The Day of the Lord
Today’s discussion will be quite different from the previous. Rather than considering human faults, Isaiah chapter 2 begins with focusing on the Lord and His reign. This passage caught me unaware. It begins by saying “In the last days,” which is an indicator that this section refers to Jesus’ Second Coming for the thousand-year reign. What a glorious day that will be! I hadn’t realized that Isaiah spoke about Jesus’ reign on earth. Some people might be skeptical. Let’s draw some correlations from other portions of scripture.
Daniel 2:34-35 says “While you were watching, a rock was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them. The iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were broken to pieces at the same time and became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summer. The wind swept them away without leaving a trace. But the rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth.”
Isaiah 2: 2 says “In the last days the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills and all nations will stream to it. Many people 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.”
These two passages are referring to the reign of Christ. When Jesus returns, he will come to crush the nations that opposed the truth. Jesus’ name “is the Word of God” (Rev. 19:13). Jesus will reign over the earth for a thousand years. (Rev. 20:6). Jesus is the mountain; Jesus is the rock. Often in churches “the end” is described with horrific terrors of plagues, earthquakes, famines, war and persecution. While those things will happen (Matt. 24:4-14), there is glory and hope for those following Jesus the Messiah. My hope as a Christian is Jesus’ return. I cannot wait to join Him in the glorious thousand-year reign. Perhaps I’ll still be a construction worker, but my body will not be broken, and Jesus will be the authority. Jesus will rule perfectly; no corrupt leaders bogging down the government.
Our imaginations are weak. 9/11 towers over my life. The Iraq wars on terror, the Arab spring, Euphrates shield in Turkey, shootings at schools and persecution of Christians in the East; these crazy conflicts are the era of history in which I live. It is hard to imagine a world without these struggles. Isaiah describes the reign of Christ with revolutionary implications. Men will turn “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” (Isaiah 2:4). Can you imagine?
Looking at the United States alone, the military budget makes up approximately 54% of the federal budget. That is just the United States; think of all the other nations on earth. How about the factories that will be shut down and soldiers that can retire? The United States is a nation proud of the freedom and peace won by lives lost. As a baseline, the United States has freed many people from evil leadership. There are flaws and corrupt men with self-seeking purpose, but the United States has done a decent job. However, no empire has ever been able to eliminate the military and war. Under Jesus, men won’t even train for war. That is awe striking.
The day of the Lord is coming. King Jesus will reign as the greatest ruler. Throughout all history, great men have risen and fallen. Everyone admires some great man: King David, William Wilberforce, Winston Churchill, Gandhi, Buddha, Muhammad, Nietzsche, George Washington and Martin Luther King Jr. Yet Isaiah 2:22 says, “Stop trusting in man, who has but a breath in his nostrils. Of what account is he?” There are many moments when other men are viewed as the answer. Yet, where are they? In the grave. Yet, “Of what account is he?” No man has stopped war. No man has ruled the earth. No man can do these great things. Jesus the Lord of lords and King of kings can and will achieve glorious feats. His reign will be unparalleled in all mankind’s history because He is the Lord Eternal.
