This is what Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem:
2 In the last days
the mountain of the LORD’s temple will be established
as chief among the mountains;
it will be raised above the hills,
and all nations will stream to it.
3 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 ways,
so that we may walk in his paths.”
The law will go out from Zion,
the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
4 He will judge between the nations
and will settle disputes for many peoples.
They will beat their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will not take up sword against nation,
nor will they train for war anymore.
5 Come, O house of Jacob,
let us walk in the light of the LORD.
The Day of the LORD
6 You have abandoned your people,
the house of Jacob.
They are full of superstitions from the East;
they practice divination like the Philistines
and clasp hands with pagans.
7 Their land is full of silver and gold;
there is no end to their treasures.
Their land is full of horses;
there is no end to their chariots.
8 Their land is full of idols;
they bow down to the work of their hands,
to what their fingers have made.
9 So man will be brought low
and mankind humbled—
do not forgive them.
10 Go into the rocks,
hide in the ground
from dread of the LORD
and the splendor of his majesty!
11 The eyes of the arrogant man will be humbled
and the pride of men brought low;
the LORD alone will be exalted in that day.
12 The LORD Almighty has a day in store
for all the proud and lofty,
for all that is exalted
(and they will be humbled),
13 for all the cedars of Lebanon, tall and lofty,
and all the oaks of Bashan,
14 for all the towering mountains
and all the high hills,
15 for every lofty tower
and every fortified wall,
16 for every trading ship
and every stately vessel.
17 The arrogance of man will be brought low
and the pride of men humbled;
the LORD alone will be exalted in that day,
18 and the idols will totally disappear.
19 Men will flee to caves in the rocks
and to holes in the ground
from dread of the LORD
and the splendor of his majesty,
when he rises to shake the earth.
20 In that day men will throw away
to the rodents and bats
their idols of silver and idols of gold,
which they made to worship.
21 They will flee to caverns in the rocks
and to the overhanging crags
from dread of the LORD
and the splendor of his majesty,
when he rises to shake the earth.
22 Stop trusting in man,
who has but a breath in his nostrils.
Of what account is he?
My Understanding: The “last days,” referred to in scripture, are generally understood by most Bible commentators to include the time from Jesus’ first coming to earth in human form to the time when he returns to judge the earth, to return for His bride and to set up His kingdom reign on the earth for a period of a thousand years, at which time his saints will reign and rule with him. Thus, the “mountain of the Lord’s temple” must be understood as the Body of Christ, His church. We are the “City on a hill,” the Spirit of God dwells within our hearts, so that we are His temple, and the Holy of Holies is now within us, God’s chosen people, His church. The church also represents the eternal gospel of Jesus Christ, which is what the nations stream to, i.e. now salvation is available, not only to the Jews, but to all people.
So, for people to 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 ways, so that we may walk in his paths,” this has to do with people being drawn to Christ through the preaching of the gospel and through the witness of the church, God’s temple, as to the salvation that is provided for all men through Jesus’ death and resurrection. The law that will go out is the gospel and Zion is the church, as well as Jerusalem is a heavenly Jerusalem, not physical Jerusalem. Yet, Jesus is the fulfillment of the law and he is the word that goes out, so it is him and his word that judges between the nations. When he comes to judge he will also set up his earthly reign on the earth, at which time war will cease to exist and nations will live at peace with each other.
Based upon this prophecy concerning the future, which is now our present reality, Israel was called upon by God to come and to walk in the light of the LORD. And, God is still calling his people, the church, to come and to walk in His light, because of what Jesus Christ did for us in dying for our sins so that we could go free from the penalty of sin, and so that we could be set free from the control of sin over our lives. This is the gospel message to which we are to respond with repentance, faith and obedience to God’s commands for our lives, and to which we should react by walking in the light of the Lord that he gives us.
Isaiah stated, as recorded in v. 6, that God had abandoned his people, which is why they were living in spiritual adultery against God, were involved in idolatry and the worship of and trust in man over and above worship and trust in Almighty God, as well as their actions and behaviors could be described as “religious syncretism,” i.e. a combination of different religious beliefs and/or practices, i.e. the blending of different religions into one faith. Yet, God has said of those who are his true children that he will never leave us or forsake us.
Certainly there is the distinction between being under the old covenant with God and the new covenant of grace where God now dwells within his followers, where we are sealed with the promised Holy Spirit and we understand that even when we are faithless that God remains faithful. Yet, we also know that not everyone who calls himself a Christian is really a true believer in Jesus Christ, too. And, Romans 1 tells us that mankind, even though he has the knowledge of God within him, if he chooses to go his own way, God will give him over to do what his sinful heart desires to do, i.e. God will not force his will upon anyone.
The behavior of the people of God of Isaiah’s day could also be a description of much of today’s church here in the USA – full of superstitions, practice fortune telling, joining hands in agreement and partnership with the world and world’s system, which stands directly opposed to God and to his teachings and principles for daily living, greedy to gain material possessions, reliance upon and excessive use of man-made power and strength, following after other gods of money, fame, reputation, entertainment, prestige, power, position, possessions, etc., and worship (give honor, loyalty, devotion and allegiance to) the work of their own hands (their own creations, accomplishments, talents, fortunes, etc.).
Yet, the Bible also teaches us that God is patient, kind, and longsuffering, and he gives us a free will to choose to walk with him or to not walk with him, so even though his children may, for a time, choose to commit adultery against him and to become idolaters and to be involved in religious syncretism, and he allows it for a time, this does not mean he has abandoned us, it just means that he is patient with us, for a time, in allowing us to return to him on our own without the discipline of divine judgment, yet a time will come for all of us when God will draw the line in the sand and he will determine that his people and the nations must be judged, with the ultimate goal of bringing about repentance and a return to obedience and faithfulness to God Almighty on the part of his people, the church.
At that time when God judges, he will humble all the proud and lofty who are placing their trust in themselves, in other men, or in earthly objects of their affection over and above the affection, loyalty, devotion and allegiance that should be given to God, and to God alone. The arrogance of man to think he can forsake God and go his own way or to think that he can take lightly what Jesus Christ did for him in dying for his sins so that he could go free, will be brought low and the pride of man humbled. The Lord alone will be exalted in that day. Amen!
And, the idols of man, i.e. the people or things they worship and give their hearts to over and above giving their hearts to God/Jesus, will disappear, because God will make them disappear. In that day, men will discard their idols of wealth, fame, fortune, self-accomplishment, entertainment, et al, perhaps because they will become utterly worthless to them at that time, or hopefully out of sincere repentance over the sins they had previously committed by forsaking their God in favor of man-made idols. Either way, when God comes to judge, which he most certainly will do and has done, the dread of the Lord and the splendor of his majesty will be central and foremost when he rises to shake the earth. Thus, we, his church, are being called upon to stop placing our trust in man and man-made resources, but to put our faith and trust in Almighty God who will never let us down, who will never leave us or forsake us, and who will supply all that we need.
Never Will I Leave You / An Original Work / May 11, 2011
God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you” (Heb. 13:5).
“Never will I leave you, nor will I forsake you.”
Jesus is your Savior; love and comfort keep you.
He is your deliverer; Rock of your salvation;
Cornerstone, rejected by men; mighty God is He!
Hope of your salvation; He is your Redeemer.
He is living in you as your Lord and Master.
He will not forget you, nor will He neglect you.
He knows all about you; He will supply all you need.
God of your redemption’s perfect plan to save you
Sacrificed for your sin, so you’d be forgiven.
He loves and adores you; perfectly He made you
So that you might be His servant and child of the King.
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B5aJQ42RLiUlODA5YzAxODMtOWI1My00NzUxLWFkMGYtOGU5MmY2YzZmMDk4&hl=en
No comments:
Post a Comment