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[Newbie]

Isaiah is probably my favorite prophetic book, as is the case for many people. In Isaiah 2:3 we have: "And many peoples shall go, and they shall say, 'Come, let us go up to the Lord's mount, to the house of the God of Jacob, and let Him teach us of His ways, and we will go in His paths,' for out of Zion shall the Torah come forth, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem."

The Torah includes the Law of Leviticus and Deuteronomy. The Torah is the first five books of the Bible. And the Law is good for people. And clearly at the end of this era the Messiah King is the person that will do this because of the next verse: "And he shall judge between the nations and reprove many peoples, and they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift the sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore."

The "he" is the Messiah who leads the world to peace. But this cannot be Jesus for not only did he not complete this, he said his goal was to: "Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword." (Matt 10:34). He goes even further to say that he wants to tear families apart as well, which is actually the 7th thing that is an abomination to the Lord according to the wisest man, Solomon. Proverbs 6:9 says: "a false witness who pours out lies and a person who stirs up conflict in the community." That last one, a person who stirs up conflict, is the 7th thing that is an abomination to the Lord. So how can Jesus say that he desires to do just that and still be right in doing so?

[jimwalton]

Mt. 10.34 lies in the middle of a text where Jesus is sending his followers out as preachers of righteousness in a hostile world. Though there will be some who are receptive to the message, there will be hostile opposition and persecution as a backlash. He refers to and actually quotes from Micah 7.6-7, where the godlessness of the people has wrought societal upheaval and family chaos. In verse 34, he takes a prophetic stance similar to Elijah: he has come as a preacher of righteousness to a spiritually wandering people. He has come to restore, and the way to do that is confront the prophets of sin (as with Elijah, or to bring the sword of the Lord, as with Gideon). This coming of his would not be the restoration of Zion peace (Isa. 2.4), but the stirring of God against a disobedient people. In v. 35-36 Jesus quotes from Micah to make the connection: he has come in righteousness to confront sin, to preach restoration to a people in exile, but the people will not hear or turn, just as in the days of Isaiah (6.9-13). Jesus' own family turns against him (Mk. 3.21), as do his friends and townspeople (Lk. 4.14-30). He stirs up conflict only as Elijah, Jeremiah, Isaiah, and the other prophets did. In this case, it's not an abomination (Prov. 6.19), but the word of the Lord.

The verse from Isaiah that you quoted (Isa. 2.4) is about the last days, and you are right that Jesus did not fulfill that when he came to earth. When he was on earth it wasn't the last days. The New Testament promises that when he comes back, though, the end days will come, and the prophecy of Isaiah will be fulfilled. But that is still future.