Isaiah
2:1-5; Matthew 24:36-44
All
the Nations Shall Stream to It
“But about that day and hour no one
knows, neither the angels of heaven, or the Son, but only the Father.
True - we might not “know” the day
and hour, but this isn’t something which we worry about not knowing. Jesus’ words have a sense of urgency about them,
but it is my hunch that most of us don’t worry too much about that day coming, at
least not any time soon. Am I off target? Did you linger over your good-byes at those
Thanksgiving gatherings? Is the anticipation
of the return of the Son of Man so heightened among us that in speaking our
words of farewell we acknowledge the arrival of that day on which one will
be taken and one will be left might interrupt our seeing each other again?
It is difficult to observe the Season
of Advent in a world where there is little interest in ushering in the arrival
of God’s anointed one. This is what Advent
is supposed to do; it is our time of getting ready, it making sure we are readying
our lives for that which we hope will happen and pray will happen soon.
It is the reading from Matthew 24 which
tells us to be ready. I want to spend
most of our time this morning looking at one phrase in the reading from Isaiah
which may expose if this is something we have any interest in doing. So, turn to Isaiah 2. It would be helpful if you have your bible or
a bible app on your phone.
First - a bit of background. I hope at least one of your previous pastors
has taught you that Isaiah has three distinct parts. The first 20 chapters are warnings of what is
going to happen should the people of Israel continue on their current path. These warnings go unheeded, so the next 20
chapters are spoken to Israel during the time of occupation by non-believing
invaders. The final 20 chapters speak of
the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the return of hope.
Part I (which obviously includes
Isaiah 2) are those proclamations spoken by Isaiah during the anxious years.
Now, it should be made clear that
not all were anxious. Part of Isaiah’s
challenge is to catch the ear and attention of those who were very content with
the situation as it was. The effects of Jerusalem’s
decay were slow to reach those nearer the top rungs of the ladder. Isaiah attempts to warn them.
Chapter 1 of Isaiah makes it clear where
the trajectory they are on will lead. Follow
along:
Vs 7 – Your country lies desolate,
your cities are burned with fire
Vs 3 – The ox knows its owner, and
the donkey its master’s crib; but Israel does not know, my people do not
understand
Vs 2b – I reared children and
brought them up, but they have rebelled against me.
Many were content with the system
the way it was – but others were shouting out in frustration and anger. Isaiah collects their emotions, pours them
into his oracles, and then speaks the word of God in the midst of all
this. Would they listen to him? Would they hear him? Did they perceive that the time of cataclysmic
upheaval was upon them? Or did they not
worry, so much. Did they give lip
service to readying their lives while continuing to live the same lives they
had lived for generations?
Their challenge was not so
different from the one you and I are facing, as we begin together this season
of Advent. Do we expect something to
happen? Happen soon? Happen to us?
And in our lifetime?
We are about to go from the general
to the very specific. I want you to look
at the first phrase of the second verse of chapter 2. On our bulletins, it reads, “In days to
come.” This is the New Revised Standard
Version translation. Other translations
interpret the phrase a bit differently. Does
anyone happen to have a New International Version translation? The NIV translates the same phrase as “In the
last days.”
“In the days to come.” “In the last days.” Same phrase, two different translations. And while I don’t want to make mountains out
of mole hills, these differing translations can also align themselves with
differing attitudes regarding how ready we need to be and the role we are to
play in the unfolding of these promises.
The NIV interpretation tends to be
preferred in congregations where the focus of our assembly is in the
far-future. Reading Isaiah’s words as
“In the last days,” put the action on that final day, the day of Christ’s
return, the day of God’s in breaking. The
NIV interpretation may suggest to us that we see Isaiah’s words as something
which will come to pass at the final consummation of all things. It isn’t something we are to expect now - it
is something that will happen at the return of Christ. It isn’t something that will happen in our
life-time – and therefore it isn’t something we affect or influence or bring
closer by our participation.
I
want to acknowledge that the NIV a translation has solid backing. Those who translate the phrase “In the last
days,” have done research. In fact, this
translation is more in keeping with the historic translations favored by the
Church from the 16th century till the 20th. “In the last days” is the mood in the Latin
Translations and thus also in the King James Translation. You can find further support such an
interpretation when you cross reference the Hebrew phrase as it is used in
Daniel 2:8 and 10:14.
However,
I want to attempt to persuade you that this is not how Isaiah meant these words
to be understood. Verse 2 of Chapter 2
is a foreshadowing of the promises outlined in greater detail in Chapters
40-60. For Isaiah, “the days to come”
may be indefinite, but it is not vague. It
refers neither to the end of time nor to some point beyond time. It is a reference to God’s activity within
time.
Isaiah’s
oracles assure God’s people that the promises of God will not forever evade
us. We will find it possible to set
aside our longings and our desires and to experience the arrival of that which
truly satisfies. While systems of evil
and power and domination may attempt to maintain their stranglehold, God’s
people can and will break free. And all
this isn’t some distant last day, it is in the days which will come. Perhaps those days will come even before
Isaiah finishes his book.
To
be sure, the prophet Isaiah expects a radical transformation of history, as the
remainder of his prophecy demonstrates. But
Isaiah does not speak of some future integration of the things of heaven with
the things of the earth. He is talking
about what he sees God doing in the history which we call human history.
It
is very important, how we understand those four little words. If
we accept the interpretation of the NIV then we are justified in accepting
the continued presence of hatred and war and violence and loathing of others. Such an interpretation would allow us to
believe that it is beyond us to live in a world where swords are bent into
plowshares and spears into pruning hooks.
But, if we accept
Isaiah’s words as God’s promise which comes within time - then we find
ourselves looking for ways that our history might be transformed into a history
of peace and good will. If we join
Isaiah in describing the days to come, we are also presented with the chance to
participate in the making those very same promises a reality.
Some
will sit and wait for the “last days.”
They will resign themselves to the war and hatred and violent talk. They will forever perceive our world and
shared existence as one devoid of words and instructions of the angels.
Others,
will listen for the announcement of the angels.
They will insist on seeing today as the “day to come;” the day on which
the “mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established.”
Those
horrible images I shared from Isaiah 1 are offset by the invitation of Isaiah 2
to not only dream of the days to come, but to make them come. The Lord will do his part. Then we are to do ours. Read verse 5 with me: O house
of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the LORD!
Will
we sit back and remain indifferent to “The last days”? Or will we allow our hearts to come alive at
the angels’ song? Will we see “Peace on
earth, and goodwill among men” as a future and far-off possibility? Or will we join the prophet Isaiah in
streaming to the highest of the mountains where God “may teach us his ways…
that we may walk in his paths”?
This
is the opening question of the season of Advent. It is answered by the place we focus our
attention and our preparations. Amen.
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