Below are some preliminary questions to assist in the study of this passage. For a comprehensive study of the passage, download the Study Guide (PDF download).
Note: For more information relevant to this passage of Isaiah two, see the accompanying Appendix (PDF download) that deals with the following topic: An Interpretation of Isaiah 2:1-4 and “The Last Days” in the Light of New Testament Revelation.
1. In verses 2-4 (printed below) the Lord gives Isaiah a revelation of “the last days.” (Note: According to the New Testament, “the last days” began with the birth of Christ (Hebrews 1:1-2) and culminate with His return in glory.) What does Isaiah see happening in this period known as “the last days” (i.e.; this period which is the New Testament era?)
In the last days the mountain of Jehovah’s temple will be established as chief among the mountains and shall be exalted above the hills, and all nations shall flow to it. (3) Many peoples will come and say, Come, let us go up to the mountain of Jehovah, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, and we will walk in his paths—for the law will go out from Zion, and the word of Jehovah from Jerusalem. (4) He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes among many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war any more. (Isaiah 2:2-4)
In the last days all nations shall flow to “the mountain of the Jehovah’s temple.” The Gentile nations, like a mighty river, are pictured as miraculously flowing upward to the mountain of God. Here is a picture of God’s miraculous work of bringing the Gentile nations to faith in Christ and into the kingdom of God, which is especially the work of the Holy Spirit in this present New Testament era. In verse 3 we are transported from the time of the prophet Isaiah into the future to see and hear this miraculous work of God as it takes place among the Gentile nations: “Come, let us go up to…the house of the God of Jacob.” Here is the desire to come to the Lord and to have others join with them in coming. “He will teach us His ways, and we will walk in His paths.” Here is the desire to know the Lord and the commitment to walk with Him in fellowship and obedience.
2. As he witnesses this future scene of the Gentile nations coming to the Lord, what does Isaiah exhort Israel to do? Why is this ironic? See Isaiah 2:5 (printed below)
O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of Jehovah. (Isaiah 2:5)
In verse 5, as he witnesses this future scene of the Gentile nations coming to the Lord, Isaiah exhorts his own people, Israel, “Come, let us walk in the light of Jehovah!” Isaiah is calling upon his own people to imitate these new converts in their zeal to know God and serve Him! It is ironic that the people of God must be admonished to imitate the godly example of the heathen converts; and, as we shall see, be exhorted to stop imitating the ungodly example of their pagan neighbors (verses 6b-8).
3. List some of the sins Isaiah accuses Israel of practicing. See Isaiah 2:6 and 8 (printed below)
You have forsaken your people, the house of Jacob, because they are full of the customs of the East and practice divination like the Philistines. They clasp hands with the children of foreigners, making covenants with them…(8) And their land is full of idols. They bow down to the work of their own hands, they bow down to what their fingers have made. (Isaiah 2:6,8)
In verse 6a Israel is described as being filled with “the customs of the east”—a reference to the pagan customs and practices imported from the East; the very place Abraham had been called to forsake in order to follow the Lord into the Promised Land. The succeeding verses further describe the conduct, outlook and lifestyle of Judah. They “practice divination like the Philistines;” Israel had come to look to soothsayers for guidance instead of looking to the Lord their God and His Word (note Isaiah 8:19). “They clasp hands with the children of foreigners, making covenants with them;” they were forming binding relationships and covenants with those who were strangers to the Lord and His covenant. “Their land is full of idols;” rather than destroying the idols of the pagan nations who possessed the land before them, as they had been commanded to do (Exodus 34:12-14), Israel embraced the pagan religion of their neighbors.
4. What does verse 7 (printed below) tell us about Israel at this time in their history? (Note: The chapters of Isaiah do not follow a chronological sequence; some chapters, such as chapter two, describe the state of Israel prior to the Lord’s judgment, other chapters describe their plight in the days of His righteous judgment.)
Their land is full of silver and gold, there is no end to their treasures. Their land also is full of war horses, neither is there any numbering of their chariots. (Isaiah 2:7)
Verse 7 tells us, “their land is full of silver and gold; there is no end to their treasures.” At this particular time in its history, Israel was a nation that was experiencing a superabundance of prosperity, and that prosperity was turning them into materialists who loved the things of this present world and was suffocating their spiritual life. Furthermore, “their land also is full of war horses, neither is there any numbering of their chariots.” These people had come to place their confidence in military might; what is described here is the ancient version of a vast build up of armaments.
5. In verses 10-21 (printed below) Isaiah describes the coming Day of the Lord. What are some of the characteristics of that great day? Note especially verses 11-12 and 17-18.
Go among the rocks, and hide yourself in the dust, from the terror of Jehovah and from the glory of his majesty. (11) The arrogant looks of man will be brought low, and the lofty pride of men will be humbled, and Jehovah alone will be exalted on that day. (12) Jehovah of hosts has a day in store for all that is proud and arrogant, for all that is exalted—and they will be humbled. (13) Jehovah of hosts has a day in store for all the cedars of Lebanon that are tall and lofty, and for 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 all the merchant ships that sail to Tarshish, and every stately vessel. (17) The arrogance of man shall be brought low, and the pride of man shall be humbled; and Jehovah alone shall be exalted on that day—(18) and the idols will totally disappear. (19) Men will flee to the caves in the rocks and to the holes in the ground from the terror of Jehovah and from the glory of his majesty, when he rises to mightily shake the earth. (20) On that day men will throw away to the rodents and to the bats their idols of silver and their idols of gold that they made to worship, (21) in order to flee to the caverns in the rocks and to the overhanging crags from the terror of Jehovah and from the glory of his majesty, when he rises to mightily shake the earth. (Isaiah 2:10-21)
Verse 12 foretells the coming Day of the Lord of hosts: a day of reckoning and a day of accountability. It is emphasized that on that Day the Lord of hosts will especially set Himself against the pride and arrogance of man: “Jehovah of hosts has a day in store for all that is proud and arrogant, for all that is exalted—and they will be humbled” (verse 12); “the arrogance of man shall be brought low, and the pride of man shall be humbled; and Jehovah alone shall be exalted on that day” (verse 17). This passage further describes the characteristics of that great Day as follows: on that Day “the idols will totally disappear” (verse 18); “men will throw away to the rodents and to the bats their idols of silver and their idols of gold” (verse 20). On that Day “Jehovah alone shall be exalted” (verse 17).
