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In the last days the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established as the highest of the mountains; it will be exalted above the hills, and all nations will stream to it. Many peoples will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the temple 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. (Isaiah 2:2-3)

For the next while, we’re going to be camped out in the book of Isaiah.  Many Old Testament books hold inklings of the way God would eventually complete his work of redemption through Jesus, but none so thoroughly throughout as the book of Isaiah.  So many bits and pieces of this book build bridges into the New Testament and give shape to the New Testament authors’ understanding of Jesus—even of Jesus’ own self-understanding when he begins speaking of his mission in the Gospel of Luke.  Isaiah is a great place to marinate our Christian imagination in the season of Advent as we train our desires on Jesus. 

Geography and topography play a significant role in Isaiah.  The mountain of the Lord rises, rough places are made smooth, streams appear in the desert.  All of these pictures of the physical world changing in particular ways and in particular places carry forward the poetic message of the prophet.  Not so different from Baalam seeing the ruler and star rising from Judah, Isaiah sees the mountain of the Lord’s temple rising, exalted above all other hills and mountains, drawing all nations to Jerusalem. 

To a people who will soon go into exile, Isaiah writes a message of hope that declares a radically different word than the proclamation of death that will come elsewhere across these pages.  “In the last days” God will bring all his promises to fulfillment, even if now for a moment things seem bleak and hopeless.  Even though the temple of Jerusalem will be broken down in days of war and conquest—it will not always be so.  God himself will rebuild and raise his temple to a place of prominence throughout the world.

It reminds me of Jesus’ words in John 12 from a sermon a few weeks back—he said “when I am lifted up, I will draw all people to myself.”  Jesus himself becomes the new temple—the new place where heaven and earth meet—the temple that was torn down and rebuilt in three days through his death and resurrection.  When this temple is lifted up, the nations come streaming in.  The Spirit goes out into the world carrying the word of the Lord through women and men from all nations who have been redeemed and sent by Jesus—they themselves being temples of the Holy Spirit.  In this way, through the church and its members like you and me, the ways of Jesus are taught and lived throughout the world. 

These are those last days.  Right now in you and me through the power of the Spirit and in the name of Jesus, this prophecy is fulfilled.  What a glorious vision!  And yet we know it’s still not yet complete, not in fullness.  So while we work we also wait: Come Lord Jesus, come.