1 The word which Isaiah, the son of Amoz, saw about Judah and Jerusalem.
2 And it will come about in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord will be placed on the top of the mountains, and be lifted up over the hills; and all nations will come to it.
3 And the peoples will say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob: and he will give us knowledge of his ways, and we will be guided by his word; for out of Zion the law will go out, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
4 And he will be the judge between the nations, and the peoples will be ruled by his decisions: and their swords will be turned into plough-blades, and their spears into vine-knives: no longer will the nations be turning their swords against one another, and the knowledge of war will be gone for ever.
5 O family of Jacob, come, and let us go in the light of the Lord.
6 For you, O Lord, have given up your people, the family of Jacob, because they are full of the evil ways of the east, and make use of secret arts like the Philistines, and are friends with the children of strange countries.
7 And their land is full of silver and gold, and there is no end to their stores; their land is full of horses, and there is no end to their carriages.
8 Their land is full of images; they give worship to the work of their hands, even to that which their fingers have made.
9 And the poor man's head is bent, and the great man goes down on his face: for this cause there will be no forgiveness for their sin.
10 Go into a hole in the rock, covering yourselves with dust, in fear of the Lord, before the glory of his power.
11 The high looks of man will be put to shame, and the pride of men will be made low, and only the Lord will be lifted up in that day.
12 For the day of the Lord of armies is coming on all the pride of men, and on all who are high and lifted up;
13 And on all the high trees of Lebanon, and on all the strong trees of Bashan;
14 And on all the high mountains, and on all the hills which are lifted up;
15 And on every high tower, and on every strong wall;
16 And on all the ships of Tarshish, and on all the fair boats.
17 And the high looks of man will be put to shame, and the pride of men will be made low: and only the Lord will be lifted up in that day.
18 And the images will never be seen again.
19 And men will go into cracks of the rocks, and into holes of the earth, for fear of the Lord, and before the glory of his power, when he comes out of his place, shaking the earth with his strength.
20 In that day men will put their images of silver and of gold, which they made for worship, in the keeping of the beasts of the dark places;
21 To take cover in the cracks of the rocks, and in the holes of the hills, for fear of the Lord, and before the glory of his power, when he comes out of his place, shaking the earth with his strength.
22 Have no more to do with man, whose life is only a breath, for he is of no value.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Isaiah 2
Commentary on Isaiah 2 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 2
With this chapter begins a new sermon, which is continued in the two following chapters. The subject of this discourse is Judah and Jerusalem (v. 1). In this chapter the prophet speaks,
And now which of these Jerusalems will we be the inhabitants of-that which is full of the knowledge of God, which will be our everlasting honour, or that which is full of horses and chariots, and silver and gold, and such idols, which will in the end be our shame?
Isa 2:1-5
The particular title of this sermon (v. 1) is the same with the general title of the book (ch. 1:1), only that what is there called the vision is here called the word which Isaiah saw (or the matter, or thing, which he saw), the truth of which he had as full an assurance of in his own mind as if he had seen it with his bodily eyes. Or this word was brought to him in a vision; something he saw when he received this message from God. John turned to see the voice that spoke with him. Rev. 1:12.
This sermon begins with the prophecy relating to the last days, the days of the Messiah, when his kingdom should be set up in the world, at the latter end of the Mosaic economy. In the last days of the earthly Jerusalem, just before the destruction of it, this heavenly Jerusalem should be erected, Heb. 12:22; Gal. 4:26. Note, Gospel times are the last days. For
Now the prophet here foretels,
Isa 2:6-9
The calling in of the Gentiles was accompanied with the rejection of the Jews; it was their fall, and the diminishing of them, that was the riches of the Gentiles; and the casting off of them was the reconciling of the world (Rom. 11:12-15); and it should seem that these verses have reference to that, and are designed to justify God therein, and yet it is probable that they are primarily intended for the convincing and awakening of the men of that generation in which the prophet lived, it being usual with the prophets to speak of the things that then were, both in mercy and judgment, as types of the things that should be hereafter. Here is,
Isa 2:10-22
The prophet here goes on to show what a desolation would be brought upon their land when God should have forsaken them. This may refer particularly to their destruction by the Chaldeans first, and afterwards by the Romans, or it may have a general respect to the method God takes to awaken and humble proud sinners, and to put them out of conceit with that which they delighted in and depended on more than God. We are here told that sooner or later God will find out a way,