“This is a vision that Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem: In the last days, the mountain of the Lord’s house will be the highest of all— the most important place on earth. It will be raised above the other hills, and people from all over the world will stream there to worship. People from many nations will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of Jacob’s God. There he will teach us his ways, and we will walk in his paths.” For the Lord’s teaching will go out from Zion; his word will go out from Jerusalem. The Lord will mediate between nations and will settle international disputes. They will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will no longer fight against nation, nor train for war anymore. Come, descendants of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the Lord! For the Lord has rejected his people, the descendants of Jacob, because they have filled their land with practices from the East and with sorcerers, as the Philistines do. They have made alliances with pagans. Israel is full of silver and gold; there is no end to its treasures. Their land is full of warhorses; there is no end to its chariots. Their land is full of idols; the people worship things they have made with their own hands. So now they will be humbled, and all will be brought low— do not forgive them. Crawl into caves in the rocks. Hide in the dust from the terror of the Lord and the glory of his majesty. Human pride will be brought down, and human arrogance will be humbled. Only the Lord will be exalted on that day of judgment. For the Lord of Heaven’s Armies has a day of reckoning. He will punish the proud and mighty and bring down everything that is exalted. He will cut down the tall cedars of Lebanon and all the mighty oaks of Bashan. He will level all the high mountains and all the lofty hills. He will break down every high tower and every fortified wall. He will destroy all the great trading ships and every magnificent vessel. Human pride will be humbled, and human arrogance will be brought down. Only the Lord will be exalted on that day of judgment. Idols will completely disappear. When the Lord rises to shake the earth, his enemies will crawl into holes in the ground. They will hide in caves in the rocks from the terror of the Lord and the glory of his majesty. On that day of judgment they will abandon the gold and silver idols they made for themselves to worship. They will leave their gods to the rodents and bats, while they crawl away into caverns and hide among the jagged rocks in the cliffs. They will try to escape the terror of the Lord and the glory of his majesty as he rises to shake the earth. Don’t put your trust in mere humans. They are as frail as breath. What good are they?”
Isaiah 2:1-22 NLT
The last days are an interesting time. They will be bothe a time of peace and judgment. On the one hand, God will reign openly and supremely. Yet there will also be enemies of God who will go into hiding and enemies of God who will be humbled. Though Isaiah is pre Revelation, this idea seems to connect to the idea of the millennial rule of Christ. This is a time where Christ reigns supreme in Jerusalem, and on earth. The denizens of the world will still be there, with nations and borders, but there will be a paradigm shift towards Jerusalem and Jesus as the head of all creation. This is event proceeds the final moment of Armageddon where evil is completely destroyed. One thing of note about this time is the fact that nations will still have disputes. Yet, the prophet reports that armies will no longer be necessary for war. This notable because it speaks to the quality of life that God. Has planned. It is not a complete cessation of all that we did, but rather a complete realignment of every purpose for it. I am sure that some things will naturally cease on their own because of this, but it should not be expected that we do not continue living, in the practical sense. Rather that we all will know why, and for what.
JOSH McGARY.COM 