Isaiah’s vision of pilgrimage to a mountain of unity and moral wisdom, of repudiating warfare and destroying the instruments of destruction, makes sense considering that when it was written, in the mid-700’s BCE, Jerusalem was surrounded by war and the threat of violence, insurrection, shifting military alliances, and Assyria’s ambition to build a world empire by conquest.

The prophet Isaiah, apparently a well-educated son of the upper class, was familiar with Hebrew wisdom traditions. He was impelled to proclaim a vision of justice and peace transcending national boundaries and the aggressive ambitions of kings. His introductory formula, “In days to come…” seems to promise an armistice at some date in the future. But in fact it doesn’t mark a time-date expiration stamp any more than the conventional story formula “Once upon a time” introduces a starting date. We’re floating above everyday linear time here. Kairos, the time outside of chronos, is quite different from flat prosaic history.

Just as visionary is the idea of a universally applicable moral law that will secure justice for the poor and oppressed, and free those who are most vulnerable from every form of violence and destruction that can threaten them. On one level we might interpret this as a form of colonialism – why should it be the God of Israel who “imposes terms” on every other nation in the known world? Maybe in the face of terror it’s a last resort. Maybe, beyond the authoritarian, nationalistic forces that drive one nation to attack other nations (and where are the dictators of the past now?) a deeper core of moral behaviour rooted in the dignity of each person could begin to stabilize the chaos and relieve suffering.