YEARNING FOR THE MOUNTAIN OF THE LORD

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

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.

Isaiah 2:1-5

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Have you ever experienced a mountain top experience? You know, an event or time in life that was so memorable that it always brings joy to your heart and a smile to your face every time you think about it.

Maybe it was the birth of a child and the subsequent memories of watching them grow up.

Maybe it was the achievement of some life milestone event like a high school or college graduation, the receipt of some honor or award, or reaching retirement.

Maybe it was the day you met the love of your life, an encounter that planted the seeds of what became a long term commitment to live and love and learn together as you travel through this thing called life. Perhaps, if you’re in a relationship like mine, you feel like you have never left the mountain top since.

And maybe your mountain top experience came when you received word that you were in remission from a serious affliction or that a transplant donor had been found giving you a new lease on life.

Mountain top experiences come in all different varieties and they are all blessed in their own special ways to the person encountering them. But let me tell you something, and I do so with absolute confidence.

The best mountain top experience is still yet to come. I know this because the Bible tells me so. Look at these wonderful, assuring opening words from the second chapter of Isaiah:

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. (vv 1-5)

In the time of Isaiah, the holy temple was established in Jerusalem and it was within that temple that the presence of the Lord resided and the people came to worship Him. We know through looking at Old Testament history that there were more than a few conflicts and wars during these years of Jerusalem and the temple. Israel had more than their fair share of enemies who wished them hard. From the Edomites to the Amalekites to the Moabites, Ammonites, Midianites, and Philistines and even powerful empires like the Egyptians, Assyrians, and Babylonians, the Israelites were in constant danger. They were only preserved against their enemies by a loving God who watched over them and kept them in His care.

Today at large, we find the world still a very dangerous place, only from a broader perspective. How many instances exist where we see nation against nation with threats of utter annihilation in some cases, even against present day Israel in the case of Iran? Even within nations, we find communities sometimes at war within, the recent incidents in Ferguson as a perfect example as people clash along racial divides.

Doesn’t it make you long for a day when we can just live in peace?

I know I feel that way and as we read in our passage today, there will be a day when that will happen, in the last days. This is because God will relocate His temple from Jerusalem to a place where it will be exalted above all nations, located on the mountain of the Lord. There, the Lord Jesus will reign and rule supreme over all nations who will bow to His authority in such a way that disputes will be settled and there will not even be any training for war. The Prince of Peace will facilitate complete reconciliation between all and tranquility and calm and harmony will replace strife and discord and conflict.

It will be a day when many people will long to go up to the mountain of the Lord so that they might praise and worship the King of all kings and Lord of all lords, yearning for His teaching so that they might be able to walk in His paths illuminated by His light, to be like Him before they finally live with Him forever.

Friends, no matter what life might bring our way, whether sorrows and hardships that take us through the valleys of life or the joys and celebrations that take us to the mountain tops, we have the blessed assurance that the best is still ahead. For our Savior Jesus is Lord and through Him, we will have the ultimate victory, the victory over death and the grave and all the things that bring us difficulty in life whether affliction or sorrow or difficulty or brokenness or sin. A day is coming when we will be set free from all the things of the world and enter the eternal promise of abiding with God the Father and Jesus Christ the Son forever, living in light and love and worship and praise in the new Jerusalem to come.  

I don’t know about you but I can’t wait.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.

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