Isaiah 2:1 - Meaning and Application

The title of this message in Isaiah 2:1 matches the general title of the book in Isaiah 1:1. The only difference is that what is called a vision there is called the word that Isaiah saw here, or the matter he saw. He was as sure of its truth in his mind as if he had seen it with his own eyes. Or it may mean that this word came to him in a vision, something he saw as he received this message from God. John, in the book of Revelation, turned to see the voice that spoke to him (Revelation 1:12).

This message begins with a prophecy about the last days, the days of the Messiah, when his kingdom would be set up in the world near the end of the Mosaic age. In the last days of earthly Jerusalem, just before its destruction, the heavenly Jerusalem would be established (Hebrews 12:22; Galatians 4:26). Gospel times are called the last days for three reasons. They came after a long wait, since Old Testament believers looked for them for a long time. We are not to expect any other work of saving grace apart from what we have in the gospel (Galatians 1:8-9). And we should look for the second coming of Jesus Christ at the end of time, just as Old Testament believers looked for his first coming. This is the last hour (1 John 2:18).

The prophet here foretells the setting up of the Christian church and the planting of the Christian faith in the world. Christianity will become the mountain of the Lord's house. Wherever it is truly received, God will give his presence, accept his people's worship, and grant instruction and blessing, just as he once did in the temple on Mount Zion. The gospel church, brought together under Christ's authority, will become the gathering place of all the spiritual children of Abraham.

It is promised, first, that Christianity will be openly preached and professed. It will be prepared, as the margin reads, on the top of the mountains, in plain sight and within earshot of all. That is why Christ's disciples are compared to a city on a hill that cannot be hidden (Matthew 5:14). Many eyes were on them. Christ himself spoke openly to the world (John 18:20). What the apostles did was not done in secret (Acts 26:26). It was like lighting a beacon or raising a banner. If it was spoken against everywhere, that only showed it was also spoken of everywhere.

Second, it will be firmly fixed and rooted. It will be established on the top of the everlasting mountains, built on a rock, so that the gates of hell will not prevail against it, unless they could uproot mountains. The one who dwells safely is said to dwell on high (Isaiah 33:16). The Lord has founded gospel Zion.

Third, it will not only overcome opposition, but also rise above every rival. It will be exalted above the hills. The wisdom of God hidden in this message will shine brighter than all the wisdom of the world, including its philosophy and politics. The spiritual worship it brings will bring down the idol worship of the nations, and every other religious system will seem low and weak beside it. See Psalm 68:16. Why do you look with envy, you high hills? This is the hill God desires for his dwelling.

Second, the Gentiles will be brought into it. The nations will be admitted, even those who were uncircumcised and once forbidden to enter the courts of the temple in Jerusalem. The dividing wall that kept them out will be removed. All nations will flow into it. Since they have free access, they will use that freedom, and many will embrace the Christian faith. They will flow in like streams of water, which shows both the great number of converts the gospel will make and their eagerness and joy in coming to the church. They will not be forced in. They will come naturally. Your people will be willing, all volunteers (Psalm 110:3). To Christ will come the gathering of the peoples (Genesis 49:10). See Isaiah 60:4-5.

Third, this coming together of converts will bring mutual help and encouragement. Their godly feelings and decisions will mix together so fully that they will come as one stream. As Jews traveling up to Jerusalem for worship would call to friends along the way and urge them to come too, so many Gentiles will invite their relatives, friends, and neighbors to join them in embracing the Christian faith (Isaiah 2:3). “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord.” Even if it is uphill and against our natural feelings, it is the mountain of the Lord, and he will help our souls rise toward him.

Those who are entering covenant and fellowship with God themselves should bring as many others as they can with them. It is fitting for Christians to stir one another up to good works and encourage fellowship with one another. They should not say, “You go up to the mountain of the Lord and pray for us, while we stay home.” Nor should they say, “We will go, and you do whatever you want.” Instead they should say, “Come, let us go together.” They should go in agreement, so they can strengthen one another and support one another’s reputation. Nor should they say, “We will think about it and decide later.” They should say, “Come, let us go at once.” See Psalm 122:1. Many will speak this way. Those who have had it said to them will say it to others.

The gospel church is called not only the mountain of the Lord, but also the house of the God of Jacob. In it, God’s covenant with Jacob and his praying people continues and reaches its fulfillment. For to us now, as to them, he never says, “Seek me in vain” (Isaiah 45:19).

Notice what they expect when they go up to the mountain of the Lord. There he will teach us his ways. God’s ways are learned in his church, in fellowship with his people, and in the use of his appointed ordinances. These include the ways of duty he requires us to walk in, and the ways of grace by which he comes to us. It is God who teaches his people through his word and Spirit. It is worth the effort to go up to his holy mountain to be taught his ways, and those willing to make that effort will not find it wasted. Then we will know, if we press on to know the Lord.

Notice also what they promise for themselves and one another: “If he will teach us his ways, we will walk in his paths.” If he will show us our duty, we will, by his grace, take care to do it. Those who hear God’s word with this humble resolve will not be sent away without learning.

Fourth, the means by which all this will happen is that out of Zion will go forth the law, the New Testament law, the law of Christ, just as the law of Moses once went out from Mount Sinai, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. The gospel is a law, a law of faith. It is the word of the Lord. It went forth from Zion, where the temple was built, and from Jerusalem. Christ himself began in Galilee (Matthew 4:23; Luke 23:5). But when he commanded his apostles to preach the gospel to all nations, he told them to begin in Jerusalem (Luke 24:47). See also Romans 15:19.

Although most of the disciples lived in Galilee, they had to stay in Jerusalem to receive the promised Spirit (Acts 1:4). They also preached the gospel in the temple on Mount Zion (Acts 5:20). Jerusalem was given this honor even after Christ was crucified there, because of what it had once been. From Jerusalem, the gospel went out and built up Christ’s church on the top of the mountains. This was the strong scepter of God’s power sent out from Zion (Psalm 110:2).

Here is the setting up of the Redeemer’s kingdom in the world. He will judge among the nations. The one whose word goes out from Zion will use that word not only to bring souls under his rule, but to govern them as well (Isaiah 2:4). In wisdom and justice, he will direct world events for the good of his church, and he will correct and restrain those who oppose it. By his Spirit working on people’s consciences, he will judge them. His rebuke will search people and check them, for his kingdom is spiritual, not of this world.

The great peace that follows the success of the gospel in the world is pictured next (Isaiah 2:4). People will beat their swords into plowshares, turning tools of war into tools for farming. In the same way, when war is declared, plowshares are beaten into swords (Joel 3:10). Nations will not lift up sword against nation as they do now, and they will not learn war anymore, because they will have no more need for it. This does not make all war unlawful for Christians, and it is not a promise that there will be no wars at all during the Messiah’s days.

The Jews often use this against Christians as an argument that Jesus is not the Messiah, because they say the promise has not been fulfilled. But this can be answered in several ways. First, it was partly fulfilled in the peaceful time when Christ was born, when wars had greatly quieted down, as seen in the census under Caesar (Luke 2:1). Second, the gospel is meant to make peace and put away hatred. It carries the strongest reasons and motives for peace, so it should reasonably have produced this effect if human lusts, from which wars and fights come, had not stood in the way. Third, Jews and Gentiles were brought together and reconciled by the gospel, and there were no longer such wars between them as before, because they became one flock under one shepherd. See Ephesians 2:15.

Fourth, as far as the gospel of Christ spreads, it makes people peaceful, softens their spirits, and gives them a gentler temper. The love of Christ, poured into the heart, urges people to love one another. Fifth, the first Christians were known for brotherly love, and even their enemies noticed it. Sixth, we have good reason to hope that this promise will yet be fulfilled more fully in the last days of the Christian church, when the Spirit is poured out more richly from above. Then there will be peace on earth. Who will live to see God do this? But he surely will do it in his time, for he is not a man that he should lie.

The passage ends with a practical appeal (Isaiah 2:5): “O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord.” By the house of Jacob, he may mean either Israel by birth or the spiritual people of God. If it means Israel by birth, they should be stirred up to holy eagerness by the Gentiles (Romans 11:14). Seeing the Gentiles so ready to go up to the house of the Lord, Israel should be moved to do the same. It should never be said that Gentile sinners were better friends to God’s holy mountain than the house of Jacob. The zeal of some should stir up many.

Or the words may mean spiritual Israel, all who have been brought to the God of Jacob. If there will be such great knowledge in gospel days (Isaiah 2:3) and such great peace (Isaiah 2:4), and if we share in those blessings, then we should live in a way that fits them. Whatever others do, we should come, yes, come, and walk in the light of the Lord. Let us walk carefully in the light of this knowledge. Will God teach us his ways and show us his glory in the face of Christ? Then let us live as children of light and of the day (Ephesians 5:8; 1 Thessalonians 5:8; Romans 13:12).

Let us also walk with comfort in the light of this peace. If there is to be no more war, then let us go on our way rejoicing, and let that joy end in God and become our strength (Nehemiah 8:10). In this way, we will walk in the beams of the Sun of righteousness.