Paul the Poke

And He will judge between the nations, And will render decisions for many peoples; And they will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, And never again will they learn war.

v. 4 Another term for judge would be to govern or settle disputes in the Hebrew. Historically, has there been a Jewish man who settles international tension and makes binding decisions? Not yet. Can you imagine the world turning to a Jewish leader to solve their problems? Imagine Russia, China, and the United States consulting Jerusalem regarding the issue of a nuclear Iran…

This leader will be a peace maker. And they will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. This verse has been captured by the United Nations with art work. A sculpture depicts a man beating his sword into a plowshare. Ironic, the United Nations quotes Scripture of the people they are hostile towards. This verse is also noted in Micah 4:3. It is essentially the same verse except stated by Micah.

The opposite is noted in Joel 3:10. Beat your plowshares into swords And your pruning hooks into spears; Let the weak say, “I am a mighty man.” The context of this verse is the Lord essentially challenging the nations of the world to “bring it” in all out war. Chronologically, the Joel verse is before the Isaiah verse.

Consider the world today if humanity were to act on Isaiah 2:4. Imagine taking the weapons of war and converting them to implements of agriculture as Scripture suggests. The United States alone spends 1 trillion (1,000,000,000,000) to 1.35 trillion dollars per year on military related expenses (figures noted from US government budget). It is estimated that the world spends up to 2 trillion dollars per year on military related expenses. If two trillion dollars were committed to agricultural expenditures, do you think we would have a hunger problem? Now who are we kidding, this is not going to happen today. But some day it will.

Nation will not lift up sword against nation… This is hard to fathom considering the history of humanity. Man has been violent toward its fellow man from the beginning. It started with Cain killing his brother Abel in Genesis 4:8. All the major world empires have a bloody history from Babylon to Persia to Assyria to Greece to Rome. Recent history is no exception with the 20^th and early 21^st century. If anything, man has become more violent and has devised more destructive weapons that are capable of killing even more people. Please do not misunderstand, we must defend ourselves from external threats and terror.  There is good and there is evil.

And never again will they learn war. This will effectively shut down all the military schools around the world. There will be no more Military Channel on cable. Significant portions of the History Channel will be eliminated. Practically, think of all the energy that will be directed in a different avenue.

Ezekiel 39:9-10 takes this concept of war implements and converts to a source of energy. “Then those who inhabit the cities of Israel will go out and make fires with the weapons and burn them, both shields and bucklers, bows and arrows, war clubs and spears, and for seven years they will make fires of them. They will not take wood from the field or gather firewood from the forests, for they will make fires with the weapons; and they will take the spoil of those who despoiled them and seize the plunder of those who plundered them,” declares the Lord GOD.

Man has not demonstrated the ability to make peace on his own accord. These conditions will happen only when Jesus returns.

Isaiah 2:2c-3 …and all the nations will stream to it. And many peoples will 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 concerning His ways And that we may walk in His paths.” For the law will go forth from Zion and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

v. 2c This is the last phrase of verse 2. Note the word all in the Hebrew. It means totality, conclusive, every single one, the whole. Every nation will come to the mountain of the Lord in Jerusalem. The nations will come like flowing water. This is clearly the future. Israel was divided a divided kingdom during the time of Isaiah. Leading up to the birth of Christ and during His life, Israel was controlled by Romans. The Jews were dispersed around the world in 70 AD. Since Israel was reborn as a nation in 1948, has the world flowed into Jerusalem to listen to a Jewish leader for instruction? Not exactly.

v. 3 Note the first word of the verse, many. Translated in the Hebrew, it means great, abundant, numerous, exceeding. Notice the attitude of the people. They want to go up to the Lord. It is not just a few souls, it is a bunch of people from all over the world. They are seeking the Lord. Is that the case today? Are people flocking to know what God has to say? If Jesus was literally here on the earth, in Jerusalem, in today’s 2010 world, would vast numbers of people seek him?

The text is very specific who God is. It is the God of the house of Jacob. Jacob was the man whose name was changed to Israel by God (Genesis 32:28). Jacob’s/Israel’s descendants became the nation Israel.

Who is the Lord? Romans 10:9 answers this question. That if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. Also see Acts 2:36 “Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ—this Jesus whom you crucified.”

The masses desire to be taught His ways? The will of man consents to the Word of God? That is what this verse is saying. In man’s current condition in 21^st Century America, don’t tell him what to do. What he does is his business. There are no moral absolutes. What may be right for one is not necessarily right for another.

Not only does humanity want to know God’s way, but he will do God’s Word. Can you imagine a culture conducting itself according to God’s Law? Granted, the relationship to God takes priority in the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:1-17). God mentions those first. Take conduct in relation to the Ten Commandments. Man would not lie, steal, murder, commit adultery, or covet. Think of the economic ramifications. Think of the savings in legal representation and court costs alone. Think of a culture that trusts its fellow man and the accomplishments that would flow from that trust. The result of the relationship to God is moral conduct.

The center of this leadership is Jerusalem. This will be the capital of the world. The specific location is stated twice in this verse. Zion and Jerusalem are synonymous. If this was broadcast today, would the United Nations approve? The UN is doing everything they can to wipe Israel off the face of the map. How about Israel’s neighbors in the Middle East? How would that be received today if a Jewish leader claimed to be King of the world and stated he knew absolute truth? Lastly, would the United States turn over its sovereignty to a Jewish man claiming to be God?

According to Scripture, significant geo-political changes are coming…

Isaiah 2:1-2 Here is the message about Judah and Jerusalem that was revealed to Isaiah son of Amoz. In the future the mountain of the Lord’s temple will endure as the most important of mountains, and will be the most prominent of hills.

v. 1 Judah is the area or region around Jerusalem. During Isaiah’s time, it is roughly the area between the Dead Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. In today’s world, this would be central and southern Israel. Israel was divided into two kingdoms. The southern kingdom was referred to as Judah.

v.2 The geography of verse two would suggest the temple will be located at the top of the tallest mountain. Modern day Jerusalem is approximately 2500 feet above sea level. There are hills and mountains in the region that are higher than 2500 feet. Let alone there are mountain ranges around the world that top 14000 feet. Today, Jerusalem is not the tallest mountain. Something is going to change drastically for this to be the case.

Consider the following verses. Isaiah 40:4 “Let every valley be lifted up, And every mountain and hill be made low; And let the rough ground become a plain, And the rugged terrain a broad valley; This is the verse John the Baptist quotes prior to the coming of the Lord to be baptized in the Jordan. Think about this verse in the context of the second coming of Christ. Geographically, the path of the earth will be smoothed for His arrival. Revelation 16:20 And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. No more mountains?? The context in time for this verse is the end of the tribulation and before the second coming of Christ. Revelation 20:9 And they came up on the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, and fire came down from heaven and devoured them. Historical and modern day Jerusalem has always been in the hill country. The context of Revelation 20:9 is 1000 years into the Millennial Kingdom. Christ has physically returned to earth and has been present for 1000 years. Isaiah 45:2 “I will go before you and make the rough places smooth”. Isaiah 42:16b  I will make darkness into light before them And rugged places into plains. Ezekiel 38:20c  the mountains also will be thrown down, the steep pathways will collapse and every wall will fall to the ground.

Zechariah 14:9-10 makes the transition of geographic change to who will ultimately be in charge. There will be dramatic geographic and topographical change during the Tribulation. And the LORD will be king over all the earth; in that day the LORD will be the only one, and His name the only one. All the land will be changed into a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem; but Jerusalem will rise and remain on its site from Benjamin’s Gate as far as the place of the First Gate to the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the king’s wine presses.

Isaiah 1:27-31 Zion will be freed by justice, and her returnees by righteousness. Rebellious sinners will be shattered, those who abandon the Lord will perish. Indeed, they will be ashamed of the sacred trees you find so desirable; you will be embarrassed because of the sacred orchards where you choose to worship. For you will be like a tree whose leaves wither, like an orchard that is unwatered. The powerful will be like a thread of yarn, their deeds like a spark; both will burn together, and no one will put out the fire.

v. 27 In this verse, there is debate among scholars as to who brings about the freedom of Jerusalem. One camp’s opinion is humanity or mankind will introduce this era by conforming to God’s word and doing God’s word. The other camp is that this era will be brought into being by God. Based on a brief review of mankind’s history, I am of the opinion that God will introduce this era. If anything, mankind is on the decline and getting worse. Man is not just, holy, or righteous by nature. We as humans fail to meet God’s standard. When one looks at what and who God is, He seems more likely to be the source of a redeemed society. Part of God’s character is His righteousness and holiness. He is just.

v. 28 Note the contrast of this verse in comparison to verse 27. The contrasts continue. Verse 27 discusses the righteous. This verse (28) discusses the rebellious sinners. The result is very consistent in the original Hebrew text, all the rebellious will be crushed, shattered, and destroyed. Why, because they abandoned the Lord. Scripture is very consistent as to what happens when man is left to his own devices. He turns to some form of depravity (See Romans for great detail). God is the source of morality, not man.

v. 29 Let’s look closely at what is going on in these two verses. There are a group of people who have turned away from God and they have chosen to worship trees. Yes!! Tree Huggers. With all due to respect to this current wave of Tree Huggers, you are not that cutting edge or that progressive. This nonsense was going on 2,800 years ago. Spare me the notion, how enlightened you are. You are copy cats and I seriously doubt that you are even aware of this history. Ecclesiastes 1:9-11 That which has been is that which will be, And that which has been done is that which will be done. So there is nothing new under the sun. Is there anything of which one might say, “See this, it is new”? Already it has existed for ages which were before us. There is no remembrance of earlier things; And also of the later things which will occur, there will be for them no remembrance among those who will come later still. God’s word was right, this stuff is still going on in the age of enlightenment that is the 21^st Century culture.

v. 29 What a perfect analogy for these Tree Huggers. They are so close and in tune with nature. They would clearly understand that their future is consistent with a dehydrated and dying tree. The Tree Hugger, like the tree, will become withered, dry, and brittle. It will make for nice kindling needed in verse 31.

v. 31 The net result is they will completely burn with the little strand of yarn (formerly the powerful).