Isaiah 2:10 - Meaning and Application

The prophet goes on to show what kind of ruin will come on their land when God has left them. This may point especially to the destruction first brought by the Chaldeans and later by the Romans, but it also fits the way God humbles proud sinners. He often strips away what people love and trust more than him, so they stop taking pride in it.

Here God warns that he will, in time, startle secure sinners, those who say peace to themselves and challenge God and his judgments (Isaiah 2:10). He tells them to go into the rock, because God will come with such terrifying judgments that they will be driven to hide in the dust, trembling with fear of the Lord. Their courage will fail, they will shake at the smallest sound, and they will flee even when no one is chasing them (Luke 21:26; Proverbs 28:1). The same picture appears later in this chapter, where people hide in caves and holes in the ground, or call on the rocks and mountains to fall on them rather than leave them exposed (Isaiah 2:19; Hosea 10:8). This was seen in a special way when Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans (Luke 23:30) and when the pagan powers that persecuted believers were judged (Revelation 6:16).

All this comes from fear of the Lord and the glory of his majesty. They will then see him as a consuming fire, and themselves as stubble before him, when he rises to shake the earth terribly and to shake the wicked out of it (Job 38:13). He will also shake all the earthly supports on which they leaned, so their false security will collapse. God’s majesty is fearful, and sooner or later it will make every person flee before him. Those who will not fear God and run to him for mercy will be forced to fear him and flee from him to some false refuge.

It is foolish for people chased by God’s wrath to think they can escape it or hide from it. The things of this earth can be shaken, because they are not secure and are moving toward an end. That shaking will be dreadful for anyone who has set all their heart on earthly things. And when the earth itself is being shaken, there will be no safe shelter in caves or holes in the ground. Then there will be no refuge except in God and in the things above.

The prophet also says that proud sinners will be brought low, especially those who look down on others and think highly of themselves (Isaiah 2:11). Their proud looks will be humbled, and the expression on their faces will be brought down in shame and despair. Their haughtiness will be bowed down, their spirits will be broken, and they will be ashamed of the things they once boasted in. This is repeated again in verse 17, where the loftiness of man is said to be bowed down. Pride always falls in one way or another. People either humble themselves by God’s grace, which shows them the evil of pride and teaches them humility, or God humbles them by taking away the things they were proud of.

The reason for this is plain, the Lord alone will be exalted. Proud people are brought low so that God may be magnified. It honors his power, because by humbling the proud he shows that he alone is God. It also honors his justice, because proud people set themselves against him, and God will not allow anyone to take the glory that belongs to him alone. They resist him, so he resists them. He will be exalted among the nations (Psalm 46:10), and the day is coming when he alone will be exalted, after he has put down every opposing rule, authority, and power (1 Corinthians 15:24).

This will happen through humbling judgments that break people down and bring them low (Isaiah 2:12). The day of the Lord of hosts, the day of his anger and judgment, will come on everyone who is proud. God now laughs at their insolence because he sees that his day is coming, and it will overtake them before they expect it (Psalm 37:13). This day of the Lord is said to be upon the cedars of Lebanon, those tall and noble trees. Jerome notes that the cedars are called God’s trees, even though his wrath falls on them, showing that some people of every rank will be saved and some will perish.

The same judgment is then said to be on the cedars, the oaks of Bashan, the high mountains and lofty hills, and the high towers and fortified walls (Isaiah 2:14-15). These can be understood as pictures of proud people themselves, who see themselves as strong and unmovable, like cedars and oaks, and look on others as if they were only shrubs. They may seem like high mountains that everyone notices, but they are the very ones most exposed to God’s thunder. The highest hills are the ones most struck by lightning. Before God’s wrath, those mountains are scattered and those hills bow and melt like wax (Habakkuk 3:6; Psalm 68:8). So also, those loud, boastful people, like high towers with bells and cannon on them, and those who trust in their own hardiness like fenced walls, will be brought down.

These images also point to the things people are proud of and trust in. The day of the Lord will come on the very things they count as their strength and safety, and he will strip away the armor in which they trusted. If the people of Lebanon boasted in their cedars, and the people of Bashan in their oaks, which no other land could match, the day of the Lord would break those cedars and oaks, and the houses built from them.

Did Jerusalem boast in the mountains around it, as if they were strong defenses, or in its walls and fortresses? In the day of the Lord, all of that would be torn down and brought low. They also took pride in things that made them feel safe and strong.

They were proud of their trade overseas, but the day of the Lord would come on all the ships of Tarshish. Those ships would be broken, just as Jehoshaphat’s ships were, sinking at sea or wrecked in harbor. Zebulun was a haven for ships, but now it would no longer rejoice in its trade. When God brings ruin on a people, he can strike every part of their income.

They were also proud of their decorations at home. The day of the Lord would come on all pleasant pictures, whether that means the painted parts of their ships, or the fine paintings they brought home from other lands, perhaps from Greece, which later became known for its painters. Some take the phrase to mean everything that is beautiful to look at. These may have been pictures of family members, and so dear to them, or of their gods, which were pleasant to idolaters because they fed their false worship.

There is nothing wrong with making pictures or decorating a room with them, as long as this does not break the second or seventh commandment. But when people count their pictures among their “pleasant things,” grow fond of them, become proud of them, spend money on them that should have gone to charity, and set their hearts on them, they invite God’s judgment. It is a poor use of the heart, especially when there are so many better things to enjoy.

The Lord also meant to shame idolaters and destroy the affection and respect they gave to their idols. “The idols he shall utterly abolish” means that when the Lord alone is lifted up, he will not only humble proud people, like Pharaoh who set himself against him, but also put down false gods, who compete with him for worship. They will be wiped out completely. Their friends will leave them, or their enemies will smash them, so that nothing remains of them.

This shows the emptiness of false gods. They cannot even protect themselves, much less protect those who worship them. It also shows the triumph of the true God over all rivals, for truth is great and will prevail. Dagon fell before the ark, and Baal fell before the Lord God of Elijah. The gods of the nations will starve and slowly disappear (Zephaniah 2:11; Jeremiah 10:11). The rightful King will win over every false claim.

When God destroys idols, their worshipers will also abandon them. Some will do this because they are finally convinced that the idols are empty and false, like Ephraim when he said, “What do I still have to do with idols?” Others will do it because they have seen, too late, that the idols cannot help them, and they despair of any rescue from them (Isaiah 2:20). When people are driven by God’s judgments into the caves and holes of the rocks, and still cannot save themselves, they will throw away their idols. They will cast them to the moles and bats, out of sight, so they can hurry into the rock shelters in fear of the Lord (Isaiah 2:21).

Those who will not be talked out of their sins will sooner or later be scared out of them. God can make people hate the very idols they once loved most, even silver and gold, the most prized of all. Greedy people make silver and gold their idols, their money their god. But a time may come when they feel money is more of a burden than a help. It may fail them in danger, sink their ship, or slow their escape. At times, sailors have thrown cargo into the sea to save themselves (Jonah 1:5; Acts 27:38), and the Syrians cast off their clothing in panic (2 Kings 7:15). People may also throw away money in anger at themselves for trusting a broken support (Ezekiel 7:19).

These idolaters throw away their idols because they are ashamed of them and ashamed of their own foolish trust. Or they do it because they fear being found with them when God’s judgments are abroad, like a thief throwing away stolen goods when he is being searched. The darkest places, where moles and bats live, are the right place for idols, since they have eyes and do not see. God can force people to throw their idols there when they are ashamed of the oaks they once desired (Isaiah 30:22; Isaiah 1:29). Moab will be ashamed of Chemosh, just as the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel (Jeremiah 48:13).

Yet it is possible for sin to be hated and left behind without real repentance. A person may hate a sin because he has had too much of it, or leave it because he no longer has the chance to do it, and still not truly repent. Real repentance means turning from sin out of love for God, not just fear of punishment.

The prophet also warns those who trust in human strength. “Stop trusting in man” means the judgments of God themselves should teach this lesson, so it is wise to learn it before shame and disappointment come. Man is weak, because his breath is in his nostrils and can be gone at any moment. He is a dying creature, and death may come quickly. His nostrils are only a small part of the body, as if life were waiting at the door to leave. In fact, the breath in them can slip away before we notice. So what is man worth? He is not what he seems, not what he claims to be, and not what we imagine him to be. He is less than nothing, lighter than vanity when weighed rightly.

For that reason, it is wise to stop trusting in man. It is our duty, and it is for our own good. Do not put your trust in any person, not even the greatest. Do not look to human power as your hope, because it is limited and borrowed. Do not let man be your fear or your confidence. Instead, look to God’s power, since all human power is under him and depends on him. Fear his wrath, seek his favor, take him as your help, and let your hope be in the Lord your God.