Isaiah 2

Isaiah 2 begins with a beautiful picture of the Mountain of the Lord and the ideal state of Judah.  If we remember from the original Abrahamic covenant, God promised land and people to Abraham, and above all that He would be their God and they would be his people.  And this was not only to bless Abraham and his descendants, but to draw all the nations of the world to himself through Israel.  In Isaiah 2: 2-5 it shows this picture of people streaming to the mountain of the Lord:
the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established
    as the highest of the mountains;
it will be exalted above the hills,
    and all nations will stream to it.
3 Many peoples will come and say,
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
    to the temple of the God of Jacob.
He will teach us his ways,
    so that we may walk in his paths.”
The law will go out from Zion,
    the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
4 He will judge between the nations
    and will settle disputes for many peoples.
They will beat their swords into plowshares
    and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will not take up sword against nation,
    nor will they train for war anymore.
5 Come, descendants of Jacob,
    let us walk in the light of the Lord.
This is the picture of the ideal state of Israel that should have been and one day will be, but is not the current reality.  We read on and see that the people trust in superstitions and divination for their wisdom, they are overflowing with wealth and have stopped depending on God to provide their needs, their chariots and horses are numerous, even suggesting that their military might has replaced God as their salvation.  Isaiah 2:10-21 is a poem, then, that emphasizes the coming day when the proud and arrogant man will be humbled and "the Lord alone will be exalted in that day" and the "splendor of his majesty" will be all that remains "when he rises to shake the earth". The chapter concludes with an exhortation:
Stop trusting in mere humans,
    who have but a breath in their nostrils.
    Why hold them in esteem?

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