Journal: Journal of the Institute of Reformed Baptist Studies
Volume: JIRBS 04:1 (NA 2017)
Article: The Contribution Of Isaiah 2:1–5 To A Biblical Theology Of The Mountain Of The Lord
Author: James M. Renihan

JIRBS 4 (2017) p. 23

The Contribution Of Isaiah 2:1–5 To A Biblical Theology Of The Mountain Of The Lord

James M. Renihan*

*James M. Renihan, PhD, is President of IRBS Theological Seminary. He is a graduate of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Seminary of the East, Trinity Ministerial Academy, and Liberty University.

Behold! the mountain of the Lord
In latter days shall rise
On mountain tops above the hills,
And draw the wond’ring eyes.

To this the joyful nations round,
All tribes and tongues, shall flow;
Up to the hill of God, they’ll say,
And to his house we’ll go.

The beam that shines from Zion hill
Shall lighten ev’ry land;
The King who reigns in Salem’s tow’rs
Shall all the world command.

Among the nations he shall judge;
His judgments truth shall guide;
His sceptre shall protect the just,
And quell the sinner’s pride.

Come then, O house of Jacob, come
To worship at his shrine;
And, walking in the light of God,
With holy beauties shine.

(Scottish Paraphrases, 1781)1

JIRBS 4 (2017) p. 24

The text of Isaiah 2:1–5 has been called “the first vision of a future restored Zion”2 in Isaiah’s prophecy. It makes a key contribution to a biblical-theological understanding of the importance of the mountain of the Lord. This paper will survey several treatments of the passage, and examine the text by means of a semantic and exegetical study. Various issues will be raised, including the relationship of the text to its context within the book, to the canon as a whole, and to the subject in redemptive history. It will be impossible to be comprehensive and to investigate everything that deserves attention; thus it will concentrate on the most relevant issues to be able to support the thesis presented below.

An Overview Of The Interpretation Of Isaiah 2:1–5 With Reference To The Mountain Of The Lord

This section of Isaiah has received a variety of treatments in scholarly writings. Among other views, it is considered to be a mythical reflection of an earlier Canaanite belief, as an expression of the eschatological glory due to Zion and of the ultimate redemption of the whole world, as a representation of international peace to be realized at some point in this age, as a symbol of the world-wide extension of the Kingdom of God during the era of Gospel preaching, and as a principle text in Isaiah supporting the premillennial ...