ISAIAH’S VISION OF THE LAST DAYS Isaiah 2:1. _The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw, &c._ 1. The marvellous power of the ancient prophets in giving embodiment and figure to the Word of God. It was a “word” that Isaiah saw; not that he heard, but that shaped itself before his vision, and made him... [ Continue Reading ]
THE FUTURE TRIUMPHS OF THE GOSPEL Isaiah 2:2. _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 all nations shall flow unto it_. This poetic imagery delineates the final and universal prevalence of religion. Chr... [ Continue Reading ]
THE CESSATION OF WAR Isaiah 2:4. _They shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more_ A prediction of times yet to come. It has never yet been fulfilled. It is true that when the... [ Continue Reading ]
THE LIGHT OF THE LORD Isaiah 2:5. _O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the Lord_. “The light of the Lord” streams upon us from His Word (Psalms 119:105). The knowledge of God and of His holy will which the Bible imparts to us is the meridian sun which casts his rays on the c... [ Continue Reading ]
GOD’S PEOPLE FORSAKEN Hebrews 13:5. _I will never leave thee nor forsake thee_. Isaiah 2:6. _Thou hast forsaken Thy people the house of Jacob_. How comforting is the Apostle’s assurance! But do not the hope and courage which it inspires die out of us, when we hear this ancient prophet rise and test... [ Continue Reading ]
THE MATERIAL AND THE MORAL Isaiah 2:6. _They be replenished from the east, &c._ We have here the indictment which the prophet brings against Israel. It consists of three counts: 1. That the people had adopted the superstitions of the surrounding nations. 2. That the government had accumulated tr... [ Continue Reading ]
A TERRIBLE PICTURE Isaiah 2:6 _Here_ is the “word” (vision) which Isaiah “saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem” (Isaiah 2:1). The prophet has been enraptured by the wondrous prospect of the distant future, when religion shall be the supreme force of life (Isaiah 2:2), and all men (Isaiah 2:2), walki... [ Continue Reading ]
THE SINNER’S DANGER AND REFUGE Isaiah 2:10. _Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of His majesty_. This is the counsel which the prophet gives his fellow-countrymen, in view of the desolations which God was about to send upon their land on account... [ Continue Reading ]
GOD EXALTED IN THE GREAT DAY (_Advent Sermon_.) Isaiah 2:17. _The Lord alone shall be exalted in that day_. Two questions: What is “that day?” How shall the Lord then be exalted? I. “_That day_.” “The first five verses of this chapter foretell the kingdom of the Messiah, the conversion of the Genti... [ Continue Reading ]
THE GREAT DETHRONEMENT Isaiah 2:18. _And the idols He shall utterly abolish_. There are a great number of things which would be incredible if they had not actually happened! Men who, like ourselves, boasted of “reason” and “common sense,” sought to settle their disputes and to vindicate their hono... [ Continue Reading ]
MAN’S INSIGNIFICANCE AND GOD’S SUPREMACY Isaiah 2:22. _Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted of?_ In this verse the whole Bible is summed up. The folly of trusting in man, and the necessity of trusting in God alone, is its great lesson, from its comm... [ Continue Reading ]