In
the last days
the mountain of the Lord’s temple
will be established
as the highest of the mountains;
it will be exalted above the hills,
and all nations will stream to it.
They will beat their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will not take up sword against nation,
nor will they train for war anymore.
Come, descendants of Jacob,
let us walk in the light of the Lord.
the mountain of the Lord’s temple
will be established
as the highest of the mountains;
it will be exalted above the hills,
and all nations will stream to it.
They will beat their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will not take up sword against nation,
nor will they train for war anymore.
Come, descendants of Jacob,
let us walk in the light of the Lord.
Isaiah 2:2, 4, 5 – NIV
This passage
represents the opposite of the reality that we are living today. Temples are no
longer the tallest buildings in the urban landscape. With the lack of ethical,
moral and religious principles Jerusalem is not the “City of Peace” that its
name signifies, but has become a center of hate and conflict. The lack of
understanding between the segments of its population produces increasingly
violent conflicts with the daily loss of innocent lives. Today Jerusalem and
all the “Holy Land” are the opposite of how the world should be. The world does
not look to Israel as a source of inspiration and hope. It is feared as an
oppressor and a threat to world peace. Instruments of war have priority in the
scale of values in its march toward social and moral blackout. Incredibly
Zionists do not see this truth. Their simplistic, proof text and erroneous use
of the Old Testament make them blind to what really transpires there. In no way
is it the fulfillment of prophecy and worthy of respect.
In world history
tall and stately buildings have been a means of demonstrating human grandeur
and way of showing their scale of values. Formerly the towers of cathedrals
dominated cities, because the clergy were in control. Now it is finances. Dubai
has the tallest building in the world and China the largest, all dedicated to
economic gain (see end link). The Twin Towers in New York symbolized what is
happening on the global scale. They were the pride of the growing economic
power of globalization. But their destruction (whether an inside job or not)
demonstrated the fragility of the system. The poverty and inequality which the
system creates is counterproductive, and it is urgent for the survival of the
human race that it be faced up to.
Poverty has
produced an equally destructive religiosity, Fundamentalism. It is also
anti-life and oppressive. Most major religions have movements toward radicalism
playing one religion against another and promoting "holy wars”.
"Christian" nations make war against “Islamic” nations to protect
their interests. Jews use the promise made to Abraham as a justification to
master the Holy Land. Muslims, for the same reasons, want to master the same
area. Islamic fundamentalists want to call a Jihad (holy war) against the
Christian world. In the same spirit, many Christians are against those who do
not bow down to them. Militarism is glorified even to the point of having songs
with war lyrics such as "Christ is our General".
But if we take
seriously the prophecy of Isaiah where it says, "walk in the light of the
LORD" it will lead us to other paths: peace and justice. Our challenge is
to swim against the flow of history by living peace and justice. Jesus was born
in the midst of conflict, but his path was peace. He was surrounded by
suffering but was a healing agent. He encountered rejection but accepted the most
unacceptable. He was hated but loved to the point of being put to death by his
enemies.
Jesus was the
incarnation of divine love, but can return to the world only through us. We
cannot have the luxury of rejecting this world that we claim God loves. For us
the purpose of light is to overcome darkness and illuminate paths. The
incarnation of love can be repeated every time we walk in the light as Jesus
walked in the light. Only the light of love when incarnated by us can show the
world the path to peace.
ISAIAH
2:1-5 – NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION (NIV)
This is what Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah
and Jerusalem:
In the last days the mountain of the Lord’s temple
will be established
as the
highest of the mountains;
it will be exalted above the hills,
and all
nations will stream to it.
Many peoples will come and say,
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
to the
temple of the God of Jacob.
He will teach us his ways,
so that we
may walk in his paths.”
The law will go out from Zion,
the word of
the Lord from Jerusalem.
He will judge between the nations
and will
settle disputes for many peoples.
They will beat their swords into plowshares
and their
spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will not take up sword against nation,
nor will
they train for war anymore.
Come, descendants of Jacob,
let us walk
in the light of the Lord.
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