Contemplate these questions as you dwell in Isaiah 2:1-5:

1. Isaiah envisions a future where all nations flow to the mountain of the Lord, desiring to learn His ways and walk in His paths. How can this vision of unity and peace among nations inform our perspective on diversity and inclusivity in today's world? What role does faith play in transcending cultural barriers?

2. The prophecy describes a time when God will judge between the nations, and they will beat their weapons into tools of peace, ceasing to learn war. How can the understanding of God's sovereignty over all nations guide our actions and attitudes towards global conflicts and strive for peace?

3. Isaiah calls the House of Jacob to walk in the light of the Lord. As believers united to Christ, what does it mean for us today to walk in the light of the Lord? How can we practically apply this call to our lives in a world often marked by darkness and moral ambiguity?

Transcript:

This is probably one of the better-known passages from the beginning of the Book of Isaiah. Maybe Isaiah 6, we know a little bit better, but I don't think so. I think this passage with going to the mountain of the Lord and people beating their swords into plowshares, that is a very well-known part of this beginning of Isaiah. Now notice what it says here, It shall come to pass in latter days. This is a prophetic word, a proclamation of the word of the Lord, but also a prediction of the future. And we see that Isaiah is saying that in latter days, House of the Lord, the mountain of the house of Lord shall be established at the highest of mountains. The idea is that people will see it, that people will go to it, that people will desire to be coming to it. Notice what it says, that all nations shall flow to it. Now, that is the key here. We need to understand what is being said here. We don't have the ethnicity way of viewing the world that they would have had back then. Remember, there were those Hebrew people, and then there were Gentiles.

They were clean and unclean. We don't look in those categories. Now, mind you, we have disputes between nations, but so many nations like ours are a melting pot of different cultures that we don't necessarily hear this in the same way that they would have. The idea here is that all people are going to be able to come to God. These people who were once outsiders, these people who were once unclean, are now coming to the Lord. And this is going to happen because of what God is doing. And notice what Isaiah says, they're going to say, Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways, that we may walk his paths. This isn't just an acknowledgment of God being over all things. People who are going to want to come to the man of God are going to want to know His ways. They're going to want to live them. They're going to want to walk in His path. Now, notice what it says here. I highlighted in green, if you're watching on video, For out of Zion shall go forth the law and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

This is going out into the world. It's out of Zion. It's out of a place where God resides, where His word goes forth from there, and people then come to Him. This is God's word going out. And then we get to these words that are so well-known. He shall judge between the nations. How interesting is that? That the God of the Hebrew people is a King to them all. That's who judges between the nations. Notice the view that Isaiah has of who God is. He is King over all. Not just the Hebrews, not just Israel, not just Judah. He is God over all. He is going to judge between people. That's the idea here, that God is lifted up and that all the nations see Him as a King. Then we get this well-known passage and they'll be their swords, and ploughshays, or spears, and pruning hooks. In other words, God is going to bring these people together and he will make peace. It is the work of God that does this, then the nations are going to be at peace with one another. We read here, and it'll say that they shall not learn war anymore.

What a wonderful picture of the future this is, this idea that we are a people who are united under our King, who is the Lord our God, and who is ultimately our savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the one who makes it possible for us to be brought together. Because through him, we are all the people of God. There is no Jew or Gentile as we saw just recently when we went through the Book of Galatians, right? We are united to Christ, and so we are united to others, to our brothers and sisters in Christ. Then as we look at verse five, this is where I would like us to dwell for our application through that. O House of Jacob, come let us walk in the light of the Lord. Now, we are not thnically the people of Israel. We are not thendants of Jacob, but because we are united to Christ. We are the people of God. Call for our lives. The call that was on the Israelis then, Isaiah, calling them back to God in light that this peace was coming. We are now the people of God because we are united to Christ and we are brothers and sisters.

We are the people of God. What does Isaiah tell the people of God to do? To walk in the light of the Lord. It's so easy for us to walk in darkness, to walk in our own ways. We are called to walk in the light of the Lord. May we seek Him, may we seek His light that we might look to the future knowing God has called us from Zion. God has called us to himself. He has made us one people of God. May we look forward to the day when this peace comes, when Christ returns, when we are one people, and there is no more war, there are no more disputes, but instead, we all are the people of God, united to one another, seeking His face and worshiping Him to get.