Isaiah 2:12 - Printer Friendly

ESV: 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;

NIV: The Lord Almighty has a day in store for all the proud and lofty, for all that is exalted (and they will be humbled),

NASB: For the Lord of armies will have a day of reckoning Against everyone who is arrogant and haughty, And against everyone who is lifted up, That he may be brought low.

CSB: For a day belonging to the Lord of Armies is coming against all that is proud and lofty, against all that is lifted up—it will be humbled—

NLT: For the Lord of Heaven’s Armies has a day of reckoning. He will punish the proud and mighty and bring down everything that is exalted.

KJV: For the day of the Lord of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low:

NKJV: For the day of the Lord of hosts Shall come upon everything proud and lofty, Upon everything lifted up— And it shall be brought low—

Sometimes it seems as if those who do evil and rebel against God in pride and arrogance are getting away with their actions (Psalm 73:2–3; Habakkuk 1:2–4). They seem to be winning, as the people of Israel were during Isaiah's time (Isaiah 2:7). Isaiah assures us that such seasons always end. Sin may seem to pay off, at first, but there will always be consequences (Proverbs 11:4, 21; Matthew 12:36).

Isaiah calls God "the LORD of hosts," a name which points to His power. The Lord promises a reckoning against everything proud and self-exalted and rebellious against him. The arrogant may tell themselves they have won and will never be brought down (Psalm 10:11; 115:2). Yet this is not true (Deuteronomy 32:25; Hebrews 10:30). The day of the Lord reaches them in the end.

Isaiah 2:6–22 begins with stunning words: the Lord has "rejected" His people Israel. Instead of trusting Him, they worship false idols and practice fortune-telling. They believe these things and their deal-making have brought them wealth and security. The day of the Lord, though, will result in the abandonment of their homemade idols. He will bring low every great thing they trust instead of the Lord. The people will try to escape the Lord's majesty in the darkness of caves as He terrifies the earth. Isaiah finishes this section with telling His people to stop esteeming human beings.

Isaiah describes Israel's far future as a time when all the nations of the earth will recognize Israel's God as the Lord. They will come to Jerusalem to learn from Him how to live. Isaiah tells his people to walk in the light of the Lord now. Instead, they worship false gods, follow fortune tellers, and make deals. Their great wealth, military might, and endless homemade idols will not save them from the God's judgment on day of the Lord. Human arrogance will be brought low as the Lord is exalted. Isaiah summarizes the chapter with a warning not to trust fallible people, instead of God.

Isaiah 2 follows the summation of the first chapter by reintroducing the prophet. He describes Israel's distant future. Someday, all the people of earth will come to Jerusalem to learn how to live from Israel's God. For now, though, the Lord has rejected His people. On the day of the Lord, however, those idols will be left behind in the caves in which the people attempt to hide from God's majesty. Later chapters of this book will explain more about how this prophecy will come to be.

Isaiah is among the most important prophetic books in the entire Bible. The first segment details God's impending judgment against ancient peoples for sin and idolatry (Isaiah 1—35). The second part of Isaiah briefly explains a failed assault on Jerusalem during the rule of Hezekiah (Isaiah 36—39). The final chapters predict Israel's rescue from Babylonian captivity (Isaiah 40—48), the promised Messiah (Isaiah 49—57), and the final glory of Jerusalem and God's people (Isaiah 58—66).

Accessed 11/21/2024 11:44:20 AM