11. Swords to Plowshares (2)
Hymns: RHC 155 The First Noel 156 Good Christian Men, Rejoice 152 Joy to the World!
Isaiah 2:5-10
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.
Swords to Plowshares (2)
OUTLINE
(1) When God Rules – Peace (v1-4)
(2) When Man Rules – War (v5-9)
Continue…
The reign of God in the hearts of His people is most precious. It genders true peace.
This world has failed to secure that most elusive commodity called “peace”. The dictionary meaning of “peace” describes the normal, non-warring condition of a nation, group of nations or the world, a state of mutual harmony between people or groups, especially in personal relations and the normal freedom from civil commotion and violence of a community. Peace is described a state of tranquillity and serenity, a state or condition conducive to, proceeding from, or characterized by tranquillity. This world has yet seen true peace. War characterizes all the history of mankind.
When God created the earth, it was to be a peaceful paradise. But Adam forfeited the harmony when he sinned. One writer put it succinctly that Adam’s sin “was like a declaration of war against God’s right to rule His own creation. It broke the peace of Eden. Adam’s rebellion against God had disastrous long-range effects. It set the entire human race at enmity with God. All the evils that disrupt the peacefulness of our earthly existence stem from the curse of sin that began with Adam. Redemption history is the long saga of how God Himself intervenes to save the human race from its own sin, overthrow evil and restore peace to His creation.” It is sin that plunged all humanity in animosity and perpetual war. It is the result of the inherent sin nature, that fallen nature, descended from Adam.
Galatians 5:19-21 gives to us the manifestation of this fallen nature, “19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, 20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, 21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.” Gal. 5:19-21 (KJV)
There can be no true peace for mankind plagued by this inalienable disease called sin or what Apostle Paul called “the works of the flesh”. The carnal man does not know true peace, Romans 3:17 “And the way of peace have they [unregenerate men] not known.” (Italics added)
The word “peace” comes from the Greek verb eirō which means “to join” and the noun eirēnē refers to “the things joined together”. To make peace, therefore, means “to join together that which is separated”.
Jesus Christ Himself is our peace (Eph. 2:14). By His atoning work on the cross, the shedding of His blood gives us reconciliation with God (Eph. 2:13). Jesus abolished our enmity with God in the flesh (Eph. 2:15) to make us a new man through faith in Christ’s finished work on the cross (Rom. 5:1). This is the peace of sins forgiven, reconciliation with God when we come in humble repentance confessing our sins.
Being himself reconciled to God, the Christian is the channel through which the good news of salvation is brought to the lost, separated from God as a result of sin! [Wuest, Volume 1]
The starting point for true biblical peace is peace with God through Christ. It comes as positional holiness to one who has accepted Jesus Christ by faith for His atoning work on the cross for our sins (Rom. 5:1). This is what is called a state of reconciliation with God (Friberg Lexicon) for one who accepts the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit indwells such a person and he/she experiences a new birth. This salvation for sinners is solely by grace, the unmerited or undeserved favour of God. Grace expresses the cause, God’s gracious work, and peace, the effect of the work. The grace of God that brings salvation affects peace between them and God, and that same grace enables believers to live peaceably with one another (Gal. 1:3) [Adapted from Ephesians, Harold W. Hoehner, 150].
We can observe that holiness is an essential prerequisite of true, real, lasting peace with God. We have discussed at length the tug-of-war between the nature of sin and the new nature existing as long as we are in this fleshly body. A holy life that will bring the fruit of peace is the teaching of Apostle Paul in Galatians 5.
This “peace” goes beyond the positional holiness of the Christian. It manifests itself when the Christian is not again entangled with the “yoke of bondage”, which is the “works of the flesh”, described by Apostle Paul in Gal. 5:19-21 by walking under the control of the Holy Spirit.
True peace comes with true holiness. Peace is a blessing of which God alone is the Author. It is a gift of the Holy Spirit. It is a gift that God desires to impart to all His people, but which He is often unable to grant because of their sins. There can be no peace with the wicked. Those who hope for it, while continuing in their iniquity, are self-deceived. True peace is given by God. First, seek peace with God and then see how God blesses us with harmony, concord or peace among brethren. This is only possible when the Christian puts away sin and lives in holiness and embraces the Apostle Paul’s injunction – Serve one another, love one another, and See that you destroy not one another.
“Willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.”
2 Corinthians 5 FOR we know (not we think or hope only, but we know) that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. (Our clay cottage will come down, but our heavenly mansion is ready to receive us.)
2–4 For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life. (We cannot be satisfied here, for we are exiled from the glory land and compassed with infirmities. We await with expectation the summons, “Rise up and come away.”)
5 Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit. (God is preparing us for heaven, and has given us already a sure pledge of it in the possession of the Holy Ghost.)
6, 7 Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: (For we walk by faith, not by sight:)
8 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. (The exile longs to return, the child pines for his father’s house, and so do we pant for our own dear country beyond the river, and sigh for the bosom of Jesus.)
9 Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him.
10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.
With this is view, we cannot afford to trifle or to sin. Every day should be viewed in the light of the last day, and then we shall live as we should.
11 Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences.
12 For we commend not ourselves again unto you, but give you occasion to glory on our behalf, that ye may have somewhat to answer them which glory in appearance, and not in heart.
13 For whether we be beside ourselves, it is to God: or whether we be sober, it is for your cause. (The apostle did everything for Jesus and his church, and if any blamed his actions, he bade them remember that love to them was the sole motive of all he did.)
14 For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead (or rather, all died):
15 And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again. (The death of Jesus for us has made us reckon ourselves dead to all but him, and for him alone would we exist.)
16 Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more. (Everything was spiritual, even his sight of Jesus with his mortal eyes was no longer cared for, in comparison with faith’s view of him after a spiritual fashion.)
17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
18, 19 And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.
20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.
21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. (Are we thus made righteous? These verses are wonderfully weighty: do we understand them by personal experience? Are we new creatures, reconciled by Jesus’ blood, accepted in the Beloved, and one with him? These are points which demand immediate inquiry.)[1]
(2) When Man Rules (v5-9)
5 O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the LORD.
The exhortation once again for Judah to acknowledge their waywardness and come back to the LORD. They are exhorted to walk in the light of the LORD. In the light of His laws, in following the decrees of God as given in His Word.
To walk with God, we keep His commandments and observe according to His Word. This was God’s instruction to Israel before they entered the Promised Land.
1 Now these are the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments, which the LORD your God commanded to teach you, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go to possess it: 2 That thou mightest fear the LORD thy God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I command thee, thou, and thy son, and thy son’s son, all the days of thy life; and that thy days may be prolonged. 3 Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it; that it may be well with thee, and that ye may increase mightily, as the LORD God of thy fathers hath promised thee, in the land that floweth with milk and honey.
Indeed, they have increased mightily but they have departed from the LORD and that increase began to erode and falter.
For the redeemed man, he prays to the LORD to grant Him the grace and strength to do so. This was the psalmist’s prayer as he sought the LORD to guide Him so that he will not stray.
Psalm 119:33-48 (KJV) HE. Teach me, O LORD, the way of thy statutes; and I shall keep it unto the end. Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law; yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart. Make me to go in the path of thy commandments; for therein do I delight. Incline my heart unto thy testimonies, and not to covetousness. Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity; and quicken thou me in thy way. Stablish thy word unto thy servant, who is devoted to thy fear. Turn away my reproach which I fear: for thy judgments are good. Behold, I have longed after thy precepts: quicken me in thy righteousness.
The psalmist’s prayer is that God will teach him His ways and let him have an understanding so that he will choose to walk the godly way as opposed to the vain and covetous way. He shall be established because his fear is in the LORD. There is that tarrying with God in prayer that gives him the victory in overcoming and refraining from every crooked way.
Let me be a stable and mature man of God that orders my family rightly and my work honourably. Help me grow to maturity so that I may be a blessing to others.
His plea is by 7 imperatives and an interjection – teach, give me understanding, make me to go, incline, turn away, stablish, turn away. This is followed by “Behold”.
7 words of surrender, submission and surely culminating with God’s supply and sustenance.
Moses reiterated God’s promises of long life, prolonging of the days for those who keep God’s commandments. There are two elements here. The fear of the LORD, the spiritual attitude and demeanour to walk with God, and the courage and strength to do His will.
God promises that Israel will prosper in the Promised Land with the blessing of God as they walk with Him. There will be challenging persecutions, but God will be with His people to deliver them through it all.
The exhortation is that man will submit to God’s rule and dominion. This was Israel’s privilege with God so nigh to them.
Light exposes, reveals or uncovers that which is not seen because of darkness. In the immediate context, Isaiah has just shed a brilliant prophetic light on Israel’s future glory. The upshot is that this sure hope of future grace and glory should serve to motivate a walk commensurate with that truth. Specifically what manner of walk is he calling for? Although it is not stated, comparison with numerous other texts leaves no doubt that God through His prophet Isaiah is exhorting his Jewish readers to a worthy walk, a walk of holiness (the effect of “hope” in 1Jn 3:2, 3).
1 John 3:2-3 (KJV) Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.
What you are looking for will (or should) affect what you are living for.
True knowledge of the future should always impact our behaviour in the present. Otherwise, we have become hypocrites — “smarter sinners”, “modern day Pharisees” who will be held accountable for our greater revelation. [Preceptaustin]
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.
Thou hast forsaken – The address is changed from the exhortation to the house of Jacob (v5) to God, as is frequently the case in the writings of Isaiah. It indicates a state where the mind is full of the subject, and where it expresses itself in a rapid and hurried manner.
Hast forsaken – Hast withdrawn thy protection, and given them over to the calamities and judgments which had come upon them.
They be replenished – Hebrew – They are “full.” That is, these things abound.
And are soothsayers – Our word “soothsayers” means “foretellers, prognosticators,” persons who pretend to predict future events “without inspiration,” differing in this from true prophets. What the Hebrew word means, it is not so easy to determine.
Leviticus 19:26 (KJV) Ye shall not eat any thing with the blood: neither shall ye use enchantment, nor observe times.
2 Kings 21:6 (KJV) And he made his son pass through the fire, and observed times, and used enchantments, and dealt with familiar spirits and wizards: he wrought much wickedness in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger.
This species of divination was expressly forbidden:
Deuteronomy 18:10-12 (KJV) There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD: and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee.
Like the Philistines – The Philistines occupied the land in the southwest part of Palestine.
And they please themselves – The word used here means literally “to clap the hands” in token of joy. It may also mean, “to join the hands, to shake hands,” and then it will signify that they “joined hands” with foreigners; that is, they made compacts or entered into alliances with them contrary to the law of Moses. [Barnes]
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.
The land is full of materialism and full of war horses, full of idols and they would not humble themselves to bow to their God but each man after his own idols.
God encouraged them to put their confidence in him, and assured them that he would be their wealth and strength; but, distrusting his power and promise, they made gold their hope, and furnished themselves with horses and chariots, and relied upon them for their safety (v7). God had expressly forbidden even their kings to multiply horses to themselves and greatly to multiply silver and gold, because he would have them to depend upon himself only; but they did not think their interest in God made them a match for their neighbours unless they had as full treasures of silver and gold, and as formidable hosts of chariots and horses, as they had. It is not having silver and gold, horses and chariots, that is a provocation to God, but, desiring them insatiably, so that there is no end of the treasures, no end of the chariots, no bounds or limits set to the desire of them. Those shall never have enough in God (who alone is all-sufficient) that never know when they have enough of this world, which at the best is insufficient. Depending upon them, as if we could not be safe, and easy, and happy, without them, and could not but be so with them. [Matthew Henry]
[1] Spurgeon, C. H. (1964). The Interpreter: Spurgeon’s Devotional Bible (p. 696). Baker Book House.