Mountain of G-D

Today I am going to switch gears a bit. In my previous posts I have pointed out that there is no need for blood or a mediator in order to seek G-d's forgiveness. Now I would like to point out to you some of the many verses that show what things will be like in the time of the Messiah. Some of this is going to surprise those of you who have followed Christianity all of your lives. I am going to take all of this slow, a few verses at a time, unless for clarity I need to make it longer, and let you decide what you want to do with it. I am not here to bash Christians, but I am going to point out where Christianity and Judaism differ. In all fairness, I tend to go with the Jewish view on the Messiah, and the world to come.

One thing I will ask of any of you reading this, first don't take my word for any of it. Read it for yourselves. Second when you read, go slow, take your time, and see what the context is, compare it to what you believe and pray for insight and guidance.

I will be starting in Isaiah, but first a small bit of background. 1^st and 2^nd Kings gives us the story of what happened after the life of King David, and all the evil,against G-d, that those kings committed. Idolatry, human sacrifice,temple prostitution became the norm, with a couple of notable exceptions most of the kings seemed to try and out do each other in the evil that they committed. It is into this kind of madness that Isaiah comes in to warn Israel and Judah of what was to come. In among the warnings though was hope. Predictions of the future and the messiah, where G-d is going to restore Israel and the whole world is going to be blessed because of it. These are the verses I am going to share with you.

Isaiah 2:2-4 “Now it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the Lord’s house Shall be established on the top of the mountains, And shall be exalted above the hills; And all nations shall flow to it. Many people shall come and say, “Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, To the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, And we shall 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 rebuke many people; 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.”

A few things for you to think about. This passage is referring to what many folks might suggest is the end of days. It is, in a manner of speaking, but only in the sense that the world is going to change. In the Christian view of the end, the world is destroyed, (though there are some evangelicals who believe in Jesus but see Israel and Jerusalem as the place for his kingdom ) and only those who are saved will go to “heaven.” Here it says quite clearly that “Lords house shall be established on the top of the mountains” there is no mention of destruction, in fact it goes on to say that the world is going to see this and the many nations are going to go there, the mountain of G-d in Jerusalem, to seek G-d and to learn of His ways, and they will learn war no more!

It isn't that there wont be a major world crisis of some sort, the book of Ezekiel makes that fairly clear, but in the end, during the time of the messiah, people will learn of G-ds ways through the Jewish people, they will follow His ways and all war will cease.

If this is true, which I believe it to be so, there is no mention of a “second coming” or people going to heaven or hell. Instead it is saying that the world will come to know G-d and His ways and everything we know of the world right now will come to a happy end.

Shalom