Alas, justice and peace Once more

 

Sermon on Isaiah 2:1 – 5

2 The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.

 ²   It shall come to pass in the latter days

that the mountain of the house of the Lord

shall be established as the highest of the mountains,

and shall be lifted up above the hills;

and all the nations shall flow to it,

 ³   and many peoples shall come, and say:

“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,

to the house of the God of Jacob,

that he may teach us his ways

and that we may walk in his paths.”

For out of Zion shall go forth the law,

and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

 ⁴   He shall judge between the nations,

and shall decide disputes for many peoples;

and 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 anymore.

 ⁵   O house of Jacob,

come, let us walk

in the light of the Lord.

 

“How in the world, a good daughter like you could become a whore?! You were so innocent when you were young!” A shocking statement indeed. What even more shocking is that this statement uttered by the parent to the children. Another way to read this is the parent practically denying the child her birth right. “You are not my daughter” basically the statement here. For sure this is something that we can only hear from soap-opera, over dramatic dialogue of on e person to another. However, the truth is, this statement was uttered by the Lord our God to His beloved children of Israel; Judah in particular (Isaiah 1:21). You must be wondering how God – the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ could be so harsh blurted out such statement? The reason is quite simple actually; Judah did not meet the standard that the LORD demanded of them – be the kingdom of priests, a holy nation (Exodus 19:6).

And so, when we read the beginning of chapter 2 of the book of Isaiah, it is like breathing in the fresh air. The tension when you read a condescending remark turn to the shout for joy for what can only be describe as “grace”. A time will come when they, the people who so unworthy for their many transgressions, will experience the irresistible grace of God (2:2). But first, you might be asking of what is so great of a transgression that the people of Judah have done to deserve a literal cold-shoulder from God? In Isaiah 1:23, it was revealed to Isaiah that they have come short in the aspect of social justice, bribery runs rampant, society strives after rewards in the expense of negligence of the rights of those who lost their rights (the orphans and the widows).

The voice of the voiceless will finally be heard for the radical change is about to happen signified with the strongest symbol of identity for the nation of Jerusalem; Mount Zion where the Temple of God stood (2:2). It was told here that the mountain of the Lord will stand higher than any mountains around it. What does it mean? It can be interpreted as the once neglected presence of the LORD within the society will finally being felt in its entirety just as the mountain which is taller than other mountains around it visibly seen and strikingly different than the rest. In other word, the normalized injustice of the nation will be pale in comparison to the perfect justice of God. On “the Day”, the social injustice will be overturned with the perfect social justice.

But the biggest question here is, how does this reformation of social justice will work on “the Day”? The premise of the reformation would be the returns of “theocracy”. Theocracy means, the people will be ruled by God Himself. God Himself will take care of the society. The folly of humankind trying to rule over one another as “kings” will be no more when God Himself will reign as the Sovereign Ruler of the Heaven and Earth (Revelation 22:3b). In contrast with the tempting presence of adulterous nations around Jerusalem, God’s Reign will compel not only the people of God (Judah and Israel alike) but also the people of all nations (Isaiah 2:3). What is so irresistible about it? It explained in verse 3 that God Himself will teach the law to the people so they may walk properly in His path, in His ways. The Good Teacher of the Law will not let a single person not aware of His law and His ways hence, they will be able to exercise true justice representing the Just God.

It weighs my heart to know that many injustices happen around the world. With very recent being the political instability which saw the change of governance so often that the nation almost falls to the state of anarchy. It is so delightful to know (though it was not implied within the text) that the LORD hears the groaning and the frustration of His people from the injustice caused by the imperfect human leadership would finally be overturned with true justice and peace. It will be so compelling because it will be so radical (verse 4). Not only the imagery of the temple mount being the tallest means God’s presence but it also signifies the greater truth; from God Himself the mercy, justice and peace come. This is true as revealed to John in Revelation (Revelation 21:2 – the New Jerusalem coming out of God). No wonder the people will surely being compelled to draw near to God (in verse 3) considering the ongoing social injustice in this world that we are facing.

Knowing the great thing that is to come when God finally reign, there are two ways to response to this. First, we might dwell in the question of “when” this will happen. Jesus in the gospel reading today reminded us of the sudden almost uninformed nature of this reality. And so, because of that, some might live in complacency. The danger of this mindset is to lay a trap upon oneself where sin will be normalized or worse desensitized. But rather, I appeal for us to take this second measure, that is, to live in the state of readiness. Charles Spurgeon ever mentioned once that “the idle mind is the devil’s workshop”. So, it is vital for the mind to be filled intentionally with the gospel truth (Romans 13:14) so that we will be resistance towards the thirst to satisfy our sinful desire. Let us therefore be ready to usher the age of God’s Reign; Righteous and Glorious Reign through Jesus Christ our Lord.