exalted, while all human wickedness and pride will be struck down. The glorious day of God’s coming will fill wicked and arrogant humans with terror (Isa 2:10, 19, 21).
    ⓘ Isaiah condemned Israel’s and Judah’s arrogance and self-exaltation,...

    Isaiah condemned Israel’s and Judah’s arrogance and self-exaltation, warning them that only God was to be exalted. All attempts by humans to lift themselves up will actually result in humiliation.
    5Come, O house of Jacob,let us walk in the light of the LORD.6For You have abandoned Your people,the house of Jacob,because they are filledwith influences from the east;they are soothsayers like the Philistines;they strike hands with the children of foreigners.
    ⓘ Isaiah pointed out all the things that people...

    Isaiah pointed out all the things that people substitute for the true God: material achievements and securities (silver . . . treasures), military strength (warhorses . . . chariots), and objects of affection (idols). Such wealth and military strength characterized the reign of King Uzziah (2 Chr 26:6–21). Elsewhere, Isaiah pointed out the sheer folly of worshiping anything that is made with one’s own hands (see Isa 44:9–20; 45:16).
    7Their land is full of silver and gold,with no limit to their treasures;their land is full of horses,with no limit to their chariots.8Their land is full of idols;they bow down to the work of their hands,to what their fingers have made.9So mankind is brought low,and man is humbled—do not forgive them!
    10Go into the rocksand hide in the dustfrom the terror of the LORDand the splendor of His majesty.
    ⓘ A key theme in Isaiah is that the...
    • A key theme in Isaiah is that the Lord will be exalted and humble people will be restored (57:15), while proud and mighty people are humbled (26:5).
    • The day of judgment and the “day of reckoning” are also called the “day of the Lord.” There are seven such references in chs 2–4 (2:11, 17, 20; 3:6, 18; 4:1, 2).
    11The proud look of man will be humbled,and the loftiness of men brought low;the LORD alone will be exalted in that day.
    12For the Day of the LORD of Hostswill come against all the proud and lofty,against all that is exalted—it will be humbled—
    ⓘ The prophet used several images of human strength...

    The prophet used several images of human strength to elaborate on 2:11–12.
    13against all the cedars of Lebanon, lofty and lifted up,against all the oaks of Bashan,14against all the tall mountains,against all the high hills,15against every high tower,against every fortified wall,16against every ship of Tarshish,†and against every stately vessel.
    17So the pride of man will be brought low,and the loftiness of men will be humbled;the LORD alone will be exalted in that day,18and the idols will vanish completely.19Men will flee to caves in the rocksand holes in the ground,away from the terror of the LORDand from the splendor of His majesty,when He rises to shake the earth.
    ⓘ Animals such as rodents and bats lead a...

    Animals such as rodents and bats lead a shadowy, subterranean existence. Those who worship idols will become like them in attempting to escape the Lord’s judgment.
    20In that day men will cast awayto the moles and batstheir idols of silver and gold—the idols they made to worship.21They will flee to caverns in the rocksand crevices in the cliffs,away from the terror of the LORDand from the splendor of His majesty,when He rises to shake the earth.
    22Put no more trust in man,who has only the breath in his nostrils.Of what account is he?