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.
and upon every high tower, and upon every fenced wall;
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
and upon all the ships of Tarshish, and upon all pleasant works of art.
Isaiah lists what the day of the Lord will strike. The list runs from tall trees and mountains to walls and towers, and then reaches trade and art. Why should God's judgment fall on things that seem harmless?
The first phrase names where the ships went, and why.
A place to which ships were sent from Palestine. Some suppose it refers to a Spanish city named Tartessus. This would seem a suitable place from which to obtain silver, iron, tin and lead.
The second phrase points not at the object itself but at the appetite behind it.
Here the expression "pleasant pictures" is thought to mean "pictures of desire," as the margin reads. It refers to anything their hearts were set on.
Older translations read "pleasant pictures" where the ESV has "beautiful craft."
Isaiah names nothing ugly or crude. What God brings down is height itself, wherever it stands.
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. The idols will pass away completely. Men will go into caves and holes because of the terror of Jehovah and the glory of His majesty, when He arises to shake the earth with great power. All of this will come true when Christ appears, not before.
The ships and the pictures stand for a whole way of living. One writer takes the list to cover everything people enjoy in place of God, and applies it to the great display of human skill going on around him.
The day of the Lord will be upon everything that has fed the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye and the pride of life. It will be upon everything people have delighted in, so as to shut out God and exclude Christ from their hearts. It will be upon everything that has fed the self-exaltation that has marked man all along. Think what the pride of man's heart is doing at this very moment. It is gathering the wealth and energies of all nations into one grand display, to show the whole world what human skill and energy can achieve.
Some expect human progress to carry over into the coming age. The verse points the other way.
The day of the Lord will clearly make a clean sweep of all the things fallen man boasts in, even things pleasant and artistic. Some have imagined that it will accept and even enlarge the products of man's inventive skill, as an opening to the thousand-year age to come. Instead, it will remove them, along with the idols and idolatrous notions that produced them. Today men are humbled as they receive the grace and truth of the gospel. Then they will be brought low and their false glory will depart, as the glory of the Lord shines out.
God will outdo everything man is proudest of.
Not a single relic will be left. God will wipe the slate clean of all the busy works of man on the earth for the last six thousand years… and He will show that where man has most pride, God will do better… Even the grandeur of nature as it is must fall. Still more must the imposing structures of man fall, small as they are in comparison. What are their high towers and fenced walls next to lofty hills and grand mountains? Strong and splendid ships will be broken and pleasant pictures will fade into nothing. Jehovah alone will be exalted in that day… The day of Jehovah joins two things: God will deal with the heavens and the earth, the whole vast creation, and at the same time He will stoop to the smallest trifles of men and women… Nothing will escape His eye and hand.
Does this verse forbid pictures today? One writer, asked whether a Christian may practise photography, refused to make it a rule.
"Pleasant pictures" are named by Isaiah among the things on which judgment will fall in the day of the Lord. We must not expect to find a literal text that speaks directly to each of the artificial occupations of this highly artificial age. And if the Lord has not laid down rules for His people in these matters, it is certainly not fitting for them to lay down rules for one another. A single eye will enable us to form a sound judgment in all such things.
- Reach. Ships sailed from Palestine to Tarshish for silver, iron, tin and lead. The verse starts with the reach of human trade.
- Desire. "Pleasant pictures" reads in the margin as "pictures of desire." The target is the wanting, not the artwork.
- Height. What falls is height itself. The hand of the Highest comes down on all that is high and lifted up, and the idols pass away.
- Removal. The day of the Lord sweeps away what fallen man boasts in, even the pleasant and artistic. It does not carry human skill forward into the age to come.
- Result. Ships break, pictures fade, and the Lord alone stands exalted — when Christ appears, not before.
And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be brought low; and Jehovah alone shall be exalted in that day
This verse says the same thing twice over, and Isaiah had already said it six verses earlier. That repetition raises two questions: when does this day come, and what exactly does God bring down?
Isaiah is not describing gradual improvement. One writer insists that nothing in history has matched this yet. No conqueror has fulfilled it, and neither has the spread of the gospel.
Lastly, he calls on them to hide in the dust because of the day of Jehovah. That day certainly has not yet fallen on the pride and idolatry of man… You only need to read the passage in a believing spirit. It will convince any fair mind that neither Nebuchadnezzar nor 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. 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.
What Isaiah condemns is not what man is, but what man does with it. One writer traces the problem to its root.
It is man, whom God has exalted in Christ, in His own gracious and wonderful way. But by exalting himself, man debases himself to his own ruin… "man's day" is a day when man makes himself great with what he has robbed from God, and lifts himself up by what God's mercy has given him.
Some have imagined that the day of the Lord will crown human progress. One writer says it does the opposite.
Instead of accepting and even enlarging the products of man's inventive skill as an introduction to the millennial age, as some have imagined, it will remove them, along with the idols and the idolatrous notions that gave them birth.
One writer refuses to read this demolition as an end in itself. It clears the ground for something better.
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 shall be swept away and all the vanity of his thoughts shall be exposed. "The idols He shall utterly abolish." Yes, those who have been their slaves shall 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 which introduced it.
Every head goes down in that day. One writer sets out the two ways it can happen.
Grace bows our hearts now, and with joy we confess His name! Judgment will in that day break the proud spirit of the enemy.
That leaves the verse with an edge for today. Isaiah's own conclusion, five verses later, is to stop leaning on man.
This is not yet eternity. It is the age to come, when the idols will completely pass away and Jehovah alone will be exalted. The word, therefore, is "Stop regarding man in whose nostrils is breath, for of what account is he?" (v. 22). Man as such cannot hold on to his own breath, still less keep others in that day. Everything must depend on the sovereign pleasure of Him whose glory will no longer be hidden, and whose will is then shown in righteousness.
- Pride rises. Man takes the credit for what God gave him in mercy. That self-exaltation is what this verse condemns.
- The day falls. Commentators read this as a future coming of the Lord in judgment. No empire has brought it in, and neither has the spread of the gospel.
- Everything high goes low. That day sweeps away the idols and the products of man's skill. It removes what man boasts in instead of crowning it.
- God alone stands. Nothing hides His glory then, and man proves to be only breath in his nostrils.
- So bow early. Grace bows hearts now, with joy. Judgment breaks proud hearts then. The question is not whether you bow, but when.