Roman Siege & Destruction of Jerusalem (70 A.D.) Artist David Roberts, 1850
Isaiah 2
Isaiah son of Amoz saw (vision/dream) this message
about Judah and Jerusalem:
d
In the last days
the mountain on which the Lord's Temple stands
will become the most important of all mountains.
It will be raised above the hills,
and people from all nations will come streaming to it.
Many nations will come and say,
"Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
to the Temple of the God of Jacob.
Then God will teach us his ways,
and we will obey his teachings."
His teachings will go out from Jerusalem;
the message of the Lord will go out from Jerusalem.
He will settle arguments among the nations
and will make decisions for many nations.
Then they will make their swords into plows
and their spears into hooks for trimming trees.
Nations will no longer fight other nations,
nor will they train for war anymore.
Come, family of Jacob,
and let us follow the way of the Lord.
d
A Terrible Day is Coming
Lord, you have left your people,
the family of Jacob,
because they have become filled
with wrong ideas from people in the East.
They try to tell the future like the Philistines,
and they have completely accepted those foreign ideas.
Their land has been filled with silver and gold;
there are a great many treasures there.
Their land has been filled with horses;
there are many chariots there.
Their land is full of idols.
The people worship these idols they made with their own hands
and shaped with their own fingers.
People will not be proud any longer
but will bow low with shame.
God, do not forgive them.
d
Go into the caves of the cliffs;
Go into the caves of the cliffs;
dig holes and hide in the ground from the anger of the Lord
and from his great power!
Proud people will be made humble,
and they will bow low with shame.
At that time only the Lord will still be praised.
d
The Lord All-Powerful has a certain day planned
when he will punish the proud and those who brag,
and they will no longer be important.
He will bring down the tall cedar trees from Lebanon
and the great oak trees of Bashan,
all the tall mountains and the high hills,
every tall tower and every high, strong wall,
all the trading ships and the beautiful ships.
At that time proud people will be made humble,
and they will bow low with shame.
At that time only the Lord will be praised,
but all the idols will be gone.
d
People will run to caves in the rocky cliffs
and will dig holes and hide in the ground
from the anger of the Lord and his great power,
when he stands to shake the earth.
At that time people will throw away
their gold and silver idols,
which they made for themselves to worship;
they will throw them away to the bats and moles.
Then the people will hide in caves and cracks in the rocks
from the anger of the Lord and his great power,
when he stands to shake the earth.
d
You should stop trusting in people to save you,
because people are only human;
they are not able to help you.
SITUATION Isaiah's vision told both of God's judgment of the wicked and the promise of his coming kingdom for the righteous.
OBSERVATION God can never approve of sin, but he longs to reward those who follow him.
INSPIRATION In the moral conflict now raging around us, whoever is on God's side is on the winning side and cannot lose; whoever is on the other side is on the losing side and cannot win. Here there is no chance, no gamble. There is freedom to choose which side we shall be on but no freedom to negotiate the results of the choice once it is made. By the mercy of God we may repent a wrong choice and alter the consequences by making a new and right choice Beyond that we cannot go.
The whole matter of moral choice centers around Jesus Christ. Christ stated it plainly: "He that is not with me is against me," and "No man cometh unto the Father, but by me." The gospel message embodies three distinct elements: an announcement, a command, and a call. It announces the good news of redemption accomplished in mercy; it commands all men everywhere to repent, and it calls men to surrender to the terms of grace by believers on Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
We must all choose whether we will obey the gospel or turn away in unbelief and reject its authority. Our choice is our own, but the consequences of the choice have already been determined by the sovereign will of God and from this there is no appeal. (From The Knowledge of the Holy by A.W. Tozer)
APPLICATION Are you inside God's kingdom or do you find yourself peeking in, to see if it is for you? You cannot have one foot in and one foot out. Choose to be in God's kingdom; it will mean eternal rewards and fellowship with God.
EXPLORATION Wickedness or Righteousness -- Psalm 1; Proverbs 3:33; Ezekiel 18:20-21; Malachi 3:38; Matthew 25:46; 1 Peter 3:12
The Devotional Bible - Experiencing the Heart of Jesus; Max Lucado General Editor, New Century Version - Thomas Nelson Publishers
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