In view of the terribleness of that day when Christ shall come to shake the earth and to judge among men,
we should shun the ways of sin.
In view of the privilege the righteous have of sharing in His universal Kingdom,
we should seek to walk in the light of the Lord all our days.
Isaiah 1
1 The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
2 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.
3 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.
4 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.
5 O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the LORD.
6 ¶ 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.
7 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:
8 Their land also is full of idols; they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made:
9 And the mean man boweth down, and the great man humbleth himself: therefore forgive them not.
10 ¶ Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty.
11 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.
12 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:
13 And upon all the cedars of Lebanon, that are high and lifted up, and upon all the oaks of Bashan,
14 And upon all the high mountains, and upon all the hills that are lifted up,
15 And upon every high tower, and upon every fenced wall,
16 And upon all the ships of Tarshish, and upon all pleasant pictures.
17 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.
18 And the idols he shall utterly abolish.
19 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.
20 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;
21 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.
22 Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted of?
Isaiah 1 – J. Vernon McGee
Isaiah 2:1-11 – A Vision of World Peace
This and the four following chapters must be classed together as a distinct portion of this book, belonging to the earliest years of Isaiah’s ministry. Their date is 735 b.c.; about the time of the accession of Ahaz to the throne. Isaiah 2:2-4 are evidently an ancient prophecy by some unknown seer, for Micah also quotes it. This section presents a fair vision of the future, when the beloved city must become the center of the religious life of the world, the seat of the theocracy, the burning nucleus of a reign of love and peace. We cherish this ancient prophecy as our guiding star in the present storm. But it can be realized only when the Son of God, riding forth on His white horse, has subdued His enemies. Then Revelation 21 and Revelation 22 will fulfill this ancient dream. The contrast between the ideal city and the actual is terrible, Isaiah 2:6-9. But let us not despair. The exalted Lord, from the right hand of power, is hastening the coming of the day of God.
Isaiah 2:5—O House of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the LORD.
To what a walk are we called! In newness of life: “Like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father” (Romans 6:4). In Christ: “As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him” (Colossians 2:6). Like Christ: “He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked” (1 John 2:6). In the Spirit: “Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh” (Galatians 5:16). Worthy of God and pleasing to Him: “Walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful” (Colossians 1:10). In heavenly love, and light, and faith: “Walk in love” (Ephesians 5:2); “Walk in the light, as he is in the light” (1 John 1:7); “Walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7).
This invitation is primarily addressed to the house of Jacob. Sometimes the elect people are spoken of as Israel; but when Jacob is used, they are reminded of the vein of duplicity and chicanery which lies imbedded in their nature. Such people need specially to “walk in the light of the LORD” until the brooding darkness of their nature is dispelled. You will never succeed in ridding yourself of the self-life, with. its jealousies and impurities, until you have learned to walk in the light of the Lord. Nothing is so hostile to disease and corruption as light and air; believe me, the one way by which we can become sound and strong is to abide in Christ, that He may abide in us.
Walk involves steps. We cannot enjoy the presence of God as a whole unless it governs and illumines every step. We must be perpetually looking into our Fathers face and asking where to place the next step. We must have fellowship with Him in all things; then we, who have been darkness, will be light in the Lord, and as we walk in the light we shall become children of light.
Isaiah 2:12-22 – An Exhortation to Humility and Reverence
If men will not repent, they must suffer. If they will not voluntarily put away their idols and sorceries, they will be compelled to do so in the anguish of their disappointment with their helpless deities, Isaiah 2:20. Nothing in that great civilization would be spared. High towers, fenced walls, ships, treasures, armor—all would perish. Their vaunted faith in man would cease. Life would become elemental in its simplicity amid the shelter of the ragged rocks.