Isa 2:12-22 | KingComments | STEP | The judgment is inevitable, because they have forgotten their Rock, the LORD ( ), and replaced Him with idols. Because of the “terror of the LORD”, that is of His Person, and “the splendor of His majesty”, that is of His radiance ( ), they are now called to resort to the natural rocks. ‘The splendor of his majesty’ is a favorite expression of the Assyrians who use it for themselves. But the use of this expression belongs exclusively to the LORD. The Assyrians must hide “in the dust”, the substance from which they have been formed and where they belong, because they have robbed the honor of their Former and banned Him from their lives. Here, as in so many other places in this book, we find the going together of the judgment through the Assyrian invasion, the disciplinary rod in the hand of God for His people, and the judgment in the last days, shortly before the thousand years of peace. In both cases the pride of man is humiliated and the LORD alone will be exalted ( ). Here people are forced to humiliate themselves. John the baptist, however, humbles himself voluntarily . This is evident from his words: “He must increase, but I must decrease” ( ). Every knee will bow in the Name of Jesus ( ), either now voluntarily out of love for Him, or in the future forced with acknowledgment of His majesty. The more we humble ourselves, the more room the Lord is given to make Himself visible in us, so that people will glorify Him in us. From we are moved to the second coming of the Lord Jesus, which is His coming as Messiah for His people and as Judge of the whole earth. When He comes to execute righteousness on earth, the valuations that man holds will be reversed. The things that people have considered valuable up to that point will then become unimportant to them, and what they have previously considered to be side issues will then become main issues. He comes as “the LORD of hosts” ( ), a name Isaiah uses more than 60 times for God. It is a military name, indicating the military power and strength of God. When this almighty LORD comes with His armies, nothing can stand against Him. The opposition is shown in the following verses in symbols and in various other ways. “The day of the LORD” indicates a period in which the Lord Jesus – He is the LORD – will exercise all authority given to Him by the Father ( ; ). It is the day when He openly turns against all self-glorification of man and against all idols. It is the day when everything will come to light and be judged by Him ( ). Then He fulfills the word He has spoken on earth: “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled” ( ). The expression “the day of the LORD” is further explained in detail in Isaiah 13 ( ). When the Lord Jesus appears for the second time, He will first execute judgment on all man’s pride. In Isaiah uses seven examples from nature and society to describe what the LORD will act against. The trees as “cedars” and “oaks” ( ) can be seen as symbols of the leaders, such as kings and princes, of the nations who will rise up against the Jews at the end of time. “The lofty mountains” and “the hills that are lifted up” ( ) represent large and small earthly powers, nations that exalt themselves above other nations. They have built high towers and fortified walls ( ) to defend themselves against possible attacks. They also trade by sea to increase their economic power ( ). This wealth also includes “beautiful craft”, a unique expression in Hebrew derived from the word “image”, where we can think of the power of entertainment and the visual culture of our time. When the LORD appears, man’s self-exaltation will have to give way to the exaltation of the LORD. They will not be able to maintain their pride, but will be bowed down with irresistible power. In that day “the LORD alone will be exalted” ( ). And what happens to the idols they have now put their hopes in and expect their salvation from ( )? They “will completely vanish”. With that everything is said about their fate. The idols are the root of the calamity that is coming over them. They have left the LORD and replaced Him with the idols ( elilim , see explanation of ). In just three words what happens to them is shown as in a flash. Literally it says: “Nullities to nothing.” They are worthless and will disappear altogether. If only the Lord Jesus has the say in our life, if we exalt Him alone, no form of idolatry will get a foothold with us ( ).

‏ Isaiah 2:12-22

The LORD Against All Pride

The judgment is inevitable, because they have forgotten their Rock, the LORD (Isa 17:10a), and replaced Him with idols. Because of the “terror of the LORD”, that is of His Person, and “the splendor of His majesty”, that is of His radiance (Isa 2:10), they are now called to resort to the natural rocks.

‘The splendor of his majesty’ is a favorite expression of the Assyrians who use it for themselves. But the use of this expression belongs exclusively to the LORD. The Assyrians must hide “in the dust”, the substance from which they have been formed and where they belong, because they have robbed the honor of their Former and banned Him from their lives.

Here, as in so many other places in this book, we find the going together of the judgment through the Assyrian invasion, the disciplinary rod in the hand of God for His people, and the judgment in the last days, shortly before the thousand years of peace. In both cases the pride of man is humiliated and the LORD alone will be exalted (Isa 2:11).

Here people are forced to humiliate themselves. John the baptist, however, humbles himself voluntarily. This is evident from his words: “He must increase, but I must decrease” (Jn 3:30). Every knee will bow in the Name of Jesus (Phil 2:10), either now voluntarily out of love for Him, or in the future forced with acknowledgment of His majesty. The more we humble ourselves, the more room the Lord is given to make Himself visible in us, so that people will glorify Him in us.

From Isa 2:12 we are moved to the second coming of the Lord Jesus, which is His coming as Messiah for His people and as Judge of the whole earth. When He comes to execute righteousness on earth, the valuations that man holds will be reversed. The things that people have considered valuable up to that point will then become unimportant to them, and what they have previously considered to be side issues will then become main issues.

He comes as “the LORD of hosts” (Isa 2:12), a name Isaiah uses more than 60 times for God. It is a military name, indicating the military power and strength of God. When this almighty LORD comes with His armies, nothing can stand against Him. The opposition is shown in the following verses in symbols and in various other ways.

“The day of the LORD” indicates a period in which the Lord Jesus – He is the LORD – will exercise all authority given to Him by the Father (Mt 28:18; Jn 13:3a). It is the day when He openly turns against all self-glorification of man and against all idols. It is the day when everything will come to light and be judged by Him (Jn 5:22 ; 27). Then He fulfills the word He has spoken on earth: “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled” (Lk 14:11a). The expression “the day of the LORD” is further explained in detail in Isaiah 13 (Isa 13:6-13).

When the Lord Jesus appears for the second time, He will first execute judgment on all man’s pride. In Isa 2:13-16 Isaiah uses seven examples from nature and society to describe what the LORD will act against. The trees as “cedars” and “oaks” (Isa 2:13) can be seen as symbols of the leaders, such as kings and princes, of the nations who will rise up against the Jews at the end of time.

“The lofty mountains” and “the hills that are lifted up” (Isa 2:14) represent large and small earthly powers, nations that exalt themselves above other nations. They have built high towers and fortified walls (Isa 2:15) to defend themselves against possible attacks. They also trade by sea to increase their economic power (Isa 2:16). This wealth also includes “beautiful craft”, a unique expression in Hebrew derived from the word “image”, where we can think of the power of entertainment and the visual culture of our time.

When the LORD appears, man’s self-exaltation will have to give way to the exaltation of the LORD. They will not be able to maintain their pride, but will be bowed down with irresistible power. In that day “the LORD alone will be exalted” (Isa 2:17).

And what happens to the idols they have now put their hopes in and expect their salvation from (Isa 2:18)? They “will completely vanish”. With that everything is said about their fate. The idols are the root of the calamity that is coming over them. They have left the LORD and replaced Him with the idols (elilim, see explanation of Isa 2:8). In just three words what happens to them is shown as in a flash. Literally it says: “Nullities to nothing.” They are worthless and will disappear altogether.

If only the Lord Jesus has the say in our life, if we exalt Him alone, no form of idolatry will get a foothold with us (1Jn 5:21).

The Terror of the LORD

Then comes the moment that the LORD arises (Isa 2:19-21). What a frightening reaction that gives! Panic breaks out. All those little creatures who want to be like God will not hide among the trees in paradise (Gen 3:7-8), but flee into caves and underground holes (Isa 2:19). “Terror of the LORD”, that is of His Person, seizes them. “The splendor of His majesty”, that is His radiance, overwhelms them. For a long time it seemed that He did not interfere with the earth. He had no place anymore in man’s thinking. When He arises in His full greatness, they understand to their dismay that they have made a mistake and a strangling fear seizes them.

In the light of the splendor of His majesty, all their trust in their idols shrinks and disappears. “In that day” they will realize their deception, their uselessness and their worthlessness (Isa 2:20). “That day” is the day of the LORD (Isa 2:12), the day in complete contrast to the day of man. Man’s day is the present evil age in which God allows man to do his own will and to go his own way apart from Him.

With horror, “man”, and especially religious man, will “cast away” the so-called good works of his hands on which he has spent his good gold and silver, to “the moles and the bats”, those unclean animals. Those “idols” on whom they put their trust are now lying like old dirt between unclean moles and bats. Man discovers that having and carrying along all those world religions, such as islam, buddhism and hinduism, gives no advantage at all. On the contrary, dragging them along only causes run delays. Run is the watchword, and as quickly as possible. That is the end of their reliance on false religions.

They are chased in their run by “the terror of the LORD” and “the splendor of His majesty” (Isa 2:21). Once they have found a crevice or rift in the rocks, they will enter it to shelter themselves from the burnt anger of the LORD (Rev 6:12-17; Hos 10:8).

But “when He arises to make the earth tremble”, fleeing and hiding is a foolish, pointless, yes, laughable action. There is no escape, no more than there was for the first couple of men (Gen 3:8; Psa 139:7). Nothing will protect them from His anger. They cannot escape judgment. Man’s day comes to an inglorious, shameful end.

This is the end of the highly acclaimed culture and technique of the people and their efforts to make this world a safe place of rest. This is the end because they have ignored Him Who created everything to His own glory. Instead of rejoicing in Him, man has rejoiced in himself. Everything that has been given to him, he did not use to the glory of God, but to the glorification of himself. He has become proud, arrogant, and presumptuous of everything God has given him. That is why judgment comes on him.

Stop Regarding Man

The prophet summons them to stop regarding man, to no longer trust him (Psa 118:8-9). After all, who is man, that puny creature, opposite to the Almighty (Psa 104:29)?

By “man” is meant here in particular “the man of sin”, that is the man who wants to be like God (2Thes 2:4b), the antichrist, the false messiah. After his extraordinary deception by exercising power and signs and false wonders, he will be nullified by the Lord Jesus at His coming (2Thes 2:3 ; 8-9). His depravity is so obvious, that he will be thrown alive into hell without any form of trial (Rev 19:20).

In summary, we can say that the sin of idolatry – man who wants to be like God – is the consequence and the climax, expressed in the number six hundred and sixty-six (Rev 13:18), of man’s proudness and pride.