Sunday 6 June 2010

Isaiah 2:2-4 - Did It Have An Old Testament Fulfillment?

Listening to a reading of the Book of the Prophet Isaiah today, when I heard the passage:

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"
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I found myself asking whether it isn't a possibility that the prophecy didn't have in mind a timeframe for fulfillment that was then reasonably imminent - i.e., a fulfillment during a timeframe when Israel was still under the Old Covenant.

In that case, "The last days" would mean "in the future"; the cessation from war may have meant a temporary, localized one; and "All nations" coming to the house of the Lord may mean "individuals from virtually every nation".

An Old Covenant fulfillment makes some sense, seeing the physical house of the Lord no longer exists, and seeing Jerusalem is no longer the place where the Father seeks people to worship Him (John 4).

Just a thought!

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