THE FORBIDDEN CHAPTER: Message 1
By Solomon Ostrovsky
It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be raised above the hills; and all nations shall flow to it, and many peoples shall come and say: ‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that He may teach us His ways and that we may walk in His paths.’ For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. O house of Jacob, come ye and let us walk in the light of the Lord.Such is the glorious vision Isaiah, son of Amoz, for the last days – a vision of significance for all mankind, a vision of universal peace and love, and the centre and focal point of this is the mountain of the Lord’s house. Let us take a closer look at this picture:- Isaiah 2:1-5
1. THE MOUNTAIN OF THE LORD’S HOUSE.
God is a Spirit. As Rambam expresses it in his famous creed, “I believe with perfect faith that the Creator, blessed be His Name, is not a physical body, is not to be thought of in terms of a physical body and has no likeness at all.” On the other hand, a house is a material object, visible to the eye. In Isaiah’s message we see the union of these two contradictory concepts – God and a house – not just a house in the sense that it was built for the glory of God, but a house, in which in a mysterious, incomprehensible way, God actually DWELT. Thus Ezekiel the prophet saw the Shekinah Glory leave the temple and the city of Jerusalem after the nation had wandered from the way of the Lord and had refused to listen to His voice. He saw the Shekinah move from the temple to the courtyard, from the courtyard to the gateway, from the gateway to the city and thence to the Mount of Olives. God, the supreme spiritual Being, invisible to the human eye, a spiritual Reality, this God, in a mysterious, but very real way, dwelt in a house, which was the temple in Jerusalem.
2. THE MOUNTAIN OF THE LORD’S HOUSE SHALL BE EXALTED ABOVE THE HILLS.
Clearly this does not mean that the mountain of the Lord’s house will be exalted physically, or topographically. It is of a spiritual and moral exaltation that the prophecy quite obviously speaks here. There are many so-called “holy” temples, but only one house of the Lord, many “holy” books, but only one LIVING book, which is indeed the Word of God. Well spoke the famous novelist, Sir Walter Scott, when on his death-bed he called to his servant, “Please, bring me the book.” “Which book, sir?” “There is only ONE book,” answered the celebrated writer. “The mountain of the Lord’s House” is a symbol of Divine revelation to the nation of Israel and through Israel to the whole world.
3. AND ALL THE NATIONS SHALL FLOW TO IT.
For a long time the mountain of the Lord’s house was the exclusive meeting-place of God and Israel, but this was not the principal purpose, nor the final objective, which God had in mind for it. The sun shines over the whole earth, and the light of Divine revelation was meant for all humanity. In vain do we try to resurrect the spirit of exclusiveness in the State of Israel today. This attitude has always been our undoing and has brought desolation and destruction in its wake. This is not the true and original Judaism. And is not this narrow-minded zeal, this lack of vision – the source of the emptiness felt by the new generation in Israel? Originally Judaism was meant to be a light and a source of inspiration to all nations. “And all the nations shall flow to it.”
4. THE EFFECT OF THE WORD ON THE NATIONS.
“And they shall beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.”
The spirit of love will replace the hatred we see today. Not from the great capitals of the world will this holy influence flow out to all the nations, but from the mountain of the Lord’s house, for “from Zion will go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.”
But this will not be the Law of Sinai, for if that Law failed to change or renew the people of Israel, how much less would it be effective in changing the nations of the world? That great Jew, Rabbi Saul of Tarsus, explains how the Law of God came into conflict with human nature – sinful flesh – and proved utterly ineffectual in dealing with sin. “For the Law is holy and pure and good” – he says – “but I (my sinful self) am carnal, SOLD UNDER SIN.”
Two thousand years ago God sent the Messiah, the soul and glory of Israel, to rout man’s sin in the flesh, to separate him from the corruption of human egoism and to establish peace and love on the earth. He offered Himself up on the altar of God’s holiness and love, revealing to us the heart of a loving God. For us He paved the way to victory over ourselves. But on the mountain of the Lord’s house there was no room for Him. The Messiah “came unto his own, and his own received Him not.” This is the great tragedy of our people Israel, the source of all our sufferings throughout the centuries. The Messiah is the heart of God, and the nation of Israel was destined to be, as it were, the body, by means of which a true expression of God’s love and holiness could be given to the nations. Yet because of a lack both of vision and of faith this body has been afflicted with paralysis and has not been fulfilling its divinely appointed function.
If ever this vision of Isaiah, son of Amoz, takes substance and is realized – and it surely will be realized – it will be by the Divine influence of the Messiah, who when He “poured out his soul unto death” accomplished His mission of revealing the heart of a loving God, and procured redemption for man. But He is waiting for the nation that dwells on Zion to recognise its two thousand year-old error, for the nation to be reconciled to its Messiah and thus open up the streams of Divine love to the whole world.
“O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord.”
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