Rev. Don Campbell
Isaiah 18-22
THOUGHT FOR TODAY, July 17, 2019
“ON THAT DAY”
In our readings today, Isaiah continues the theme of God at work among the nations. Nations rise and fall, rise again, and fall again. Isaiah foresaw a ray of light, a day of hope, which he describes in 19:16-24. His predictions apply first to the victories and defeats of fleshly armies. Second, they refer to the time of the Messiah. A key phrase, which he uses five times in these nine verses is “in that day.” This phrase or its variant “on that day” is used 64 times in the O.T., with 42 of them in Isaiah. It refers to a time set by God, as seen in v.17 in which he mentioned “the purpose of the Lord,” which we discussed yesterday.
The first time he uses the expression is in Isaiah 2:11: “The haughty looks of man shall be brought low, and the lofty pride of men shall be humbled, and the Lord alone will be exalted in that day.” “That day” is the day of the establishment of the kingdom to which Christ gave the keys to Peter (Matthew 16:13-20). That this understanding is correct is verified by the context.
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,
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.
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.
O house of Jacob,
come, let us walk
in the light of the Lord.
In Luke’s account of the Great Commission, Jesus said, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem” (Luke 24:46-47).
Matthew quotes Isaiah 9:1-2: “The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—the people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned.” Paul speaks of the same light: “For at one time you [Gentiles] were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (Ephesians 5:8).
CONNECTIONS
1. Would it be correct to say that the “that day” of which Isaiah spoke beginning in 2:11 became “this day” in Acts chapter two? (vv.14-21)
2. There are those who believe that the passages cited today are yet to be fulfilled at some future time. Shall we believe them, or shall we believe Jesus? “‘These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.’ Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures” (Luke 24:43-45).
