The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
The verse opens the prophecy that follows as the word Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. Judah and Jerusalem stand for God's professed people under the Christian dispensation near the close of probationary time. The exaltation of the Lord's house means the professed church lifted to popularity and power by nominal acceptance and the support and defense of earthly governments. The words of peace and disarmament that follow are what the peoples themselves will say in the latter days, not God's own promise. That cry of universal peace is deceptive, lulling the world into carnal security until sudden destruction comes, when human pride is brought low and the Lord alone is exalted as He arises to shake terribly the earth.
Verse Wording and Setting
The superscription presents what follows as the word or vision that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. It identifies the prophecy of chapter 2 as a vision received concerning those two names, and its wording opens the question whether the words that follow are words spoken by prophets not sent by the Lord. In that light the sayings about going up to the Lord's house and beating weapons into tools are not God's own promise of peace but a human cry for peace and future glory for Jerusalem, put forward even by a dominant church through its representatives, which conflicts with the Bible's warnings about the last days and becomes a delusive hope and a snare before sudden destruction while arms and preparations for war increase. The same chapter also foretells the shaking of the earth and the terror of its inhabitants in the day of the Lord.
Isaiah was a prophet of Judah whose work began in the reign of Uzziah and continued through the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. His ministry is dated between 760 and 700 B.C., falling in crucial times in Judah. His prophecies also look ahead to the last days, to Christ's work, and to the kingdom of glory.
The prophecy is closely parallel to Micah 4:1-6, almost word for word the same, and similar to Micah 4 in its picture of the last days. It describes the Lord's house exalted in the latter days, with peoples coming to learn God's ways and the end of war and fear. What is described is what the people will say in the last days rather than conditions in the eternal state, a profession by a professed people of God who proclaim a false political peace while turning to foreign customs, soothsaying, and alliances with outsiders, relying on self-salvation and duplicity, for which reason God has forsaken them until human pride is brought low and God alone is exalted.
The verse marks a sudden transition from type to antitype. While Judah and Jerusalem in chapter 1 mean literal Judah and Jerusalem, from chapter 2 onward they mean the Protestant churches in the last days just before the day of the Lord. It opens a section continuing through chapters 2-5 that sets forth the false and the true among God's people in the last days, the true church and the apostate church.
Judah Jerusalem Mountain House
Judah and Jerusalem stand in Old Testament prophecy for God's nominal or visible people under the Christian dispensation, the professed church brought to the day of preparation near the close of probationary time. The prophecy concerning them reaches to the end of the world rather than to the Gospel dispensation merely, when the professed church is fast filling up the cup of her iniquity and the Lord is about to enter into judgment with the ancients of His people and the princes thereof because of their sins. Then it is well with the righteous but ill with the wicked, men fall by the sword, and Zion's gates lament and mourn and she sits desolate on the ground before the escaped remnant is left holy.
The house of the Lord means the church, and the mountain means a government or seat of government and of worship, with all that worship involves. Therefore the exaltation of the mountain of Jehovah's house at the head of the mountains and above the hills means the government and laws of the church will be recognized as superior to all earthly governments large and small. The nations flowing to it signifies widespread acceptance of Christianity, often only by profession or feigned obedience.
That exaltation is fulfilled when the nominal religious bodies of the last days become popular and influential among all classes, established on the top of the mountains of religion and in the heights of civil power by nominal acceptance and feigned obedience. In those last days the history of the past will have demonstrated the superexcellency of the Christian religion, and after civil governments have failed unconverted men will seek in a civil way to exalt it above all other religions and to exalt the government of the Lord's house above civil governments, to establish peace and a reign of righteousness by religio-civil decree. Because of this outward acknowledgement many peoples will note the wonderful strides the religion of the Bible is making and the position it has won in the world, and though its spirit has not been accepted they will hope its principles will triumph and therefore raise the cry of a future peace with the call to come up to the mountain of Jehovah to be taught His ways and walk in His paths, for out of Zion shall go forth the law and the word of Jehovah from Jerusalem to judge between the nations until weapons are turned into tools and war is learned no more. The professed church thus placed on the highest pinnacle of fame and popularity receives support, defense, and strength from earthly governments, and when religious forms become popular under the sanction and support of civil authority all nations flow downgrade into the church under the strong arm of law, in a movement to Christianize citizenship and enthrone Christ as arbiter of nations by human effort without divine sanction, with much talk of peace and arbitration and human brotherhood alongside awful preparation for war. Any such union of church and state is an illicit union bringing corruption beforehand and worse corruption afterward, the last apostate confederacy of Babylon taking its seat in Jerusalem, while the following promises of peace and prosperity are words the people say and not promises spoken by the Lord, and the people described are forsaken because replenished from the East and full of silver and gold and horses and chariots and idols.
The prophecy is also applied to the establishment in the last days of a government where God's true Israel, understood as the church, could be protected in civil and religious liberty, fulfilled in the establishment of the United States. In one application Zion and Jerusalem represent the American land and people, from which the Advent message goes out to the nations and the law of God is proclaimed. As a prediction concerning Judah and Jerusalem it supports the promised restoration of the Lord's people and their government in the last days.
Peace Cry Not Promise
The words of peace and disarmament that follow are what many peoples and many nations will say in the latter days, not God's own promise, and they may be the words of prophets not sent by the Lord. The vision concerning Judah and Jerusalem therefore records a popular human expectation of a temporal millennium and the world's conversion, while the world's destruction rather than its conversion is near. What is claimed as God's word of peace is deceptive, and its outcome is increasing arms and preparations for war.
The people's cry calls all to come up to the mountain of Jehovah, to the house of the God of Jacob, to be taught His ways and walk in His paths, because out of Zion shall go forth the law and the word of Jehovah from Jerusalem. He, they say, will judge between the nations and decide concerning many peoples, so they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning-hooks, nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. With this is joined the call, O house of Jacob, come and let us walk in the light of Jehovah. The mountain of Jehovah's house shall be established on the top of the mountains, at their head, and exalted above the hills, and all nations shall flow unto it by nominally accepting it, noting the wonderful strides the religion of the Bible is making and the position it has won in the world, and though its spirit has not been accepted hoping its principles will triumph and therefore raising the cry of a future peace and glory.
That proclamation of universal peace is made while intense preparation for war continues and a coming general clash of nations draws on, so military buildup and the outbreak of war contradict it. The last days bring a strong movement for peace arising alongside preparations for war, itself a sign that destruction is near. The hope so raised is delusive, a snare that lulls the world into carnal security, quiets awakened consciences, and trusts in human security while ignoring warning signs, until when the peace-and-safety cry reaches its climax sudden destruction comes. In that future time a dominant church through its representatives proclaims peace by nations seeking the Lord's house and beating weapons into tools, and federated Christianity with peace advocacy joins in the same lulling work before the final conflict.
Hostilities may cease for a time, but such a pause will not establish lasting security. A modern peace pact may or may not contribute to fulfillment, since the prophecy gives a broad outline of nations ceasing warfare and no longer learning war, not details about what particular nations will do, which have not been revealed. The foretold peace among the nations meets peace proposals, peace congresses, and peace advocacy arising from worthy aims, which do not end the nations' rivalry or prevent war before Christ's reign.
Corruption Judgment and Shaking
The verse opens a message about the last day, the terrible shaking of heaven and earth, and the coming of the Lord to judgment. It is to be read together with Joel 3, for God's declared purpose there to prepare war and turn plowshares into swords is the opposite of the sayings of the many people in the last days recorded by Isaiah. The beating of swords into plowshares and spears into pruning-hooks is not God's command but what the people shall say while mocking themselves with the illusion that they stand on the vestibule of a resplendently glorious era. The same vision sees no corresponding action of peace but sees the loftiness of man bowed down and the haughtiness of man made low, ending with the lesson to cease trusting in mortal man.
The prophecy is a concise and specific prophecy of the last days showing a great world federation drawn together in a worldwide movement under the influence of the many people who stir popular sentiment. The last apostate confederacy of Babylon will take its seat in Jerusalem, when the history of the past has demonstrated the superexcellency of the Christian religion and unconverted men seek in a civil way to exalt it above all other religions. It will be established on the top of the mountains of religion and exalted above the hills, and all nations will flow into it in a nominal way and yield feigned obedience. Catholic and Protestant nations united with spiritualism use the rallying claim that Christ will be enthroned as king in Jerusalem and His law go forth from Zion to draw people into the Armageddon conflict in the Holy Land. In the last days many nations will learn the horrors of war and cry that they will not learn war anymore, meaning the nations will exalt the government of the Lord's house, the church, above failed civil governments to establish peace and a reign of righteousness by religio-civil decree, and that peace plan holds the germ of Armageddon.
It forecasts a soon-coming time when a world religion will mount the saddle of a world state, with the professed church placed on the highest pinnacle of fame and popularity. The house of the Lord means the church and mountain means a government or seat of government, so exaltation of the mountain of Jehovah's house at the head of the mountains means the government and laws of the church will be recognized as superior to all earthly governments large and small. When religious forms become popular under sanction and support of civil authority, all nations flow downgrade into the church under the strong arm of law, receiving support, defense, and strength from earthly governments. Any such union of church and state is an illicit union bringing corruption beforehand and worse corruption afterward.
The word concerning Judah and Jerusalem is a graphic description of the last days and this generation, continued through the two succeeding chapters for sober reflection. It opens with a glowing picture of a popular church whose mountain is established in the top of the mountains and exalted above the hills with all nations flowing to it, meaning ecclesiastical authority established in the heights of civil power through a movement to Christianize citizenship and enthrone Christ as arbiter of nations by human effort without divine sanction, bringing much talk of peace and arbitration and human brotherhood with awful preparation for war. It exposes backsliding and God's judgment on claims of peace and fellowship, describing a people forsaken because replenished from the East and full of silver and gold and treasure and horses and chariots and idols. This condemns the adoption of eastern customs and religious practices, including divination and soothsaying and alliances with foreign peoples, as shown in Isaiah 2:6. Those proclaiming a coming era of peace while turning to wealth and idolatry and delighting in Babylon's abundance face God's judgment rather than forgiveness, for their duplicity and reliance on self-salvation and joining with foreigners have caused God to forsake them. Idolatry here includes not only bowing to images but giving any person or thing affection equal to or greater than the love owed to God.
Human pride and loftiness will be bowed down and brought low, with human works, principles, and societies, and the Lord alone exalted. Wealth and money-getting in the present age cannot deliver the rich from the Lord's wrath in His day of judgment when the proud are brought low. Men will drop their idols and hide in caves of the earth, clefts of the rocks, and tops of the ragged rocks for fear of the Lord and for the glory of His majesty when He arises to shake terribly the earth. This terror of earth's inhabitants seeking refuge in rocks from the Lord's majesty places the shaking of heaven and earth in the day of the Lord, showing the prophecy in Isaiah 4 belongs to the last days.
The last days mean the end of the world rather than simply the Gospel dispensation, when the nominal or visible people and nominal church reach great exaltation. Isaiah 2:1-12 points to the same time as Amos 9:8-12, the beginning of the day of the Lord before the resurrection of the just, when God gathers and delivers living Israel and gives His Spirit to His people. The chapter is linked to the time when the great day of the Lord is introduced, when the land is full of idols.
Isaiah 2:1-21 is connected with the last-day judgments that overtake nations gathered at Jerusalem in a mistaken attempt to establish Christ's kingdom through conquest, describing their fate. Together with Isaiah 3 it describes the day of the Lord of hosts as the time of the promise that the Lord will create upon every dwelling place of Mount Zion a cloud and smoke by day and the shining of a flaming fire by night for a defense upon all the glory. As God led Israel with a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night and they moved only as it moved, so He now leads His people by His Spirit with light shining on their path as they can bear it, guiding them in truth step by step as fast as they are prepared to practice it.
Warnings and Present Application
The chapter is a warning to those who proclaim a coming era of peace while turning to wealth and idolatry, declaring that they face God's judgment rather than forgiveness. It predicts that in the last days a peace movement will arise with much talk of peace and arbitration and human brotherhood. This movement seeks to Christianize citizenship and to enthrone Christ as arbiter of nations by human effort without divine sanction. It calls for the Lord's house to be exalted among earthly governments and for nations to end war.
Peace movements and societies that arise alongside preparations for war and predict peace by turning weapons into tools are a fulfillment of prophecy. Their appearance alongside continued preparation for war is itself a sign that destruction is near. They show the world moving toward final conflict even while speaking of peace.
The chapter presents both the culmination of the cry for peace and the exposure of backsliding. It is God's judgment on the nations' claims of peace and fellowship, describing a people influenced by foreign customs and divination, joined with foreigners, and given to idolatry. It gives heaven's perspective on the character of these nations and false prophets. The whole description, continued through the two succeeding chapters, is a graphic picture of the last days and of this generation, given for sober reflection.
The verse opens the prophecy that follows as the word Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. Judah and Jerusalem stand for God's professed people under the Christian dispensation near the close of probationary time. The exaltation of the Lord's house means the professed church lifted to popularity and power by nominal acceptance and the support and defense of earthly governments. The words of peace and disarmament that follow are what the peoples themselves will say in the latter days, not God's own promise. That cry of universal peace is deceptive, lulling the world into carnal security until sudden destruction comes, when human pride is brought low and the Lord alone is exalted as He arises to shake terribly the earth.
Verse Wording and Setting
The superscription presents what follows as the word or vision that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. It identifies the prophecy of chapter 2 as a vision received concerning those two names, and its wording opens the question whether the words that follow are words spoken by prophets not sent by the Lord. In that light the sayings about going up to the Lord's house and beating weapons into tools are not God's own promise of peace but a human cry for peace and future glory for Jerusalem, put forward even by a dominant church through its representatives, which conflicts with the Bible's warnings about the last days and becomes a delusive hope and a snare before sudden destruction while arms and preparations for war increase. The same chapter also foretells the shaking of the earth and the terror of its inhabitants in the day of the Lord.
Isaiah was a prophet of Judah whose work began in the reign of Uzziah and continued through the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. His ministry is dated between 760 and 700 B.C., falling in crucial times in Judah. His prophecies also look ahead to the last days, to Christ's work, and to the kingdom of glory.
The prophecy is closely parallel to Micah 4:1-6, almost word for word the same, and similar to Micah 4 in its picture of the last days. It describes the Lord's house exalted in the latter days, with peoples coming to learn God's ways and the end of war and fear. What is described is what the people will say in the last days rather than conditions in the eternal state, a profession by a professed people of God who proclaim a false political peace while turning to foreign customs, soothsaying, and alliances with outsiders, relying on self-salvation and duplicity, for which reason God has forsaken them until human pride is brought low and God alone is exalted.
The verse marks a sudden transition from type to antitype. While Judah and Jerusalem in chapter 1 mean literal Judah and Jerusalem, from chapter 2 onward they mean the Protestant churches in the last days just before the day of the Lord. It opens a section continuing through chapters 2-5 that sets forth the false and the true among God's people in the last days, the true church and the apostate church.
Judah Jerusalem Mountain House
Judah and Jerusalem stand in Old Testament prophecy for God's nominal or visible people under the Christian dispensation, the professed church brought to the day of preparation near the close of probationary time. The prophecy concerning them reaches to the end of the world rather than to the Gospel dispensation merely, when the professed church is fast filling up the cup of her iniquity and the Lord is about to enter into judgment with the ancients of His people and the princes thereof because of their sins. Then it is well with the righteous but ill with the wicked, men fall by the sword, and Zion's gates lament and mourn and she sits desolate on the ground before the escaped remnant is left holy.
The house of the Lord means the church, and the mountain means a government or seat of government and of worship, with all that worship involves. Therefore the exaltation of the mountain of Jehovah's house at the head of the mountains and above the hills means the government and laws of the church will be recognized as superior to all earthly governments large and small. The nations flowing to it signifies widespread acceptance of Christianity, often only by profession or feigned obedience.
That exaltation is fulfilled when the nominal religious bodies of the last days become popular and influential among all classes, established on the top of the mountains of religion and in the heights of civil power by nominal acceptance and feigned obedience. In those last days the history of the past will have demonstrated the superexcellency of the Christian religion, and after civil governments have failed unconverted men will seek in a civil way to exalt it above all other religions and to exalt the government of the Lord's house above civil governments, to establish peace and a reign of righteousness by religio-civil decree. Because of this outward acknowledgement many peoples will note the wonderful strides the religion of the Bible is making and the position it has won in the world, and though its spirit has not been accepted they will hope its principles will triumph and therefore raise the cry of a future peace with the call to come up to the mountain of Jehovah to be taught His ways and walk in His paths, for out of Zion shall go forth the law and the word of Jehovah from Jerusalem to judge between the nations until weapons are turned into tools and war is learned no more. The professed church thus placed on the highest pinnacle of fame and popularity receives support, defense, and strength from earthly governments, and when religious forms become popular under the sanction and support of civil authority all nations flow downgrade into the church under the strong arm of law, in a movement to Christianize citizenship and enthrone Christ as arbiter of nations by human effort without divine sanction, with much talk of peace and arbitration and human brotherhood alongside awful preparation for war. Any such union of church and state is an illicit union bringing corruption beforehand and worse corruption afterward, the last apostate confederacy of Babylon taking its seat in Jerusalem, while the following promises of peace and prosperity are words the people say and not promises spoken by the Lord, and the people described are forsaken because replenished from the East and full of silver and gold and horses and chariots and idols.
The prophecy is also applied to the establishment in the last days of a government where God's true Israel, understood as the church, could be protected in civil and religious liberty, fulfilled in the establishment of the United States. In one application Zion and Jerusalem represent the American land and people, from which the Advent message goes out to the nations and the law of God is proclaimed. As a prediction concerning Judah and Jerusalem it supports the promised restoration of the Lord's people and their government in the last days.
Peace Cry Not Promise
The words of peace and disarmament that follow are what many peoples and many nations will say in the latter days, not God's own promise, and they may be the words of prophets not sent by the Lord. The vision concerning Judah and Jerusalem therefore records a popular human expectation of a temporal millennium and the world's conversion, while the world's destruction rather than its conversion is near. What is claimed as God's word of peace is deceptive, and its outcome is increasing arms and preparations for war.
The people's cry calls all to come up to the mountain of Jehovah, to the house of the God of Jacob, to be taught His ways and walk in His paths, because out of Zion shall go forth the law and the word of Jehovah from Jerusalem. He, they say, will judge between the nations and decide concerning many peoples, so they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning-hooks, nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. With this is joined the call, O house of Jacob, come and let us walk in the light of Jehovah. The mountain of Jehovah's house shall be established on the top of the mountains, at their head, and exalted above the hills, and all nations shall flow unto it by nominally accepting it, noting the wonderful strides the religion of the Bible is making and the position it has won in the world, and though its spirit has not been accepted hoping its principles will triumph and therefore raising the cry of a future peace and glory.
That proclamation of universal peace is made while intense preparation for war continues and a coming general clash of nations draws on, so military buildup and the outbreak of war contradict it. The last days bring a strong movement for peace arising alongside preparations for war, itself a sign that destruction is near. The hope so raised is delusive, a snare that lulls the world into carnal security, quiets awakened consciences, and trusts in human security while ignoring warning signs, until when the peace-and-safety cry reaches its climax sudden destruction comes. In that future time a dominant church through its representatives proclaims peace by nations seeking the Lord's house and beating weapons into tools, and federated Christianity with peace advocacy joins in the same lulling work before the final conflict.
Hostilities may cease for a time, but such a pause will not establish lasting security. A modern peace pact may or may not contribute to fulfillment, since the prophecy gives a broad outline of nations ceasing warfare and no longer learning war, not details about what particular nations will do, which have not been revealed. The foretold peace among the nations meets peace proposals, peace congresses, and peace advocacy arising from worthy aims, which do not end the nations' rivalry or prevent war before Christ's reign.
Corruption Judgment and Shaking
The verse opens a message about the last day, the terrible shaking of heaven and earth, and the coming of the Lord to judgment. It is to be read together with Joel 3, for God's declared purpose there to prepare war and turn plowshares into swords is the opposite of the sayings of the many people in the last days recorded by Isaiah. The beating of swords into plowshares and spears into pruning-hooks is not God's command but what the people shall say while mocking themselves with the illusion that they stand on the vestibule of a resplendently glorious era. The same vision sees no corresponding action of peace but sees the loftiness of man bowed down and the haughtiness of man made low, ending with the lesson to cease trusting in mortal man.
The prophecy is a concise and specific prophecy of the last days showing a great world federation drawn together in a worldwide movement under the influence of the many people who stir popular sentiment. The last apostate confederacy of Babylon will take its seat in Jerusalem, when the history of the past has demonstrated the superexcellency of the Christian religion and unconverted men seek in a civil way to exalt it above all other religions. It will be established on the top of the mountains of religion and exalted above the hills, and all nations will flow into it in a nominal way and yield feigned obedience. Catholic and Protestant nations united with spiritualism use the rallying claim that Christ will be enthroned as king in Jerusalem and His law go forth from Zion to draw people into the Armageddon conflict in the Holy Land. In the last days many nations will learn the horrors of war and cry that they will not learn war anymore, meaning the nations will exalt the government of the Lord's house, the church, above failed civil governments to establish peace and a reign of righteousness by religio-civil decree, and that peace plan holds the germ of Armageddon.
It forecasts a soon-coming time when a world religion will mount the saddle of a world state, with the professed church placed on the highest pinnacle of fame and popularity. The house of the Lord means the church and mountain means a government or seat of government, so exaltation of the mountain of Jehovah's house at the head of the mountains means the government and laws of the church will be recognized as superior to all earthly governments large and small. When religious forms become popular under sanction and support of civil authority, all nations flow downgrade into the church under the strong arm of law, receiving support, defense, and strength from earthly governments. Any such union of church and state is an illicit union bringing corruption beforehand and worse corruption afterward.
The word concerning Judah and Jerusalem is a graphic description of the last days and this generation, continued through the two succeeding chapters for sober reflection. It opens with a glowing picture of a popular church whose mountain is established in the top of the mountains and exalted above the hills with all nations flowing to it, meaning ecclesiastical authority established in the heights of civil power through a movement to Christianize citizenship and enthrone Christ as arbiter of nations by human effort without divine sanction, bringing much talk of peace and arbitration and human brotherhood with awful preparation for war. It exposes backsliding and God's judgment on claims of peace and fellowship, describing a people forsaken because replenished from the East and full of silver and gold and treasure and horses and chariots and idols. This condemns the adoption of eastern customs and religious practices, including divination and soothsaying and alliances with foreign peoples, as shown in Isaiah 2:6. Those proclaiming a coming era of peace while turning to wealth and idolatry and delighting in Babylon's abundance face God's judgment rather than forgiveness, for their duplicity and reliance on self-salvation and joining with foreigners have caused God to forsake them. Idolatry here includes not only bowing to images but giving any person or thing affection equal to or greater than the love owed to God.
Human pride and loftiness will be bowed down and brought low, with human works, principles, and societies, and the Lord alone exalted. Wealth and money-getting in the present age cannot deliver the rich from the Lord's wrath in His day of judgment when the proud are brought low. Men will drop their idols and hide in caves of the earth, clefts of the rocks, and tops of the ragged rocks for fear of the Lord and for the glory of His majesty when He arises to shake terribly the earth. This terror of earth's inhabitants seeking refuge in rocks from the Lord's majesty places the shaking of heaven and earth in the day of the Lord, showing the prophecy in Isaiah 4 belongs to the last days.
The last days mean the end of the world rather than simply the Gospel dispensation, when the nominal or visible people and nominal church reach great exaltation. Isaiah 2:1-12 points to the same time as Amos 9:8-12, the beginning of the day of the Lord before the resurrection of the just, when God gathers and delivers living Israel and gives His Spirit to His people. The chapter is linked to the time when the great day of the Lord is introduced, when the land is full of idols.
Isaiah 2:1-21 is connected with the last-day judgments that overtake nations gathered at Jerusalem in a mistaken attempt to establish Christ's kingdom through conquest, describing their fate. Together with Isaiah 3 it describes the day of the Lord of hosts as the time of the promise that the Lord will create upon every dwelling place of Mount Zion a cloud and smoke by day and the shining of a flaming fire by night for a defense upon all the glory. As God led Israel with a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night and they moved only as it moved, so He now leads His people by His Spirit with light shining on their path as they can bear it, guiding them in truth step by step as fast as they are prepared to practice it.
Warnings and Present Application
The chapter is a warning to those who proclaim a coming era of peace while turning to wealth and idolatry, declaring that they face God's judgment rather than forgiveness. It predicts that in the last days a peace movement will arise with much talk of peace and arbitration and human brotherhood. This movement seeks to Christianize citizenship and to enthrone Christ as arbiter of nations by human effort without divine sanction. It calls for the Lord's house to be exalted among earthly governments and for nations to end war.
Peace movements and societies that arise alongside preparations for war and predict peace by turning weapons into tools are a fulfillment of prophecy. Their appearance alongside continued preparation for war is itself a sign that destruction is near. They show the world moving toward final conflict even while speaking of peace.
The chapter presents both the culmination of the cry for peace and the exposure of backsliding. It is God's judgment on the nations' claims of peace and fellowship, describing a people influenced by foreign customs and divination, joined with foreigners, and given to idolatry. It gives heaven's perspective on the character of these nations and false prophets. The whole description, continued through the two succeeding chapters, is a graphic picture of the last days and of this generation, given for sober reflection.