4He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.
Isaiah writes at a point in Jewish history to the Southern kingdom, because the Northern has already been sent into exile for their sin. He writes warnings about the future, about the Southern kingdom’s upcoming exile and about the end times. This verse speaks about the last days of this age. Since we are not in the last days yet, we won’t be turning our weapons into implements of harvest anytime soon. But I have a longing for that day when war and famine don’t exist. The implements of war get transformed to take care of the needs of the poor. The primary source of poverty and hunger is not lack of resources, but selfishness and greed. Food gets used as a weapon, not by throwing it or launching it from the muzzle of a gun, but by withholding and distributing based on political affiliation. We live in an evil world, where people live in opulence right next to the poorest of the poor. We in the West throw away enough food to feed the world. We are eating ourselves into weight-created diseases, and we just keep eating without a care. Isaiah talks about a time in the future when war won’t be necessary, and there will be such an abundant harvest that weapons will need to be converted into harvesting implements just to handle the abundance. I long for the day when war will not exist, where spouses won’t have to worry about listening to the news and wondering if the knock on the door will bring the bad news of their spouse’s death.
The Arnold Journey 