Isaiah 2:6 ¶
Therefore thou hast forsaken thy people the house of Jacob, because they
be replenished from the east, and are soothsayers like the Philistines,
and they please themselves in the children of strangers. 7 Their land also is full of silver and gold,
neither is there any end of their treasures; their land is also full of
horses, neither is there any end of their chariots: 8 Their land also is full of idols; they
worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made:
9 And the mean man boweth down, and the
great man humbleth himself: therefore forgive them not.
Because the Jews had forsaken God, Isaiah
writes that God has forsaken them. The reason is their idolatry which they
continue to learn from the so-called wise men of the east whether they be
Syrians or Chaldeans from Babylon, acting no different from the Philistines.
They were enraptured by foreign philosophy and idol-worship.
Daniel 4:7
Then came in the magicians, the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the
soothsayers: and I told the dream before them; but they did not make known unto
me the interpretation thereof.
1Samuel 6:2
And the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners, saying,
What shall we do to the ark of the LORD? tell us wherewith we shall send it to
his place.
They have become wealthy and powerful but
their land is full of idols made by human hands. They have rejected the God who
created them, much like most Americans today. The common man and the great men
of the land worship these false idols and are not worthy of forgiveness.
Isaiah, in fact, pleads with God not to forgive them.
Isaiah 2:10 ¶
Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for fear of the LORD,
and for the glory of his majesty. 11 The
lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and 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 be
upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is
lifted up; and he shall be brought low: 13
And upon all the cedars of Lebanon, that are high and lifted up,
and upon all the oaks of Bashan, 14 And
upon all the high mountains, and upon all the hills that are lifted up,
15 And upon every high tower, and upon
every fenced wall, 16 And upon all the
ships of Tarshish, and upon all pleasant pictures. 17 And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down,
and the haughtiness of men shall be made low: and the LORD alone shall be
exalted in that day. 18 And the idols he
shall utterly abolish. 19 And they shall
go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of
the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly
the earth. 20 In that day a man shall
cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which they made each one
for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats; 21 To go into the clefts of the rocks, and into
the tops of the ragged rocks, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his
majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth. 22 Cease ye from man, whose breath is in
his nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted of?
See
here a connection in Isaiah, chapter 2, with the second book of the Bible,
Exodus. Consider this passage and compare it to Exodus 33.
Exodus
33:21 And the LORD said, Behold, there
is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock: 22 And it shall come to pass, while my glory
passeth by, that I will put thee in a clift of the rock, and will cover thee
with my hand while I pass by: 23 And I
will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but my face shall
not be seen.
Compare also Isaiah 2:20 to Exodus 20:23 Ye shall not make with me gods of silver,
neither shall ye make unto you gods of gold.
Starting in verse 10 of Isaiah 2, look ahead
to the events of Revelation.
Revelation 6:15 And the kings of the earth, and the great
men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every
bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the
mountains; 16 And said to the mountains
and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the
throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: 17
For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?
He threatens to pour out His wrath and fury
on them.
The proud and high looks, the lofty looks, of
a man, consider the Antichrist, will be brought down.
2Thessalonians 2:4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all
that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the
temple of God, shewing himself that he is God…8
And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with
the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
The kingdoms of the world will become the
LORD’s, the LORD alone.
Zechariah 14:9 And the LORD shall be king over all the
earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one.
Revelation 11:15 And the seventh angel sounded; and there were
great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the
kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.
God’s enemies will burn like an oven, like
stubble.
Malachi 4:1 ¶
For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the
proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh
shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither
root nor branch.
So, you can see here how the immediate
context is a threat toward a backsliding Israel but that you can easily project
this ahead to the end of human history as outlined in Revelation.
Revelation 19:18 That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the
flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of
them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small
and great. 19 And I saw the beast, and
the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against
him that sat on the horse, and against his army. 20 And the beast was taken, and with him the
false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them
that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image.
These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.
21 And
the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which
sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their
flesh.
Are the hills and mountains in verse 14 like
the islands and mountains in Revelations references to geography or to
institutions or structures created by man? Think of types and metaphors.
Revelation 16:20 And every island fled away, and the mountains
were not found.
Thoughts are repeated in this passage in
Isaiah which bring to mind other verses.
Philippians 2:11 And that every tongue should confess that
Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
And the idols men worship will be destroyed.
We have many idols that aren’t made of stone or wood such as money,
entertainment, status, and pleasures among other things.
Zechariah 13:2 And it shall come to pass in that day, saith
the LORD of hosts, that I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land,
and they shall no more be remembered: and also I will cause the prophets and
the unclean spirit to pass out of the land.
1Corinthians 8:4 ¶ As concerning therefore the eating of those
things that are offered in sacrifice unto idols, we know that an idol is
nothing in the world, and that there is none other God but one.
Men will hide in fear and terror. I’ve
already given the references in Revelation.
The man in verse 22 can be likened to the
Beast of Revelation, whom we call the Antichrist. Don’t trust in human leaders
as types of this person. They are, after all, only men.
Psalm 118:8
It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man. 9 It is better to trust in the LORD than to put
confidence in princes.
Isaiah 31:3
Now the Egyptians are men, and not God; and their horses flesh, and not
spirit. When the LORD shall stretch out his hand, both he that helpeth shall
fall, and he that is holpen shall fall down, and they all shall fail together.
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