Day 7 - Streaming to the House of the Lord

Isaiah 2:2-5

In the last days the mountain of the LORD's temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and all nations will stream to it. 3 Many peoples will come and say, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths." The law will go out from Zion, the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. 4 He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore. 5 Come, O house of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the LORD.

Patrick did a nice job of presenting the concept of the “Already but Not Yet” in Day 4's entry. This is another great illustration of the prophecy being already fulfilled at one level though not yet completely fulfilled. Isaiah 2 was written over 500 years before the birth of Christ and we see fulfillment of the already - “He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.” After the resurrection and ascension of Jesus, we saw many nations coming not only to Jerusalem but to Christ on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2). Yet with the situation in Iraq, Afghanistan, the Sudan and so many other war-torn parts of the world, we still see a large “not yet” that we long for even though we cannot see it on the horizon.

What we want to be sure not to miss is our own possible role in God bringing these words to completion. Though the temple in Jerusalem has been destroyed, we as members of the Body of Christ are the Temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6). Born-again believers all over the world now constitute the House of the Lord. Check out Ephesians 2:11-20. We have the calling and privilege of showing how God in Christ is able to reconcile people who ordinarily wouldn't get along. We have the opportunity to teach His ways and walk in His paths. How I long to see peoples from all nations streaming to the House of the Lord. It will be worth the wait.