The Great Leveling Text: Isaiah 2:5-22
Introduction: The Intolerable Arrogance of Man
We live in an age that is drunk on its own accomplishments. We have split the atom, mapped the genome, and put computers in our pockets that are more powerful than those that sent men to the moon. We have built towers of finance that scrape the sky and constructed networks of information that span the globe. And because of all this, modern man, like his ancient counterpart, is filled with a fatal conceit. He believes he is the master of his own destiny, the captain of his own soul, and the measure of all things. He is proud. And God hates pride. It is the original sin, the fountainhead of all rebellion. It is man looking at his own reflection in a puddle and calling it an ocean.
The prophet Isaiah is sent to a people who have fallen into this very trap. Judah was prosperous. They were militarily secure. They were culturally sophisticated. They had a booming economy, powerful alliances, and impressive technology. And they had come to believe that these things were the source of their strength. They had forgotten the God who gave them all of it. They were full, but they were full of the wrong things. Their hearts were cluttered with idols of silver and gold, and their minds were cluttered with the proud philosophies of the nations around them.
This passage is God's declaration of war against that pride. It is a promise that a day is coming, a "day of Yahweh," when God will rise to knock down every flimsy structure that man has erected in defiance of Him. This is not just a prophecy about a future judgment at the end of time, though it is that. It is a statement of how God governs the world in all times. God is in the business of humbling the proud. He brings down individuals, he brings down nations, and he brings down civilizations. He does this for one central reason: so that He alone will be exalted. This passage is about the great leveling. It is about God mowing the tall grass of human arrogance so that His glory can be seen from horizon to horizon.
The Text
Come, house of Jacob, and let us walk in the light of Yahweh. For You have abandoned Your people, the house of Jacob, Because they are filled with influences from the east, And they are soothsayers like the Philistines, And they strike bargains with the children of foreigners. Their land has also been filled with silver and gold, And there is no end to their treasures; Their land has also been filled with horses, And there is no end to their chariots. Their land has also been filled with idols; They worship the work of their hands, That which their fingers have made. So the common man has been bowed down, And the man of importance has been made low, But do not forgive them. Enter the rock and hide in the dust From the dread of Yahweh and from the splendor of His majesty. The lofty look of man will be made low, And the men made high will be bowed down, And Yahweh alone will be exalted in that day. For Yahweh of hosts will have a day of reckoning Against everyone who is proud and high And against everyone who is lifted up, That he may be made low. And it will be against all the cedars of Lebanon that are high and lifted up, Against all the oaks of Bashan, Against all the high mountains, Against all the hills that are lifted up, Against every lofty tower, Against every fortified wall, Against all the ships of Tarshish And against all the desirable craft. The loftiness of man will be bowed down, And the men who are high will be made low; And Yahweh alone will be exalted in that day, But the idols will completely vanish. Men will go into caves of the rocks And into holes of the ground Before the dread of Yahweh And the splendor of His majesty, When He arises to make the earth tremble. In that day men will cast away to the moles and the bats Their idols of silver and their idols of gold, Which they made for themselves to worship, In order to go into the caverns of the rocks and the clefts of the cliffs Before the dread of Yahweh and the splendor of His majesty, When He arises to make the earth tremble. Stop regarding man, whose breath of life is in his nostrils; For why should he be esteemed?
(Isaiah 2:5-22 LSB)
A Pious Call and a Damning Indictment (v. 5-8)
The section opens with a beautiful invitation that serves as a tragic setup for the indictment that follows.
"Come, house of Jacob, and let us walk in the light of Yahweh." (Isaiah 2:5)
This is the covenant call. This is what Israel was supposed to be doing. To walk in the light of Yahweh means to live according to His law, to trust in His promises, and to reflect His character to the nations. It is a call to be distinct, to be holy. But it is a call they have ignored. The prophet states the ideal in order to highlight just how far they have fallen. And then he immediately pivots to the reason for God's coming judgment.
"For You have abandoned Your people... Because they are filled..." (Isaiah 2:6)
Notice the cause and effect. God's abandonment is a judicial response to their sin. They abandoned Him first. And what was their sin? They were "filled," but with all the wrong things. This is a diagnosis of a culture that has lost its center. They have a vacuum in their heart where God ought to be, and they are trying to fill it with everything else.
First, they are filled with foreign spirituality: "influences from the east, and they are soothsayers like the Philistines." They looked to pagan nations for their wisdom. Instead of the clear word of the prophets, they wanted the occult, the trendy, the exotic. They wanted spiritual experiences without moral demands. This is no different than the modern churchgoer who dabbles in eastern meditation, reads horoscopes, or trusts more in secular psychology than in the sufficiency of Scripture.
Second, they are filled with material wealth and military might: "filled with silver and gold... filled with horses, and there is no end to their chariots." Their trust was not in the Lord of Hosts, but in their booming economy and their advanced military technology. They felt secure because their treasury was full and their armory was stocked. This is the pride of the self-made man, the nation that trusts in its GDP and its aircraft carriers. God had explicitly warned the kings of Israel not to multiply these things for themselves, because He knew it would lead to self-reliance and pride (Deut. 17:16-17).
Third, and at the root of it all, they are filled with idols: "They worship the work of their hands, That which their fingers have made." This is the essence of all sin. Man bows down to something he created. He worships a projection of himself. An idol is anything that we look to for what only God can provide: security, identity, meaning, hope. Our idols may not be made of wood and stone, but they are just as real. They are our careers, our political ideologies, our comfort, our reputation, our children. Whatever we cannot imagine living without, apart from God, is our idol.
The Inevitable Humiliation (v. 9-11)
This idolatry has a corrosive effect on the entire society, from the top to the bottom.
"So the common man has been bowed down, And the man of importance has been made low, But do not forgive them." (Isaiah 2:9 LSB)
When you worship something smaller than God, you become smaller. Idolatry is degrading. It bows the common man down in superstitious fear and it makes the important man low by shrinking his world to the size of his own ego. It debases everyone. The prophet's cry, "do not forgive them," is not a fit of personal pique. It is a righteous demand for justice. It is a recognition that this kind of high-handed, covenantal treason cannot be swept under the rug. God's honor is at stake, and judgment is the necessary response.
And when that judgment comes, the response of proud man is terror. He will run from the very presence of the God he has ignored.
"Enter the rock and hide in the dust From the dread of Yahweh and from the splendor of His majesty." (Isaiah 2:10 LSB)
The unholy cannot stand in the presence of the holy. The creature cannot bear the unshielded glory of the Creator. And in that moment of terror, the great theme of the passage is stated plainly: "The lofty look of man will be made low, And the men made high will be bowed down, And Yahweh alone will be exalted in that day." This is the goal of all history. God is working all things so that every knee will bow and every tongue confess that He is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
The All-Encompassing Day of Reckoning (v. 12-18)
The prophet then provides a comprehensive, poetic list of everything that will be brought low on that day. This is not a random collection; it is a systematic dismantling of every object of human pride.
"For Yahweh of hosts will have a day of reckoning Against everyone who is proud and high..." (Isaiah 2:12 LSB)
God has an appointment set. The targets are all the things that seem strong, permanent, and impressive to human eyes. The "cedars of Lebanon" and "oaks of Bashan" were symbols of natural strength and arrogance. The "high mountains" and "hills" were places of pagan worship and symbols of permanence. The "lofty tower" and "fortified wall" represent human technology and self-defense. The "ships of Tarshish" represent global commerce and economic power.
The point is that nothing will be spared. Every human pretension to glory, whether it is found in nature, religion, technology, or economics, will be leveled. God is going to flatten the entire landscape of human pride. Why? The refrain returns in verse 17: "The loftiness of man will be bowed down... And Yahweh alone will be exalted in that day." And what happens to the idols in that day? "The idols will completely vanish." They are shown to be the flimsy nothings that they always were.
Panic and the Purging of Idols (v. 19-22)
The final section paints a vivid picture of the terror and panic that will seize men when God arises to judge the earth.
"Men will go into caves of the rocks And into holes of the ground Before the dread of Yahweh And the splendor of His majesty, When He arises to make the earth tremble." (Isaiah 2:19 LSB)
This language is picked up directly by the Apostle John in Revelation, when the kings of the earth hide in the caves and cry out for the rocks to fall on them and hide them from the face of the Lamb (Rev. 6:15-16). This is the natural reaction of sinful man to the presence of a holy God. But notice the great irony.
"In that day men will cast away to the moles and the bats Their idols of silver and their idols of gold, Which they made for themselves to worship..." (Isaiah 2:20 LSB)
In their moment of ultimate crisis, they finally see their idols for what they are: useless junk. The very things they treasured and worshiped are now thrown away in disgust to unclean creatures in the dark holes where they are hiding. The judgment of God has a clarifying effect. It reveals the utter bankruptcy of every false god. The things they spent their lives pursuing are discarded as garbage in a desperate, futile attempt to escape the one true God.
The chapter concludes with a sharp, practical command. It is the logical conclusion of everything that has been said.
"Stop regarding man, whose breath of life is in his nostrils; For why should he be esteemed?" (Isaiah 2:22 LSB)
This is the lesson. Stop being impressed with human beings. Stop putting your trust in politicians, experts, celebrities, or even in yourself. Man is fragile. His life is as tenuous as the next breath in his nose. He is a creature, made from dust, and returning to dust. To build your life on the esteem of man is to build your house on a puff of air. The fear of man is a snare, but the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Esteem God. Trust God. Obey God.
The Cross as the Day of the Lord
This terrifying "day of Yahweh" has a focal point in history. It happened at the cross of Jesus Christ. At Calvary, God arose to make the earth tremble. The sky grew dark, the earth shook, and the rocks were split. At the cross, the pride of man was judged in the person of our substitute. All our self-righteousness, all our idolatry, all our rebellion was placed upon Him.
Jesus Christ was "made low." He was humbled, brought down into the dust of death. He entered the darkness for us. He endured the full "dread of Yahweh" so that we who trust in Him will never have to. The cross is the ultimate leveling. It brings the proud sinner to his knees, showing him that he has nothing to offer, no tower to hide in, no wealth to save him. And it demonstrates that God alone is the Savior, that Yahweh alone must be exalted for His glorious grace.
For those who are in Christ, the final day of reckoning holds no terror. We are hidden not in a cave, but in the cleft of the Rock of Ages, and that Rock is Christ. On that day, our idols will be gone forever, not because we threw them to the bats in a panic, but because our hearts will be fully captivated by the splendor of His majesty.
Therefore, the command remains for us today. Stop regarding man. Stop being impressed by the fleeting glories of this age. Look to Christ. Walk in His light. For the day is coming when every cedar will be splintered, every tower will be dust, and every idol will be forgotten. And on that day, Yahweh alone will be exalted. Let us live now in the light of that coming reality.