They Shall Beat Their Swords Into Plowshares! (Isaiah 2:4) [Vanity]

No verse in the scripture provides a better promise of "peace on earth" than Isaiah 2:4. This is the verse in context of the preceding verses of the chapter:

"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." (Isa 2:1-4 KJV)

This promise to all nations is that wars will eventually cease and be found no more; and the promise is obvious from the text, whether by a casual reading, or by a serious exegetical analysis. It means exactly what is says.

But when will it be fulfilled? When can the world expect to live in peace? Let's attempt to determine when by letting the scripture interpret the scripture:

Verse 1 "The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem."

Judah and Jerusalem? That appears to be pre-second century language. Recall that after the remnant of Israel and Judah returned from Babylon, they merged into one "kingdom" under the banner of Judah in Judea; hence, the first century name of "Jews" that we are all familiar with. Therefore, Isaiah's time context for this prophecy appears to be prior to the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70.

Verse 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. "

That is similar to the vision saw by John of New Jerusalem (the free, heavenly Jerusalem):

"And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God," (Rev 21:10 KJV)

The heavenly Jerusalem is further identified in the Hebrews as residing on mount Sion (Zion):

"But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant . . ." (Heb 12:22-24 KJV)

And, as Isaiah foretold for "his" mountain, the same can be said for mount Sion: all nations are to "flow" unto New Jerusalem:

"And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it." (Rev 21:24 KJV)

Therefore, it is reasonable to believe that Isaiah was referring to mount Sion and the heavenly New Jerusalem.

Isaiah confirmed the previously suggested time context of the first century by the use of the term, "last days." Christ's ministry occurred in the last days, as did the day of Pentecost:

"God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;" (Heb 1:1-2 KJV)

"But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:" (Acts 2:16-17 KJV)

The term "last days" in those verses referred to the last days of the "Jewish" or "Mosaic" age, just prior to the destruction of Jerusalem.

Verse 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."

As aforementioned, mount Zion (Sion) is the location of the heavenly New Jerusalem, the Church, which was established with the blood of the new covenant: the blood of Christ:

"Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar. For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children. But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all." (Gal 4:24-26 KJV)

"For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people: And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away." (Heb 8:10-13 KJV)

And, as the mediator of the New Covenant (Hebrews 12:24, posted above,) Jesus is the one who teaches us the "law" of God, as Jesus explained:

"It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me." (Jn 6:44-45 KJV)

"Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets." (Mt 7:12 KJV)

It is apparent from those plain words that if everyone followed the law of the Lord, there would be no wars, which brings us to this verse:

Verse 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. "

To explain this verse, we must first determine when Christ obtained the power to judge among the nations. Postmillennialists believe that occurred when Christ took the kingdom of God away from the Jews in the first century and established his "thousand year" reign. That "take away" is best explained in the context of the parable of the vineyard:

"There was a certain householder, which planted a vineyard, and hedged it round about, and digged a winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country: And when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits of it. And the husbandmen took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another. Again, he sent other servants more than the first: and they did unto them likewise. But last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son. But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance. And they caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him. When the lord therefore of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen? They say unto him, He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their seasons. Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes? Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder. And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived that he spake of them. But when they sought to lay hands on him, they feared the multitude, because they took him for a prophet." (Mt 21:33-46 KJV)

So, after the Jews killed the Son, they were, in-turn, destroyed, and the kingdom was given to others.

Note that the chief priests and Pharisees understood that Jesus was referring to them: that he would be taking away their kingdom that had been (reluctantly) given to them in the days of Samuel (1Sam 8:6-9, 10:19.) That was also about the time that the river of water of life (the Holy Spirit) began to flow out of Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost:

"And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be." (Zec 14:8 KJV)

The term Zechariah used, "living waters," was similar to one of the terms Jesus used, "rivers of living water:"

"He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)" (Jn 7:38-39 KJV)

The purpose of the "living water" (in part, or in total) is to water the tree of life which "heals" the nations:

"And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curse . . . " (Rev 22:1-3 KJV)

Note that it takes time to heal the nations. The kingdom of God (aka, the kingdom of heaven,) did not appear instantly as a large kingdom, but grew/grows over time:

"Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field: Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof." (Mt 13:31-32 KJV)

"And he said, Whereunto shall we liken the kingdom of God? or with what comparison shall we compare it? It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sown in the earth, is less than all the seeds that be in the earth: But when it is sown, it groweth up, and becometh greater than all herbs, and shooteth out great branches; so that the fowls of the air may lodge under the shadow of it." (Mk 4:30-32 KJV)

The kingdom of God/heaven, as we know it, began allegorically as a small seed, named Christ:

"Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit." (Jn 12:24 KJV)

It was only after Christ ascended back to the Father did the river of water of life (aka, the Comforter) begin to flow out of "Jerusalem" and the healing process began:

"Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you " (Jn 16:7 KJV)

The kingdom of God (aka, the Church) has grown significantly over the centuries. But there has been an obstacle to growth and the associated "healing of the nations," called Satan. The nations, and the kingdom of God, have had to contend with Satan, all this time.

Satan had control of Jerusalem in the days of Christ, leading a Jewish priest named Flavius Josephus to claim his generation to be the wickedest generation, ever:

"It is therefore impossible to go distinctly over every instance of these men's iniquity. I shall therefore speak my mind here at once briefly: - That neither did any other city ever suffer such miseries, nor did any age ever breed a generation more fruitful in wickedness than this was, from the beginning of the world." [The Wars Of The Jews, V:10:5]

So, when Jerusalem and other Jewish cities were destroyed in AD 70, Satan lost many of his "children," and therefore much of his power. Recall that all of Satan's powers were not destroyed in the first century; only that he was 'bound" so he would not be able to "deceive the nations" for a long time:

"And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season." (Rev 20:2-3 KJV)

Satan retained all other powers over men's lives that led many men to destroy and plunder; and he will maintain that power until he is, first, released from prison at the end of his long, "thousand year" imprisonment (which I believe has already happened;) and is then defeated and destroyed.

This is Satan's release from prison, after being bound for a "thousand years," where he goes out to deceive the nations, until his destruction:"

"And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog, and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them." (Rev 20:7-9 KJV)

The "beloved city" and the "camp of the saints" denote the Church; and the "breadth" of the earth is the entire earth. Satan is going after the Church (of course,) and I believe he is doing it now.

What does it mean for Satan to "deceive the nations." I believe it means that Satan, once free, is able to deceive all (except the Christians of the kingdom) into believing that evil is, in fact, good (and good is evil.) We see this on a continual basis, where activities once abhorred as evil, are accepted as normal; and we have been seeing this, in one manner or another, for the better part of a century.

In summary, we have seen how Isaiah's prophecy of the "Swords into Plowshares" is fulfilled: not instantly, but gradually over time as the kingdom of God grows; and completely when Satan is finally destroyed.

>>>I'm with the prophet Joel on this one. "Let all the soldiers report and march."<<<

LOL! Jesus said he came to send a sword, but not in that context:

"Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man's foes shall be they of his own household." (Mt 10:34-36 KJV)

The early Christians were considered heretics and blasphemers. It was a tough row to hoe.

Philip

“Is that referring to the destruction of Jerusalem?”

I take it that a man posting up a vanity thread and commenting on scripture should be looking it up or at least re-reading Joel which is quite short. Afterall, your vanity thread here presupposes you as either very literate or a Bible expert.

Valley of Johesphat ~Kidron Valley is the place of final judgement and Joel is essentially an apocolyptic text, “Day of the Lord” stuff etc. Jerusalem enemies gather to destroy it, God encourages Judahs enemies...turn plowshare to swords,etc. but God vindicates or saves them(Judah/Jerusalem). The locusts are a back story matching up to the apocolyptic part of Joel. Locusts overrunning Judah, Jerusalems enemies overtaking Jerusalem, but all is turned back or defeated.

Yadda Yadda Yadda, it’s your thread!

>>>I take it that a man posting up a vanity thread and commenting on scripture should be looking it up or at least re-reading Joel which is quite short. Afterall, your vanity thread here presupposes you as either very literate or a Bible expert.<<<

That is some first-class finger-wagging. But I am puzzled by your self-imposed rule that when you start a thread, you are not allowed to ask questions. Are you uninterested in the opinions and interpretations of others?

Philip

A much more reasonable explanation for why Isaiah mentions Judah (and not Israel) is that during the time of his ministry, the Northern Kingdom was not in existence.

It is also very disturbing that you run off to Revelation, then Hebrews, then back to Revelation, then Acts, then Galatians, etc. etc. ... to provide context and interpretation of a prophecy in the OT.

This highlights what I have been trying to tell you for some time ...

The basic flaw in your approach is not interpretive ... its your theological method that you are employing. By reading the NT back into the OT you transform the OT prophecy of Isaiah into something that it is not. You have yanked Isaiah out of its historical context, almost as if all that historical and OT background is irrelevant.

>>>A much more reasonable explanation for why Isaiah mentions Judah (and not Israel) is that during the time of his ministry, the Northern Kingdom was not in existence.<<<

I am not sure I understand. Are you implying that the prophecy of Isaiah 2 was referring the era before the Jews were carried away unto Babylon? I assumed that Isaiah 2 was referring to first century AD because of the use of the words, "last days," which were also used to identify the days of the ministry of Christ and the day of Pentecost, as explained in the post.

>>>It is also very disturbing that you run off to Revelation, then Hebrews, then back to Revelation, then Acts, then Galatians, etc. etc. ... to provide context and interpretation of a prophecy in the OT.<<<

It did not disturb me. Explain why you are disturbed (with scripture, if you will.)

>>>This highlights what I have been trying to tell you for some time ... The basic flaw in your approach is not interpretive ... its your theological method that you are employing. By reading the NT back into the OT you transform the OT prophecy of Isaiah into something that it is not. You have yanked Isaiah out of its historical context, almost as if all that historical and OT background is irrelevant.<<<

Are you saying that Isaiah 2 was referring to Judah before Babylon? You posted exactly zero verses to explain yourself, in all cases; so I can only guess what you are trying to say.

If you believe my interpretation of a scripture, or scriptures, is in error, please post those scriptures and explain why. If I am in error, I really do want to know. But as I have stated many times: your opinion is simply an opinion; not proof.

Philip

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.