The gospel is for all the nations? That’s what the apostles claimed, and got in a lot of hot water from the Jewish religious leaders of their time as a result. But as we see from this passage, it was always God’s intention for all the peoples of the world to come to Him.

Any casual glance at geography should prove this point as well. For when God called Abram to leave what we now know as Iraq and go to a new land, God sent him, not to some out-of-the-way place so that Abram could remain isolated from everyone else, but to the very center of the world, the place where three continents come together. In other words, God has always wanted His people to live among unbelievers, and as God said to Abram, in his seed all the nations of the world would be blessed.

And why has God always wanted all kinds of people to come to Him? For the two reasons we see in verse 3: so that they may learn His ways and walk in His paths. God doesn’t just want us to learn about Him, but to follow Him, to put His Word into action in our lives.

But even though a universal Church has always been God’s plan, it was only with the coming of Christ that it began to be realized. After all, Jesus was crucified and rose again just outside of Jerusalem, and it is trusting in His Person and Work that unites believers from all over the world today. Truly, the word of the Lord has gone forth from Jerusalem to the whole world, drawing many people to faith in Christ.

But we are still waiting for Jesus, the Prince of Peace, to bring forth the peace that verse 4 promises. While it is true that the Christian faith has united people all over the world, even across racial, cultural and linguistic lines, it won’t be until He comes again in power and glory that He finally puts an end to all the sin in the world. Only then will every human conflict come to an end. What a great reason to look forward to His coming! And what a great reason to spread His Word of grace to more and more people today.

Isaiah 2:1-4 (ESV)

The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
2 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 lifted up above the hills; and all the nations shall flow to it,
3 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.
4 He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide disputes for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.