The Last Days

Isaiah 2:1-21

“The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.

And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.  And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.  And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.  O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the LORD.” (Isaiah 2:1-5)

The prophecy in Isaiah 1 was about Judah and Jerusalem during king Ahaz’s reign, about 700 BC.  The prophecy in chapter 2 is about Judah and Jerusalem in the last days, specifically during the thousand year period known as the Millennium, mentioned in Revelation 20:4-7.  During that period, the Lord will reign in Jerusalem and all the nations of the earth will come there to worship.  We are told he will rule with a rod f iron and wrongdoing will not be tolerated.  For a thousand years there will be no wars, and the stockpiles of weapons will be reclaimed and put to domestic use.  Knowing what will come in the future, Isaiah calls on Judah and Jerusalem to turn to the Lord in his day.

 

“Therefore thou hast forsaken thy people the house of Jacob, because they be replenished from the east, and are soothsayers like the Philistines, and they please themselves in the children of strangers.  Their land also is full of silver and gold, neither is there any end of their treasures; their land is also full of horses, neither is there any end of their chariots: Their land also is full of idols; they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made: And the mean man boweth down, and the great man humbleth himself: therefore forgive them not.” (Isaiah 2:6-9)

Judah had turned to the Assyrians and Chaldeans for support and had adopted their astrology and magic so that they were little different than the Philistines, trusting their wizards and witches and educated men instead of God.  Judah was a very wealthy country with huge military buildup so that they were confident they could not be defeated.  Convinced they no longer need God’s blessings. They have turned to many other gods, building idols everywhere.  Almost everyone, from the poorest and least respected to the most powerful leader is involved in worshipping the idols.    It is an unforgiveable affront to God.

“Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty.  The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day.  For the day of the LORD of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low: And upon all the cedars of Lebanon, that are high and lifted up, and upon all the oaks of Bashan, And upon all the high mountains, and upon all the hills that are lifted up, And upon every high tower, and upon every fenced wall, And upon all the ships of Tarshish, and upon all pleasant pictures.

 And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low: and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day.  And the idols he shall utterly abolish.   And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.” (Isaiah 2:10-18)

In the last day, just before the Millennium all mankind’s pride will be destroyed.  Judah and Jerusalem will be forced to spend several years in hiding as described in Revelation 12:14-16.  Revelation describes the destruction of the trees in Revelation 8:7.  Revelations 16 describes a great earthquake that sinks the islands and flattens the mountains, destroying cities around the world. a third of the ships will be destroyed according to Revelation 8:9. And all the art work from the past will be wiped out so that people can no longer take pride in their wickedness or worship those old idols.   People will flee to the mountains looking for a place of safety, according to Revelation 6:14-17.

“In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which they made each one for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats; To go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.” (Isaiah 2:20-21)

The things people cling to today will be thrown away as worthless when God’s power is revealed in the last day.  All the wealth and false religion will mean nothing to them.