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.
and the idols shall utterly pass away.
Isaiah 2 opens with the nations streaming to Zion, then turns to a scene of terror where God brings down everything high in man. Verse 18 deals with man's gods in a single line. Which idols does it mean? When does it happen? Has the spread of the gospel already done it? (Some quotations below follow an older translation: "the idols he shall utterly abolish.")
This verse sits inside a wider judgment. It falls on everything the world lifts up.
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. God will purify the earthly people by His judgments.
Some read this as fulfilled by the spread of Christianity. One commentator answers by pointing at the world as it is.
The true God would break down those who bowed down to idols. The hand of the Most High would fall on all that is high and lifted up. The idols shall utterly pass away. Men will go into caves and holes, away from the terror of Jehovah and from the glory of His majesty, when He rises up to shake the earth with power. All of this will come true when Christ appears, and not before. How can Christians imagine that the gospel has done this work, or ever could? Most of mankind are openly idolaters, and most of the baptized are really idolaters too.
The same writer dates it. Not now, and not in eternity, but in the age that Christ's return will open.
This is not eternity yet. It is the age to come, when the idols shall utterly pass away and Jehovah alone shall be exalted... The gospel does much for believers. It makes them fit for God's light and heavenly glory. But there can be no real deliverance for the earth and the nations until Messiah comes again in glory, judging the living and reigning in peace.
The word behind "idols" carries its own verdict on the things it names.
This controversy with idolatry is now coming to an end. The sun rises and drives away the unclean things of the night: "Jehovah is to be feared above all gods." Truly: for what are they? "all the gods of the peoples are idols" — or as the word means, "nothings" — "but Jehovah made the heavens."
The people who served the idols are the ones who throw them out. And the wreckage is not the end.
It is the day of the Lord on all the pride of man, to bring it low. On that day God sweeps away every refuge of lies and exposes the emptiness of man's thoughts. "The idols He shall utterly abolish." Yes, those who have been their slaves shall fling them to the moles and to the bats. "And the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day." Then the way is open for blessing, as wide as the judgment that brought it in.
Take away the false gods, and worship has only one object left.
Isaiah, the son of Amoz, looked forward to idols being utterly abolished (Isa. 2:18). Earthly saints will look back on that once it is done, for only one object of adoration will remain. Men will then turn to one object of worship alone. He is the True God, the Living God, the Everlasting God, the Maker of all things, the Creator of heaven and earth, and also the Redeemer and Saviour of His people.
The sweeping away is still ahead. So the warning stands, and today's idols are harder to spot than carved wood.
A short and solemn warning comes with all this truth and grace: "Little children, keep yourselves from idols." Every object outside Christ that man's heart sets up and clings to, Satan makes into an idol. They may not for the present be gold or silver, or stone or wood, but of a subtler kind. Yet the day hastens when the mass of the Jews, little as they think it possible, will return to their old sin; and so will Christendom, even where they have boasted of their Protestantism and of their unbeatable hatred of Roman idolatry.
- Nothings. The word behind "idols" means nothings. What men fear and serve has no substance at all.
- Not yet. The gospel has not done this work, and cannot. It waits for Christ's appearing in glory.
- Toppled. God sweeps away every refuge of lies. The very people who were slaves to their idols throw them out.
- Cleared. With the nothings gone, worship has one object left. He is the Living God, Creator, Redeemer and Saviour of His people.
- Meanwhile. Satan makes an idol of any object outside Christ that the heart clings to. So "keep yourselves from idols" is a warning for today, not just for that day.
And they shall go into the caves of the rocks, and into the holes of the earth, from before the terror of Jehovah, and from the glory of his majesty, when he shall arise to terrify the earth.
Isaiah pictures people crawling into caves and holes in the ground to escape God Himself. Two questions follow: when does this happen, and why does God's majesty drive people underground instead of to their knees?
Commentators tie this scene to the day of the Lord. It has not happened yet, and it does not fit a past invasion or the spread of the gospel.
Read this passage in a believing spirit, and any fair mind will be convinced. Here the Lord comes to carry out the all-embracing judgment of man. That has nothing to do with Nebuchadnezzar or Titus. It has nothing to do with the gospel either. 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. All this will come true when Christ appears, not before.
People mistake God's silence for His absence. That is why His day will come as such a shock.
The God whom creation has offended keeps silent for now. But the moment is coming fast when He will speak — not in grace, but in unsparing judgment. He "rises to terrify the earth" (Isa. 2:19, 21).
Before the caves, the chapter names the target: everything proud and lifted up.
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 men have delighted in, so as to shut out God and keep Christ out of their hearts. It will be upon everything that has fed man's self-exaltation. That self-exaltation has marked man all along. It marks him more and more now, and it marks the day we live in to a degree that is fearful to think about.
The caves are the last hiding place, after every other refuge has failed. That judgment strips people of what they trusted — and it has a purpose beyond destruction.
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. He will utterly abolish the idols. Yes, those who were once their slaves will fling them to the moles and to the bats. The Lord alone will be exalted in that day. Then the way opens for blessing, as wide as the judgment that brought it in.
Running from God is not new. It started in the garden.
Adam and Eve disobeyed the word of God. Then they were afraid, and they tried to hide from His presence among the trees of the garden of Eden (Gen. 3:8, 10). People will repeat that useless hiding on a huge scale in the future. Kings and great men and rich men will call on the mountains and rocks to fall on them and hide them from the face of the One sitting on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb (Rev. 6:15-16).
There is another way to deal with the same God, and the difference is a single preposition.
What a contrast with Israel's own sweet singer! Despite his sins, he could say by grace, "You are my hiding place!" (Ps. 32:7). He hid in God, not from God. Before him stood One who could and would cover all his iniquities, and charge nothing to his account. Our effort to cover our sins, or to escape from His presence, is useless.
The chapter closes by telling people to stop leaning on man.
It would be useless then to call for the help of man: his day will have ended. In that day Jehovah rises to terrify the earth… "Stop regarding man, whose breath is in his nostrils; of what account is he?" (v. 22). Man as such cannot even hold on to his own breath, still less keep others alive in that day. The judgment of man, his pride and his idols, falls in the day of Jehovah, so that all the nations may then flow to Zion in heart-homage, as the beginning of Isaiah 2 describes.
- Future — this scene belongs to the day of the Lord. It waits for Christ to appear; it is not the gospel slowly improving the world.
- Pride — the shaking targets everything high and lifted up: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life.
- Refuges — every refuge of lies is swept away, and the idols people once served are flung to the moles and the bats.
- Flight — the caves repeat Eden on a world scale. Adam already proved that hiding from God fails.
- Exaltation — when pride is brought low and no help is left in man, the Lord alone stands exalted. Then blessing opens up, as wide as the judgment that brought it in.
In that day men shall cast away their idols of silver and their idols of gold, which they made [each] for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats;
The hands that made the silver and gold images will one day throw them away. Two questions follow. When is "that day"? And why do the idols lose their grip only then?
"That day" is not this present age. One commentator sets it in the age to come, and warns against confusing it with the gospel.
How can anyone confuse this with the gospel! It is not yet eternity but the age to come, when the idols shall utterly pass away and Jehovah alone shall be exalted. So the word is, "Stop relying on man, whose breath is in his nostrils. What is he worth?" Man cannot hold on to his own breath. Still less can he keep others alive in that day... "That day" is the day of Jehovah. Whatever the gospel may do for believers, there can be no real deliverance for the earth and the nations until Messiah comes again in glory. He will come judging the living and reigning in peace.
The verse stresses ownership: each man made his own object of worship. Earlier in the chapter the prophet lists what else filled the land.
"Their land is full of silver and gold, and there is no end to their treasures. Their land is full of horses, and there is no end to their chariots. Their land is full of idols; they worship the work of their own hands, what their own fingers have made." Their sin was completely unpardonable. Judah had such glorious prospects from God's sure word, yet they chased heathen superstitions, not only Gentile wealth and power, but sadly their idols too.
The verse names two creatures. A Bible dictionary explains what the bat meant in Israel.
The bat was forbidden to be eaten under the law (Leviticus 11:19; Deuteronomy 14:18). Several species are found in Palestine: they live in the tombs and caves, and are at home in darkness. Where there are many of them the smell is very offensive. Their home is a fitting picture of darkness and foulness. It is the place where men will throw their idols of gold and silver, when Jehovah rises up to deal with the earth.
One writer asks how the promised blessing arrives. The answer is not gentle.
The rest of the chapter shows how this period of blessing will come in. Is it by grace preached? No, it is by fearful judgments carried out. "The day of Jehovah" comes and destroys the pride of man. It makes him throw his idols to the moles and to the bats, and run "into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the rugged cliffs, for fear of Jehovah, and for the glory of His majesty."
If Israel gave up idols long ago, what is left to throw away? One writer answers that the sin was held down, not killed.
The Jews have long and completely laid aside idolatry... The iniquity was only suppressed and shifted for the time. It is only held down, not destroyed or rooted out... Idolatry will surely come back. It will come back not only among the Christianised Gentiles, but among the Jews, little as they may expect it. It is a settled truth of Scripture that the mere absence of evil is never deliverance from its power. An empty, swept, or even decorated condition in itself means no final escape.
The chapter does not end in ruin. One writer traces what this day makes room for.
It is the day when every refuge of lies shall be swept away, and all the emptiness 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 to 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 has brought it in.
- Made — the idols are silver and gold, shaped by the worshipper's own fingers. Judah's wealth became the raw material for its rivals to God.
- Suppressed — idolatry pushed out of sight is not idolatry destroyed. The absence of an evil is never freedom from its power, and it will come back.
- Terrified — grace preached does not break the hold of these images. The day of the Lord does, when men run to the rocks in fear of the Lord and before the glory of His majesty.
- Discarded — where the idols end up shows what they are worth: dark, foul caves with the moles and the bats. The owners themselves do the throwing.
- Exalted — when the idols go, the Lord alone stands exalted. The judgment that clears them away opens the way for blessing just as wide.
to go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the fissures of the cliffs, from before the terror of Jehovah, and from the glory of his majesty, when he shall arise to terrify the earth.
For the second time in three verses, Isaiah shows people running into cracks in the rocks as the LORD rises. The repeat presses three questions: when does this happen, what does God destroy, and where can anyone hide?
Commentators say this scene has not happened yet. Kelly rules out two familiar answers from the past, and rules out the gospel too.
You need only read this passage in a believing spirit to convince any fair mind of one thing. 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… The idols will completely pass away, and men will go into caves and holes from before the terror of the LORD and from the glory of His majesty, when He rises to shake the earth mightily. All of it will come true when Christ appears, not before.
The chapter has promised a time of blessing. How does that blessing arrive?
The rest of the chapter shows how this time of blessing comes in. Is it by grace proclaimed? No, by fearful judgments carried out. "The day of the LORD" comes, destroying the pride of man… This terrible shaking of the earth brings the pride of man down. The result is that "the LORD alone will be exalted in that day."
One writer lists what this day falls upon. It is everything people have used to crowd God out.
The day of the Lord will be upon everything that has served the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, 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 fed the self-exaltation that has marked man all along, and marks him more and more now.
The rush to the rocks is also the moment people throw their idols away. One writer sees every false refuge collapse, and a door opening to blessing.
It is the day when God sweeps away every refuge of lies and exposes the emptiness of man's thoughts… The people who were slaves to their idols will fling them to the moles and to the bats… Then the way is open for blessing, as wide as the judgment that brought it in.
Some readers object that idol worship died out long ago. Kelly answers that evil pushed out of sight has not gone away:
Idolatry is only held down, not destroyed or uprooted. God will judge it in that day… Idolatry will certainly reappear… It is an unchanging truth of Scripture that the mere absence of evil is never a deliverance from its power.
Running for cover is not new. One writer traces it back to the garden and forward to a day when kings and rich men do the same.
Adam and Eve disobeyed the word of God. They were afraid, so they tried to hide from His presence among the trees of the garden of Eden (Gen. 3:8, 10). People will try the same useless hiding on a huge scale in the future. Kings and great men and rich men will call on the mountains and rocks to fall on them and hide them from the face of the One sitting on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb (Rev. 6:15-16).
If the rocks are no shelter, where should a person go? One writer answers plainly.
There is wrath coming upon the world, but God has made a hiding-place for you. Isaiah spoke of it: "a man will be like a hiding place from the wind." If you want shelter from the wrath to come, you will find it in Christ. You will find Him an ark of refuge. Noah was warned by God about things not yet seen, and in fear he built an ark to save his household. But a judgment is coming that no wooden ark could shelter you from. Where will you find a hiding place in that day? God has prepared a shelter from that storm. Where is it? It is Christ at the right hand of God.
- Pride is the target of the day — not one nation's sin, but man's self-exaltation and everything built to shut God out.
- Idols go next, flung to the moles and the bats. Idolatry pushed out of sight is only held down, and it comes back to face judgment.
- Rocks become the refuge people run to. Kings and rich men panic like everyone else — the reflex Adam showed among the trees, now worldwide.
- Timing is still ahead. No past disaster did this, and preaching will not do it. It waits for Christ's appearing.
- Shelter is the one thing the cliffs cannot give. God has made a hiding place from the coming wrath, and it is Christ.
Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils; for what account is to be made of him?
Isaiah 2 describes a day when God humbles everything proud and the Lord alone is exalted. The chapter then closes with one short command about where people place their confidence. Two questions press: which "man" is meant, and what does it look like to stop counting on him?
This is not general advice about people. It points to a coming day, and to what a man is worth on it.
It is not yet eternity but the age to come when the idols shall utterly pass away and Jehovah alone shall be exalted. The word, therefore, is "Cease from man, whose breath is in his nostrils, for what is he worth?" (v. 22). Man as such is not able to keep his own life-breath, still less to keep others in that day. Everything must depend on the sovereign pleasure of Him whose glory will no longer be hidden. His will is then to be displayed in righteousness.
The verse has puzzled translators. Some have read it as a warning against leaning on Christ, or even on God. Kelly rejects both readings. He quotes an older translation, which reads "Cease from man" where the ESV has "Stop regarding man."
The sense seems simple to me, though many translators and commentators miss it. It is not Christ, nor man in Christ, that is meant, but man in nature, man self-exalting and yet idol-loving. "Cease from man, whose breath is in his nostrils (easily snuffed out, therefore, as far as life here is concerned): for what is he worth?" The man whose pride and idolatry will meet such a striking doom in the day of the Lord can never be a support to rest on. On the other hand, 2 Chronicles 35:21 has a different subject, so the English translators had to change the wording there. The sense there is not at all "cease from leaning on God," but, as the English version rightly has it, "hold back from meddling with God." It is a question of context, not of Hebrew.
If the warning only covered obviously wicked people, it would be easy to keep. Kelly applies it instead to Moses at the rock, where the meekest of men lost his temper with the people.
The people were extremely ungrateful and in revolt. Provoked by this, Moses "spoke rashly with his lips." "Hear now, you rebels; shall we bring water for you out of this rock?" Who asked this of him? Moses was overcome by evil instead of overcoming evil with good. The man who had so long lived as the meekest of men failed completely in that very respect at the last… "Cease from man whose breath is in his nostrils; for what is he worth?"
The verse shuts one source of confidence so that another can open. Pollock traces that turn back to Adam and Christ.
Adam, as God made him, was a picture of Christ; as he made himself in his fall, he becomes a contrast to Christ… Never was a finer man placed in finer circumstances than Adam — yet he fell. As fallen, he became the head of a race of men like himself. What can come from such a source? If the fountain is polluted we shall not expect clean water to flow from it. Let us once and for all "cease from man whose breath is in his nostrils," and turn to Him in whom alone perfection beyond compare dwells.
This mistake is common and easy to make. It looks like resting our weight on someone who cannot hold it.
How instructive all this is! What a sad mistake it is to lean on human strength! And yet how prone we all are to do so in one way or another! We lean on our fellow-mortal instead of leaning on the living God, and in the end we find we have been trusting a broken reed. "Confidence in an unfaithful man in time of trouble is like a broken tooth, or a foot out of joint."
- Setting: The command closes a chapter about the day of the Lord. On that day God humbles everything lifted up, and He alone is exalted.
- Reason: Breath in the nostrils is easily snuffed out. A man who cannot keep his own life cannot hold up yours.
- Target: The warning aims at man in his natural state — self-exalting and idol-loving. It does not aim at Christ, or at man in Christ.
- Reach: It covers the best of men too. Even Moses, the meekest, failed at the rock.
- Result: Ceasing from man is not despair but redirection. Turn to the One in whom perfection beyond compare dwells.