Isaiah 2:14 - Printer Friendly

ESV: against all the lofty mountains, and against all the uplifted hills;

NIV: for all the towering mountains and all the high hills,

NASB: Against all the lofty mountains, Against all the hills that are lifted up,

CSB: against all the high mountains, against all the lofty hills,

NLT: He will level all the high mountains and all the lofty hills.

KJV: And upon all the high mountains, and upon all the hills that are lifted up,

NKJV: Upon all the high mountains, And upon all the hills that are lifted up;

Isaiah is identifying things on earth which human beings might put their trust in, instead of the Lord (Isaiah 2:13–18). Faith in wealth, resources, or power is foolish (Psalm 20:7; 33:17). This is to drive home the case that the Lord will bring everything crumbling down in its time. The passage has mentioned great trees (Isaiah 2:13) and now tops that by describing great mountains and hills.

The Lord has predicted a day (Ezekiel 30:3; Obadiah 1:15; Acts 2:20; 2 Peter 3:10) when even the mountains will be brought low from their mighty heights. Those who trust in mountains or compare themselves to mountains will be humbled on the day of the Lord. In bringing the great features of His creation low, God Himself will be exalted above all things. Even mountains are not greater than the Lord.

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 4/29/2024 3:55:38 PM