Isaiah 2:4 And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares… I. SOME OF THE LEADING FEATURES OF WAR, AS RECORDED IN GOD'S WORD. 1. The cause of war (James 4:1, 2). From this passage, we see that just as in domestic broils, just as in strifes between sects and parties, so in strifes between nation and nation — they all proceed from the lusts of men, and from that carnal mind which is enmity against God. 2. We learn from God's Word that war is a tremendous evil. What horror filled the soul of the prophet Jeremiah, when he heard the rumour of war — "My bowels, my bowels! I am pained at my very heart; my heart maketh a noise in me; I cannot hold my peace, because thou hast heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war" (Jeremiah 4:19). See again Jeremiah 47:2, 3, how the prophet describes the distress and anguish of the Philistines at the approach of an invading army — an anguish so great and so terrible, as to lead them even to forget the common ties of humanity. See again Deuteronomy 28:50, 51, how Moses speaks of the devastating force of an invading army; and Joel 2:2, where the prophet describes the day of the Lord as compared to an invading army. 3. God's Word shows us that war is one of God's scourges, by which He punishes guilty nations for their wickedness. In Ezekiel 14:21, the sword is distinctly spoken of as one of God's four sore judgments. 4. God's Word shows us that it is He alone who can bring war to an end. (Psalm 46:9.) In every war God has a special design of His own to fulfil — a purpose into which the eye of mortality can never pierce — but until that purpose is executed the war can never end. (Jeremiah 47:6, 7.) 5. God's Word shows that war is to be the immediate precursor of the terrors of the latter days. (Joel 3:9, etc.; Matthew 24:6.) 6. God's Word declares that there is a time approaching when wars will forever cease. II. PRACTICAL LESSONS. 1. What is our present duty 2. The necessity of being prepared for the things that are coming upon the earth. 3. The awfulness of being overtaken unprepared. You will be speechless. (A. W. Snape, M. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. |
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