Isaiah 2:10 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Enter into the rock and hide in the dust from before the terror of the LORD, and from the splendor of his majesty.

NIV: Go into the rocks, hide in the ground from the fearful presence of the LORD and the splendor of his majesty!

NASB: Enter the rocky place and hide in the dust From the terror of the Lord and from the splendor of His majesty.

CSB: Go into the rocks and hide in the dust from the terror of the Lord and from his majestic splendor.

NLT: Crawl into caves in the rocks. Hide in the dust from the terror of the Lord and the glory of his majesty.

KJV: Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty.

NKJV: Enter into the rock, and hide in the dust, From the terror of the Lord And the glory of His majesty.

Isaiah has been talking to the Lord (Isaiah 2:6–8), agreeing with God for rejecting His people Israel due to their sinful idol worship and unfaithfulness. Isaiah has asked the Lord not to forgive his fellow Israelites, believing their sin to be too vast and their destruction to be due (Isaiah 6:9).

Now Isaiah turns and begins to write directly to the people of Israel. Mentions of "rock," in various forms, refer to people hiding in caves, stone fortresses, and other sanctuaries (Judges 20:45; 2 Samuel 22:2; Jeremiah 48:28). He tells them to hide because the Lord is coming for them. The people of Judah have refused to live in the light of the Lord (Isaiah 2:5) and now they will flee in terror from the light of His majesty when He arrives to judge them.

Paul cites this comment when writing to the church in Thessalonica (2 Thessalonians 2:9).

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 5/1/2024 1:31:45 PM