Zion’s Pathetic Present Condition
and Judgment to Follow
2:5 to 4:1
Isaiah’s message is that, because of Isra’el’s pathetic present condition, judgment will follow. This judgment will precede any establishment of the Kingdom mentioned in 2:2-4. In light of what will happen in the future, Isaiah now questions Judah. If Gentiles are going to be saying this in the future, how much more should Jews be saying it in the time of Isaiah? Is there a sharp contrast with the Jerusalem of Isaiah’s day, and the Jerusalem of the future? In the future, God’s truth will overflow from Yerushalayim. But in Isaiah’s day, Jerusalem was the center of apostasy. In the future, ADONAI alone is worshiped, but in Isaiah’s day the city was overgrown with idolatry. In the future, there is no war, but now the engines of war would characterize Tziyon. Earlier, Isaiah was characterized by prophetic foresight, but now he is characterized by prophetic insight, as he shows the true spiritual condition of the Holy City during his day.
We need to listen to Isaiah’s words carefully. Many believers today think that when difficulties arise, ADONAI has abandoned them, or that Satan is attacking them. In many cases, what is being experienced is God’s judgment. We are experiencing the effects of sin in our lives. But it is not a cruel God who brings those things upon us, and it is not a rejecting God who abandons us to the fire. Rather, it is a loving LORD who sees no other way to bring us to the place where He can live in us. Although God wants us to be happy, His primary concern is that we are holy.9
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