©Michael Player
Chapter 4:1-2 (ESV) - 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 it shall be lifted up above the hills;
and peoples shall flow to it,
and many nations 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.
Question to consider: How can the nations flow to a mountain that is lifted above the hills?
Today’s passage initiated a glorious promise that followed the heart-breaking curse of the preceding chapters. The destruction of the holy city and temple would come by way of the Babylonians about three generations later, but the LORD promised that He would one day establish His house as the highest of mountains to which all peoples would gather.
The apostle Peter proclaimed that Christ has risen from the dead and, “has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him.” (1 Peter 3:22) This reign is described in today’s passage.
As I mentioned back in chapter 1, mountains in scripture were considered places of worship. Declaring that the mountain of the house of the LORD was to be established as the highest of the mountains spoke to Christ’s reign over every tribe and nation. He is the King of kings and Lord of lords and the Name that is above every name. If you go through my study of Daniel, I emphasize that his entire book was dedicated to this Son of Man who would come on clouds to the Ancient of Days and begin His rule from the stone that crushed the kingdoms of men and grew into a mountain that filled the whole world. The prophet Zechariah also described this mountain in chapter 14 of his book where all nations would stream to worship.
The “latter days” is a reference to the final age which began at the ascension of Christ. While we are still waiting for the day in which Christ returns to judge the living and the dead, He is not coming to usher in a new age but the fulfillment of the one He inaugurated at the Last Supper. The only reason we live in a world that continues to sin is that Christ is still gathering His church and extending His grace and mercy to all who come to Him.
You may be asking yourself how we stream to this mountain that both fills the whole earth and is high above it. One thought may be that it is the place where we go when we die. However, the author of Hebrews described it as a present reality, “You have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.” (Hebrews 12:22-24)
Every Lord’s day, we stream to this mountain in our church gatherings. When Micah declared, “For out of Zion shall go forth the law,” it was law in the sense of the word of God being taught to us so that we may walk in His paths. We call this gathering a church “service” because it is there in which Christ serves us through His word and sacraments. Modern evangelicalism has turned this on its head and made it about us serving God, but as the apostle Paul said to the Areopagus, “nor is [God] served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.” (Acts 17:25)
Dear heavenly Father, thank You for raising Christ and seating Him at Your right hand. Give us a desire to gather together to receive Your word and good gifts to us so that we may walk in Your paths and glorify the holy name of Christ in all the earth. Amen.