The Mountain of Victory: When the Nations Learn Peace Text: Isaiah 2:1-4
Introduction: Getting Your Eschatology Straight
The way a man thinks about the future determines how he lives in the present. If you believe the world is a sinking ship, your only job is to rearrange the deck chairs or, more piously, to pluck a few souls into the lifeboat before the whole thing goes under. But if you believe that Jesus Christ is currently reigning, that He is putting all His enemies under His feet, and that His kingdom is an ever-expanding reality, then you will live very differently. You will plant trees whose shade you may not sit in. You will build institutions for your great-grandchildren. You will fight battles you expect to win.
This is the great divide in Christian eschatology, the doctrine of the last things. It is not a trivial debate over charts and timelines. It is a fundamental disagreement over the meaning of the Great Commission and the power of the gospel. Many Christians today are infected with a deep-seated pessimism. They look at the morning headlines and see only decay, apostasy, and the inevitable triumph of Antichrist. They read glorious prophecies like this one in Isaiah and immediately relegate them to some far-off, disconnected "millennium" that happens after Jesus gets back to clean up the mess His church made.
But this is to misread the prophets and to underestimate the Lord Jesus Christ. The New Testament is clear: the "last days" began in the first century with the coming of Christ. We have been living in them for two thousand years. And what is the characteristic of these last days? According to Isaiah, it is the inexorable, worldwide victory of the gospel. It is the nations of the earth, not just individuals, but whole peoples, streaming to the mountain of God to learn His ways. This passage is a postmillennial powerhouse. It describes a long period of gospel expansion and cultural transformation that happens before the final return of Christ. It is a picture of the kingdom of God advancing in history, on earth, as it is in heaven.
Isaiah is painting a picture of what happens when the gospel does its work. This is not a vision of a future Jewish state with a rebuilt temple. It is a vision of the Christian church, the new and true Jerusalem, becoming the center of the world's gravity. It is a vision of the nations turning from their bloody idolatries to seek the law and the word of Yahweh. It is a vision of a world discipled, a world at peace, not through the efforts of the United Nations, but through the judging and ruling of Jesus Christ. This is what we signed up for. This is the future we are building.
The Text
The word which Isaiah the son of Amoz beheld concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
Now it will be that in the last days the mountain of the house of Yahweh will be established as the head of the mountains, and will be lifted up above the hills; and all the nations will stream to it.
And many peoples will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of Yahweh, to the house of the God of Jacob, that He may instruct us from His ways and that we may walk in His paths.” For from Zion the law will go forth and the word of Yahweh from Jerusalem.
And He will judge between the nations, and will render decisions for many peoples; and they will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, and never again will they learn war.
(Isaiah 2:1-4 LSB)
The Vision Established (v. 1-2)
We begin with the context and the central image of the prophecy.
"The word which Isaiah the son of Amoz beheld concerning Judah and Jerusalem. Now it will be that in the last days the mountain of the house of Yahweh will be established as the head of the mountains, and will be lifted up above the hills; and all the nations will stream to it." (Isaiah 2:1-2)
First, notice that this is a vision "concerning Judah and Jerusalem." The prophecy starts with God's covenant people. But it does not end there. The glory that begins in Jerusalem is destined to fill the whole earth. This is the pattern of God's redemptive plan. Salvation is of the Jews, but it is for the world.
The timing is "in the last days." The writer to the Hebrews tells us plainly when this period began: "God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son" (Heb. 1:1-2). The last days are the era of the Messiah, the entire period between His first and second comings. We are in the last days now. This prophecy is about our time. It is about the age of the church.
What happens in these last days? "The mountain of the house of Yahweh will be established as the head of the mountains." This is not talking about a literal geological event where Mount Zion in Jerusalem suddenly grows taller than Mount Everest. This is prophetic language. In the ancient world, mountains were places of power, worship, and authority. Pagan cultures built their temples on high places. What Isaiah is saying is that the authority and worship of Yahweh will become supreme. The "mountain" of God's kingdom, the Church, will rise in prominence and influence until it is recognized as the chief authority among all the other "mountains," or kingdoms, of the world.
The result of this establishment is that "all the nations will stream to it." The word for "stream" here is what a river does. It is a constant, powerful, gravitational flow. This is not a picture of a few missionaries winning a few individual converts here and there. This is a picture of mass, corporate conversion. It is a picture of entire people groups, "nations," turning to Christ. This is the Great Commission being fulfilled. Jesus told us to make disciples of all the nations (ethne), not just of individuals out of the nations. Isaiah saw that very thing happening. He saw the Gentiles coming in, not as a trickle, but as a flood.
The Great Invitation (v. 3)
Verse 3 describes the nature of this great international movement.
"And many peoples will come and say, 'Come, let us go up to the mountain of Yahweh, to the house of the God of Jacob, that He may instruct us from His ways and that we may walk in His paths.' For from Zion the law will go forth and the word of Yahweh from Jerusalem." (Isaiah 2:3)
This is a vision of worldwide, voluntary, enthusiastic worship and submission. Notice the evangelistic impulse. The nations are not dragged to Zion kicking and screaming. They encourage one another: "Come, let us go up." This is the fruit of the gospel. When people are truly converted, they want others to share in the blessing. They become missionaries to their own people.
And what are they seeking? They are not coming for bread and circuses. They are coming for instruction. "That He may instruct us from His ways and that we may walk in His paths." They are hungry for God's law. This is a direct refutation of the antinomian spirit so prevalent in the modern church, which treats God's law as a burdensome thing of the past. But for the converted nations, the law of God is the path of life, the way of wisdom, the blueprint for a just and peaceful society. They want to know how God wants them to live, how to structure their families, their economies, their governments. They want to walk in His paths.
The reason for this global pilgrimage is given: "For from Zion the law will go forth and the word of Yahweh from Jerusalem." Where did the gospel begin? Where did the apostles receive their commission? In Jerusalem. On the day of Pentecost, the word of the Lord went forth from Jerusalem in the power of the Spirit, and it has been going forth ever since. The "law" here is not the Mosaic ceremonial code, but the whole counsel of God, the Torah, the instruction of God for all of life. The gospel does not abolish the law; it establishes it by writing it on our hearts and empowering us to obey it. This new Jerusalem, the Church of Jesus Christ, is now the source of God's authoritative Word to the world.
The Reign of the Prince of Peace (v. 4)
The climax of the prophecy is this glorious vision of global peace, a direct result of the nations submitting to the reign of Christ.
"And He will judge between the nations, and will render decisions for many peoples; and they will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, and never again will they learn war." (Isaiah 2:4)
Who is the "He" who will judge? This is the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the one to whom all authority in heaven and on earth has been given. This verse tells us that His reign is not just spiritual and invisible. It has real-world, political, and social consequences. He "will judge between the nations." When nations submit to Christ, they bring their disputes to Him. They seek to adjudicate their conflicts according to His righteous standards, not through carnal warfare.
The result is a radical transformation of society. "They will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks." This is one of the most famous images in all of Scripture. The instruments of death and destruction are reforged into tools of cultivation and fruitfulness. The massive resources that nations once poured into their military-industrial complexes are now redirected toward agriculture, industry, and human flourishing. This is economic transformation on a global scale, driven by the gospel.
The peace is comprehensive. "Nation will not lift up sword against nation, and never again will they learn war." This is not simply a temporary ceasefire. This is the end of the institution of war. The military academies are closed down. The very science of organized bloodshed becomes a forgotten art. Why? Because the nations have been discipled. They have learned to love God and to love their neighbor. They have submitted to the Prince of Peace. This is the glorious future that the gospel is producing in the world. It does not happen overnight. It is the work of centuries. But the trajectory is set. The mountain is rising.
Conclusion: Stop Polishing Brass on a Sinking Ship
So what does this mean for us, here and now? It means we must repent of our eschatological despair. We must stop acting like defeated victims of historical forces and start acting like the victorious ambassadors of the King of kings.
Our task is not to predict the end, but to proclaim the gospel. Our task is to be part of this great project of discipling the nations. This means preaching the whole counsel of God, including His law, as the only standard for personal and public righteousness. It means building robust Christian institutions, families, churches, schools, businesses, that embody the wisdom of God and serve as outposts of the kingdom.
When you see the nations raging, when you see the rulers of the earth plotting their vain things against the Lord and His Anointed, do not lose heart. Look to the mountain. The mountain of the house of Yahweh is rising. It is being established as the head of all other mountains. The nations are streaming to it. Christ is judging, He is ruling, and He is teaching. And because He is, the day is coming when the clang of hammers on swords will be heard in every nation, forging the tools of peace.
This is not a utopian dream. It is a blood-bought promise from the God who cannot lie. He is the one who declares the end from the beginning. He has told us how this story ends. It ends in victory. It ends with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord covering the earth as the waters cover the sea. Therefore, let us work, let us build, and let us fight the good fight of faith, knowing that our labor in the Lord is not in vain.