The Light of the Lord – Isaiah 2:1-5

A text – Isaiah 2:1-5

¹ The word that Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.

²In days to come the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established as the highest of the mountains and shall be raised above the hills; all the nations shall stream to it.
³ 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 instruction and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
⁴ He shall judge between the nations and shall arbitrate for many peoples; 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.
⁵ O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord!

A reflection:

Look at the vision Isaiah shares with the people of Israel, the house of Jacob: The mountain of the Lord will be the highest, and all nations shall stream to it. People from everywhere will come to learn God’s ways and walk in God’s paths – it will be the place for everyone on earth to be. God will create this new reality, and God will arbitrate and decide everything so that wars no longer happen. Weapons will turn into farming tools so people can be fed instead of killed.

After all that, after all the other nations are settled, God calls to the house of Jacob – come, let us walk in the light of the Lord. All the other nations have been gathered and sorted and pacified by God, and as they begin to learn the Lord’s ways, the house of Jacob is invited to join them. Jesus said it a few times: the first shall be last and the last shall be first. Is this what Jesus meant? The gentile nations are invited first and Israel last? And all of them walking in the light of the Lord? I wonder what that would be like.

If we are believers, we already know that the future belongs to God. God will decide, at the time of God’s choosing, the outcomes we humans usually decide by wars and conflicts. God’s justice and mercy will be poured out on the people of every land, because God loves them all and will help them to flourish forever. Perpetual light will shine upon us all. This sounds to me like paradise happening on earth, not in a faraway heaven.

We have these passages in Advent because we human beings need to be reminded of God’s big picture, and Advent is the right time to think big. Not just about Christmas and our family traditions, fine as they are. We need reminding that we are living our lives as part of God’s big eternal picture. We need Isaiah’s vision alongside the angels’ song: good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. Unto you is born this day a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward all people. All people. Now and forever. Let us walk in the light of the Lord.

A prayer:

Lord God, Thank you for loving us. Thank you for including us and all people in your big eternal picture of love and mercy and light. Help us always to remember you have included us all and invited us all into your future. Amen.