Competing High Places: God versus Man

Verses 6-9 make it plain that the house of Jacob is spiritually corrupted. They have imbibed the superstitions of the East and the occult practices of the Philistines, turning their backs on the true religion given them by God. They are rich with silver and gold (v. 7), not of the true wealth only God can give. There is no limit to their chariots (v. 7), but they know nothing of the true power that comes from the Lord. Ultimately, they are idolaters, bowing down to created things rather than the Creator (Rom 1:25). This brings the human race very low, into a degraded state (Isa 2:9). This is the shame of the house of Jacob, and because of it, God abandoned his people (v. 6).

Isaiah 2:10-21

For the rest of the chapter, Isaiah describes the terror that is coming on the earth because of humanity’s idolatries. He warns of a “day belonging to the Lord” that is coming, a day in which God’s holiness will be vindicated and man’s sins punished severely. Isaiah says it plainly in verse 12: “For a day belonging to the Lord of Armies is coming.” This is the power of the Word of God, to warn us of the coming wrath and urge us to flee to the refuge that he alone can provide.

The word “Armies” (Hb tsebaoth, traditionally “Hosts”) here probably refers to the legions of angels who surround Yahweh’s throne and do his bidding (1 Kgs 22:19). It can refer to the stars—the “heavenly host”—that God created and that glorify him (Neh 9:6). In the prophets in general it is also a reminder that Yahweh is sovereign over the human armies of Israel as well as those of all the nations, so he directs them to march out and determines which of them succeed.

On the day belonging to the Lord, he will reveal his “majestic splendor” (v. 10) and will alone be exalted (v. 11). “Lofty” things are in direct competition with God’s glory; they are idols. Isaiah describes all the competing high places and lofty things that exalt themselves against the glory of God: naturally lofty things—cedars of Lebanon, oaks of Bashan, towering mountains, high hills; man-made lofty things—every lofty tower and every fortified wall (military pride), trading ships (commerce), stately vessels (pleasure vehicles). The most direct competitor to the glory of God is human pride (v. 11). Just as Satan’s pride led to his attempt to take God’s throne in heaven, resulting in his downfall (Isa 14), so human pride soars like the tower of Babylon, seeking to exalt self and belittle God. God is determined to pull all the soaring ambitions of humanity down so he alone will be exalted in that day. He is jealous for his glory and will brook no rivals.

A powerful picture of this occurred during the Communist era in Eastern Europe. In downtown Budapest the Hungarian Communist party erected the Stalin monument, completed in December 1951 as a gift for Josef Stalin. It was torn down on October 23, 1956, during Hungary’s October Revolution. The statue was more than seventy-five feet high! The people pulled it down by placing a thick steel rope around its neck and using acetylene torches to cut the feet. After an hour, it toppled (Sebestyen, Twelve Days, 118–19). Similarly, God will come with a fiery indignation and a passion for his glory and will topple all the monuments to human pride that sinners have erected to challenge his supremacy.

On that day sinners will be fleeing into the rocks and hiding in caves from the terror of the Lord as he reveals his glory. The fear of the Lord at that time will not be by faith but by sight. All the nations of the earth will see his glory as he comes with the holy angels to judge the whole earth, and they will run from terror of the Lord and dread of his splendor. They will throw away to the moles and bats their idols, and they will seek some place of refuge when God rises to shake the earth (vv. 10,19-22). They will realize at that time the wickedness of their idolatry, and they will reject their idols, but it will be too late—the era of faith and the open door of the gospel will have closed with the coming of that dreadful day.

Isaiah 2:22,5

This chapter levels everything that the human race can trust in and exalts the true and living God. The clear application of this doctrine is given in verse 22: “Put no more trust in a mere human, who has only the breath in his nostrils. What is he really worth?” Stop trusting in your own righteousness, your religious works and efforts, to save you from sin. Stop trusting in your own efforts to keep yourself healthy and safe, whether individually—by healthy living, exercise, medicine—or nationally, by lavish military expenditures. Stop trusting in human wealth: gold, silver, money, possessions, investments. Stop trusting in human pleasures: entertainment, food, clothing, music, movies, amusement parks, material pleasures. Turn your back on every idol that clamors for the highest place in your heart. Repent from these false gods!

And stop being enamored with human glory. Seeing what Jesus has accomplished at the cross and the empty tomb, how can any human achievement compare? So it’s time to level the lofty or high places erected by human pride. Level all the Olympic gold medals, the Nobel prizes, the Fortune 500 list, the World Series and Super Bowl championships, the mighty emperors, the ridiculous Oscar and Emmy winners. Level them all! The Lord Jesus alone will be exalted someday. Therefore, why not exalt him now? Why not live by his Word now?

And as we are making our pilgrimage to the heavenly Zion, we are commanded to be witnesses to others who have not yet begun the journey. We are to both “come” and to “say, ‘Come!’” We are to make progress in holiness day by day in submission to Christ’s law, and we are to share the gospel to the ends of the earth.