Christ in the Old Testament

Isaiah 2:5

Come, descendants of Jacob,
    let us walk in the light of the Lord. (NIV)

Today’s Reading: Isaiah 2:1-5

Isaiah turns from his present circumstances in Israel and warnings of God’s judgement for their empty sacrifices to the future House of God. Depending on your camp, you will either interpret the first five verses of Isaiah as prophecy concerning Jesus’ first coming or his second coming. It could in fact be both. But for today, we are going to examine these verses as they relate to Jesus’ first coming.

The chapter begins with a statement from Isaiah: “The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem” (Isa 2:1 NKJV). The first thing that sticks out to me is that Isaiah saw the word. Isaiah saw a vision. What Isaiah is writing down here is what he saw not what he heard. It’s not what God told him to write although Isaiah does record what he hears God say in his visions. But Isaiah is writing down in the words that best describe what he saw in his vision.

Much like the apostle John recording in Revelation what he saw in his vision, Isaiah had to choose the words and symbols that best related to what he was seeing. He was clearly guided by the Spirit and wrote the words that God led him to write. But we will encounter poetic language that Isaiah uses to best describe his vision because what he saw may have never been seen before.

Verse 2: “In the last days

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.”

The mountain of the Lord was “established as the highest of the mountains” when Jesus was lifted up on the cross, rose from the grave and ascended into heaven. Paul tells us, “Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Phil 2:9-11).

Jesus is the Lord’s temple. He said so himself. Jesus said, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days” (John 2:19). At the time, no one understood what he meant. But then after the resurrection, they all got it. “But the temple he had spoken of was his body. After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken” (John 2:22). I’m thinking Isaiah chapter 2 is one of the scriptures that the disciples believed.

Jesus also said, “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself” (John 12:32). Jesus fulfilled Isaiah’s vision. When Jesus was lifted up and exalted to the highest place, people from every nation flocked to Jesus. There are Christ-followers all around the globe because Jesus draws all people to him. And as the body of Christ, we are also God’s temple and are called to draw all people to Jesus.

Isaiah says that he heard the people say, “Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore” (vs 4). In the context of Jesus’ first coming, this is true as well. Jesus is on the throne right now and he reigns over all nations. Through his blood, we now have peace. Paul explains this to the Ephesians:

“But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility” (Eph 2:13-16).

Finally, Isaiah concludes his vision of the Mountain of the Lord with these words: “Come, descendants of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the Lord” (vs. 5). Before Jesus, the world was dark. Israel had access to the light of God through the priests and the Temple. But after Jesus came, all nations now have access to the light of the Lord. The apostle John says it like this:

“In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind… The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world” (John 1:4, 9). So come, let us walk in the light of the Lord by following Jesus every step of the way.

Today’s Prayer: Lord Jesus, give me the desire today to walk in your footsteps and to be a light to those around me.