Why Study this Book?

Isaiah 2:6-11

Why study this book?  What a great question, is our reason to learn and apply the revelation of our Teacher the Holy Spirit or is it to mark off one more book study?  The caption over these verses is “The Day of the Lord,” and why is that heading being used?  I looked to the Holman Study Bible for help, and this is what it said: “Day of the Lord” does not in itself designate the time perspective of the event, whether it is past, present, or future.  Lamentations 2:2 can speak of the “day of the Lord's anger” in past tense, describing the fall of Jerusalem.  Joel 1:15 could describe a present disaster as the “day of the Lord.”
The Old Testament prophets used a term familiar to their audience, a term by which the audience expected light and salvation (Amos 5:18) but the prophets painted it as a day of darkness and judgment (Isaiah 2:10-22; Isaiah 13:6, 13:9; Joel 1:15; Joel 2:1-11, 2:31; Joel 3:14-15; Amos 5:20; Zephaniah 1:7-8, 1:14-18; Malachi 4:5).  The Old Testament language of the day of the Lord is thus aimed at warning sinners among God's people of the danger of trust in traditional religion without commitment to God and to His way of life.”  I’m a bottom line kind of guy and this is the bottom line: “The Day of the Lord” is when God reveals His sovereignty over humans. 
We are told often in Scripture our performance based actions are the best we can do for God, they do not require God to do anything, in fact, we are reminded God desires us to come as children seeking Him, and allowing Him to work in and through us.  The sixth verse begins with God no where to be found, and Isaiah tells us why; “Your people, the house of Jacob, because they are full of divination from the East and of fortune – tellers like the Philistines.”  God is not going to share the stage with evil, no matter what your gods are, family, wife or husband, money, stuff, golf, hunting, or book club.  None of what I’ve listed are evil, unless they become the center of your focus, so examine yourself to see whom you are worshiping.
It seems God has been replaced by wealth, treasures, and the might of the military, and God tells them the land is full of idols, they are bowing down to the work of their hands.  This nation has become proud, and it has produced a people who have no fear of God.  Does any nation come to your mind as you read this?  Do you recall the words God spoke to His people as they were entering into the land of promise?  They are found in the book of Deuteronomy, 17:14-20.  A postage stamp view of those verses; as the people enter the land of promise they would want a king, and God would provide one.  He is going to be one of their brother’s, never will God choose a foreigner to rule over them.  And the king must not acquire many horses, many wives, nor shall he acquire for himself excessive wealth. 
You may be asking why, and the answer is many horses lead to power, and many wives let his heart be turned from God, and the same with wealth, becoming independent from God’s authority.  And in verse eleven Isaiah expands about human pride, and what God will do to humble His people through judgment.
From the Back Porch,
Bob Rice