The Prophecy of Isaiah – Lesson 4

For the Lord of hosts has a day against all that is proud and lofty, against all that is lifted up—and it shall be brought low; against all the cedars of Lebanon, lofty and lifted up; and against all the oaks of Bashan; against all the lofty mountains, and against all the uplifted hills; against every high tower, and against every fortified wall; against all the ships of Tarshish, and against all the beautiful craft. And the haughtiness of man shall be humbled, and the lofty pride of men shall be brought low, and the Lord alone will be exalted in that day. And the idols shall utterly pass away. And people shall enter the caves of the rocks and the holes of the ground, from before the terror of the Lord, and from the splendor of his majesty, when he rises to terrify the earth.
Isaiah 2:12-19

This is a warning of judgment against pride, strength, and wealth. It should make a prideful, strong, and wealthy nation seek God. But it didn't and it doesn't today because we think He must be talking to someone else, we are too strong to fall, and we are too wealthy to become poor. Pride is a scary thing because it can suppress our sense of need for mercy and Grace. Pretty soon we are looking at God like an investment and trying to maximize our rate of gain for a limited cost. We simply look at God as a way to get our best life right now. He sees straight to our hearts and we don't fool Him at all.

The other aspect of this particular prophecy that is disturbing is the picture of running for cover in caves and holes in the ground rather than running to God. There really is only one effective way to run and that is toward God. There was a book written long long ago called “The Problem of Doing Your Own Thing” by Bob Mumford. One picture he uses that has stuck with me is that of embracing the bulldozer of God's work in our life. Rather than run and hide, we need to run and embrace. For God's children it really is sometimes as simple as when we were kids. Running from my father was never a good idea. Running to him was never a bad idea. It wasn't a “technique” to achieve happiness but it was simply the appropriate response when I failed.

In that day mankind will cast away their idols of silver and their idols of gold, which they made for themselves to worship, to the moles and to the bats, to enter the caverns of the rocks and the clefts of the cliffs, from before the terror of the Lord, and from the splendor of his majesty, when he rises to terrify the earth. Stop regarding man in whose nostrils is breath, for of what account is he?
Isaiah 2:20-22

This is the good news. In the day of God's judgment we throw out our idols. The animals that live underground and in caves get them. The picture is that the idols flee from before the Lord. Once we had a friend who was finishing seminary at Southeastern Baptist in Wake Forest, North Carolina. We had eaten dinner with them more than once and Pat commented on a couple of budda's that he had on a shelf. She commented that they looked like idols. He had been stationed in Southeast Asia and had them simply as mementos. They were not knickknack quality they were collector's quality. Maybe even gold leaf. She asked him why he had idols. He said they meant nothing to him but they were simply left over from Vietnam but he did indicate that he probably shouldn't have them. She said then he would not have a problem giving them to her when we left that evening. He said he would not have a problem and she could have them if she wanted them. So after the meal we were headed back toward Raleigh down some country road and I'm thinking about what am I supposed to do with this budda stuff. So I said, “What do you plan on doing with those” about the time she rolled down the window and pitched them out into the night leaving them to the moles and the bats. Problem solved. My spouse it given to me by God.

Much of our idolatry stems from a fear of man. Don't forget about Winfrid from the 670s. He is a brother of ours who is generally called Boniface. He became a missionary to Germany and the Netherlands. He had some hard core pagans who worshiped Thor and had a huge sacred oak dedicated to the worship of Thor. So Boniface thought that it might be instructive if he cut it down and made a church out of it. Then the native population, by the Grace of God, displayed that rare thing called common sense and reasoned that if Thor couldn’t stop some Brit from chopping down his tree then he wasn’t much of a god. He eventually died a martyr but he was over 80 years old at the time and those who killed him soon repented and followed Christ. Boniface was happy to remove idols where he found them and we certainly need to make sure that our hearts and lives are purged of idols as we call on Christ to be the Lord of our Lives.

The last line of this section is a rebuke of our irrational regard of man (in whose nose is his breath) and our irrational disregard of God who is the source of that breath of life (Genesis 2:7). When we stumble in our walk because of a fear of man that exceeds our fear of God then we have sinned and need to repent before God. Ask His forgiveness and move forward again in His strength praying for courage.

For behold, the Lord God of hosts is taking away from Jerusalem and from Judah support and supply, all support of bread, and all support of water; the mighty man and the soldier, the judge and the prophet, the diviner and the elder, the captain of fifty and the man of rank, the counselor and the skillful magician and the expert in charms. And I will make boys their princes, and infants shall rule over them.
Isaiah 3:1-4

In God's judgment against Jerusalem and Judah we see each support for society removed. Agriculture, water, military, domestic leadership, spiritual leadership for both the godly (prophet and elder) and ungodly (diviner, magician, and expert in charms) fail. Leadership becomes in experienced and capricious by making decisions without any good background, understanding, or values. There is an old saying that a people tend to have the leadership they deserve. But when we have poor leadership, we never think it is us or consider the possibility that we need to turn to God with an undivided heart and seek Him. God is working on things of eternal value and will not leave us to our own devices and sin.

And the people will oppress one another, every one his fellow and every one his neighbor; the youth will be insolent to the elder, and the despised to the honorable. For a man will take hold of his brother in the house of his father, saying: “ You have a cloak; you shall be our leader, and this heap of ruins shall be under your rule”; in that day he will speak out, saying: “ I will not be a healer; in my house there is neither bread nor cloak; you shall not make me leader of the people.”
Isaiah 3:5-7

These verses address the social actions and hostility that will be a symptom of God withdrawing His blessing. People will seek to oppress or take advantage of each other. If they see an opportunity to take money they will take money. They will go to court to gain an advantage and not for justice. They will want punishment on their enemies above justice and even seek to get more than is just from a neighbor. Youth will fail to have respect for elders and those who should be dishonorable will be insolent to those who should be honored. It is hard to avoid seeing our society in this.

Eventually, no one will desire the leadership position. They will simply refuse to lead such a chaotic and rebellious mess. They will say, “you shall not make me leader of the people.” For Jerusalem has stumbled, and Judah has fallen, because their speech and their deeds are against the Lord, defying his glorious presence. For the look on their faces bears witness against them; they proclaim their sin like Sodom; they do not hide it. Woe to them! For they have brought evil on themselves. Tell the righteous that it shall be well with them, for they shall eat the fruit of their deeds. Woe to the wicked! It shall be ill with him, for what his hands have dealt out shall be done to him.
Isaiah 3:8-11

So there was no shame for sin. The face of the sinner showed that they didn't feel shame and in fact they simply stated their sin as fact. When we as a people get in a place in which we feel free to defy God then we are in a place in which judgment will be coming. God will keep His people (think of Nehemiah) but God will judge sin. And it is likely that the sinner will persist without seeing the connection between their sin and God's judgment. To realize that you live your life before the face of God (Coram Deo) is a precious realization. We need to practice that awareness day by day.