Isaiah |
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Notes on Isaiah 2
Again we are reminded that the primary focus of this prophecy concerns Judah and Jerusalem. We must avoid all temptation to substitute another country for Judah and Jerusalem. Actual Judah and Israel have an important part to play in latter day prophecy. The church does not replace Judah and Israel. They become children of God by faith in Jesus Christ but they do not replace or become the new Israel. Israel will come to know the Lord their ancestors rejected. As Paul said, "All Israel shall be saved."
We can read more about this in the book of Romans chapters 9, 10 and 11. What a marvelous time this will be when verse 1 and 2 of Isaiah chapter 2 is fulfilled. The Lord Jesus Christ is to rule over all the earth. All nations will flow into His kingdom. Finally what we have all sought after will come to pass. Peace will be upon the earth. This will not be achieved by the works and efforts of humans by peace treaties. This will be a supernatural event at the literal 2nd coming of Jesus Christ. His kingdom will be exalted above all others. Enemies of His people will be consumed at the brightness of His coming. It can be compared as lightning shining from one part of the sky to the other.
The Word of God that was once made light of and ridiculed will become the law of the land. There will be no need for any separation of church and state. The only need for that now is because those that claim to know the Lord in all religions have those that want to use force instead of spreading the gospel as Jesus instructed and relying on the Holy Spirit to draw people to the Lord. Being "born again" by God's spirit is the only way to be saved. Using force doesn't change anyone's life. People will seek the Lord with a willing heart, including the Jewish people when Jesus returns. They will hunger and thirst to understand His ways and learn His word. Actually we don't have to wait until His literal coming to start seeking the understanding of the Word. We can do that now. The minute we start to hunger and thirst for the understanding of the word of God, it starts to take root and the presence of God will come into our lives. I will add a note of warning here. Jesus Christ is to come literally and rule literally. Let no one misinterpret this and began to think that their particular group, denomination or leader is to assume control now and set up Christ's kingdom ahead of His coming and start to use forced conversions. True conversion cannot be forced. No world leader among natural men or women is capable of ruling the whole earth. Many have tried and failed miserably. If the natural man tries this, he or she will become a dictator who takes away all rights and privileges of those who oppose him. Only God will be able to rule the earth properly. If God's people will pray and believe God, He can raise up righteous rulers that are fair and just. Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord. Even good rulers though are only temporary as we wait for the literal coming of the Lord to rule and reign forever. These passages speak of the literal and actual reign of the Messiah, Jesus Christ who will come from heaven with an army of His believers. They and they only are capable of ruling the world with righteousness for the long term without anyone overthrowing that government. Then and only then will there be peace on earth. No peace treaty will be able to do what Jesus Christ Himself will do at His coming.
Yeah! No more war. The true Prince of Peace Reigns. Instead of making instruments of war, they will be making machinery to grow food. Christ is bringing in an era of peace. There are some who come before Him calling for peace but there will be none until He comes literally. There is a warning in the scriptures also about those who claim, "Lo here is Christ." Any man on earth who claims to be either God or Christ may be the antichrist, don't believe them. Now there are crazy nutty people who do this occasionally but there are some that will come either pretending to represent the only way to Christ or claim to be the Christ but who are deceivers. The antichrist will come at first as a messenger of peace but in the end he will destroy and kill greater than any before him. He will be stopped, judged and sent to Hell with the coming of the true Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ. Many will believe the antichrist or man of sin is the answer to the world's entire problems. He will appear to solve the world's problems temporarily to gain followers and power. This reminds me of Hitler. How many thought he was the answer to the economic problems of Germany. He was the answer for a while. In the end though, millions of innocent people were killed and Germany was ruined. I am so glad that evil man was stopped before he tried to rule the world. The natural man cannot rule the world. This will take God.
This is God's plea to Judah and Jerusalem and His cry to all that will listen. God desires to save and restore. We have to keep that in mind when teaching on the severity and judgment of God. Yes God does judge sin and the sinner who refuses to repent and change but the God I read about in the bible is a God who prefers to save. Remember the story of Jonah and the preaching to Nineveh. God wanted to save those people, Jonah did not. Nineveh was a nation who had persecuted Jonah's people and Jonah wanted judgment, not repentance. When we warn of judgment coming upon a sinful nation, we must continually seek God for a heart of compassion and desire repentance rather than destruction. It would be so easy to preach judgment and warn of a disaster and then sit back and gloat when the disaster takes place with the attitude, "See, I told you so." That should not be our attitude. Our attitude should be sorrow not joy. We have to warn of judgment and preach repentance but also rejoice along with the angels when repentance comes. Our desire should be to see people saved not destroyed.
The house of Jacob began to copy the actions of their heathen neighbors. Instead of converting the heathen to God they started compromising their own faith and joining in the worship of the heathen gods. The God of Israel forbade any worship of other gods, soothsaying was the practice of magic or witchcraft. Fortune telling was a common practice. This is idolatry because it causes us to seek other means for advice instead of seeking our Lord. God knows that anyone but Him will eventually seek to steal, kill and destroy. Soothsayers were those that deal in magic and spiritual things that are not by the real and true living God. Enchantments, spells, witchcraft, fortune telling and seeking everything but God for direction will destroy our souls. It is Satanic. How God must feel when He gives us so much and we turn to everything but Him for our guidance. This is why I avoid even fortune telling for fun and amusement. We are to have no part in that stuff. If we need advice go to God himself or to a person who is really filled with the Spirit of God and not out for his or her own gain. It is better to learn to pray and go straight to God. After all He is no respect of persons and if you need help, He is the one who can help. If we spend more time alone with God in prayer than we do on the phone telling someone else about our troubles, we would see more results.
We see here that often in times of prosperity there is plenty of idolatry. These passages show the seriousness of idolatry and how it grieves the heart of God. Imagine how we would feel if we raised a small puppy from it's birth. We cared and kept it well fed, gave it plenty of companionship and love and when it grew older a stranger came and the dog would have no more to do with us as owners but followed the stranger. Well, the majority of dogs will not do this but I'm just using this as an example. God created a beautiful earth and gave us much food and care yet many have turned from Him, some have denied His existence and some have denied His right to tell them right from wrong. They had actually forsaken God to worship statues and works of their own hands. I always wondered that if modern atheistic scientists would ever stumble across proof that could not be denied that evolution is and was a myth. They actually prove that evolution could not be possible. I always wonder what the nation would do. Would there be a great mass turning to God as the creator? Somehow I don't believe they would. I think that there would be a massive revival of heathen idolatry. We already have witchcraft on the rise, we see readers and advisor shops opening up all over the country. Unfortunately man's desire to sin and rebel will find an alternative reason for our existence and deny God's right to interfere in their lives. True religion demands obedience to God and His Word. True religion demands repentance, forsaking sin and accepting the savior from sin. People who refuse to forsake their sin and hold on to it will try to find an alternative religion that will allow them to continue in their evil. On the other hand some will want a religion of bondage and deception and will choose that kind of religion rather than the true liberty in Jesus Christ. Jesus brings something more than manmade religion. He changes the heart by something called the "New Birth". Receiving Him gives us new "Wants". True conversion makes us desire His nearness and we begin to loathe sin. It is possible to yield to temptation and return to our old ways but the Spirit continually abides within to steer us in the right direction. One minute in the presence of the Lord is worth thousands of minutes without His presence. Oh that we would seek Him continually.
The verses here are obvious. This applies more than just to Israel. The Lord alone will be exalted at His coming and the old ways of the world's rebellion against Him will be done away with. Even so Come Lord Jesus. Those not ready for His coming will hide in the dust and fear. The proud will be humbled. The Lord will be exalted. The one now rejected will become the ruler of all.
I can't describe it any plainer than this. There will be an end to the present rebellion against God. The proud will be humbled, the sinners will be judged, every knee shall bow and every tongue confesses that Jesus Christ is Lord. There will much fear and shaking at the coming of the Lord. Scoffers will be greatly surprised and confounded. We will not get away with rebellion and sin. Those who go about scoffing at God and making light of His word are not going to get away with it. God sees the millions of babies being slaughtered. God sees those teachers standing in the classrooms across the world teaching a young child that God does not exist and that we evolved from some sort of accident of nature or a big bang. Yet, He made a way of escape. No one has to be lost. No one has to go to Hell. He prefers to save rather than destroy. The choice is ours. To go our own way, refuse His salvation and do our own thing or receive His plan to save all mankind, to forsake and repent of sins and receive His Son Jesus Christ as savior and Lord of our lives.
This shows the coming of the Lord to judge the earth and set up the kingdom of Jesus Christ. People will actually try to hide in the rocks when the wrath of God comes pouring down on the world. We don't have to be destroyed, we can be part of the nations that are on the right hand of the Lord. It is our choice. One day it will be too late and we will have no choice. Now is the accepted time, now is the day of salvation. Heed the warnings of the prophets and see. God will not tolerate sin and rebellion forever. Many times throughout the bible there are warnings against violence, shedding of innocent blood, neglecting the poor widows and orphans, fornication, idolatry, forsaking God and rebellion. There is a way of escape. God made that way for us. That way of escape is "Jesus Christ." DC Jesus said, " I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."
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