“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 forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.” Isaiah 2:3 ESV
Reflection: why was the city of Jerusalem established on a mountain top?
Driving from either the east, the Dead Sea, or the west, from the Mediterranean Sea, to the city of Jerusalem, you can understand the word “After these days we got ready and went up to Jerusalem.”
Acts 21:15 ESV. The city is about 2500 feet above sea level, and almost 3500 feet above the Dead Sea. And, of course this mountain and city have a lot significance and imagery in biblical history, such as the location of Abraham’s altar and his willingness to sacrifice his only son Isaac, to God’s actual sacrifice of His only son Jesus Christ, to fulfill atonement for our sins. So as Christians, this mountain and city has huge significance.
We read in today’s verse what the Lord showed Isaiah, a lot of imagery about what was going to happen. But, it is important as we read this to separate physical land and location, with the spiritual meaning. Let’s try to make sense of it. We read what he saw that a day would come, “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.”” Isaiah 2:3a ESV. Question is, has this already happened? Let’s look at v2, to get better context.
“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,” Isaiah 2:2 ESV. Notice the last part, that this “mountain of the house of the Lord” is to be “lifted” above the hills, it will be the “highest” mountain. Clearly, the reference here is not physical, but spiritual. We also see this beautiful reference here to “all the nations shall flow to it”, meaning, they will be seeking this highest mountain, seeking the one and only true God. With this in mind, v3 makes more sense. “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.””
If we think about what has happened over the past 2000 years or so, since the Jesus the Messiah was revealed, since He fulfilled the law, and atoned for our sins and reconciled us with God, nations and peoples across the earth have flowed to God, so that “he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” The Christian peoples desire truth, desire His ways and to walk in His paths. And, Isaiah adds this beautiful confirmation about this mountain of the Lord, “For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.” Again, keep in mind this is not the physical cities, but spiritual. And this also means that we are in “the latter days”, according to this prophecy.
Let’s consider another spiritual “mountain” reference. You might recall Jesus talking to his disciples about casting out a demon that they were unable to. “Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.”” Matthew 17:19-20 ESV. Why would he be talking about “mountains” in reference to casting out demons? He was clearly not talking about physical mountains. The reference here is spiritual, how demonic forces establish strongholds, or “hills” and “mountains” of control and power. And in that context, with faith even small, we can demand these “mountains” to be moved, even cast into the sea.
The vision of Isaiah ends with a call from the Lord, to the whole house of the Lord, of all of Israel “O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord.” Isaiah 2:5 ESV. Keep in mind what Israel means here, not to be confused.