Isaiah 2:1 - 5
This is what Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem:
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.
Many peoples will come and say,
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD,
to the house 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.
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.
Come, house of Jacob,
let us walk in the light of the LORD.
The Hebrew Prophets show up prominently throughout Advent. These prophets were not fortune-tellers, predicting what was going to happen in the future. They were persons deeply rooted in God. They saw life with the eyes of God. They experienced life with the heart of God. Thus, they were able to speak into current events with conviction because their ministries carried into their life-world an unbreakable connection to God.
Isaiah represents the prophetic tradition of the 8th century B.C. Along with Hosea, Micah and Amos, Isaiah emerged as a voice for God in the 8th century, speaking of God in some very revolutionary ways. These four prophetic figures in particular introduced to Hebrew religion an ethical vision that emphasized how the poor, marginalized and broken were treated. Until the prophetic ministries of Isaiah, Amos, Hosea, and Micah, holiness was known primarily as being separate from that which was unclean. Holiness was characterized by this separation, by standing apart from the foreign gods, for instance. In oversimplified terms, holiness was defined by what you were against more than what you were for.
Those who were highly committed to Yahweh, for example, were considered holy, even if that commitment to Yahweh led them to kill persons who worshiped other gods. Holiness had nothing to do with one's inner life or relational life. Persons could be holy even while abusing others in the outer world.
[Intermission: You'll notice that within most every religious tradition this notion of holiness and commitment lives on. In fundamentalist expressions of most every tradition, there is little concern for justice, ethics and the treatment of the little and the least. Life (and holiness) is measured by "devotion to Yahweh."]
Isaiah and his contemporaries introduce to our understanding a God who is concerned for people, especially for the little and the least in our world. Time after time in their prophecy, they saw a future time when God will come to rescue the people, when God would transform the hearts and consciousness of all people. Isaiah wrote about a revolution of the heart, a complete transformation of the human person that would treat all persons with dignity and love. This inner transformation would provide a new sense of holiness and would lead to the transformation of the world, a birthing of hope and peace.
Isaiah 2:1-5 is multi-layered. I encourage you to pray with it today, to reflect on its words, and to hear it as a word of peace and hope. I'll say just a couple of things about it.
First, the heart of the passage is the imagery of "the mountain" and "Zion." Geographically, they refer to Jerusalem, which rested on a mount and was the center of religious, social and work life for Israel.
In the passage it is a central place, a core. It is not a place of magic, but a place which shoots people of peace, justice and transformation out into the world. Coming to "the mountain" or to the "Lord's temple" (at the mountain) is not a permanent move. Rather, coming to the "mount" prepares one to be propelled into the world as an agent of transformation . . . for instance, as a person of peace rather than a person of war ("beating swords into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks").
Second, this movement to the center and back out will be for all peoples . . . "all nations" (v. 2), "many peoples" (v. 3 & 4). This in not an exclusive invitation for one group or one nation, which is a radical departure for Israel. In fact, Isaiah sees a time when war ceases ("nation will not take up sword against nation," v. 4) and people will give themselves to caring for one another (suggested by the images for harvest/food in "plowshares" and "pruning hooks").
Read through these verses today. Notice a word, phrase or image that seems particularly alive for you. Sit with it. Explore it. Squeeze out its meaning for your own life. Hear God's Word, through Isaiah, for yourself today, then carry it with you.
"Come, O people of God, let us walk in the light of the Lord."
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