The lofty eyes of man shall be brought low, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and Jehovah alone shall be exalted in that day.
Isaiah 2 opens with the mountain of the Lord's house lifted above the hills, and the nations streaming to it. The prophet then turns to the road that leads there. Verse 11 sets two things side by side: the proud look of man brought down, and one Name left standing high "in that day."
The verse does not stand alone. It answers what the prophet has just described. Wealth and worship had gone together in the worst way.
If their land was full of silver and gold, and endless treasures; if it was full of horses and chariots, it was also full of idols! What sin and shame! "So man is humbled, and each one is brought low—do not forgive them!" (v. 9), cries the angry prophet.
Some read this humbling as something already done — by ancient conquerors, or by the spread of the gospel. One writer denies both, and points to a reversal: God will bow down those who bow to idols.
Read this passage in a believing spirit, and any fair mind will be convinced. Neither Nebuchadnezzar nor Titus on one side, nor the gospel on the other, has anything to do with the Lord's coming to carry out the judgment of all mankind pictured here. The true God would break down those who bowed down to idols. The hand of the Highest would be on all that is high and lifted up. It will all come true when Christ appears, and not before.
Scripture speaks of a "day" belonging to man and a "day" belonging to the Lord. This passage is where the second one is first named, and the two are exact opposites.
"Man's Day" (1 Cor. 4:3, margin) is that long period of human pride and self-will. It began when sin entered the world, and God's judgment will end it at the revelation of Jesus Christ. During Man's Day God is nothing, and man is all. The Day of the Lord will reverse the conditions. Isaiah 2:10-22 is the first passage of Scripture that names that Day. It vividly describes the complete overthrow of everything man has boasted in, so that Jehovah alone may be exalted. Terror will fill men's minds when this happens. All human schemes and achievements will fall to pieces, never to be patched up again.
The list that follows in the chapter — cedars, towers, walls, ships — shows how wide the sweep is. Open wickedness is not the only thing that goes. Some hope that man's progress will carry straight over into the age to come. One writer answers that hope.
The list of things on which the day of the Lord will fall in judgment is very impressive. It is clear: it will make a clean sweep of all the things in which fallen man boasts, even things pleasant and artistic. Some have imagined that this day will accept and even expand what man's inventive skill has produced, as the way into the millennial age. Instead it will remove those things, along with the idols and the idol-worshipping ideas that gave them birth.
The bringing low is not the end of the story. It clears ground, and what follows matches the scale of the clearing.
It is the day of the Lord on all the pride of man, to bring it low. It is the day when every refuge of lies will be swept away, and every empty thought of his laid bare. He will completely abolish the idols. Yes, those who were their slaves will throw them to the moles and the bats. "And the LORD alone will be exalted in that day." Then the way is open for blessing, as wide as the judgment that has brought it in.
Every proud look will come down in the end. What differs is how: the bowing can be a terror or a joy.
Grace bows our hearts now, and with joy we confess His name! Judgment will in that day break the proud spirit of the enemy.
- Cause. A land full of silver, gold and horses was also full of idols. The pride that bows to what it made is what God will bow down.
- Contrast. Two days stand against each other. In man's day God is nothing and man is all; the Lord's day reverses that.
- Reach. The sweep takes in more than obvious evil. Even what is pleasant and artistic goes, along with the ideas that produced it.
- Timing. Past conquerors did not carry out this judgment, and neither has the gospel. It waits for the Lord's coming.
- Result. Blessing follows, as wide as the judgment that opened the way. One Name stands exalted alone.
For there shall be a day of Jehovah of hosts upon everything proud and lofty, and upon everything lifted up, and it shall be brought low;
The LORD of hosts has set a day. Its target is not one nation or one crime, but everything high in the world of men. Isaiah puts pride itself in the path of judgment. When does that day come, what falls, and what stands afterwards?
One writer sets this day against the whole stretch of history running now.
The solemn winding up of Man's Day, and the ushering in of the Day of the Lord. "Man's Day" is that long period of human pride and self-will which began when sin entered the world, and divine judgment will end it at the revelation of Jesus Christ. During Man's Day God is nothing, and man is everything. The Day of the Lord will reverse the conditions. Isaiah 2:10-22 is the first passage of Scripture that names that Day. It describes in vivid detail the complete overthrow of everything man has boasted in, so that Jehovah alone may be exalted.
The difference comes down to who holds the upper hand.
From these and similar passages, we learn that "the day of the Lord" carries the deeply solemn thought of judgment on the world — on apostate Israel — on man and his ways — on everything the human heart prizes and longs after… Man has the upper hand now, the Lord will have the upper hand then.
The verse does not single out violence or theft. It singles out height. One writer traces this back to what pride actually does with God's gifts.
It is man, whom God has exalted in Christ, in His own gracious and wonderful way, but who, on the other hand, by self-exaltation debases himself to his own ruin… "Man's day" is a day of human aggrandisement with what he has robbed from God, and of self-exaltation by the very things God's mercy has enriched him with. And therefore the day of the Lord must fall "against all that is proud and lofty, against all that is lifted up."
Some say ancient conquerors already fulfilled this chapter. Others say the spread of Christian preaching does. One writer rejects both.
You only need to read this passage in a believing spirit, and it will convince any fair mind. Neither Nebuchadnezzar nor Titus, nor the gospel, has anything to do with the Lord's coming to carry out the all-embracing judgment of man pictured here… All of it will come true when Christ appears, not before.
This day falls on more than proud people. It falls on everything they built to shut God out.
The day of the Lord will come upon everything that has served the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life. It will come upon everything men have delighted in, so as to shut out God and exclude Christ from their hearts. It will come upon everything that has fed man's self-exaltation. That self-exaltation has marked him all along. It marks him more and more now, and it marks this day we live in to a frightening degree.
The verse ends with everything high brought low. That is not where it stops.
How good to know, in all that day of terror, that God is supreme above and within all the schemes of His enemies!… It is the day of the Lord upon all the pride of man, to bring it low. It is the day when every refuge of lies will be swept away and all the emptiness of his thoughts exposed. "The idols He shall utterly abolish." Yes, those who were their slaves will fling them to the moles and the bats. "And the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day." Then the way is prepared for blessing, as wide as the judgment that introduced it.
Pride is the target of that day. So the verse works as a mirror now, even on the effort to look humble.
Man delights in display. The testimony is simply to be lowly in heart. This is not natural to the mind. In trying to avoid display one may easily make an idol out of apparent humility. There is a humility of the flesh as well as a pride of the flesh, and both fall under the heading of pride. To work at appearing humble is to be proud… "The pride of life is not from the Father but is from the world." The world is passing away. So the pride of life must be passing too, because it is part of the world. It will meet its end in the day of the Lord.
- Man's day — the long stretch where man is everything and God counts for nothing. Isaiah 2 announces its close.
- Man's pride — the day is aimed at height itself: self-exaltation built out of the very gifts God gave.
- Man's props — it falls not only on proud people but on everything they delighted in to keep God out.
- Man's day still running — no past conqueror and no spread of preaching has ended it; it waits for Christ's appearing.
- God alone exalted — everything high comes down, and the Lord stands alone. Then blessing follows, as wide as the judgment that made room for it.
and upon all the cedars of Lebanon, high and lifted up, and upon all the oaks of Bashan;
Isaiah 2:13 sits inside a picture of the coming day of the Lord. The prophet names one tall thing after another and marks each for humbling — but is he talking about timber, or about people?
Scripture uses parts of a landscape as pictures of people. One writer lines up three of them.
In Scripture the earth stands for the nations under settled, stable government. The sea naturally suggests great crowds, and especially people in a state of disorder. A tree, on the other hand, is a well known Scripture figure for a great one of the earth.
Why a tree, and not some other figure? One writer points to the one thing a tree does.
Nothing lifts itself up the way a tree does, so the "tree" is singled out here: the axe is laid at its root.
The two trees are not interchangeable. One writer follows the cedar through Scripture, from a king's boast to a picture of the righteous.
In Scripture the cedar is always used to picture power or high standing, if not pride. When the king of Israel wanted to pour contempt on the king of Judah, he compared himself to a cedar and Judah's king to a thistle. The Psalmist uses it for the prosperity of the righteous: he will "grow like a cedar in Lebanon." When judgment comes on the great of the earth, the prophet Isaiah says it is the day of the Lord on the cedars of Lebanon. These mark the cedar as the symbol of dignity and power.
The oak stands for something other than the cedar's dignity.
The oaks of Bashan stand as a symbol of great strength and height, which God brings down in His judgment.
The verse is one item in a list that runs on through mountains, towers, walls, ships and works of art. One writer takes that sweep to its limit.
Even the grandeur of nature as it now is must fall. Still more the impressive buildings of man, which are small by comparison. What are their high towers and walled defences beside lofty hills and towering mountains? Strong, fine ships will be broken, and pleasant pictures will fade into nothing. The Lord alone will be exalted in that day.
The same day falls on more than rulers. It reaches what people love in place of God.
Everything that has served the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life — everything men have delighted in, so as to shut God out and keep Christ out of their hearts — everything that has fed the self-exaltation that has marked man all along… the day of the Lord will fall on all of it.
Some have read this chapter as fulfilled when armies took Jerusalem long ago. Others read it as the spread of the gospel. One writer rejects both.
You only need to read this passage in a believing spirit, and any fair mind will be convinced. Neither Nebuchadnezzar or Titus on the one hand, nor the gospel on the other, has anything to do with the Lord's coming to carry out the all-embracing judgment of man pictured here… All will be proved true when Christ appears, not before.
The cutting down is not the end of the story.
It is the day of the Lord on all the pride of man, to bring it low. It is the day when every refuge of lies will be swept away, and all the emptiness of his thoughts will be laid bare… "And the Lord alone will be exalted in that day." Then the way is open for blessing, as wide as the judgment that has brought it in.
- Height — a tree pictures a great one of the earth. It is singled out because nothing else lifts itself up the way a tree does.
- Cedar — Lebanon's cedar means dignity and power, the high standing of the world's great.
- Oak — Bashan's oak means sheer strength and height, the kind God brings down.
- Everything — the list runs past the trees. Nature's grandeur, man's towers, ships and treasured art all fall in the same day.
- Alone — the felling clears the ground. The Lord alone is exalted, and blessing follows as wide as the judgment that made room for it.
and upon all the lofty mountains, and upon all the hills that are lifted up;
Isaiah 2:14 sits in a long list of things the day of the Lord will level: mountains and hills stand there beside cedars, oaks, towers, walls and ships. So why should God's judgment fall on hills at all, and what do mountains and hills stand for in the language of the prophets?
The verse is one line in a list. That list has a single subject: everything man has raised up for himself. One writer reads the whole passage as aimed at the appetites and ambitions that crowd God out.
The day of the Lord will be upon everything that has fed the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, and the pride of life. It will be upon everything men have delighted in, so as to shut out God and exclude Christ from their hearts. It will be upon everything that has contributed to the self-exaltation which has marked man all along, and marks him more and more now.
Another writer states the rule behind the whole list. He uses "Jehovah," the older English form of the name the ESV prints as "the LORD."
There is a day of Jehovah on all the earth... The hand of Jehovah will be against all that the world exalts. Everything or everyone that is lifted up shall be brought low: Jehovah alone shall be exalted in that day.
In prophecy a mountain is not just a landform. One writer traces the image through Scripture, starting with the empire of Babylon.
Scripture itself gives the force of the figure. Jeremiah speaks of the mighty Babylonian kingdom this way. It looked so firmly established in its might and greatness that no one could overthrow it, yet Jehovah threatens it with consuming judgment — a "burnt mountain." A mountain as a symbol represents a kingdom (Isa. 2:2; Zech. 4:7; Jer. 51:25) or a firmly established power (Ps. 46:2; Rev. 6:14; Rev. 16:20). The idea to grasp in these prophetic symbols is a strong, united, established power — and this power itself becomes the subject of God's governmental vengeance.
The verse pairs hills with mountains. Elsewhere the same pairing marks a difference of rank, not of kind.
The mountains speak of higher governmental authorities, and the little hills, lesser authorities.
So the verse reaches from the greatest empire down to the smallest local power.
The list moves from trees to hills to towers and walls. Nothing on it survives, whether man made it or God did.
Not a single relic shall be left... He will show that where man has most pride, God will do better. For all that is in the world, the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, and the pride of life must pass away. Even the grandeur of nature as it now stands must fall. Still more must the imposing structures of man fall, small as they are by comparison. What are their high towers and fenced walls next to lofty hills and sublime mountains?
Some read this chapter as already fulfilled in the spread of the gospel. One writer draws a firm line between what the gospel does now and what only Christ's return will do.
Whatever the gospel may achieve for believers — and it makes them fit for God's light and heavenly glory — there can be no real deliverance for the earth and the nations until Messiah comes again in glory. Then He will execute judgment on the living and reign in peace... The judgment of man, of his pride and his idols, will come in the day of Jehovah, so that all the nations may flow to Zion in heart-homage, as the beginning of Isaiah 2 describes.
Bringing down every height is not the end of the story. It is how the blessing that opens the chapter arrives.
The rest of the chapter goes on to show how this period of blessing will be brought in. Is it by grace proclaimed? No, but by fearful judgments carried out... The result of this terrible shaking of the earth, and bringing down the pride of man, is that "Jehovah alone shall be exalted in that day."
There are two ways a proud heart can be lowered, and only one of them is gentle.
Grace bows our hearts now, and with joy we confess His name! Judgment will in that day break the proud spirit of the enemy. When His wrath is kindled but a little — the beginning of His judgment — they perish from the way.
- Height is the target. The day of the Lord is aimed at whatever is lifted up — the hand of God is against all that the world exalts.
- Mountains mean power. In prophecy a mountain stands for a kingdom or settled power. The hills beside it are the lesser authorities under it.
- Nature falls too. Even the landscape God made comes down, and man's towers and walls are small by comparison.
- Still ahead. The gospel age does not level the earth's heights. That waits for Christ's return in glory.
- One name left standing. God brings down every height so that the Lord alone stands high — and grace bows the heart now, before judgment bows it then.