Isaiah 2:1-5; And Behold, It Was A Dream

"The word that Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. 2 In days to come the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be raised above the hills; all the nations shall stream to it. 3 Many peoples shall come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth instruction, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. 4 He shall judge between the nations, and shall arbitrate for many peoples; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. 5 O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord!"

I. Introduction

The initial chapters of Isaiah are the literary equivalent of a series of powerful volcanic explosions. The language is beautiful, the descriptions arresting. Victory Hugo, the great 19th century French novelist, considered this book to be one of the six best-crafted books/best authors in Western literature (the others? Homer, Aeschylus, Job, Shakespeare and Dante. Hm..maybe that explains some of the "categories" of my own investigations...). Isaiah's langauge goes from empyreal heights to abyssopelagic or even hadopelagic lows. It is emotion-laden, pictorial, dramatically broad in scope as well as, sometimes, frighteningly or memorably intimate. Isaiah stands behind some of the most forlorn passages of the NT--such as when the Servant of God is cut off (Is. 52:13-53:12)--and some of the most optimistic thoughts in the Bible (Is. 11)--"and his name shall be called...." GWF Handel paid Isaiah an enduring compliment by using so many of his verses in crafting Messiah. The award-winning film Chariots of Fire is, in my judgment, little more than an extended meditation on Isaiah 40:27-31.

Already the scope of Isaiah 1 is very broad. The prophet bursts into our consciousness addressing the heavens and the earth (1:2). The only created beings apparently exempt from the stinging and redemptive message of that chapter are the fish of the sea. When we arrive at the passage for today, the author takes us on another journey. We are, as it were, whisked off to a future time, a time which the author can see in the mind's eye, a time of glorious international unity and harmony. We think immediately that this must betoken a time very far off, for it certainly isn't anything like life in the world of 2007. But even though it speaks of a distant future time, we are brought into the language and longing of Isaiah. In the rest of this essay I will exposit three aspects of this new world he describes: (1) A Super-Sized Jerusalem (v.2); (2) Teachable Nations (v.3); and (3) Harmony Among the Peoples (v.4).

Note--the title of this essay is drawn from the final words of John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress. After Christian reached the heavenly city and saw its splendor as well as the judgment that remained, he awoke from his dream, realizing "behold, it was a dream." But these words are Bunyan's way of "winking" at the reader. It is as if he is saying, 'Sure it is a dream. Yeah, it is only a dream. Right.'

II. A Super-Sized Jerusalem (v. 2)

When the prophet thinks of the latter days, he thinks of Jerusalem. He doesn't pick an "internationally-recognized" city for the focus of God's final redeeming work; indeed, in his day (late 8th century BCE) there would have been no such city. The Assyrians were threatening from the East, and certainly no patriotic Israelite would look East for salvation. Egypt placidly was staying within its borders to the South; nothing of great extent was happening in Asia Minor or in the Classical world. Jerusalem will not only be his highest joy; it will be the magnet that attracts people from all over the world.

But it is an exaggerated or "biggy-sized" Jerusalem, in two respects. First it is above all the mountains and second, all the peoples of the earth come to it. In its actual historical existence, Jerusalem is high in elevation, when considered from the perspective of the trip from Jericho in the East (on the Dead Sea), but is relatively low when considered from the perspective of Mount Hermon in the North. Thus, it is both true, as the Psalmist says, that Jerusalem is "beautiful of elevation," and that the "mountains surround Jerusalem." Not so in the future day. Jerusalem will receive the opposite of a volcanic lowering. Unlike Crater Lake in Oregon, formed from the collapse of Mount Mazama, we will have a sort of reverse vulcanological reality in the future, where mountains, or at least Mt. Jerusalem, is raised. John, in the Revelation, might see the holy city descending from heaven, but the topological truth for Isaiah is just the opposite.

The second reality of this new Jerusalem is that all nations shall come to it. The Hebrew verb makes you stop and think: it is the word for "river" or, as a verb, "to flow." We know of the literary device of personification, where natural forces are given human characteristics, but this is the opposite. Here, in conrast, people are naturalized, and are portrayed as a river that rushes to its goal. All nations shall flow to this highest mountain. And, that, it seems to me, is yet another paradox or difference in understanding that Isaiah brings. Rivers flow down of course. But here, the peoples will "stream" or "flow" up to Jerusalem. Nature's course is reversed in the glorious latter times.

III. The Teachable Nations (v. 3)

The beautiful language, which already should stun and arrest us, just continues. People want to come to this city, this highest-of-the-mountains city, to learn from God. People are eagerly seeking to learn God's ways and paths. The American Quaker artist Edward Hicks (1780-1849) may have painted the quaint and memorable "Peaceable Kingdom," commemorating another passage from Isaiah, but here we have the "Teachable Kingdom." I don't believe I have ever seen this kingdom represented artistically but someone should do so. What would the "teachable kingdom" look like to you? We would see people in the attire of Africa and Asia, in Western suits and shorts, with accents and strange-sounding tongues, of every skin color and size and shape, taking hold of each other to learn. We know that the Kingdom of God may not be far off when nations want to learn rather than rattle sabers; when they want to be instructed rather than show off their glories.

III. The Harmonious Peoples (v. 4)

Instruction leads to peace. Just as the people are streaming or flowing to Jerusalem, so there is a distinctive "flow" to this passage. People grab each other to come and be instructed in Jerusalem; then instruction "goes forth" from Jerusalem; then people have a political harmony. Instruction and education precede international harmony. Thus, though this picture of the future appears to be seen through rose-colored glasses, it really makes deep sense. People come, learn, and then are harmonious. It makes us think about the content of the instruction that God shall give to the people in vv. 3-4. We know that there will be acts of divine judgment and arbitration (v. 4). So, this hugely attractive picture of the latter days includes a sort of international university including both learning and reconciliation or peacemaking. The hard work of mediation will be the place where "rubber meets road" in the learning kingdom of Jerusalem.

Conclusion

Much, much more could be said about this passage. Indeed, you may just want to spend several minutes playing with that most powerful of images--where swords become plowshares and spears, pruning hooks--but don't lose sight of the overall flow of the passage. People are streaming to Jerusalem, people from all over the world. Jerusalem is elevated to a position high above every other city. People want to learn from God. But God will judge and arbitrate, will set the record straight and give to all their due. What is the result of all of this? Well, v. 5 says it well, "O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord."

Your day can't be completely bad if you spend it with Isaiah--especially this passage.

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