| Highlights of Dawn | January 1966 |
The Lord’s Mountain
“It shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established [margin, or, prepared] in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; an all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.” —Isaiah 2:2-4
DESPITE the pope’s plea for peace before the United Nations last October, the goal of peace which all nations profess to be seeking was not reached in 1965. Nearly two thousand years ago Jesus came to earth to be “The Prince of Peace,” but the due time in the plan of God for him to establish peace on earth has not yet come. Through an erroneous understanding of the plan of God many of the professed followers of Jesus have supposed that they were commissioned to establish peace in his name; but all such efforts have failed, and today the world is rushing head on into the greatest conflict of the ages.
God’s plan for peace cannot fail, and if we wish to be assured of the future peace and happiness of the world it is essential that we take into consideration the testimony of the Scriptures concerning that plan. The full truth concerning any feature of God’s plan is never stated in a single passage of Scripture, but in Isaiah’s testimony concerning “the mountain” of the Lord we have a fairly complete outline of the manner in which God will establish peace, and bring about “the desire of all nations.”—Hag. 2:7
Isaiah identifies the time for the fulfillment of his prophecy as being “the last days.” This does not mean the last days of the earth, nor does it mean the last days of man’s existence on the earth. “The earth abideth forever,” the Bible tells us, and it was formed to be inhabited by man. (Eccles. 1:4; Gen. 1:26-28; Isa. 45:18) Prophetically speaking, “the last days” are those days of the closing period of the reign of sin and death, and the time when, by divine intervention, the long-promised kingdom of Christ is in the process of being ultimately established. We believe that we are now living in the foretold “last days,” and that peace will be established in the earth, not by human efforts, but by the authority and power of Christ.
Note what Isaiah said would take place in “the last days”—“The mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established,” or prepared. This is a symbolic use of the word “mountain.” The Lord used it to illustrate his kingdom. In Daniel 2:35,44 this symbolic “mountain of the Lord” is said to be established in “the days of these kings”; the kings, or kingdoms, that is, depicted in the human-like image which Nebuchadnezzar saw in his dream. From this prophecy we know that when the Lord speaks of his “mountain” the reference is to his kingdom.
Mount Zion
This symbolic use of a mountain to symbolize a kingdom, or government, would be familiar to the people of the ancient Jewish nation, for God ruled over them through his chosen representatives whose seat of government was in Mount Zion of Jerusalem, and in Isaiah’s prophecy he identifies “the mountain of the Lord,” referring to it as “Zion.” In a reference to Jesus as the exalted new King of earth, the Lord declares, “I have set [margin, Heb. anointed] my king upon my holy hill of Zion.”—Ps. 2:6
Isaiah refers to the “mountain” of the Lord as “the mountain of the Lord’s house.” The “house” of the Lord is his ruling house, or family. This language is familiar, for during the medieval era the Roman world was governed by ruling families called “houses.” In these families the right to rule was passed on from father to son. Indeed, this was true in the typical ruling house of David which was overthrown by Nebuchadnezzar in 606 B.C.
Chief in God’s antitypical ruling house is his beloved Son, Christ Jesus. He is the One destined to rule “from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth.” (Ps. 72:8) This One who is the King of kings, and Lord of lords,” died in order to redeem his subjects from death. (Rev. 19:16) Thus, when his kingdom is operative he will rule over living subjects, not dying subjects. But a dead king could not rule, so God raised him from the dead, and gave him “all power … in heaven and in earth.”—Matt. 28:18
With the Lamb
The Bible reveals that Jesus will have associate rulers in his kingdom. These are his footstep followers of the present Gospel Age. Concerning these the Apostle Paul wrote, “It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him: if we suffer, we shall also reign with him.” (II Tim. 2:11,12) Again in Romans 8:16,17 we read, “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.” Jesus said of this same group of faithful followers of Christ, “Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”—Luke 12:32
In Revelation 14:1, 4 the Apostle John tells us that he saw the “Lamb” stand on mount Sion, and that there were “with him an hundred and forty and four thousand, having his Father’s name written in their foreheads.” It is explained that these followed the Lamb, and were the “firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.” The “Lamb” here referred to is, of course, the glorified Jesus, and those who have his Father’s name written in their foreheads are thus identified as being in the family of God. These are the ones who live and reign with Christ. They also are a part of God’s ruling house which, in the last days, is established, or prepared, in the top of the mountains to constitute a new world government.
The same group is again referred to in Revelation 20:4,6, where we are told that they are “beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God,” and that “they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.” They come forth in “the first resurrection,” and, as “priests of God and of Christ, shall reign with him a thousand years.” It seems clearly indicated, then, that the ruling “house” of the Lord which is established in “the last days” is Christ and his faithful followers; his followers being described by Jesus as “children of the kingdom,” who “shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.”—Matt. 13:38,43
All Nations to be Blessed
Isaiah informs us that when this “mountain of the Lord’s house” is established in the top of the mountains, indicating its control over all the kingdoms of this world, “all nations shall flow unto it.” While there is every reason to believe that “the mountain of the house of the Lord” is now being established, the work of establishment is not yet complete, and certainly “all nations” are not now flowing into that kingdom.
The kingdom of Christ today is far from the thoughts of the nations of earth, both the heathen nations and the professed Christian nations. They still imagine that they can solve their own problems; and let us say that they are probably doing the best they can. But neither hydrogen weapons of war, nor pilgrimages by the pope will be able to stem the tide of human selfishness which now is holding the fear-filled world in its grip.
The people will recognize their inability to establish peace in the final spasms of world conflagration. Then, hearing of the Lord’s kingdom—which we believe will begin to manifest itself in the Holy Land—they will say, “Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.”
While there is reason to believe that the Holy Land will be the geographical center of the Lord’s kingdom, the reference in this prophecy to “Zion” and “Jerusalem” seems to be symbolic. Zion, as we have seen, is symbolic of Christ and the members of his true church, who will live and reign with him. These, in the resurrection, are exalted to the divine nature, and will be invisible to men, and will function through human representatives.
Jesus tells us who these human representatives will be—Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets. He said that in the kingdom the people would come from the east, west, north, and south, and would sit down with them, indicating the relationship of teachers and students. (Luke 13:28,29) In the 11th chapter of Hebrews the names of many of these worthy ones are mentioned, and we are informed that they proved their faithfulness, and will come forth in a “better resurrection.” Paul also informs us that they will be “made perfect.”—Heb. 11:35,39,40
In Psalm 45:16 these are referred to as the former “fathers” of Israel, and the explanation is given that instead of maintaining this particular position, they will become the “children” of The Christ, and will be made “princes in all the earth.” These intermediaries, while not the kingdom in the proper sense of the word, will be so fully the representatives of it among men that they will be recognized as the kingdom by men. Hence we might speak of these as the earthly ruling phase of the kingdom.
That the earthly ruling phase of the kingdom will be on terms of intimate communion, fellowship, and co-operation with the kingdom proper, the spiritual rulers, is evident. They will be related to each other as father and children, and as co-operative departments of the same heavenly government. The heavenly phase will be the legislative, or law-giving department, and the earthly the executive, or law-enforcing department. Thus we have the promise that “out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.”
Then will be the time when the Lord’s judgments will be abroad in the earth as depicted by Psalm 98:7-9, which reads, “Let the sea roar, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. Let the floods clap their hands: let the hills be joyful together before the Lord; for he cometh to judge the earth: with righteousness shall he judge the world, and the people with equity.” What a refreshing experience that will be for the sin-sick, distressed, and fear-filled world of mankind!
Concerning the qualities of the great Judge in the time of judgment Isaiah wrote, “The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord; and shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord: and he shall not judge after the sight of the eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears. But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove [margin, or, argue] with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins.”—Isa. 11:2-5
Not All Will Obey
Not all the people will obey the laws which go forth from Messiah’s kingdom. The great Judge, and his associate judges, will be able to discern this, and will be capable of ministering just retribution and punishment. There will doubtless be some willful sinners, and it is these who are referred to as the “wicked” who are slain by “the breath of His lips,” meaning the edicts which will then go forth from “Zion” and “Jerusalem.”
The Apostle Peter refers to these in Acts 3:23. In the context Peter tells about “the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.” (vss. 19-21) These “times of restitution,” he explains, follow the return of Christ, whom he speaks of in this sermon as “that prophet.” Then he adds that it shall come to pass that “every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people.”—vs. 23
But what rich blessings will accrue to those who do obey the laws of the new kingdom! These are the ones who will then say, “He will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths.” And when they do learn the Lord’s ways, and walk in the paths of peace he outlines for them, “they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.”
In a similar prophecy by Micah, he adds that then “they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the Lord of hosts hath spoken it.” (Micah 4:14) Yes, at long last the world will have freedom from fear, and freedom from want! All will have economic security, and will dwell together in peace forever.
From Sickness and Death
In Isaiah 25:6-9 we have another prophecy of Christ’s kingdom in which it is referred to as a “mountain.” In this wonderful prophecy we are assured that the Lord will make unto all people “a feast of fat things,” and that he will “destroy [margin, Heb. swallow up] … the face of the covering cast over all people.” This seems to be a reference to the people’s lack of knowledge concerning God due to the fact that Satan has covered their mental discernment and kept them in darkness. But then it will be different. Then “the knowledge of the Lord shall fill the earth as the waters cover the sea.”—Isa. 11:9
Isaiah assures us also that death will be destroyed, and that “God will wipe away tears from off all faces.” (Isa. 25:8) It is truly a glorious prospect! It means that Christ will reign until all enemies are put down, and that the last enemy destroyed will be death. (I Cor. 15:25,26) It means that then “there shall be no more death, … for the former things are passed away.”—Rev. 21:4