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[Note: <\/strong>This MS is available in larger font on our Manuscripts<\/strong> page.]<\/span><\/p>\n Introduction<\/strong>1<\/sup><\/span><\/p>\n In Isaiah 1 the prophet unleashed numerous denunciations of God\u2019s people that spanned the reigns of Uzziah through Hezekiah. Judah and Jerusalem (especially Jerusalem) had become so corrupt that God sarcastically called their citizens \u201crulers of Sodom\u201d and \u201cpeople of Gomorrah\u201d (v. 10). Through the prophet, God implored his people to come and reason with Him about the remedy for their sins (v. 18). Since they would not do so but were determined to persist in their spiritual harlotry (v. 21), God promised to consume the transgressors and sinners among them (v. 28). However, they would not be utterly consumed. In His judgment upon them He would purge the dross and restore righteousness and justice to Zion (vv. 25\u201327). In chapters 2\u20134 Isaiah described Jerusalem from three perspectives. He first presents the perfected Jerusalem in its final, spiritual state (2:1\u20134), followed by a description of the polluted city he saw all about him as he wrote (2:5\u20134:1), and finally, he set forth the purified city (4:2\u20136). Now let us turn to a study of these inspired descriptions.<\/span><\/p>\n The Perfected Jerusalem\u2014Isaiah 2:1\u20134<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n A Second Introduction (v. 1) <\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Verse 1: <\/strong>As he had done in 1:1, Isaiah introduced himself again. However, instead of the vision he saw in the former passage, he spoke of seeing the Word of the Lord in this passage. Perhaps the import of this is that he perceived and understood the meaning of the vision and message God gave him. He did not speak out of his own human knowledge and wisdom, but what he said was what \u201cJehovah hath spoken\u201d (1:2), \u201cthe word of Jehovah\u201d (v. 10), what \u201csaith Jehovah\u201d (v. 18), what \u201cthe mouth of Jehovah hath spoken\u201c (v. 19), and what \u201csaith the Lord\u201d (v. 24). Isaiah unmistakably claimed inspiration from the beginning of his book, and it is this inspired Word which he saw and to which he referred in 2:1.<\/span><\/p>\n The Perfected City Described (vv. 2\u20134) <\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Verse 2: <\/strong>In this verse Isaiah uttered a prophecy involving several elements:<\/span><\/p>\n The latter days <\/em>(last days<\/em>, KJV) obviously refers to a time yet future to Isaiah, but when? Probably the most conclusive evidence of the time to which he pointed is Peter\u2019s quotation and application on Pentecost of Joel\u2019s prophecy: \u201cAnd it shall be in the last days, saith God, I will pour forth my Spirit upon all flesh…\u201d (Acts. 2:17). Peter used this quotation from Joel to explain the miraculous phenomena the Holy Spirit demonstrated through the apostles on that occasion (vv. 1\u201313). Note the time element: \u201cthe last days.\u201d Actually, the statement from Joel 2:28 says, \u201cAnd it shall come to pass afterward\u201d (both ASV and KJV). Thus, Peter, by inspiration, used last days <\/em>to interpret the time Joel referred to as \u201cafterward.\u201d Very specifically, Peter said, \u201cThis [which you are seeing and hearing] is that [which the prophet described] ….\u201d None can doubt that this was the case without impugning the inspiration of the apostle. Note how closely Peter\u2019s description of the time in Joel\u2019s prophecy (\u201clast days\u201d) compares with the description in Isaiah\u2019s prophecy (\u201clatter days\u201d). Daniel used the same words to describe the time when Nebuchadnezzar\u2019s dream would be fulfilled, which would eventuate in the establishment by God of an everlasting kingdom (Dan. 2:28, 44).<\/span><\/p>\n Clearly, such expressions as \u201cafterward,\u201d \u201cthe last days,\u201d and \u201cthe latter days\u201d (lit., \u201cin after times\u201d) all refer to sometime in the future from that of the prophets. However, as Albert Barnes pointed out,<\/span><\/p>\n But as the coming of the Messiah was to the eye of a Jew the most important event in the coming ages…the phrase came to be regarded as properly expressive of that…. The last days<\/strong>, or the closing period of the world, were the days of the Messiah.2\u00a0<\/sup><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n In arguing that the latter days <\/em>is a reference to the Christian Age, Edward Young makes the following observations:<\/span><\/p>\n In the first place, it is thus often employed in the Old Testament of the time when the Messianic salvation will be accomplished. In the second place the New Testament definitely and clearly applies the phrase in this eschatological sense to that period of time which began with the first advent of Jesus Christ (Acts 2:17; Heb. 1:2; Jas. 5:3; 1 Pet. 1:5, 20; 2 Pet. 3:3 and 1 John 2:18).3<\/sup><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n When Peter applied Joel\u2019s prophecy to the events of the moment and thereby declared that its time of fulfillment had arrived, he was also, by extension and implication, declaring that the time of fulfillment for all of the other Messianic and kingdom prophecies had arrived. The reign of the Christ was indeed to be the last or latter days\u2014His reign would be succeeded by none other. There would be no other age, world, or dispensation of time. While the end of these days <\/em>(these last days<\/em>, KJV) in Hebrews 1:2 is understood by some to refer to the end of the Mosaic Age and Judaism, it also is possible (cf. Young as quoted above) that these words are a reference to the Christian Age in which the Son of God reigns and through Whom God speaks. (Also, compare Paul\u2019s use of the fulness of the time <\/em>[Gal. 4:4], later times <\/em>[1 Tim. 4:1], last days <\/em>[2 Tim. 3:1], and end[s] of the ages <\/em>[Heb. 9:26; 1 Cor. 10:11].)<\/span><\/p>\n I conclude from the foregoing information that the time element of Isaiah 2:2 and Daniel 2:28, 44, as well as that of Joel 2:28\u201332, had arrived in the events described in Acts 2. (Note the memory aid: the events prophesied in Isaiah 2, Daniel 2, and Joel 2 find their fulfillment in the events of Acts 2.) The Pentecost Day on which Peter declared, \u201cThis is that…,\u201d was the one immediately following the death, burial, resurrection, and ascension of the Christ (Luke 23:32\u2013 24:53; Acts 1:1\u20132:16) in about A.D. 30.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe mountain of Jehovah\u2019s house,\u201d which is the subject of Isaiah\u2019s prophecy, was to be built in the \u201clatter days.\u201d Mountains <\/em>is used as a figure for kingdoms in Psalms 76:4. Jeremiah referred to Babylon as a \u201cmountain\u201d (Jer. 51:25). I believe it was so used by Isaiah. The Jews therefore identified \u201cthe mountain of Jehovah\u2019s house\u201c with the Messianic kingdom. They looked for that everlasting kingdom and throne God had promised to a son of David (2 Sam. 7:12\u201313) and that kingdom which Daniel foresaw that would never be destroyed (Dan. 2:44). I agree with W. W. Kay\u2019s succinct identification of this \u201cmountain of Jehovah\u2019s house\u201d as \u201cThe mountain which God will establish for His household, the Church\u2014the antitypical Zion.\u201d4<\/sup> Paul\u2019s description of the church as \u201cthe house of God\u201d (1 Tim. 3:15) confirms the identity of the institution that was to be established in \u201dthe latter days\u201d as the kingdom, the church of Christ. Jesus was speaking of this very same institution when He said He would build His church in spite of the mightiest force Satan could apply to prevent it (Mat. 16:18). The Lord immediately referred to His church as \u201cthe kingdom\u201d (v. 19).<\/span><\/p>\n This kingdom\/church was to be established \u201con the top of the mountains.\u201d To those who heard these words this could only refer to their literal Zion, their holy city of Jerusalem. It was built upon the highest peaks of Judah. For this reason, therefore, from whatever direction one might approach the city, the Bible invariably speaks of going \u201cup\u201d to Jerusalem. When this description of topography is combined with the specific naming of Zion and Jerusalem in connection with related events in verse 3, the place at which the Lord\u2019s house was to be established is unarguable. It is appropriate to notice that Paul, whom I assume wrote the Hebrews letter, made the church, God\u2019s eternal kingdom, the anti-type of the literal Mount Zion and Jerusalem:<\/span><\/p>\n But ye are come unto mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, …to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven…. Wherefore, receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us have grace, whereby we may offer service well-pleasing to God with reverence and awe (Heb. 12:22\u201323, 28).<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n This house was not only going to be established, but it was going to be exalted above the hills surrounding it. Homer Hailey says simply: \u201cIt would transcend all the kingdoms of the world in greatness and grandeur.\u201d5<\/sup> Similarly, Daniel prophesied of a stone cut out without hands that smote all other kingdoms and then became a great mountain that filled the whole earth (Dan. 2:35). The parable of the mustard seed and the leaven give us a similar message (Mat. 13: 31\u2013 33). However, it is possible that more than exaltation above secular kingdoms is meant. Since this was to be a spiritual kingdom, could it be that the point of its exaltation is that it would be vastly superior to every other religious system or institution? Whether or not this is the meaning of the prophecy, this most surely is the Truth. Using a different figure, Jesus said, \u201cEvery plant which my heavenly Father planted not, shall be rooted up\u201d (Mat. 15:13). The church of the Lord is the superior institution, compared to which there is none other. The only religious institution on the face of the earth that exists with the approval of God is the church of Christ!<\/span><\/p>\n All nations, not merely the Jews, were to \u201cflow unto it.\u201d This is manifestly a prophecy of the inclusion of the Gentiles in this new spiritual kingdom God would build in Jerusalem in the latter days. It reaches all the way back to the call of Abram to be the father of God\u2019s great nation and the promise God made to him that in him all of the families of the earth would be blessed (Gen. 12:3; Gal. 3:8). But some Gentile-hating Jew may have objected, \u201cIsaiah did not say the Gentiles would be in it, but that they merely would come unto it.\u201d The next verse makes it obvious that they were to be in <\/strong>it.<\/span><\/p>\n Verse 3: <\/strong>Here the Gentiles are called \u201cmany peoples.\u201d This implies not only multitudes, but also people from all the Gentile races. They would be so attracted to this marvelous, exalted new kingdom that they would stream into the city. They would eagerly go themselves and urge others to go with them. Unlike the deaf and rebellious Jews of Isaiah\u2019s time, the uncircumcised would zealously seek to learn the teachings of Jehovah that they might walk in them. Let us pause long enough to make two observations:<\/span><\/p>\n It was on that Pentecost described in Acts 2 that the \u201cGreat Commission\u201d of our Lord began to be fulfilled, just as the Lord had instructed the apostles. That the Gentiles were included in that commission is incontrovertible. The Gospel of that commission was to be taken to \u201call nations\u201d (Mat. 28:19), to \u201call the world,\u201d and \u201cto the whole creation\u201d (Mark 16:15). Significantly, that saving Gospel was to be preached \u201cunto all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem<\/strong>\u201d (Luke 24:47, emp. DM). Likewise, just before His ascension, the Lord instructed the eleven apostles to stay in Jerusalem until they received power (i.e., were baptized in the Holy Spirit), after which they were to be His witnesses beginning in Jerusalem <\/strong>and finally \u201cunto the uttermost part of the earth\u201d (Acts 1:4\u20135, 8). Acts 2:1\u20134 describes the mighty power God exhibited that day when He baptized the apostles in the Holy Spirit. As noted earlier, Peter unmistakably identified what happened to them with the prophecy of Joel (vv. 16\u201321). Among those who marveled at the mighty miracles they saw were not only Jews \u201cfrom every nation under heaven\u201d (v. 6), but proselytes (i.e., Gentiles who had adopted Judaism) as well (v. 10). He went on to preach to all who would listen (Jew and Gentile alike) about Jesus as the Christ, convinced many of this fact, and then told them they must repent and be baptized by His authority if they would have remission of sins (vv. 37\u201338). He continued preaching thereafter and told them that \u201cthe promise\u201d was to them and their children \u201cand to all them that are afar off\u201d (v. 39). The latter phrase is an obvious reference to Gentiles. We therefore see that Gentiles in Jerusalem on this Pentecost were inquiring about this new kingdom and desiring to enter it.<\/span><\/p>\n The building of this glorious kingdom in Zion would be characterized by the going forth of the Law from Zion, and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem. This is simply the statement of the same fact in two expressions so that none could miss it. The law that was to go forth was not the Old Law God had given to Moses, for it had gone forth from Sinai some eight hundred years before Isaiah\u2019s time. Besides, that Old Law was not addressed to and did not include Gentiles except in a peripheral way. No, this Law and Word of the Lord that would go forth was to be a New Law to accompany the setting up of this glorious and exalted new kingdom in Zion.<\/span><\/p>\n Did a New Law go forth from Jerusalem on Pentecost? Indeed it did! The sermon that Peter with the eleven preached on that day was a message that had never been preached before. It not only proved that Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ, the resurrected, ascended, and enthroned Son of God, but it told men for the first time ever how they could have complete and immediate forgiveness of sins. Ironically, it was through the blood of the very One Whom they had crucified only fifty days before that this new covenant and its full forgiveness was possible. He was the perfect sacrificial Lamb who took away the sins of the world through the sacrifice of His own blood (John 1:29; Heb. 9:14; 1 Pet. 18\u201320).<\/span><\/p>\n This Law\/Word that would go forth from Jerusalem was the New Covenant of which Jeremiah prophesied a century later (Jer. 31:31\u201334). Under it forgiveness of sins would be granted wherein sins would be remembered no more, rather than remembered year by year, as under the Old Covenant. Paul identified Jeremiah\u2019s prophecy with the Gospel, our Lord\u2019s New Testament, and said that it was a \u201cbetter covenant… enacted upon better promises\u201d (Heb. 8:6, 8\u201312). The going forth of the Law\/Word from Zion\/Jerusalem in connection with the establishment of the \u201cmountain of Jehovah\u2019s house\u201d is simply a prophecy that the universal Gospel would be preached when the church was established.<\/span><\/p>\n Verse 4: <\/strong>This verse declares that God will judge between the nations, which indeed He does concerning all the nations, whether His people or not (Psa. 2:10\u201312; Jon. 1:1\u20132; Mic. 1:2\u20134; 5:15; Mat. 28:18; et al.) However, we must remember that what Isaiah said here was said in the context of referring to the many nations that would come into His new house in Jerusalem. This is a description of His judgmental and governmental power pertaining to His church in particular. The way He would (does) judge them is through His Word that would be (was) issued at Jerusalem\u2014first issued when His church began on Pentecost. That Word determined (judged) who was and who was not added to the church by declaring the terms of entrance (Acts 2:38\u201341, 47). It also determined (judged) what was and what was not acceptable behavior in the kingdom by its fuller teaching given through the apostles (v. 42).<\/span><\/p>\n Therefore, Isaiah was not speaking of the world at large, but of the populace of the new kingdom of God when he wrote of the conversion of the instruments of war into instruments of peace and productivity. Unregenerate men will lead their respective nations into wars until time is no more. Far from any reference to a mythical millennial kingdom of the Messiah in which all of the nations of the world would destroy their armaments and live in perfect peace on the earth, Isaiah was speaking of the peace the Gospel would bring among former enemies who obeyed it. They would then be in one kingdom, all fighting their mutual foes together, instead of fighting one another. The Law of the Prince of Peace, when fully obeyed, results in peace because those who live by it are peacemakers rather than war- and strife-makers (Mat. 5:9). Jesus came as our Peacemaker and preached peace both between God and man and between men who were once enemies (Jew and Gentile) (Eph. 2: 14\u201319).<\/span><\/p>\n \u201dBut,\u201c some will say, \u201cwhy then is there factionalism, unrest, and division in the church?\u201d The answer is, \u201cFor the same reason there were these things in the new kingdom when the inspired apostles and prophets walked the earth and delivered the New Law infallibly\u201d (Rom. 16:17\u201318; 1 Cor. 1:10\u201313; Gal. 1:6\u20139; Eph. 5:11; et al.). The degree to which peace fails to reign in the kingdom is not the fault of the King, His law, or His kingdom, but it is in direct proportion to the failure of His subjects to submit to His Divine authority. It is strange indeed that many moderns among God\u2019s people have thrown off the very Law of God for His kingdom and are publicly demonstrating and preaching that they will walk no more in it. It is further oddly ironic that the division they are causing through their carnal lusts for denominational and intellectual prestige they are blaming on God\u2019s perfect pattern for His church and on those who are determined to follow it! We plead with these brethren to beat their new hermeneutical \u201dswords\u201d into \u201cplowshares\u201d of reverence for the Truth. Let them beat their liberal \u201cspears\u201d that mock God into \u201cpruning-hooks\u201d of the fear of God. Only then will be able once more to march as a solid and unified phalanx against the powers of darkness and the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places (Eph. 6:12).<\/span><\/p>\n That Isaiah foretold in this remarkable prophecy the establishment of the church on the first Pentecost after the resurrection and ascension of Christ is beyond doubt.<\/span><\/p>\n We ask the skeptic, the atheist, the agnostic, the modernist, \u201cWhat mere man could ever see into the future seven centuries and foretell what would occur with such stunning accuracy as Isaiah did here without the guidance of One who can see the future as plainly as He can the past?\u201d This passage provides a powerful argument, not only for the inspiration of Isaiah and by implication for the Bible as a whole, but for the very existence of God!<\/span><\/p>\n We must not pass from this section without at least some comment on the fact that almost word for word, and certainly with identical meaning, this same prophecy appears in Micah 4:1\u20133. Commentators (many of them skeptics and modernists) have made many foolish conjectures about whether Isaiah copied Micah, Micah copied Isaiah, or they both copied an anonymous source. Of course, for those who believe in the inspiration of both prophets there is no problem whatsoever. My judgment on these parallel passages remains what it was in my earlier commentary on Micah: \u201cA senseless controversy has long existed concerning which prophet borrowed from the other. The simple truth is that the same Spirit moved both of these men who lived at the same time and addressed the same people to serve as two independent witnesses of this prophecy of surpassing significance.\u201d6<\/sup><\/span><\/p>\n The Polluted Jerusalem\u2014Isaiah 2:5\u20134:1<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Transition from Predicted Perfection to Present Pollution (2:5\u201311) <\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Verse 5: <\/strong>The description of the submission of even the heathen nations to the will of God in the perfect kingdom (vv. 2\u20133) provides a foundation for Isaiah to appeal to God\u2019s own people to do so in the present. He issues first a command for them to come from their evil ways and then exhorts them to walk with him in the Lord\u2019s way (\u201cthe light of Jehovah\u201d).<\/span><\/p>\n Verse 6: <\/strong>This verse begins an address to God (which I suppose we could refer to as a prayer), rather than to the people, which address extends through verse 9. Isaiah was in agony over his people. God had forsaken them because they had taken up the pagan and superstitious ways of foreigners. Contrast this with God\u2019s ideal kingdom in Jerusalem wherein the heathen would come to learn of the ways of God (v. 3). Moses had specifically warned them not to associate with the uncircumcised nations because He knew that just such corruption of His people would occur (Deu. 7:1\u20135). Do those in the kingdom today who take greater delight in associating in compromising ways with those in the denominations than they do with their own faithful brethren please the Lord any more than those Isaiah thus condemned?<\/span><\/p>\n Verse 7: <\/strong>The little nation of Judah had accumulated much silver and gold and many horses and chariots, both of which Moses specifically forbade the kings of God\u2019s people to do (Deu. 17:16\u201317). At least four good reasons indicate why these things were dangerous to God\u2019s people:<\/span><\/p>\n The first three of these dangers remain for citizens of the spiritual kingdom who set their<\/span><\/p>\n minds on heaping up earthly riches and power (1 Tim. 6:9-10, 17).<\/span><\/p>\n Verse 8: <\/strong>The greater tragedy than a land filled with wealth and power was that the land was filled with idols, which they had fashioned with their own hands. Later, the prophet well argued the utter folly and vanity of falling down before an idol thus crafted (44:9\u201320). The picture he paints is tragically humorous\u2014a man uses a piece of wood to cook his food, then takes an unburned piece and carves an idol before which he bows down and is too stupid to realize what he has done! However, those today who still bow before idols of wood, stone, or metal, or the no- less-real gods of false philosophies, carnal appetites, or mere human demigods are just as full of nonsense and are just as repugnant to God and all right-thinking men.<\/span><\/p>\n Verse 9: <\/strong>Now the consequence of the Godless behavior just described is stated: all men, whether of low (\u201cmean\u201d) or high (\u201cgreat\u201d) estate will be brought low, humiliated. The people are so corrupt that they do not deserve forgiveness, and Isaiah does not intercede for them. The prophet\u2019s address to God thus ends.<\/span><\/p>\n Verse 10: <\/strong>He addresses the people again with advice that they seek shelter in the rocky caverns of the hills or the dusty holes in the ground from the impending judgment of God upon them (cf. v. 19). Of course, it is impossible to thus hide from God, but Isaiah was trying to impress upon them the terribleness and awfulness of God\u2019s judgment upon them for their apostasy. He would come in glorious majesty and would strike terror to their hearts. Just so, the final Judgment of our Lord will be at His coming to those who have not obeyed Him (Mat. 25:31\u2013 46; 2 The. 1:7\u201310).<\/span><\/p>\n Verse 11: <\/strong>This verse is a recapitulation of verses 6\u201310. The self-exaltation and haughtiness of God\u2019s people that led them to despise God and depart from Him will all be brought to nought. In their place, God alone will be exalted. The immediate judgment came upon those people a century later when God sent Nebuchadnezzar the Babylonian against Jerusalem, totally destroyed it, and took Judah into captivity. However, all lesser judgments against evil and which result in the exaltation of God are but typical of the great and final Judgment when all evil shall be put down and God and His Son shall be exalted forevermore. Paul used a passage from Isaiah to describe that Judgment to end all judgments when each shall bow before God and give account of himself (Rom. 14:10b-12; cf. Isa. 45:23).<\/span><\/p>\n Accomplishments of the Day of Jehovah (2:12\u201322) <\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Verse 12: <\/strong>These words serve as an introduction to the remainder of the section, telling us once more (cf. v. 11) that all haughty men must be crushed. The following verses of the section itemize how thoroughly this would be done to all of the things in which God\u2019s people were trusting.<\/span><\/p>\n Verses 13\u201318: <\/strong>In order to illustrate the fullness of the judgment of the \u201cday of the Lord\u201d Isaiah listed five pairs of exalted things that would be crushed: \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n whether for commerce or for pleasure (v. 16)<\/span><\/p>\n In graphic terms the thoroughness of the judgment of God upon Judah was set forth so that it could not be misunderstood. The first four of these couplets are not of themselves objectionable to God, but the fact that His people had come to trust in them and thus to reject Him in their pride was the reason even those material things must be destroyed. In this way alone could man\u2019s own pride be exposed and could he see God in His true light, alone exalted! Perhaps for the sake of emphasis the prophet isolated the utter destruction of idols from among God\u2019s people in that day of God\u2019s judgment (v. 18). I know of no subsequent idolatry (at least involving tangible idols of wood, stone, or metal) practiced in Israel after her return from the Babylonian exile. At least it appears that they learned that lesson well, if none other (cf. 17:7\u20138).<\/span><\/p>\n Verses 19\u201321: <\/strong>Here we learn of the effect the \u201cday of Jehovah\u201d would have upon the people. When these events would transpire the terror would be so consuming that men would flee to the caves and holes in search of shelter (v. 19; cf. v. 10). Then would men see how powerless their senseless idols were and they would fling them away or desert them to likewise senseless creatures, although made of valuable gold or silver (v. 20). They would leave all things behind in their vain attempt to find shelter from the judgment of God upon them (v. 21; cf. Rev. 6:15\u201317).<\/span><\/p>\n Verse 22: <\/strong>This verse exhorts every reader to place no trust or confidence in man himself. It is not that man is worth nothing, for indeed He is valued so highly that God sent His Son to die for His salvation (John 3:16; Rom. 5:8). However, proud and haughty men who reject and mock God and His law are vain. We must not place our trust in mere men and their thoughts, ways, and creations. Man has no plan of salvation. He knows nothing of his own real needs apart from God\u2019s revelation of them. There could be no stronger exposure of the Humanism that grips so many in the modern world than this short verse: \u201cCease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils; for wherein is he to be accounted of?\u201d To the same apostates Jeremiah later cried out: \u201cO Jehovah, I know that the way of man is not in himself; it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps\u201d (Jer. 10:23). Verse 22 is a good transitional verse to that which follows, in which the consequences of their utterly humanistic philosophy are catalogued.<\/span><\/p>\n Anarchy in Jerusalem Described (3:1\u20137) <\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Verse 1: <\/strong>Isaiah began the section by using a summary statement. The absolute Lord and master of all Who is really in control, the God of Heaven, would deprive Judah and Jerusalem of their bases of support in every way. \u201cStay and staff\u201d is a summary statement that is all encompassing. These two words are the masculine and feminine form of the same word, which exhausts the category of every kind of support.8<\/sup> Now, more particularly, this support would include the very barest necessities of life\u2014food and water. Moses promised just such curses if the people rebelled against God (Lev. 26:25\u201326; Deu. 28:49\u201357). These very things occurred in the siege of Jerusalem under Nebuchadnezzar (Eze. 4:16\u201317). The famine was so great that men and women alike ate the flesh of their own children, parents, and mates (Jer. 19:9; Lam. 2:20; 4:10; Eze. 5:10). According to Josephus, the same tragedy occurred during the siege of Jerusalem by Titus of Rome that resulted in its destruction in A.D. 70.9<\/sup><\/span><\/p>\n Verses 2\u20137: <\/strong>One by one the elements upon which the national life of Judah depended are enumerated and their respective failures are depicted. The fighting men would no longer be there to protect them. Both civil and religious leaders, and even the forbidden soothsayers upon whom they had come to depend would be taken away, along with their respected men of wisdom\u2014their elders (v. 2). Military officers, those favored of the king, those qualified to give counsel, those skilled in the arts, and the forbidden enchanters they loved to consult would all disappear (v. 3).<\/span><\/p>\n In place of the competent, experienced, and qualified men, for their rulers they would be given children to rule over them (v. 4). In the absence of government and authority to enforce law, the rule of \u201cmight makes right\u201d would prevail, respect for the elderly and the honorable would cease, and both life and property would be constantly at risk (v. 5). National life would be so degenerate that the mere possession of a coat would be counted a qualification for office (v. 6a). The need to conscript a ruler when in most cases men are competing to be rulers is another indication of utter dissolution in Judah, described as \u201cthis ruin\u201d (v. 6b). The nation would need a healer all right (cf. 1:6), but the one conscripted would refuse, denying that he had either food or clothing, much less the ability to heal the terrible moral and spiritual cancers of Judah (v. 7).<\/span><\/p>\n Woes Pronounced Upon Jerusalem and Judah (3:8\u201315) <\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Verses 8\u20139: <\/strong>The reason none will accept the rulership among God\u2019s people is because she is ruined beyond repair. They have set themselves against Jehovah in word and deed and their behavior has provoked the all-seeing eyes of His glory (v. 8). Furthermore, they have no shame anymore so that they blush at nothing\u2014as the Sodomites (Gen. 19:4\u20139), they do not even try to hide their evil deeds (v. 9a). They therefore have brought deserved dire consequences upon themselves (v. 9b).<\/span><\/p>\n Verses 10\u201311: <\/strong>Here Isaiah gives us his version of the principle of sowing and reaping. The righteous shall partake of the fruit of his goodness and it shall be well with him (v. 10). Likewise, the wicked must partake of the bitter woes they bring upon themselves by their evil deeds (v. 11). \u201cBe not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap\u201d (Gal. 6:7). This principle applies with no less force to nations.<\/span><\/p>\n Verse 12: <\/strong>It is no wonder the nation was in such a state of ruin and anarchy. Those who were supposed to be her rulers were behaving as children and they were under the control of women (v. 12a). Not only did evil, irresponsibility, and chaos, but likewise the corrupt spiritual leadership marked the political situation. \u201cThey that lead thee\u201d (measherim<\/em>) are the prophets entrusted with the spiritual leadership of the people (Mic. 3:5).10<\/sup> Even the prophets were prophesying falsely and withholding the Word of God from the people, thus causing them to err (v. 12b; cf. Mic. 2:11). We see the same dreadful action in God\u2019s spiritual Israel, the church, in our time. There is apostasy and confusion in the church because of the faulty and erroneous leadership of university boards and administrations, elders in the churches, and preachers and teachers who themselves are in error and who have caused countless thousands of others to err. It is still true: \u201cAnd if the blind guide the blind, both shall fall into a pit\u201d (Mat. 15:13).<\/span><\/p>\n Verses 13\u201315: <\/strong>First, God is depicted as standing to judge the people in general (v. 13). However, the principal point of these verses is to warn of the more terrible impending judgment upon the rulers and leaders. The elders and princes are accused of devouring the gain of others, especially the poor, and storing the incriminating evidence in their houses (v. 14). The Lord asked them how they dared commit such horrible crimes (v. 15).<\/span><\/p>\n Woes Pronounced Upon the Women of Judah (3:16\u201324) <\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Verses 16\u201317: <\/strong>The women of Jerusalem (\u201cdaughters of Zion\u201d) came under special condemnation because of their worldliness. Their behavior was marked by a haughty manner, proud posture, seductive eyes, an attention-getting walk, and anklets that jangled as they walked (v. 16). All of these were designed to call romantic attention to themselves. They would get what they sought, but not in the way they desired (v. 17). Homer Hailey said it well: \u201cTo their shame and humiliation, the sexual features to which they would attract attention will be laid bare in the hands of crude, rough, barbarous captors.\u201d11<\/sup><\/span><\/p>\n Verses 18\u201323: <\/strong>When the Lord brought their judgment upon them he would take away all of their jewelry, their headdresses, their cosmetics, their mirrors, and even their fine clothing (over twenty items altogether). Likely the Lord would take these from them through their captors who would seize them as booty and spoils of war. Due to the profound effect women have in society, one can always get a picture of the spiritual health of a nation by observing the spiritual health of its women. Here were women who lived in the very shadow of the temple of God and who should have been demonstrating to all the world what it meant to reverence and serve God in all modesty and purity. Instead of evincing the beauty of holiness, they had adopted the sensual and carnal habits of the nations about them. It is not the adornments nor the adorning that were intrinsically wrong, but that they were vain and evil beneath it all and their superficial beautification could not hide the turpitude that lay beneath the surface. Likewise, Peter did not forbid outward adornments per se, but emphasized the much more important inner beauty of the heart and spirit that women should cultivate (1 Pet. 3:1\u20135). How sad that Christian women, in spite of the ideal of purity and inner beauty before them, still often pattern their behavior and their dress after the unregenerate world.<\/span><\/p>\n Verse 24: <\/strong>The wanton behavior of the women would bring them great calamity. Foul odors would replace their sweet perfumes, the rough rope of slaves would replace their decorative sashes, baldness would replace their fancy hair-dos, rough sackcloth would replace their soft robes, and they would be branded as slaves or prisoners, thus defacing their beauty.<\/span><\/p>\n Woes Pronounced Upon the City (3:25\u20134:1) <\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Verses 25\u201326: <\/strong>Isaiah turned from the women to address the city in general in these verses. The catastrophic judgment that God would bring upon them because of their rebellion is now identified. It would be a war that would decimate the ranks of their men, even their men of might (v. 25). The slaughter would be so great that the very gates of the city, usually filled with the sounds of laughter and commerce, would mourn (v. 26a). The city would be deserted and would sit in utter desolation and destruction (v. 26b).<\/span><\/p>\n Chapter 4:1: <\/strong>This verse is but a continuation of the description of the depths to which Zion and Judah would be plunged in the conflagration God would visit upon them in judgment. There would be so few men left that seven women would approach one man to be his wives so that their reproach of being husbandless and childless might be removed. They were so desperate that they would offer to provide their own food and clothing if they could just be called by his name. So here we have the completed picture of the polluted people of God in the days of Isaiah. If the awful consequences of sin cannot be seen from the grievous description Isaiah gave us of Judah and Jerusalem, it can never be seen!<\/span><\/p>\n\n
\n2. An institution (\u201cthe mountain of Jehovah\u2019s house\u201d)<\/span>
\n3. The future establishment of that institution (\u201cshall be established\u201c)<\/span>
\n4. A general location for its establishment (\u201con the top of the mountains\u201d)<\/span>
\n5. A place it would occupy above others (\u201cand exalted above the hills\u201d)<\/span>
\n6. The involvement all nations (\u201call nations shall flow unto it\u201d)<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n
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