“Israel is full of silver and gold; there is no end to its treasures. Their land is full of warhorses; there is no end to its chariots. Their land is full of idols; the people worship things they have made with their own hands. So now they will be humbled, and all will be brought low— do not forgive them. Crawl into caves in the rocks. Hide in the dust from the terror of the Lord and the glory of his majesty. Human pride will be brought down, and human arrogance will be humbled. Only the Lord will be exalted on that day of judgment.”
Isaiah 2:7-11 NLT
Isaiah’s prophecy continues with a statement about the materialistic nation that Israel had become. Silver and gold, and treasure reveal that prosperity abounds, and they lack nothing. Warhorses and chariots define a nation that relies more on its own abilities than on God. Such a military buildup was forbidden by God, as we read in Deuteronomy 17:16, “The king must not build up a large stable of horses for himself or send his people to Egypt to buy horses, for the Lord has told you, ‘You must never return to Egypt’”. The plethora of idols, handmade figures that skewed and violated their desire to worship, sealed the fate of the people. Of course, such idolatry is still alive and well today, with people worshipping their own achievements, ingenuity, and cultural creations instead of the Creator, and that includes even Christians.
But there is a time of payback coming, Isaiah warned. The “people” include all levels of the Israelite society, and none will escape the judgement that is to come. Pride and arrogance displayed by the people through their materialism and military might will disappear and will be replaced by humility, fear and terror, as the Lord and His glory appear on “that day of judgement”.
Isaiah’s prophecy preceded the demise of Judah in 586 BC, and the people were exiled to a foreign land, Babylonia. The exile took place in three waves, the first in 605 BC, when royal hostages, including Daniel, were exiled. The second wave took place in 597 BC, when thousands of skilled craftsmen were removed from Judah. Finally, in 586 BC, the remaining people were exiled, and the temple was destroyed by the invading army. They could never say that they had received no warning! What happened to their silver, gold and treasure? Or their warhorses and chariots? Or even their idols? None of them mattered in a foreign land, where they mourned the loss of their native land. Psalm 137:1-2, 4, “Beside the rivers of Babylon, we sat and wept as we thought of Jerusalem. We put away our harps, hanging them on the branches of poplar trees. … But how can we sing the songs of the Lord while in a pagan land?” A bit late to mourn what they had lost?
Under the Mosaic covenant, God’s judgement took place within a generation or two, but in the New Covenant judgement will be before a Great White Throne at a time we call “the Day of the Lord”. But the warning in Isaiah’s prophecy still stands today. Pride, arrogance and idolatry will one day be judged, and God will deal with such sins in accordance with His Word. The Israelites were humbled by their experience of exile, and they tried to hide in the dust and amongst the rocks, hoping to avoid what was about to happen to them, as the fear and terror of the Lord overwhelmed them. In Revelation 6:15-17 we read, “Then everyone—the kings of the earth, the rulers, the generals, the wealthy, the powerful, and every slave and free person—all hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains. And they cried to the mountains and the rocks, ‘Fall on us and hide us from the face of the one who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb. For the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to survive?’” A time of terror where none escaped “from the terror of the Lord and the glory of his majesty”.
Isaiah concluded our verses today with, “Human pride will be brought down, and human arrogance will be humbled. Only the Lord will be exalted on that day of judgment”. This verse hangs over time as a stark warning that humanity will come to nothing in the face of the Lord’s judgement. Every great man and woman on earth may try to present their wonderful and creative exploits before God, but they will be of no consequence, because one day “… at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:10-11).
The Apostle James wrote, “… As the Scriptures say, ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’ So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. … Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honour” (James 4:6-7, 10). We pilgrims must always evaluate ourselves, asking God to shine His light into our very souls. And then we must deal with any pride and arrogance that we find there. There is no other way.
Dear Heavenly Father. Thank You for Your grace and patience. We have a tendency to rely on our own abilities instead of on You. Please forgive us, we pray, and teach us Your ways, day by day. Amen.
Being a Pilgrim 