Isaiah 2:1 - Printer Friendly

ESV: The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.

NIV: This is what Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem:

NASB: The word which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.

CSB: The vision that Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem:

NLT: This is a vision that Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem:

KJV: The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.

NKJV: The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.

Isaiah once again introduces himself and the contents of his book. He had done so at the beginning of the first chapter (Isaiah 1:1). This introduction is simpler: Isaiah says this is what he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. This is also the last kind of introduction to appear in the book.

Scholars suggest perhaps chapter one is meant to serve as an introduction and summation for the rest of Isaiah's prophecy. Chapter two would formally begin that message. Others speculate that Isaiah means to clarify that he actually saw, in a vision, the events he describes in Isaiah 2:2–5. Although the same future event is described, with the same words exactly in Micah 4:1–4, Isaiah is clear that he witnessed himself what will happen in Jerusalem during this future time.

Isaiah 2:1–5 describes an impossible-seeming time in Israel's future: when the Lord will reign over the entire earth from Jerusalem. People from all the Gentile nations will flock to Israel and to Jerusalem to learn from the Lord how to walk in His ways. He will judge the nations, resolving all disputes, and bringing about a time so secure that no nation will even prepare for war anymore. Isaiah urges the Israelites of his day to not wait and to walk in the Lord's light now.

Isaiah describes Israel's far future as a time when all the nations of the earth will recognize Israel's God as the Lord. They will come to Jerusalem to learn from Him how to live. Isaiah tells his people to walk in the light of the Lord now. Instead, they worship false gods, follow fortune tellers, and make deals. Their great wealth, military might, and endless homemade idols will not save them from the God's judgment on day of the Lord. Human arrogance will be brought low as the Lord is exalted. Isaiah summarizes the chapter with a warning not to trust fallible people, instead of God.

Isaiah 2 follows the summation of the first chapter by reintroducing the prophet. He describes Israel's distant future. Someday, all the people of earth will come to Jerusalem to learn how to live from Israel's God. For now, though, the Lord has rejected His people. On the day of the Lord, however, those idols will be left behind in the caves in which the people attempt to hide from God's majesty. Later chapters of this book will explain more about how this prophecy will come to be.

Isaiah is among the most important prophetic books in the entire Bible. The first segment details God's impending judgment against ancient peoples for sin and idolatry (Isaiah 1—35). The second part of Isaiah briefly explains a failed assault on Jerusalem during the rule of Hezekiah (Isaiah 36—39). The final chapters predict Israel's rescue from Babylonian captivity (Isaiah 40—48), the promised Messiah (Isaiah 49—57), and the final glory of Jerusalem and God's people (Isaiah 58—66).

Accessed 5/3/2024 3:47:02 PM