Light Walkers (Isa. 2:1-5)

Light Walkers
Isaiah 2:1-5

INTRODUCTION:
A 16-year-old girl was an invalid. Her mom loved seeking pleasure, not necessarily sinful pleasures but pleasures that took her away from her daughter. The mom was traveling in Italy one time where she remembered her daughter’s birthday was coming. She bought a rare and beautiful Italian vase and shipped it home to her daughter.

The full-time nurse brought it to the girl; it had arrived exactly on the girl’s birthday. But after looking at the beautiful vase, the girl turned to the nurse and said, “Take it away, take it away! O mother, mother do not send me anything more; no books, no flowers, no vases, no pictures. Send me no more! I want you, you!”

Jesus wants us. That daughter wanted her mother. She wanted her presence, her companionship, her love. Christ wants us. He wants our hearts. He wants our confidence. He wants union with us. He wants our love. He says to us, “I want you.”

And, He wants us in a community. He wants us loving each other, working with each other, encouraging each other. Christ died for community.

We as adults often make three mistakes when it comes to relationships:

1) We give little thought to the power of relationships. We still underestimate the influence other people have on us.
2) We have difficulty recognizing the negative relationships we have. We frequently rationalize what we are doing, without realizing it’s because of the relationships we have.
3) We do not know how to develop godly relationships, as strange as it might seem when it comes to adults…

Let me take you back to the days of the prophet Isaiah. The Assyrian nation was on the move. They were land-hungry and after more resources so they were invading nations as they swept across the middle east. The land of Israel, only about the size of NJ, would not put up much of a fight against the Assyrians. There were dark days coming as the Assyrians started invading Israel. They took over villages on the eastern border and slowly worked their way toward the capital and its temple.

In 1:1, Isaiah tells us he began preaching during the reign of Uzziah and preached into the reign of King Hezekiah. King Uzziah reigned from 792-740 B. C. The northern section of Israel would fall to Assyria in 722 B. C., during the reign of King Ahaz, the father of King Hezekiah. In other words, Isaiah preached throughout the whole invasion of the Assyrians and the threat of the fall of the capital and the temple of Jehovah God. In fact, during the reign of King Hezekiah, the Assyrians were threatening Jerusalem when King Hezekiah, who was a faithful servant of God, prayed to God for deliverance. God sent an angel who killed 185,000 Assyrian soldiers and that ended the seize against Jerusalem (chapters 36-38).

So these were very dark days for the nation of Israel and especially dark for those Israelites who were faithful to God. They were seeing all this death and destruction all around them and they knew that this was because of the rampant idolatry of their fellow Israelites. There was undoubtedly tremendous pressure on the faithful Israelites to conform to what was going on around them, to give in in order to get along. Agree to disagree. Unity in diversity. Those are phrases we often hear today and I’m sure those faithful Israelites heard all that too. They had family members who were worshipping Baal and doing other things that were not according to the Law of Moses. There were Israelites who worshipped Jehovah God one day and worshipped Baal on the next day.

Isaiah and other faithful Israelites were experiencing all this, both political and spiritual chaos. But in the midst of this chaos, God sent Isaiah and message of hope and one aspect of that message of hope is what we want to study in this lesson, Isaiah 2:1-5:

THE MOUNTAIN OF THE HOUSE OF THE LORD - 2:1-2:
Isaiah predicts here that one day, “in the last days,” the “mountain of the house of the Lord” will be established.

First, the expression “in the last days” is used 6 times in the OT, all in the prophets: Isa. 2:2; Jer. 23:20; 49:39; Ezek. 38:16; Hosea 3:5; Micah 4:1. Micah 4:1 is a parallel prophecy to Isaiah 2:2. But what is interesting is that the phrase, in the Greek translation, is found in Acts 2:17 where the apostle Peter joins the phrase to a quotation from Joel 2:28-32. Joel 2 predicted the coming of the Holy Spirit, which happened on that Jewish celebration, the Day of Pentecost. For Peter to join Isaiah 2:2 to Joel 2:28-32 shows that Peter, under inspiration of the Holy Spirit, saw both those prophecies being fulfilled in that one event, that one day, the Day of Pentecost.

Isaiah says, “one day, the mountain of the house of the Lord will be established.” The temple in Jerusalem, as well as Jerusalem itself, was built on a mountain. Here, Isaiah predicts a new mountain, a new “house of the Lord” would be established. The phrase “house of the Lord” is used 237 times in the Bible! The phrase is used especially (169 times) in the books of 1 and 2 Kings and 1 and 2 Chronicles.

Isaiah uses the phrase 6 times. After this occasion (2:2), the phrase is used 4 times as the Assyrians were attacking Jerusalem and King Hezekiah was praying for deliverance in the “house of the Lord.” Now, if we fast-forward 130 years, Jeremiah (chapter 52) tells us that Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians destroyed and desecrated the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem. They needed a new temple; they needed a temple that could not be destroyed by the enemy…

Look at how Isaiah goes on to describe this “house of the Lord” in verse 2: it will be the “chief of the mountains.” It was not just the temple in Jerusalem that was located on the top of a mountain. Many pagan shrines and altars and temples were built on the top of mountains. But this new temple, this new “house of the Lord” which would be built would be better, the “chief” of all the places of worship of all the pagan deities.

It will be “raised above the hills” and - notice this point - “all the nations will stream to it…” This temple would be for all the nations of the world, not just the Israelites. It would be a universal temple, a universal house. I told you that Assyria was the enemy of God’s people during this period of time, but look over at 19:23-26:

“In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrians will come into Egypt and the Egyptians into Assyria, and the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians. In that day Israel will be the third party with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth, whom the Lord of hosts has blessed, saying, “Blessed is Egypt My people, and Assyria the work of My hands, and Israel My inheritance.”

Yes, Isaiah foresees a day when the ancient enemies of Israel - Egypt - along with the current enemies of Israel - Assyria - will join with Israel in worship to God! And God will consider all of them “My people, the work of My hands, My inheritance.” This new temple is going to be a universal temple!

IS FOR TEACHING - 2:3:
Notice the community nature of this temple. It’s not just for worshipping God; it’s for worshipping God in a community: “Many peoples will say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob.” God inspires Isaiah to foresee the time when people who want to worship God will encourage other people to come worship God together with them, to form a community.

If God wants one person to worship Him, He was a billion people to worship Him - all together, in one community. We just saw that God anticipated that the enemies, Egypt, Assyria, and Israel would all worship together. God anticipated an Israelite telling an Assyrian, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob so we can worship!” God anticipated the Assyrian telling the Egyptian, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, so we can worship together!” God anticipated the Egyptian telling the Israelite, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, so we can worship together!”

Observe secondly that we have a new designation for this mountain of the house of the Lord: “the house of the God of Jacob.” This passage and Micah 4:2 are the only two passages where this specific phrase is found. “God of Jacob” is found 17 times, mostly in the book of Psalms (11 times). But, the phrase “house of Jacob” is found 22 times. This phrase is a synonym for the other more common phrase “sons of Israel.”

In 10:20, Isaiah tells his generation: “Now in that day [the day when God establishes His new temple] the remnant of Israel, and those of the house of Jacob who have escaped, will never again rely on the one who struck them, but will truly rely on the Lord, the Holy One of Israel.”

But here’s something interesting… The phrase “house of Jacob” is used only one time in the NT - Luke 1:32-33:

"He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.”

Here, we see that “house of Jacob” is used as a synonym for the “kingdom of the Messiah,” which is the church of Christ!

But look back at Isaiah 2:3 - the purpose of this assembly on the mountain of the Lord, in the house of God, is that “He may teach us concerning His ways, and that we may walk in His paths.”

God wants to teach us His ways! The purpose of this new temple, this new assembly, this new house of God is that God can teach His people accurately His ways! So that we may walk in His paths. We can’t live better if we don’t know better! Family, there are two things that can be said about the church of Christ; this is preeminently what we are about: 1) We are a worshipping community and 2) We are a teaching community. God says, “I want you to come to Me so I can teach you, so you can walk in My paths.” Isn’t Jesus “the way, and the truth, and the life” (John 14:6)?

Next in Isaiah 2:3, the prophet says, “for the law will go forth from Zion [a poetic name for the mountain on which Jerusalem was built] and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.” Just like “Zion” is a synonym for “Jerusalem,” so “law” is a synonym for “word of the Lord.”

The word “law” is torah in Hebrew, perhaps you’ve heard of it. The word itself is broader than what we think of as “law.” It literally means “instruction” and it is related to a word which means to “teach.” So “law” is both something taught as well as commands that result from what is taught. There are laws in the law of Moses: commands: do this and do not do that… But also history as a part of those laws. The book of Genesis is almost all history and some of Exodus is history but a lot of laws are in Exodus.

If we want to know God’s ways, if we want to walk in God’s paths, then we’ve got to know God’s laws! We must know the “word of the Lord.” Anything that comes out of the mouth of God - Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 22:21 - is important and worth hearing and considering. But the law, the “word of the Lord” is being preached and taught in this new house of the Lord, this new “house of Jacob.”

And, it will begin in Jerusalem - notice that. We have already suggested that the day of Pentecost in Acts 2 is when the new temple would be established, the house of Jacob. That’s where the church of Christ got started and that’s when the law of the Lord, the word of the Lord focusing on Jesus Christ, first got started!

But notice also…

AND RECONCILIATION - 2:4:
When God establishes His new temple, His new house, when He begins teaching His law and the word of the Lord goes out from Jerusalem, then there will be reconciliation between one man and his enemy. Again, we’ve already pointed out that God is expecting Egyptian and Assyrian and Israelite all worshipping together. When would that happen? When the Messiah, the Prince of Peace comes whom Isaiah will predict in Isaiah 9:6-7.

God will judge between the nations and God will save those who come to Him in faith and obedience. And those who respond to the Prince of Peach, the Son of God, the Messiah, then they will all “hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.” In other words, they will turn their war weapons into farming tools because they won’t be waging war on each other anymore. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, and never again will they learn war anymore.

Russia, right now, is threatening Ukraine. But we all know that this potential war is not being waged by Christians. Russian Christians would not wage war on Ukrainian Christians. If NATO or Europe or the United States enter the conflict, it will not be Christians who are waging war against other Christians. Regardless of what nation it is, if we are all servants of Jesus Christ, we do not fight against each other. No, Jesus came to bring peace.

And peace is available to all Christians who put Jesus and His law first in their lives. Paul wrote of the effects of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ (Eph. 2:14-18):

“For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace, and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity. And He came and preached peace to you who were far away, and peace to those who were near; for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father.”

The mountain of the house of the Lord is for teaching and reconciliation. So…

CONCLUSION: LET US WALK IN THE LIGHT OF THE LORD - 2:5:
Here is Isaiah’s conclusion. He addresses himself to his people, in the age of darkness with rampant atheism all around him and the ungodly of Israel feeling like everything is hopeless. “House of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the Lord.”

What was Isaiah telling his generation? Let’s stay faithful to God by staying faithful to His law. Let’s anticipate when this new house of the Lord is going to be established. Isaiah did not know when it would be established; the Israelites would actually have to wait another 700 years before it would be established but God was being patient with Israel for them to come to Him on His terms.

Isaiah said, “Let’s go to the house of the Lord. Let’s learn God’s ways. Let’s walk in God’s ways. Let’s learn about God. Let’s learn the word of the Lord. Let’s seek peace with others who want to know God. Let’s walk in the light of the Lord.”

Don’t you remember that Jesus said, “I am the light of the world, he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life” (John 8:12)?

Take home message: The church is God’s community; it is God’s temple. Its role in the community is to teach the Law of God, the Word of the Lord. Let us walk in His Light.

Evangelism conversation starter: How do you look at God?