Yesterday (Sunday, December 1, 2019) began the Advent journey — 
the four Sundays
of reflections and readings which lead up to Christmas Day. The key Old Testament reading from the lectionary was Isaiah 2:1-5, which we read in our worship service.
The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
My favorite part of the opening is that Isaiah “saw” the word of the Lord. It is probably an idiom for a vision — the vision he saw about the mountain. In my mind, though, I wonder if it was not some written document he saw. Did he spy God’s book with his eyes and then record in human language what he had seen? That is probably not the way it happened, but in my imagination it is, and what Isaiah gives us is insight into God’s secret plans about the future.
It is a secret The Lord freely shares, though. It is an open secret.
Two other fascinating tidbits here before we move on. Seeing the word of God is the same thing the first century apostle saw. The word became flesh and dwelt among us. They beheld the living word with their own eyes.
The second fascination here is the challenge this verse presents to our vision; that we might see the word or God all around us. Natural revelation comes to mind here with seeing God in the stars and moon as well as waterfalls. We should also learn, train, and work at seeing the word of God in children on the playground, lovers holding hands, and the truth being spoken to power. Can you see the word of God, the words of God, right in front of you?
It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be lifted up above the hills; and all the nations shall flow to it,
It is not that there aren’t other mountains, it is that the mountain of the house of the Lord is higher than the rest. Just like there are other gods, there are to be no other gods above the One True God.
I don’t know if this is literal. Part of me wants it to be literal, describing a future when the Temple Mount literally grows taller and higher than Everest as a beacon over the whole earth. But I’m not certain that is what this is teaching. Highest here should be taken as meaning the most important or significant. The Temple Mount will be more important than Mt. Olympus, the seven hills of Rome, or the artificial ziggurats which dot the ancient landscape. It is taller than the artificial mountains of skyscrapers and satellites. It is higher than mankind can reach.
The Bible here doesn’t say people will flow (flow uphill, I might add) but that nations will. Nations — not only Hebrews — but nations. The movement of nations echoes throughout the biblical witness until the cacophony cannot be drowned out any longer and the crescendo comes in Revelation when every, all the tribes and peoples, and every language cries out before the throne of God and the Lamb.
and many peoples shall come, and say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” For out of Zion shall go the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
Is this wishful thinking? Maybe. Maybe Isaiah is just as cynical about his world as I am sometimes about mine. The Nations do not want to know the ways of God. The Nations want the ways of power, strength, greed, and exploitation. The Nations pollute the air and water without regard for our children or the animals. The Nations destroy families by trafficking our young to war and slavery. The Nations value control and manipulation in order to protect the privileged. The Nations use religion as a mask for abominations.
But Isaiah says it will happen. Some day in the future The Nations will be changed; their heart will turn. God’s law will move among them — the law of grace and of healing — and bring repentance to the earth.
He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide disputes for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, either shall they learn war anymore.
There can be no peace without justice. There can be no forgiveness without the struggle and pain to name the wrongdoing. The Lord will usher in a peaceful time without war or conflict by first judging the nations and then acting as arbiter of the great disputes. Eventually, finally, Palestinians and Israelis will have their dispute settled, as will the Muslims and Jews. Likewise, peace will come when the Lord arbitrates the grievance of Native Americans and those of African descent against Anglo-Europeans. Finally the Korean Penninsula will be at peace when God mediates. Likewise Sunni and Shia, Indian and Pakistani, as well as the Tutsi and Hutus will have all aggression and violence purged in their relationships. The wrongs of history will be settled. The future will no longer be on the horizon. It will be upon us.
And war will be no more. Never again will another dime be spent on nuclear weapons or bullets; it will instead be spent on feeding the children and building homes.
O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord.
Amen. Let us walk in the light, as he is in the light. Marana Tha.
