Isaiah's Prophecy Of The Church
Reprinted from The Carolina Messenger
David R. Pharr

It is a thrilling study to compare the way the prophets portrayed the gospel age that would come after them and the way those things have come to pass in the Christian age. The Spirit of Christ was in the prophets, giving fragments of the gospel picture "at sundry times and in divers manners" (I Pet. 1:10‑12; Heb. 1:1). Their "divers manners" included figurative language and symbolic descriptions. What is couched in figures and symbols is no less true than that which is expressed in literal terms. Prophecies and their fulfillment are one of the evidences that undergird our faith. They show us the mighty hand of God in shaping history so that in the fullness of time God would send forth His Son.

Without the Spirit's guidance the meaning of the prophets would continue to be obscured, but the light of the New Testament shines brightly upon them and we can now see what once was even hidden from angels (I Pet. 1:12; cf. Eph. 3:10).

One should exercise caution, however, in determining which Old Testament prophecies have a New Testament fulfillment. When New Testament writers make specific reference to a prophecy's fulfillment, we need not question it, but what about prophecies which are not specifically mentioned? When an apostle says, "This is that" (Acts 2:16), we can be certain that it is what he says. But what about prophecies that are not cited in the New Testament? In some cases we may remain unsure because of the lack of New Testament explanation. In other cases, however, the context and content will show the gospel significance. Such is the case with Isaiah 2:2‑4 (and the parallel in Micah 4:1ff).

And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and 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."

This points to Pentecost, the church, and the Christian dispensation. The church was in the eternal purpose of God (Eph. 3:9‑10). In Peter's second sermon in Acts he spoke of salvation that had become possible in Christ and said that "all the prophets . . . foretold of these days" (Acts 3:24).

All recognize that Isaiah was a Messianic prophet. The apostle John quoted from him and declared that Isaiah had spoken of Christ, "These things said Esaias, when he saw his glory, and spake of him" (John 12:41). In a book that has a strong emphasis on the coming of Christ and the Christian age, it is only reasonable to identify prophecies with New Testament fulfillment when they clearly fit. Few passages so obviously fit as does the text before us.

The time of fulfillment is plainly declared—"the last days." The "last days" and similar expressions were used by the prophets to mean the close of the Jewish dispensation and the beginning of a new order. Peter declared that the "the last days" had come (Acts 2:16f; cf. Joel 2:28ff; Heb. 1:2). The prophecy did not point (as many suppose) to a time later than our age, but to the gospel age. "Last days" (and "latter days") prophecies were addressed to Jews in the Old Testament. They referred to a time future to themselves, not to a time yet future to ourselves. Daniel used the same expression in pointing to events which came to pass in the era of imperial Rome, which included the time of New Testament events (Daniel 2:28).

The "law" going forth from Zion and the "word of the Lord" from Jerusalem are poetic parallels which refer to the same thing. The "law" is not the law of Moses because that law went forth from Mount Sinai, not Mount Zion. "Law," as used here, is another term for the gospel system. Hebrews 8:8‑12 shows that the new covenant is the fulfillment of Jeremiah 31:31‑34, which speaks of it as God's "laws." Some have mistakenly thought that New testament teaching against a legalistic use of law in some way makes law itself a negative. Notice how that Isaiah showed that people would "walk in his paths" because "the law" would go forth.

Isaiah said this law would go forth from Zion—Jerusalem. Now, notice what Jesus said about this: "Thus it is written . . . repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations beginning at Jerusalem" (Luke 24:46f). The place where this was "written" was in Isaiah 2 and Micah 4. If one does not believe that Isaiah 2:2‑4 and Micah 4 are pointing to the beginning of the church on Pentecost, he will either have to deny that Jesus meant that this was something that was "written," or else find another prophecy to which He was referring. Jesus knew that the prophets had named Jerusalem as the beginning place and that this fact was significant. The church was established, therefore, at the beginning of the "last days" when the "word of the Lord" went forth from "Jerusalem" (Acts 1:8; Acts 2), and "repentance and remission of sins" was preached in His name (Acts 2:38). The foundation was to be laid in Zion (Isa. 28:16). Anything that cannot be identified with the beginning in Jerusalem is without biblical foundation.

Since the time and place of fulfillment are certain, other points of the prophecy must be understood consistently. "The Lord's house" and "the house of the God of Jacob" refer to the church. The church is the "house of God" (I Tim. 3:15; cf. Heb. 12:22f). The "mountain . . . established in the top of the mountains" suggests strength and endurance. We are reminded of Daniel's prophecy of the kingdom of Christ in the symbol of a stone that "became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth" (Dan. 2:35). The writer of Hebrews explains: "For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched [Sinai] . . . But ye are come unto mount Zion . . . To the general assembly and church of the firstborn . . ." (Heb. 12:18‑23). The church is the "kingdom which cannot be moved" (Heb. 12:28).

Unlike the kingdom of the old Covenant, this house would be open to "all nations" and "many people." Though beginning at Jerusalem, the gospel would go to the "uttermost parts of the earth" (Acts 1:8). The church includes people of all nations (Eph. 2:11‑18).

The peace emphasis in verse four does not point to a time of universal peace among carnal nations. Instead it shows the peaceable nature of the kingdom/church of Christ. This would be in the "last days," which included the time when Jesus said there would be "wars and rumors of wars" (Matt. 24:6f). Those who would "beat their swords into plowshares . . ." are the ones who would come to "walk in his paths." This is not the nations of men, but the kingdom of God. This is the point Christ made in John 18:36‑37. The "gospel of peace" (Rom. 10:15) brings "peace with God" (Rom. 5:1) and peace between Jew and Gentile (Eph. 2:15‑17). To spiritually sensitive people, peace among carnal nations would hardly be preferred to that peace which is in Christ.

The text is a prophecy of the church and the Christian age. Each part has gospel significance. There was nothing prior to Pentecost, nor anything promised for the future, that matches the requirements of the text. It is a glorious prophecy of the glorious church (Eph. 5:27).

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