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I'm sorry dedication, and I don't want to come across as one who hasn't been following, of which I haven't, but does quotation marks really make a difference?

It says, many people shall go and say...

It would seem reasonable that the next part is what they say, quoted or not.

Just a hunch that you are objecting to
"And it shall come to pass in the last days"

Ask, last days of what?

It seems to me, it would be the last days of Jerusalem. And there may be a future application, but if so, then some of the details designed for Jerusalem's last days would not all apply. Quotes, commas, etc. should not a religion make.

By the way, are you aware of the following:

Then I was pointed to some who are in the great error, that the saints are yet to go to Old Jerusalem, before the Lord comes. Such a view is calculated to take the mind and interest from the present work of God, under the message of the third angel; for if we are to go to Jerusalem, then our minds will naturally be there, and our means will be withheld from other uses, to get the saints to Jerusalem. I saw that the reason why they were left to go into this great error, is because they have not confessed and forsaken their errors, that they have been in for a number of years past.
E. G. White. {RH, November 1, 1850 par. 13}

Here is the description of the whole chapter.

Isaiah 2:1 The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.

As we noted, this is concerning Judah and Jerusalem (in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah vs. 1:1)

2:2 And it shall come to pass in the last days,
Shown several times now -- the "last days" of Judah and Jerusalem's time of probation -- ie -- the 490 years.

“The time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God is at hand,” had been their message. At the expiration of “the time”—the sixty-nine weeks of Daniel 9, which were to extend to the Messiah, “the Anointed One”—Christ had received the anointing of the Spirit, after his baptism by John in Jordan. And the “kingdom of God” which they had declared to be at hand, was established by the death of Christ. GC 346

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

“Christ's work was largely confined to Judea. But though his personal ministry did not extend to other lands, people from all nations listened to his teaching, and carried the message to all parts of the world. Many heard of Jesus by hearing of the wonderful miracles that he performed. And the knowledge of his suffering and death, which were to be witnessed by the large number in attendance at the Passover, would be spread from Jerusalem to all parts of the world. (RH Oct. 26,1897)

God's plan for Israel --
They were to be the light of the world.
And in many ways they were --
Christ, the Son of God, came to them establishing the kingdom of grace, and from Jerusalem that glorious message went out to the world.
But Jerusalem itself was left desolate because they rejected the kingdom of grace.

But now to the "last days" of our history.

Jerusalem itself was left desolate because they rejected the kingdom of grace, wanting only a kingdom of honor over nations.

In the "last days" of our history, things haven't changed, people still want a temporal kingdom rather than the kingdom of grace.

Here are the two almost identical passages under discussion:

Isaiah 2:2- "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. 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. 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. O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the Lord."

and

Micah 4:1-5.
"But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it. And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths; for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks; nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig-tree; and none shall make them afraid; for the mouth of the Lord of hosts hath spoken it. For all people will walk every one in the name of his god, and we will walk in the name of the Lord our God for ever and ever."



Who is it that shall say these things?—

"Many nations [Isa. "Many people"]

So who is saying these things exactly?
Is it God, or is it "many nations" and "many people"?

In the last days then many people shall say that "the law shall go forth of Zion and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem." In the last days many people shall say, The nations "shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning-hooks." In the last days many people shall say that "nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more."

In the last days many people shall say, "they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig-tree; and none shall make them afraid." And, too, they will say that "the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it." All these things many people will say in the last days.

Apparently, these prophets are predicting the counterfeit establishment of Christianity over the nations.

God's purposes will be counterfeited.
How do we come to such a conclusion?
Well, yes, read the CONTEXT!

First, these scripture do not say that people will actually walk in the law of the Lord, but that "many people shall go and say" that certain things shall take place. They will say it is what God said.

They establish "Christianity" over the mountains and hills -- that is taking control over governments and religion.
It is the political/religious counterfeit mountain in the name of the Lord.

That this national Christianity will be only a sham, an outward thing, and not the real kingdom of grace established by Christ, is indicated by the next four verses, which say:-

"Therefore thou hast forsaken thy people the house of Jacob, because they be replenished from the east, and are soothsayers like the Philistines, and they please themselves in the children of strangers. Their land also is full of silver and gold, neither is there any end of their treasures; their land is also full of horses, neither is there any end of their chariots; their land also is full of idols; they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made; and the mean man boweth down, and the great man humbleth himself; therefore forgive them not." Isaiah 2:6-9


THEREFORE --

What is that "therefore" at the beginning of verse six, referring back to --
It's referring back to the verses where the PEOPLE are saying all these wonderful things!!!

So why does this say

Therefore?
Therefore thou (referring to God) hast forsaken thy people the house of Jacob???


These verses show that while the people profess that they know God, in works they deny him. They will be worshiping something of their own creation.

In a counterfeit establishment of worship -- the standard of what true Christianity is, is lowered, until it comes down to where the mass of the people are, and then they "worship" thinking they are "saving the world" by flowing into this established Christianity that has set itself above all "mountains" and "hills".

And what will be the final result?

The prophet Isaiah continues:
"Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty. The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. For the day of the Lord of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low." "And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty, when he arised to shake terribly the earth. In the day a man shall cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which they made each one for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats; to go into the clefs of the ragged rocks, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake the terrible the earth." Isa. 2:10-12, 19-21.


This corresponds to
The second coming --
Rev. 6:14-16 And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:


In that day of the Lord the earth shall be melted (2 Peter 3:10, 11; Isa. 24:19, 20), and sinners shall be destroyed out of it; "nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwells righteousness." 2 Peter 2:13.

And when the earth is cleansed, then will be fulfilled the word of the Lord which is written: "And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord; for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them" (Jer. 31:34); for "all thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy children." Isa. 54:13.

Agreed.

Yes EGW makes a strong statement against the idea that God's people are yet to go to Jerusalem.



The issue of quotation marks is actually over when the "many people" stop speaking.
Our pioneers discovered (and I've found several articles where they present this) that the "people say" everything from verse 3-5 in Isaiah chapter two.

Using the rules of English grammer and noting the use of the grammatical voice of "US/WE" it is apparent that this is right.

Once this is understood, it becomes obvious from that chapter itself, that God is not at all pleased with those who teach the restoration of old Jerusalem as the peaceful righteous kingdom just before Christ's coming.

Thanks for the quote from EGW

The point of the quotation marks -- the KJV has no quotation marks, the original has no quotation marks. Quotations, if assigned are marked as to the actual grammatical wording.

The only way to determine who says what is to carefully look for the grammatical "VOICE" in the passage.


Basic English grammar confirms that VERSES 3-5 are all in the "WE/US" voice showing it is the people speaking.

Isaiah 2:3 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.
2:4 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.
2:5 O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the LORD.

2:6 Therefore thou hast forsaken thy people the house of Jacob, because they be replenished from the east, and [are] soothsayers like the Philistines, and they please themselves in the children of strangers.

Please notice
It is the people talking

They keep saying "LET US" "WE WILL" showing it is still the people talking all through verse 3-5.

They refer to God as "he".

They refer to their enemies as "they" and believe God will rebuke them (other nations) and cause "them" that is their enemies, to beat their swords into plowshares.

This is not God speaking, this is the people speaking.
The grammar confirms it.

So yes it is the people saying everything in those verses.

These people THINK they are building God's kingdom.


In verse 6 there is a change in "voice".
It is no more the "US" and "WE" voice.

Now Isaiah is speaking
saying
Therefore "Thou" referring to God
hast forsaken "them"
referring to the people who were talking in verses 3-5.

Why has God forsaken them.

Because they be replenished from east (false religious ideas??) southsayers (false prophets???)

Now notice -- these many people say --

"nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more."

They are saying the nations will not learn war any more.

BUT scripture shows something very different for at Christ's second coming:
Rev. 19:19 the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse,


This passage (as well as it's equivalent in Micah 4) tell us that there will be a counterfeit kingdom gathering in the "mount of the Lord" just before Christ comes, but it does not go well with them as the rest of the chapter depicts.

Code language challenge???

Uncoded --
The prophets didn't use vowels or spaces either shall we take those out too?

You are right.
The prophets didn't use them-- and it takes careful study to know where they are to be.
And that is just the point -- they are very USEFUL,(making reading much easier) but they are not part of the inspired word.


Decoded: can't believe you're arguing about punctuation

When it completely changes the meaning of the passage, then yes, punctuation is important.

So then, ded, here's the question nobody will answer:
On WHO'S authority does WHAT punctuation go WHERE?

Because WHERE you put the punctuation depends on HOW you interpret Scripture. But if Scripture is "not of any private interpretation" where do we put the punctuation?

Where would you put the quotation marks in the passages under discussion?

Like I said -- it takes a careful reading of the "grammatical" voice. And indeed, a person needs to prayerfully study it out.

(I'm not the one advocating that no one has the right to interpret scripture --- I believe everyone needs to prayerfully ask the Holy Spirit to lead them to truth as they ponder the things in scripture)

I'd be in desperate straits if all I could find for entertainment was sorting through 4 screens of pointless and wandering "arguments" and try to sort out where a comma goes.

Like I said, "cntblvrrgngbtpncttn"