“¹ The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. ² And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. ³ And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.  ⁴ And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.” Isaiah 2: 1-4 (KJV)

It was during a bible study that a church elder noted the amazing nature of nations flowing upward to the Lord’s house. The image that Isaiah sees (verse 1) is that of God’s house existing on a mountain top, which means that it will at least be above sea-level (verse 2). Yet, the vision that Isaiah describes has nations “flowing” upwards to God’s house, which would require the nations, much like water, to defy earthly gravity as they are drawn to God’s gravity.

There are many ways to describe Earth’s gravity, but the most common form would be 9.8 m/s² as “g,” the gravitational acceleration constant _⁵. According to Einstein’s theory of General Relativity ⁶, everything we can observe on Earth succumbs to gravity, including time and light that can be bent around, or get sucked into, the gravitational force fields of massive objects such as black holes ⁷ (with the exception that the speed of light remains unchanged ⁸).

As an ode to writing review papers, Einstein himself was writing a review paper on relativity in 1905 which he termed “Special relativity,” to describe how time flows differently in relation to the velocity at which the observer is traveling ⁹. This gave rise to the concept of “Time Dilation,”¹⁰ where the same event can occur at different times for observers traveling at different velocities. Think of the famous Twin Paradox: an astronaut traveling in space ages slower than his or her twin stuck back on Earth, where the twin on Earth is subject to time passing on the planet, while the twin traveling at a faster velocity in space experiences an apparent slower passage of time ¹¹.

Later, the inclusion of acceleration in the equations for Special Relativity led him to write his 1915 paper on the theory of “General relativity,” ¹² where he describes how a more massive object will distort the passage of time itself. Though the speed of light is unaffected by gravity, time and therefore the movement of light itself behave differently based on the gravity experienced ¹³.

“And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.” Isaiah 2:2, KJV

Given that all observable elements, including time and light, are subject to gravity, what then shall we say about Isaiah 2:2, where nations are described as flowing upward towards God’s house? Critics of this question may point out that I am taking the verse too literally- that it is simply poetic imagery of a group of people, or nations, walking upward to God’s house, and therefore still subject to both of Einstein’s theories.

However- my question is not focused on the nations, but rather on the gravity of God’s house. Can we not see how God, who created light (Genesis 1), is so massive and so much bigger than any created object, that this image describes His house as having a gravitational force so great as to cause upward fluid motion? The eternal God is outside of light, time, space, and even gravity as we know it – so much so that His presence makes it seem as though He contains another competing gravitational field greater than that on Earth, when really, He does not at all need to employ gravity to pull people to Himself.

Nevertheless, given our limited human dealings with gravity, let us confine ourselves to looking at God having gravity and compare it to that of what any of us may experience in space or on Earth. Merriam Webster defines gravity not only as the force of attraction between two bodies as thus far discussed, but also as seriousness and weight ¹⁴. Seeing that we derive the word “Gravity” from the Latin word “Gravitas,” ¹⁵, we can see how dignity and authority are more direct connections to the meaning of gravity, with the scientific concept of the attractive force being a more recent addition.

In considering how the nations have to escape the gravity, or gravitas, of Earth and the matters of this world, how massive, how impressive, how important, how Holy is God, that the weight of His Presence is drawing all people to Himself? In this vision from Isaiah where nations are described to be in fluid motion upward, we can understand that God’s gravity supersedes that of the Earth – both literally and figuratively.

Then we return to the nations themselves. Indeed in the subsequent verses, Isaiah talks about the people, who are:

a) aware of God’s presence ¹⁶,

b) have a desire to get to know God ¹⁷, and,

c) are humble enough ¹⁸ to make plans to climb up to God’s house to learn from Him ¹⁹.

All three points involve conscious effort on the part of the nations to overcome Earthly gravity and matters we face in this world that prevent us from:

a) acknowledging that there is a God ²⁰,

b) realizing that we are made to desire and have a relationship with God ²¹ through Jesus Christ ²², and,

c) letting go of human pride and ego as people and be drawn to God in our hearts, minds, strength ²³.

No matter how heavy we feel, dragged down by the issues we face on this Earth, this image is a reminder that we are able to have our thoughts flow “upward,” in an almost anti-gravitational feat, towards God’s presence, escaping the snares that hold us back from having the mind of Christ ²⁴. It is then that we can truly learn from the Lord (verse 3), and live our lives according to His judgements (verse 4) that are towards us living in peace without war.

No matter what heavy issue we face, no matter how much light and time seems to be sucked into the gravity of the matter at hand, and no matter how much we think we are unable to escape its gravitational pull to get closer to God, it is only through experiencing the superseding gravity of God who is outside of time and space, that we are able to overcome the snares and worries of this life. May the Lord help us as we remember what Jesus says to those facing trials and tribulations:

“These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” John 16:33, KJV

References
1 - 4: Isaiah 2:1-4 (KJV) 
5. https://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/circles/Lesson-3/The-Value-of-g
6. https://www.pitt.edu/~jdnorton/teaching/HPS_0410/chapters/general_relativity/
7. https://wtamu.edu/~cbaird/sq/2016/03/29/how-does-a-black-hole-give-off-light/
8. https://cosmicopia.gsfc.nasa.gov/qa_sp_gr.html
9. https://www.space.com/36273-theory-special-relativity.html
10. https://phys.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/University_Physics/Book%3A_University_Physics_(OpenStax)/Map%3A_University_Physics_III_-Optics_and_Modern_Physics(OpenStax)/05%3A__Relativity/5.04%3A_Time_Dilation
11. https://www.britannica.com/science/twin-paradox
12. https://www.space.com/17661-theory-general-relativity.html
13. https://www.aip.org/history-programs/news/einstein-papers-now-online
14. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gravity#etymology
15. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gravitas
16. Proverbs 9:10 "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding."
17. John 6:37 "All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out."
18. Luke 18:10-14 "10 Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. 11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. 12 I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. 13 And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted."
19. Matthew 11: 28-30 "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."
20. 2nd Corinthians 4:4 "In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them."
21. Genesis 3:9 "And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?"
22.  John 14:6 "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."
23. Matthew 22:37 "Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind."
24. 1 Corinthians 2:16 "For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ."