Isaiah 2: 13-18

¹³ And it will be against all the cedars of Lebanon that are lofty and lifted up,
Against all the oaks of Bashan,
¹⁴ Against all the lofty mountains,
Against all the hills that are lifted up,
¹⁵ Against every high tower,
Against every fortified wall,
¹⁶ Against all the ships of Tarshish
And against all the beautiful craft.
¹⁷ The pride of man will be humbled
And the loftiness of men will be abased;
And the LORD alone will be exalted in that day,
¹⁸ But the idols will completely vanish.

In poetic fashion, Isaiah expounds on the coming "day of reckoning." (vs 12) Last week, we read that it will come up "against everyone who is proud and lofty." It will not only come up against the people but against how His people have used His creation--it all falls under His judgment.

"IT WILL BE AGAINST....":


Verse 13: "the cedars of Lebanon...the oaks of Bashan"

• I recall looking at the cedars in studying Hosea. In Hosea 14:5, the prophet foretells the time of Israel's ultimate redemption, in which "...he will take root like the cedars of Lebanon." Amos 4:1 spoke of the cows of Bashan--a derogatory name given to Israel for its unholy behavior--in a richly fertile and prosperous land. The image is of mighty, unshakable, towering trees, "lofty and lifted up," not as God-created pillars of His making but as reflections of the status-consciousness of man with ill-seeded expectations.

Verse 14: "lofty mountains...hills that are lifted up"

• Contrast with this familiar memory verse from the Psalms: "I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth." (Psalm 121: 1 and 2, King James Version)

Verse 15: "every high tower...every fortified wall"

• "You are my strong tower, shelter over me." Jerusalem did not sing as Kutless, but regarded the building of its own magnificent towers as something worthy of praise. "Did Jerusalem glory in the mountains that were round about it, as its impregnable fortifications, or in its walls and bulwarks? These should be levelled and laid low in the day of the Lord." (Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Bible)

• An interesting find in looking at the Hebrew for the term "fortified wall." In addition to speaking of being of inaccessible height, the word comes from a root meaning "to clip off" as in "to gather grapes." This brings to mind a scene from the Day of the Lord, as revealed to John: 

"And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, and he also had a sharp sickle. Then another angel, the one who has power over fire, came out from the altar; and he called with a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, saying, 'Put in your sharp sickle and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth, because her grapes are ripe.' So the angel swung his sickle to the earth and gathered the clusters from the vine of the earth, and threw them into the great wine press of the wrath of God."

--Revelation 14: 17-19

Verse 16: "all the ships of Tarshish...the beautiful craft"

• Tarshish was located in southern Spain--all the way west across the Mediterranean Sea. There was lively and successful trade between all of Israel and points west. As a side note, do you remember a prophet who tried to go to Tarshish? Jonah, in his humanly efforts to escape his calling east to Nineveh, hopped a boat in the polar opposite direction to Tarshish. His disobedience cost him--reformed him, but cost him. Without the allegory, Judah should have known its own disobedience.

• In the King James', "beautiful craft" is translated "all the pleasant pictures." I had taken craft to mean another word for boat. How does this connect with pictures? It's open to interpretation. Matthew Henry postulates what some suggest, that 'pictures' refers to actual artwork that became coveted by its owner as a valuable possession. T. Lewis, writing in the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, offers this explanation: "'Pictures' stands for a slightly different word (but from the same root) in Isaiah...'imagery'...'watchtowers'. The prophet probably alludes to carved figures (of gods in animal or human shapes) on the prows of vessels.

That in which man places his pride--his idols (vs. 18)--will be humbled and abased, because God is in control over all things at all times. In His Day, He will be solely exalted, and all idols shall cease to be. Again, the Hebrew word for "vanish" in the NASB paints a much richer picture. It means a "whole burnt sacrifice, perfect, entire"--Strong's also uses the word holocaust.

In this Holy Week, we remember and reflect upon the act and ministry of One who knew no idols. He wept over this city that knew idols yet did not know Him. He came to give us salvation and understanding, to fulfill all the words of the law and the prophets, yet as a humble servant and not a lofty king. He came as the Word, and it is through Him that we make our pride vanish.

"Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves.... So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure."

--Philippians 2: 3, 12 and 13

"And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us understanding so that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life. Little children, guard yourselves from idols."

--I John 5: 20 and 21

Closing out Chapter 2.... 'Til next Wednesday!

Photo: vinodplaces.blogspot.com

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Next week: Isaiah 2: 19-22

Note: I read from the New American Standard Bible translation,
specifically, The MacArthur Study Bible (NASB).
I will quote other sources if used in a post.
I also use Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible
(with notes from the King James Version).

Isaiah 2: 10-12

 

¹⁰Enter the rock and hide in the dust

From the terror of the LORD and from the splendor of His majesty.
¹¹ The proud look of man will be abased
And the loftiness of man will be humbled,
And the LORD alone will be exalted in that day.

A Day of Reckoning Coming

 ¹² For the LORD of hosts will have a day of reckoning
Against everyone who is proud and lofty
And against everyone who is lifted up,
That he may be abased.

Pride. The Bible does not say that it's the root of all evil. But, man.... It's not a good thing! That strutting peacock above has become a symbol for pride--so beautiful, yet so outward showy and self-important. A tour through Psalms and Proverbs will fill you with references to the evils of pride. For example:

"The highway of the upright is to depart from evil;
He who watches his way preserves his life.
Pride goes before destruction,
And a haughty spirit before stumbling.
It is better to be humble in spirit with the lowly
Than to divide the spoil with the proud." 

--Proverbs 16: 17-19

Today's passage from Isaiah focuses on Judah's pride and the resulting "destruction" and "stumbling" to come. I've left the subhead from the NASB in place, though it might well have been placed beginning with verse 10, as the text focuses on a "day of reckoning" and, more specifically, what the prophets called "the Day of the Lord."


Judah's pride--its self-sufficiency in the face of God Almighty--was the cause of the Lord's consternation. The "proud look" and "loftiness" of man will "be abased" or "humbled." Verse 11 can also be more literally translated as the "eyes of the loftiness of men." We think of a loft being a place up high. Looking at the Hebrew, we get an expansion of that definition: "To be (causatively, make) lofty, especially inaccessible; by implication, safe, strong." [Strong's] The eyes of the nation were not on God but on surpassing God to the point of being inaccessible and utterly powerful. This could not, nor would ever, be and the outcome of their sinful "look" was not unknown.

"Pride will, one way or other, have a fall. Men’s haughtiness will be brought down, either by the grace of God convincing them of the evil of their pride, and clothing them with humility, or by the providence of God depriving them of all those things they were proud of and laying them low. Our Saviour often laid it down for a maxim that he who exalts himself shall be abased; he shall either abase himself in true repentance or God will abase him and pour contempt upon him."

--Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Bible

That "fall" would come in a "day of reckoning." And, no, it's not God saying, "I reckon I'd better do something about My wayward people." [Or is it?!] A reckoning can mean a settling of something, like an account, but it can also mean "an accounting for things done or received" or "an appraisal or judgment." [Dictionary.com] Looking at some of the older English and foreign definitions of the root word, we see it means "ready, straightforward," and "to move in a straight line." Straightening out a wayward people was definitely part of God's plan, and, one can see how Isaiah's prophecy here might be referring to a more immediate day of reckoning through the captivity of the people to Babylon.


But, given some of the other details here in the passage, it is more likely that Isaiah is referring to the Day of Reckoning or the Day of the Lord. If you studied Obadiah, Joel, Amos or Hosea with me, then you know what this means. It's Judgment Day! It is the day that Revelation speaks of--a day of God's ultimate wrath--in which He will destroy His creation, saving those who confess and live out their faith in His Son, Jesus Christ. That which is dross will be smelted away, once and forever. (Isaiah 1:25) 

Going back to verse 10, we read of the command to "enter the rock and hide in the dust." There are those who will try and escape this destruction by hiding, even though there will be no hiding or escape from "the terror of the Lord."

"Then the kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders and the rich and the strong and every slave and free man hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains;  and they said to the mountains and to the rocks, 'Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb....'"

--Revelation 6: 15-16

We will read more about this Day in the weeks' verses ahead. Knowing that the Day has not yet arrived, we should be praising God for His grace and His mercy, for there are still those who will come to Him today, who can be reached for Him today, who can be saved from the pride that brings destruction right now. Look at the encouragement Paul gave to the Corinthians, and us, in this regard:
 

"We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.... You are looking at things as they are outwardly.... For we are not bold to class or compare ourselves with some of those who commend themselves; but when they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are without understanding."

--II Corinthians 10: 5-7; 12

 

Let us not be without understanding, operating out of pride--measuring, comparing, commending ourselves. For it is not the outward appearance but what is in one's heart that matters to God. (I Samuel 16:7) As we enter Holy Week next week, may the words of this beloved hymn carry forth new encouragement:

When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride. 

Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,
Save in the death of Christ my God!
All the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to His blood.

--When I Survey the Wondrous Cross (Isaac Watts, 1707)

A Day of Reckoning against.... 'Til next Wednesday!

Photo: birdsgallery.net

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Next week: Isaiah 2: 13-18

Note: I read from the New American Standard Bible translation,
specifically, The MacArthur Study Bible (NASB).
I will quote other sources if used in a post.
I also use Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible
(with notes from the King James Version).