Tanks Into Tractors
Opening Prayer
Holy Lord, let Your Word be a lamp to my feet and a light to my path today (Psa. 119:105).
Read Isaiah 2:1–5
This is what Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem:
2 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.
3 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.
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, descendants of Jacob,
let us walk in the light of the Lord.
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
Where in the world would you most like to visit?Whether ancient or modern, places of great achievement often become great tourist attractions. As a publisher living in Edinburgh, known as a City of Literature, I love doing a “book tour”—walking around the places where writers once lived and wrote, where they met other authors and their editors in pubs. Perhaps it is to glean something of their story, to be inspired, to find the secret behind their success.
In this passage, Isaiah sees the city of God being lifted up. Like a light on a hill, it draws people from afar. It becomes not so much a tourist attraction as a place of pilgrimage, somewhere that people come to, to be inspired, to find out the secret behind the success.
Because that “secret” is the key to something all of us—from successive Miss Worlds to successive prime ministers—are looking for: world peace and human flourishing, no less. Isaiah sees a time when there are no more armies, no defense budgets, no nuclear warheads, a time of turning tanks into tractors, of building milking machines instead of missiles. No. More. War.
So, what is the “secret”? Quite simply, it is God’s Law. It is God’s people, following him, keeping to his way, to his path, to his light.
Apply
How might you walk in the light of the Lord today?
Closing prayer
Jesus, may I be a light and example to those around me. Let my life be the city on a hill that cannot be hidden (Matt. 5:14).
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