… The Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. Isaiah 2:11, 17
Chapters 2-4. Judgment Described (Second Sermon)
Isaiah looks ahead to the last days (2:1) and sees the judgments through which the Lord will finally purify his people. Three themes are emphasized in this description of the distant future.
Holiness Restored; 2:1-5. God’s temple dominates the skyline of a purified Jerusalem. There, where he is again exalted in holiness, the people of the whole world will eagerly assemble to learn his ways (2-3). Then the world will know peace.
The Day of the Lord; 2:1-4:1. This phrase, with “that day,” is used some 45 itmes by Isaiah. In each case it seems to mark out a time of judgment as history reaches a climax. Now Isaiah describes the dark night of intense suffering that precedes the dawning of holiness.
Isaiah envisions an era of material prosperity but moral bankruptcy (2:8-9). He warns the people of that time to hide from the splendor of the Lord, who is about to humble the proud (2:10-18). In the day that God acts to judge the arrogant, the earth itself will shake and the lands shatter (2:19-22). In the collapse of that time men will turn against each other, snarling among the ruins of a fallen Jerusalem (3:1-9). God will act then to guard the godly (3:10), but the wicked will experience death and disaster, for it is God himself who enters into judgment with his unholy people (3:11-15). The women, too, so haughty in their rich clothing, will be stripped and destitute (3:16-4:1). Thus judgment will shatter every human illusion.
Their land is also full of idols; They worship the work of their own hands, That which their own fingers have made. People bow down, And each man humbles himself; Therefore do not forgive them. 2:8-9
2:4 Plowshares probably means “hoes.” One glorious day there will be an end to all weapons, an end to all warfare. This will be possible only because of the reign of the Prince of Peace, the Savior King whose name is Jesus.
He shall judge between the nations, And rebuke many people; They shall beat their swords into plowshares, And their spears into pruning hooks; Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, Neither shall they learn war anymore.
2:11 Lofty looks are the outer manifestation of proud hearts. The refrain the Lord alone shall be exalted highlights the theme of this prophecy and describes the coming, glorious revelation of the risen and exalted Savior King. In that day the Savior will be exalted above all other proud contenders.
The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, The haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, And the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day.
2:11-12. The Day of the Lord. This phrase with its shorter version, “that day” occurs often in the OT prophets. It always identifies a critical period of time during which God personally intervenes in history, directly or indirectly, to accomplish a specific purpose which fulfills His announced plan for the ages. Most often the events of “that day” take place at history’s end, as in Isa. 7:18-25. Most often, but not always, judgment is described. Thus Zephaniah says, “That day will be a day of wrath, a day of distress and anguish, a day of trouble and ruin, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness.
The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, The haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, And the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. For the day of the Lord of hosts Shall come upon everything proud and lofty, Upon everything lifted up– And it shall be brought low-
2:16 The ships of Tarshish were large oceangoing vessels – prized objects which the arrogant made and considered to be more important than God.
Upon all the ships of Tarshish, And upon all the beautiful sloops.
2:22 Sever yourselves: Since God will reject proud idolaters, it follows that the faithful should also reject them. How ludicrous to trust in transitory, impermanent man, whose breath is in his nostrils, instead of in the One who gives everyone breath.
Sever yourselves from such a man, Whose breath is in his nostrils; For of what account is he?
Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted of? KJV
⇒ People say there will be peace and safety soon. However, in we learn in this chapter that the world will know peace only when holiness is restored. So we wait and prepare ourselves for that day. We must sever ourselves from those who put their trust in human leaders.
The LORD’s Universal Reign of Peace
2 1 The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. 2 Now it shall come to pass in the latter days That the mountain of the Lord’s house Shall be established on the top of the mountains, And shall be exalted above the hills; And all nations shall flow to it. 3 Many people shall come and say, “Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, To the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, And we shall walk in His paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth the law, And the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. 4 He shall judge between the nations, And rebuke many people; They shall beat their swords into plowshares, And their spears into pruning hooks; Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, Neither shall they learn war anymore.
The LORD’s Judgment on the Proud
5 O house of Jacob, come and let us walk In the light of the Lord.
6 For You have forsaken Your people, the house of Jacob, Because they are filled with eastern ways; They are soothsayers like the Philistines, And they are pleased with the children of foreigners. 7 Their land is also full of silver and gold, And there is no end to their treasures; Their land is also full of horses, And there is no end to their chariots. 8 Their land is also full of idols; They worship the work of their own hands, That which their own fingers have made. 9 People bow down, And each man humbles himself; Therefore do not forgive them.
10 Enter into the rock, and hide in the dust, From the terror of the Lord And the glory of His majesty. 11 The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, The haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, And the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. 12 For the day of the Lord of hosts Shall come upon everything proud and lofty, Upon everything lifted up– And it shall be brought low– 13 Upon all the cedars of Lebanon that are high and lifted up, And upon all the oaks of Bashan; 14 Upon all the high mountains, And upon all the hills that are lifted up; 15 Upon every high tower, And upon every fortified wall; 16 Upon all the ships of Tarshish, And upon all the beautiful sloops. 17 The loftiness of man shall be bowed down, And the haughtiness of men shall be brought low; The Lord alone will be exalted in that day, 18 But the idols He shall utterly abolish. 19 They shall go into the holes of the rocks, And into the caves of the earth, From the terror of the Lord And the glory of His majesty, When He arises to shake the earth mightily. 20 In that day a man will cast away his idols of silver And his idols of gold, Which they made, each for himself to worship, To the moles and bats, 21 To go into the clefts of the rocks, And into the crags of the rugged rocks, From the terror of the Lord And the glory of His majesty, When He arises to shake the earth mightily. 22 Sever yourselves from such a man, Whose breath is in his nostrils; For of what account is he?
