(The
objective of these ‘Frameworks' is to provide an easy-to-read
layout of the text in order then to use these individual verses
for verse-by-verse study or meditation. To focus each
verse we have also added in italic a description of what is happening)
FRAMEWORKS:
Isaiah 2:
The Mountain & Day of the Lord
For
structure & preliminaries, see chapter 1
v.1-5
Jerusalem to be exalted in the last days (Prophecy)
v.6-8
The State of the Land (Prayer)
v.9-22
The Coming Judgment – the Day of the Lord
(Prayer & Prophecy)
[Comment:
This chapter looks at both the present and the long-term future.
Verses 2-4 are prophecy of what will happen in ‘the last days',
Jerusalem being exalted above all else as a place of worship to
God. But the tragedy is that present-day Israel (Judah) is full
of affluence but empty of spiritual life and so in v.6-9 Isaiah
prays to the Lord, acknowledging its state. The back half of the
chapter (v.10-22) is prophecy declaring what will happen when
the Lord deals with the land. The ‘day of the Lord' can mean a
day in the near future or The Day when He brings judgment as His
Son returns]
v.1-5
Jerusalem to be exalted in the last days (Prophecy)
v.1
(Isaiah's
next vision) This is what Isaiah
son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem:
v.2
(the place of
God's worship on earth will be greater than any other (false)
worship on earth ) In the last
days the mountain of the Lord
's temple will be established
as the highest of the mountains; it
will be exalted above the hills, and all nations will stream to
it.
v.3
(many people
will come seeking Him) Many
peoples will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain
of the Lord,
to the temple of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways,
so that we may walk in his paths.” The law will go out from Zion,
the
word of the Lord
from Jerusalem.
v.4
(He will reign in nations and peace will come)
He will judge between the nations
and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their
swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning
hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor
will they train for war anymore.
v.5
(This is a call
to come to this Lord) Come,
descendants of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the Lord
.
v.6-8
The State of the Land (Prayer)
v.6
(but for the
present God seems to have stepped away because of the folly of
His people) You, Lord,
have abandoned your people,
the descendants of Jacob.
They are full of superstitions from the East; they
practice divination like the Philistines
and embrace pagan customs.
v.7
(materially they are well off) Their
land is full of silver
and gold; there
is no end to their treasures. Their land is full of horses;
there is no end to their chariots.
v.8
(but they are also foolishly idolatrous)
Their land is full
of idols; they bow down to the work of their hands, to what their
fingers have made.
v.9-22
The Coming Judgment – the Day of the Lord
(Prayer & Prophecy)
v.9
(call to the
Lord) So people will be brought
low and everyone humbled—
do not forgive them.
v.10
(call to the
people) Go into the rocks, hide
in the ground from
the fearful presence of the Lord
and
the splendor of his majesty!
v.11
(declaration of what will be) The
eyes of the arrogant will be humbled and
human pride brought low; the Lord alone will be exalted in that
day.
v.12
(God will deal
with the proud ) The Lord
Almighty has a day in store
for all the proud and lofty
for all that is exalted (and they will be humbled),
v.13
(everything that signifies strength will be
humbled) for all the cedars
of Lebanon, tall and lofty,
and all the oaks of Bashan,
v.14
(everything that signifies might will be humbled)
for all the towering mountains and
all the high hills,
v.15
(everything that speaks of security will be
brought down) for every lofty
tower and every fortified
wall,
v.16
(everything that signifies business security
will fall) for every trading
ship and every stately vessel.
v.17
(pride will be brought down and God exalted)
The arrogance of man will be brought
low and human pride humbled;
the Lord alone will be exalted in that day,
v.18
(idolatry will be removed ) and
the idols will totally disappear.
v.19
(fear will make
the ungodly and unrighteous flee) People
will flee to caves in the rocks
and to holes in the ground
from the fearful presence
of the Lord and the splendor of his majesty, when he rises
to shake the earth.
v.20
(people will abandon the idols they have relied
on) In that day people will
throw away to the moles and
bats their idols of silver and idols of gold, which they made
to worship.
v.21
(they will hide from the Lord's greatness)
They will flee to caverns in the
rocks and
to the overhanging crags from
the fearful presence of the Lord and the splendor of his majesty,
when he rises to shake the earth.
v.22
(So, wise up,
stop trusting in weak humans) Stop
trusting in mere humans, who
have but a breath in their nostrils. Why hold them in esteem?
Continue
to Chapter 3