Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 2:10
Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty.
10. Enter into the rock ] The clefts and caverns (see Isa 2:19 ; Isa 2:21) which abounded in the limestone rock of Palestine were used as natural hiding-places in time of invasion ( Jdg 6:2 ; 1Sa 13:6; 1Sa 14:11). Cf. the still more impressive representation, Hos 10:8.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
10, 11. It is doubtful whether these verses should be connected with what precedes or with what follows. Each is of the nature of a refrain verse: note the resemblances in 10, 19, 21 and in 11, 17. (In the LXX. Isa 2:10 ends with “to terrify the earth,” as 19, 21.) Although no strophic arrangement can be traced, the verses obviously express the keynote of this part of the discourse.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Enter into the rock – That is, into the holes or caverns in the rocks, as a place of refuge and safety; compare Isa 2:19, and Rev 6:15-16. In times of invasion by an enemy, it was natural to flee to the fastnesses or to the caverns of rocks for refuge. This expression is highly figurative and poetic. The prophet warns them to flee from danger. The sense is, that such were their crimes that they would certainly be punished; and he advises them to flee to a place of safety.
And hide thee in the dust – In Isa 2:19, this is caves of the dust. It is parallel to the former, and probably has a similar meaning. But may there not be reference here to the mode prevailing in the East of avoiding the monsoon or poisonous heated wind that passes over the desert? Travelers there, in order to be safe, are obliged to throw themselves down, and to place their mouths close to the earth until it has passed.
For fear of the Lord – Hebrew From the face of the terror of the Lord. That is, the punishment which God will inflict will sweep over the land, producing fear and terror.
And for the glory … – That is, the honor or splendor which will attend him when he comes forth to inflict judgment on the people; Isa 2:19-20.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Isa 2:10
Enter into the rock and hide thee in the dust
The sinners ignominy before the manifestation of Gods glory
No other course is now left open for them but to follow the sarcastic command of the prophet: Creep into the rock, and bury thyself in the dust, before the dread look of Jehovah, and before the glory of His majesty! The nation that was supposed to be a glorious one shall and must creep away and hide itself ignominiously, when the glory of God which it had rejected, but which alone is true glory, is judicially manifested.
It must conceal itself in holes of the rocks as if from a host of foes (Jdg 6:2; 1Sa 13:6; 1Sa 14:11), and bury themselves with their faces in the sand, as from the deadly simoom of the desert, that they may but avoid the necessity of enduring this intolerable sight. (F. Delitzsch, D. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 10. “When he ariseth to strike the earth with terror.”] On the authority of the Septuagint, confirmed by the Arabic and an ancient MS., I have added here to the text a line, which in the 19th and 21st verses Isa 2:19; Isa 2:21 is repeated together with the preceding line, and has, I think, evidently been omitted by mistake in this place. The MS. here varies only in one letter from the reading of the other two verses; it has baarets, instead of haarets. None of De Rossi’s MSS. confirm this addition. The line added is, When he ariseth to strike the earth with terror.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust: this is spoken ironically, and with derision. The sense is, Such dreadful calamities are coming upon you, that you will be ready to hide yourselves in rocks and caves of the earth, but all to no purpose.
For fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty; for fear of the glorious and terrible judgments of God.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
10. Poetical form of expressingthat, such were their sins, they would be obliged by God’s judgmentsto seek a hiding-place from His wrath (Rev 6:15;Rev 6:16).
dustequivalent to”caves of the earth,” or dust (Isa2:19).
for fear, &c.literally,”from the face of the terror of the Lord.”
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust,…. As it was when Rome Pagan was destroyed, the kings, princes, and freemen called to the rocks to fall on them and hide them, Re 6:15 so it will be at the downfall of Rome Papal, when the kings and merchants of the earth, who have been concerned therewith, will stand afar off, as for fear of her torment, Re 18:10
so for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty; lest he should pour out his wrath and vengeance upon them, and be a consuming fire to them, before whose glory and majesty they will not be able to stand; for this is to be understood not of a filial reverence of God, but of a servile fear of punishment; and these words are sarcastically said, suggesting that rocks and mountains will be no protection or security for them.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
| The Doom of Idolaters. | B. C. 758. |
10 Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty. 11 The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day. 12 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: 13 And upon all the cedars of Lebanon, that are high and lifted up, and upon all the oaks of Bashan, 14 And upon all the high mountains, and upon all the hills that are lifted up, 15 And upon every high tower, and upon every fenced wall, 16 And upon all the ships of Tarshish, and upon all pleasant pictures. 17 And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low: and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day. 18 And the idols he shall utterly abolish. 19 And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth. 20 In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which they made each one for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats; 21 To go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth. 22 Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted of?
The prophet here goes on to show what a desolation would be brought upon their land when God should have forsaken them. This may refer particularly to their destruction by the Chaldeans first, and afterwards by the Romans, or it may have a general respect to the method God takes to awaken and humble proud sinners, and to put them out of conceit with that which they delighted in and depended on more than God. We are here told that sooner or later God will find out a way,
I. To startle and awaken secure sinners, who cry peace to themselves, and bid defiance to God and his judgments (v. 10): “Enter into the rock; God will attack you with such terrible judgments, and strike you with such terrible apprehensions of them, that you shall be forced to enter into the rock, and hide yourself in the dust, for fear of the Lord. You shall lose all your courage, and tremble at the shaking of a leaf; your heart shall fail you for fear (Luke xxi. 26), and you shall flee when none pursues,” Prov. xxviii. 1. To the same purport, v. 19. They shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, the darkest the deepest places; they shall call to the rocks and mountains to fall on them, and rather crush them than not cover them, Hos. x. 8. It was so particularly at the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans (Luke xxiii. 30) and of the persecuting pagan powers, Rev. vi. 16. And all for fear of the Lord, and of the glory of his majesty, looking upon him then to be a consuming fire and themselves as stubble before him, when he arises to shake terribly the earth, to shake the wicked out of it (Job xxxviii. 13), and to shake all those earthly props and supports with which they have buoyed themselves up, to shake them from under them. Note, 1. With God is terrible majesty, and the glory of it is such as sooner or later will oblige us all to flee before him. 2. Those that will not fear God and flee to him will be forced to fear him and flee from him to a refuge of lies. 3. It is folly for those that are pursued by the wrath of God to think to escape it, and to hide or shelter themselves from it. 4. The things of the earth are things that will be shaken; they are subject to concussions, and hastening towards a dissolution. 5. The shaking of the earth is, and will be, a terrible thing to those who set their affections wholly on things of the earth. 6. It will be in vain to think of finding refuge in the caves of the earth when the earth itself is shaken; there will be no shelter then but in God and in things above.
II. To humble and abase proud sinners, that look big, and think highly of themselves, and scornfully of all about them (v. 11): The lofty looks of man shall be humbled. The eyes that aim high, the countenance in which the pride of the heart shows itself, shall be cast down in shame and despair. And the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, their spirits shall be broken, and they shall be crest-fallen, and those things which they were proud of they shall be ashamed of. It is repeated (v. 17), The loftiness of man shall be bowed down. Note, Pride will, one way or other, have a fall. Men’s haughtiness will be brought down, either by the grace of God convincing them of the evil of their pride, and clothing them with humility, or by the providence of God depriving them of all those things they were proud of and laying them low. Our Saviour often laid it down for a maxim that he who exalts himself shall be abased; he shall either abase himself in true repentance or God will abase him and pour contempt upon him. Now here we are told,
1. Why this shall be done: because the Lord alone will be exalted. Note, Proud men shall be vilified because the Lord alone will be magnified. It is for the honour of God’s power to humble the proud; by this he proves himself to be God, and disproves Job’s pretensions to rival with him, Job xl. 11-14. Behold every one that is proud, and abase him; then will I also confess unto thee. It is likewise for the honour of his justice. Proud men stand in competition with God, who is jealous for his own glory, and will not suffer men either to take to themselves or give to another that which is due to him only. They likewise stand in opposition to God; they resist him, and therefore he resists them; for he will be exalted among the heathen (Ps. xlvi. 10), and there is a day coming in which he alone will be exalted, when he shall have put down all opposing rule, principality, and power, 1 Cor. xv. 24.
2. How this shall be done: by humbling judgments, that shall mortify men, and bring them down (v. 12): The day of the Lord of hosts, the day of his wrath and judgment, shall be upon every one that is proud. He now laughs at their insolence because he sees that his day is coming, this day, which will be upon them ere they are aware, Ps. xxxvii. 13. This day of the Lord is here said to be upon all the cedars of Lebanon, that are high and lifted up. Jerome observes that the cedars are said to praise God (Ps. cxlviii. 9) and are trees of the Lord (Ps. civ. 16), of his planting (Isa. xli. 19), and yet here God’s wrath fastens upon the cedars, which denotes (says he) that some of every rank of men, some great men, will be saved, and some perish. It is brought in as an instance of the strength of God’s voice that it breaks the cedars (Ps. xxix. 5), and here the day of the Lord is said to be upon the cedars, those of Lebanon, they were the straightest and statliest,–upon the oaks, those of Bashan, that were the strongest and sturdiest,–upon the natural elevations and fortresses, the highest mountains and the hills that are lifted up (v. 14), that overtop the valleys and seem to push the skies,–and upon the artificial fastnesses, every high tower and every fenced wall, v. 15. Understand these, (1.) As representing the proud people themselves, that are in their own apprehensions like the cedars and the oaks, firmly rooted, and not to be stirred by any storm, and looking on all around them as shrubs; these are the high mountains and the lofty hills that seem to fill the earth, that are gazed on by all, and think themselves immovable, but lie most obnoxious to God’s thunderstrokes. Feriuntique summos fulmina montes–The highest hills are most exposed to lightning. And before the power of God’s wrath these mountains are scattered and these hills bow and melt like wax,Hab 3:6; Psa 68:8. These vaunting men, who are as high towers in which the noisy bells are hung, on which the thundering murdering cannon are planted–these fenced walls, that fortify themselves with their native hardiness, and intrench themselves in their fastnesses–shall be brought down. (2.) As particularizing the things they are proud of,in which they trust, and of which they make their boast. The day of the Lord shall be upon those very things in which they put their confidence as their strength and security; he will take from the all their armour wherein they trusted. Did the inhabitants of Lebanon glory in their cedars, and those of Bashan in their oaks, such as no country could equal? The day of the Lord should rend those cedars, those oaks, and the houses built of them. Did Jerusalem glory in the mountains that were round about it, as its impregnable fortifications, or in its walls and bulwarks? These should be levelled and laid low in the day of the Lord. Besides those things that were for their strength and safety they were proud, [1.] Of their trade abroad; but the day of the Lord shall be upon all the ships of Tarshish; they shall be broken as Jehoshaphat’s were, shall founder at sea or be ship-wrecked in harbour. Zebulun was a haven of ships, but should now no more rejoice in his going out. When God is bringing ruin upon a people he can sink all the branches of their revenue. [2.] Of their ornaments at home; but the day of the Lord shall be upon all pleasant pictures, the painting of their ships (so some understand it) or the curious pieces of painting they brought home in their ships from other countries, perhaps from Greece, which afterwards was famous for painters. Upon every thing that is beautiful to behold; so some read it. Perhaps they were the pictures of their relations, and for that reason pleasant, or of their gods, which to the idolaters were delectable things; or they admired them for the fineness of their colours or strokes. There is no harm in making pictures, nor in adorning our rooms with them, provided they transgress not either the second or the seventh commandment. But to place our pictures among our pleasant things, to be fond of them and proud of them, to spend that upon them which should be laid out in charity, and to set out hearts upon them, as it ill becomes those who have so many substantial things to take pleasure in, so it tends to provoke God to strip us of all such vain ornaments.
III. To make idolaters ashamed of their idols, and of all the affection they have had for them and the respect they have paid to them (v. 18): The idols he shall utterly abolish. When the Lord alone shall be exalted (v. 17) he will not only pour contempt upon proud men, who like Pharaoh exalt themselves against him, but much more upon all pretended deities, who are rivals with him for divine honours. They shall be abolished, utterly abolished. Their friends shall desert them; their enemies shall destroy them; so that, one way or other, an utter riddance shall be made of them. See here, 1. The vanity of false gods; they cannot secure themselves, so far are they from being able to secure their worshippers. 2. The victory of the true God over them; for great is the truth and will prevail. Dagon fell before the ark, and Baal before the Lord God of Elijah. The gods of the heathen shall be famished (Zeph. ii. 11), and by degrees shall perish, Jer. x. 11. The rightful Sovereign will triumph over all pretenders. And, as God will abolish idols, so their worshippers shall abandon them, either from a gracious conviction of their vanity and falsehood (as Ephraim when he said, What have I to do any more with idols?) or from a late and sad experience of their inability to help them, and a woeful despair of relief by them, v. 20. When men are themselves frightened by the judgments of God into the holes of the rocks and caves of the earth, and find that they do thus in vain shift for their own safety, they shall cast their idols, which they have made their gods, and hoped to make their friends in the time of need, to the moles and to the bats, any where out of sight, that, being freed from the incumbrance of them, they may go into the clefts of the rocks, for fear of the Lord, v. 21. Note, (1.) Those that will not be reasoned out of their sins sooner or later shall be frightened out of them. (2.) God can make men sick of those idols that they have been most fond of, even the idols of silver and the idols of gold, the most precious. Covetous men make silver and gold their idols, money their god; but the time may come when they may feel it as much their burden as ever they made it their confidence, and may find themselves as much exposed by it as ever they hoped they should be guarded by it, when it tempts their enemy, sinks their ship, or retards their flight. There was a time when the mariners threw the wares, and even the wheat into the sea (Jon 1:5; Act 27:38), and the Syrians cast away their garments for haste, 2 Kings vii. 15. Or men may cast it away out of indignation at themselves for leaning upon such a broken reed. See Ezek. vii. 19. The idolaters here throw away their idols because they are ashamed of them and of their own folly in trusting to them, or because they are afraid of having them found in their possession when the judgments of God are abroad; as the thief throws away his stolen goods then he is searched for or pursued. (3.) The darkest holes, where the moles and the bats lodge, are the fittest places for idols, that have eyes and see not; and God can force men to cast their own idols there (ch. xxx. 22), when they are ashamed of the oaks which they have desired, ch. i. 29. Moab shall be ashamed of Chemosh, as the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel, Jer. xlviii. 13. (4.) It is possible that sin may be both loathed and left and yet not truly repented of–loathed because surfeited on, left because there is no opportunity of committing it, yet not repented of out of any love to God, but only from a slavish fear of his wrath.
IV. To make those that have trusted in an arm of flesh ashamed of their confidence (v. 22): “Cease from man. The providences of God concerning you shall speak this aloud to you, and therefore take warning beforehand, that you may prevent the uneasiness and shame of disappointment; and consider, 1. How weak man is: His breath is in his nostrils, puffed out every moment, soon gone for good and all.” Man is a dying creature, and may die quickly; our nostrils, in which our breath is, are of the outward parts of the body; what is there is like one standing at the door, ready to depart; nay the doors of the nostrils are always open, the breath in them may slip away ere we are aware, in a moment. Wherein then is man to be accounted of? Alas! no reckoning is to be made of him, for he is not what he seems to be, what he pretends to be, what we fancy him to be. Man is like vanity, nay, he is vanity, he is altogether vanity, he is less, he is lighter, than vanity, when weighed in the balance of the sanctuary. “2. How wise therefore those are that cease from man;” it is our duty, it is our interest, to do so. “Put not your trust in man, nor make even the greatest and mightiest of men your confidence; cease to do so. Let not your eye be to the power of man, for it is finite and limited, derived and depending; it is not from him that your judgment proceeds. Let not him be your fear, let not him be your hope; but look up to the power of God, to which all the powers of men are subject and subordinate; dread his wrath, secure his favour, take him for your help, and let your hope be in the Lord your God.“
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
10. Enter into the rock As ungodly men, for the most part, lull themselves in excessive indifference about God’s threatenings, it is customary with the prophets, when they threaten sinners, with the view of producing terror, to add lively descriptions, as if for the purpose of bringing those matters under the immediate view of men. This is the reason why the Prophet now bids despisers of God enter into the rocks and caves, to conceal themselves under ground. And, first, he means that the judgment of God is more to be dreaded than a thousand deaths, and that for the sake of escaping that judgment it were to be wished that they should go down into the grave. But, by addressing men themselves, he gives a more impressive illustration of the weight of the divine vengeance.
From the dread of the LORD, and from the glory of his majesty Although by the dread of God he means the scourges by which God would take vengeance on a wicked people, yet it is not without good reason that he immediately adds, his magnificent glory; as if he had said, “It is according to the measure of his own glory that God ought to be dreaded by the ungodly, in whose destruction he displays his boundless power.” But though the ungodly are not reformed or made to bow down by any punishment, they are forced to tremble when they feel the presence of the wrath of God. In quite a different manner do punishments instruct the elect to fear God; for, in consequence of being subdued by strokes, they learn to bear the yoke. Isaiah therefore declares that the glory of God will be more illustriously displayed when he shall come forth as a righteous judge; for when he conceals himself he is not observed, and they scarcely think of his existence.
Hence let pastors learn how they ought to deal with drowsy consciences, which must be awakened by the judgment of God, that they may regard that judgment with actual dread. Though we often sing to the deaf, yet terror pierces even hearts of iron, so that they are without excuse. Frequently, too, it happens that some are healed; and in like manner believers gain advantage from it, when they learn the terrific forms of punishment which await the ungodly and reprobate.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
THE SINNERS DANGER AND REFUGE
Isa. 2:10. Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of His majesty.
This is the counsel which the prophet gives his fellow-countrymen, in view of the desolations which God was about to send upon their land on account of their sins. He sees Gods judgments sweeping down upon them like an invading army, and therefore he cries to them, Flee into the caverns in the mountains: like the Simoom, and therefore he cries to them, Hide yourselves in the dust: bow down before the destroying blast from which it is impossible to escape. God has been silent, as if He were indifferent to your transgressions, but now He is coming forth, in all the terrors of His majesty to requite the evil doers according to their works [532] The counsel is, of course, metaphorical; the rocks and the dust could afford no refuge from an angry God. The summons is to profound and penitential humility, the proper attitude of man to God. It is a summons, therefore, which may be fitly addressed to all men.
[532] The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up, their sin is hid (Hos. 13:12). Not that his sin was hid from God, but his sin is hid; that is, it is recorded, it is laid up against a day of reckoning. That this is the meaning, is clear by the foregoing words, his iniquity is bound up: as the clerk of the assizes binds up the indictments of malefactors in a bundle, and, at the assizes, brings out the indictments, and reads them in court, so God binds up mens sins in a bundle; and, at the day of judgment, this bundle shall be opened, and all their sins brought to light before men and angels.Watson, 1696.
I. Profound humility in regard to God would be befitting in us as creatures, even were we absolutely without sin. Such humility is reasonable
1. In view of our relation to and dependence upon God. He is our Maker; we are daily pensioners on His bounty; we are the instruments with which He carries out His purposes (Isa. 10:15).
2. In view of His position as the Ruler of the universe.
3. In view of the transcendent excellencies of His character. The pupils of a great artist, such as Raphael, the associates of a great patriot, such as Washington, are filled with involuntary admiration and veneration for him. They feel themselves to be as nothing in comparison with him. How much more should we feel so in comparison with God! Those sinless beings who see Him as He is show us by their conduct what would be befitting in us even were we also without spot or stain (Isa. 6:2-3).
II. But as sinners that which is befitting in us is, not only profound, but penitential humility. To live without any sense of guilt in our heartswith indifference to the fact that we have broken Gods laws and are exposed to His judgmentsis itself a gross iniquity; it is an outrageous defiance of the Majesty in whose presence we are. What would be said of a rebel who in the presence of his outraged sovereign should absolutely ignore him? Would not this be regarded as a repetition of his offence in the most aggravated form? But is not this precisely the offence which every stout-hearted sinner daily commits? As sinners there are two things especially incumbent upon us.
1. To humbly acknowledge that we are exposed to the Divine judgments, and need a refuge therefrom. There are two ways of contemplating the Day of Judgment:
(1) As a certain and solemn fact in the history of our race. Contemplating it thus, we may show argumentatively that such an event ought to occur; and we may anticipate to some extent the principles upon which the Judge, when He shall have summoned mankind before His bar, will proceed. We may do this, and be merely theological or rhetorical. Or
(2) we may regard it as a certain and terrible fact in our own history. And it is thus that we should regard it. It is we who are to stand before the great White Throne. A realisation of this fact will powerfully affect our feelings and our conduct; we shall
(1) acknowledge, at the least, that we need a refuge. And we shall be prepared
(2) thankfully to avail ourselves of the refuge which God in His mercy has provided for us. With yet greater fulness and definiteness of meaning Gods messengers can repeat the prophets counsel, Enter into the rock, &c. The sinners refuge is the Son of God, the Rock of our salvation. Our refuge from God as our Judge is God Himself as our Saviour. It is as such that He now reveals Himself to us. Behold now is the day of salvation; but the day of judgment is at hand! Ere it burst upon us, let us flee unto the Rock of Israel (Isa. 30:29) crying to Him, with penitent confession of our sins,
Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in Thee.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
b. LOSS OF DIGNITY
TEXT: Isa. 2:10-22
10
Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, from before the terror of Jehovah, and from the glory of his majesty.
11
The lofty looks of man shall be brought low, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and Jehovah alone shall be exalted in that day.
12
For there shall be a day of Jehovah of hosts upon all that is proud and haughty, and upon all that is lifted up; and it shall be brought low;
13
and upon all the cedars of Lebanon, that are high and lifted up, and upon all the oaks of Bashan,
14
and upon all the high mountains, and upon all the hills that are lifted up,
15
and upon every lofty tower, and upon every fortified wall,
16
and upon all the ships of Tarshish, and upon all pleasant imagery.
17
And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be brought low; and Jehovah alone shall be exalted in that day.
18
And the idols shall utterly pass away.
19
And men shall go into the caves of the rocks, and into the holes of the earth, from before the terror of Jehovah, and from the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake mightily the earth.
20
In that day men shall cast away their idols of silver and their idols of gold, which have been made for them to worship, to the moles and to the bats;
21
to go into the caverns of the rocks, and into the clefts of the ragged rocks, from before the terror of Jehovah, and from the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake mightily the earth.
22
Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils; for wherein is he to be accounted of?
QUERIES
a.
Why command the sinful people to try to hide from God?
b.
Why does God bring His wrath upon nature and things?
c.
What does cease ye from man . . . mean?
PARAPHRASE
There is only one recourse left to you, Come, crawl into the depressions in the rocks or holes in the earth and try to hide from the terror and majesty of Jehovahs inexorable judgment. For the day is coming when your proud looks will be turned into looks of terror and shame and God alone will be exalted. On that day the Lord of Hosts will act against the proud and haughty and bring them down into the dust. All the tall cedars of Lebanon and the mighty oaks of Bashan which you admire and feel secure about will bend low. All the high mountains and hills, and every military tower and fortified wall, and all the proud ocean ships which bring you commercial treasure and all the trim pleasure craft which you enjoy soall shall be crushed before the Lord that day. All the glory of mankind will bow low; the pride of men will lie impotent in the dust, and the Lord alone shall be exalted. Finally, idolatry shall be utterly abolished and destroyed. When the Lord stands up from His throne to shake the earth, His enemies will crawl with fear into the holes in the rocks and into the caves because of the glory of His majesty. Then will be the time when they will at last abandon their gold and silver idols to the moles and bats, and crawl into the caverns to hide among the jagged rocks at the tops of the cliffs to try to get away from the terror of the Lord and the glory of His majesty when He rises to terrify the earth. Quit placing your confidence for salvation in puny man! Mans life is extremely transitory! He is nothing compared to God!
COMMENTS
Isa. 2:10-11 TERROR OF JEHOVAH: In view of the sin of Judah and the inexorable judgment of God because of it, Judahs only recourse is to attempt to hide from God in the limestone rocks of Palestine which are filled with crevices in which people often took cover from threatened danger (Cf. Jdg. 6:2; 1Sa. 13:6, etc.). Of course, it is impossible for man to hide from God. But Isaiah is emphasizing that the time for repentance is pastthe only hope for Judah (which is no hope at all) is to try to hide. This is the judgment which is to come upon Judah in the devastation of the Babylonian captivities, but it typifies and foreshadows the final judgment of God (Cf. Rev. 6:15-17; and our Special Study on The Day of the Lord in Minor Prophets, College Press). The appearance of Jehovah in judgment is both glorious and terrible at the same time! Gods glory is manifested in His judgment as well as in His grace! Isaiahs appeal to the fear of Gods judgment as a motive in preaching runs contrary to most modern psychological theories which assert that it is wrong to use fear as a motive in preaching and teaching. How different Gods methods! Judgment is set before sinful men as a terrible reality! Men must turn from sin if they are to escape such judgment. This is the only motive that will prevail with rebellious sinners. The only way to run from God is to run to Him!
Isa. 2:12-17 MAN, AND HIS PRIDE BROUGHT LOW: Isaiah announces the judgment of God upon a number of objects in which man had placed his confidence. The cedars of Lebanonused in the Temple (1Ki. 5:6); for masts of ships (Eze. 27:5); as a symbol of beauty (Jer. 22:6; Zec. 11:1 ff); particularly admired by Jews (Cf. Psa. 92:12; Psa. 104:16; Eze. 31:3). Because of mans sin, even the great and beautiful things of creation will suffer His judgment. Things created by mans handhis buildings for wealth, show and fortification will never survive the judgment of God. One only has to read the notes of archaeologists to verify this statement. The greatest fortifications that the mind of man can devise and the hand of man can build can be destroyed by the least, most insignificant handiwork of God. God is able to direct and send the smallest insect to ruin and make helpless the most complex electronic defense instrument ever devised by man! God can shake the tallest and thickest wall or bridge or sky-scraper to rubble and dust through an earthquake. Objects which bring to man the necessities and luxuries of lifeships of commerce from Tarshish which was a critical lifeline of the nation of Judah would be cut off. Also the ships of pleasure which the rich people of Judah used for selfish pleasure would be destroyed. Isa. 2:11; Isa. 2:17, beginning and ending of specifying judgments, emphasize that Gods eye of judgment is upon the evil of man and not on things. Mans sin has perverted the object and the objects have become a cause of mans sin and so God will remove the cause.
Isa. 2:18-21 IDOLATRY TO BE DESTROYED: When God begins to act in judgment, the impotence of their idols and their own stupidity in trusting in them will be so evident the people will cast them away in shame. Also, the people will be so intent upon escaping during these terrible times they will consider their idols only hindrances, encumbering their attempts to escape, and they will leave them behind for the heathen to carry off as booty. The destruction of idols is mentioned last because idolatry is the root sin that causes all the rest. Covetousness (the desire to have more) is called idolatry in the N.T. The captives destroyed forever the practice of idolatry among the Jews.
Isa. 2:22 TRUST IN MAN TO BE DESTROYED: Trust in idolatry is, in a sense, trust in man himself, for the idols are the products of his ingenuity and creative powers. But any trust in any man for salvation of the soul, for redemption is to be stopped! Mans knowledge, limited by the finitude of his being, is not only unable to extricate him from his predicament, but when trusted in to the exclusion of God, buries man deeper and deeper in his own predicamentignorance and immorality. Mans life is extremely transitory (Cf. Psa. 146:3-4; Psa. 118:8; Psa. 104:29; Ecc. 12:7; Psa. 33:10; Jas. 4:13-17, etc.). What can man do against the wrath of God? The answer is: Nothing! Man without God is lost!
QUERIES
1.
Why would Isaiah direct men to try the impossiblehide from God?
2.
Is an appeal to fear God a proper avenue of motivation?
3.
Why will God bring His wrath upon the objects of creation as well as persons?
4.
Why would the people of Judah cast away their idols?
5.
Why not trust in man?
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(10) Enter into the rock.The limestone caverns of Palestine were natural asylums in times of terror and dismay (Jdg. 6:2; Jdg. 15:8; 1Sa. 13:6; 1Sa. 14:11; 1Sa. 24:3; 1Ki. 18:4). Here, as in Mic. 1:4, we may probably trace the impression left by the earthquake under Uzziah (Amo. 1:1), when the people fled in terror from the city (Zec. 14:5). Isaiah foresees the recurrence of a like panic in the future.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
10. Enter into the rock Natural and artificial caves are very numerous in the soft cretaceous rocks of Palestine. Into these people fled on the approach of an invading army. To the shelter afforded by these the people are now exhorted to fly, that they may, if possible, avoid the wrath coming upon them. Occasion for fright is the greater now that Jehovah is coming in judgment.
Hide thee in the dust In Isa 2:19 is the mention of “caves of the earth,” or “dust,” gathered during ages in the cave-bottoms. This probably is what is meant here. Yet allusion may be made to the storms of dust common in the East. The blasts of Jehovah’s fiery judgment may be meant, and the direction may be to fall to the ground with face downward, as travellers do in sand storms, till the heated blast has spent itself. If this is meant, the imagery is beautiful. It matters little which allusion was intended, either illustrates well.
For fear Hebrew, “From the face of the terror of the Lord.” That is, Do what is directed to escape from the terror, etc., or the punishment which God will cause to sweep over the land. And for the glory, etc. See Isa 2:19-21.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The Terrible Vision ( Isa 2:10-22 ).
This vision is in direct contrast with the Glorious Vision of Isa 2:2-4. On the one hand glory, now, on the other, judgment. Here we have a picture of the destiny of those who fail to respond to God’s mercy.
The construction, at first simple, is in fact complicated. From Isa 2:10 to Isa 2:19 there is a build up from man fleeing to the rocks before the terror of Yahweh and the glory of His majesty (Isa 2:10), to his being mightily humbled and Yahweh exalted (Isa 2:11), to the final bringing down of all that men exult in (Isa 2:12-16), to a repetition of his being mightily humbled and Yahweh exalted (Isa 2:17), to a repetition of his fleeing to the rocks before the terror of Yahweh and the glory of His majesty (Isa 2:19), during which time the idols will pass away (Isa 2:18).
But then is added that He is arising to shake mightily the earth (Isa 2:19 b), which leads on to a further description of man’s casting away his idols (Isa 2:20) and his fleeing to the rocks for a hiding place from the terror of Yahweh and the glory of His majesty (Isa 2:21), followed by a repetition of the fact that He is arising to shake mightily the earth. The whole picture is applied in Rev 6:15-17 to the final day of wrath. The repetitions witness to the truth of the words and the certainty that they will come about.
Isa 2:10-11
‘Enter into the rock,
And hide yourself in the dust,
From before the terror of Yahweh,
And from the glorious splendour of his majesty.
The lofty looks of man will be brought low,
And the haughtiness of men will be bowed down,
And Yahweh alone will be exalted in that day.’
Note how the literary form is in couplets and then finally culminates in one great statement, ‘And Yahweh alone will be exalted in that day.’
At present these men are brought low before their idols and bow before them (Isa 2:9), and yet are proud and haughty before Yahweh, but the day is coming when the opposite will happen. It will be before Yahweh that all men will be brought low and will bow down. This will occur when He appears in His glory. For He is to appear in His true splendour as the Judge of all the earth (Gen 18:25), and His presence will be enough in itself to bring it about. None will be able to stand before Him. They will flee before Him and seek shelter in caves and try to bury themselves in holes in the dust because of their awareness of the glory of His majesty, and because of their fear of Him. For then they will indeed behold Him in His true splendour, as He is. In that day only One will be exalted, and that One will be Yahweh.
Their quest for a hiding place will, of course, be in vain. There will be no hiding place, just as there was no hiding place for man in the Garden of Eden at the approach of Yahweh there.
Isa 2:12-16
‘For there will be a day of Yahweh of hosts,
Against all that is proud and haughty,
And against all that is lifted up, and it will be brought low.
And against all the cedars of Lebanon,
Which are high and lifted up,
And against all the oaks of Bashan,
And against all the high mountains,
And against all the hills that are lifted up,
And against every lofty tower,
And against every fenced wall,
And against all the ships of Tarshish,
And against all pleasant imagery (literally ‘object gazed on’).’
‘A day of Yahweh of hosts.’ This is any day when Yahweh acts in judgment, when Yahweh ‘has His day’. It can be near or far depending on context. The description here would to some extent fit the approaching severe judgment by the Assyrians, for Lebanon, Transjordan (Bashan) and Tyre (ships of Tarshish) would all be affected by them, but Isaiah is later confident of delivery from Assyria, whereas the description here is final. And here it is Yahweh alone Who is exalted, and the idols utterly pass away. The context also places it in ‘the latter days’ (Isa 2:2). It is therefore a picture of Yahweh’s final days of reckoning, the opposite of Isa 2:2-4, of which the Assyrian invasion is but a foretaste.
It will be a day of accounting for ‘all that is proud and haughty, and all that is lifted up, and it will be brought low.’ Thus primarily in mind is all that is exalted, depicted by means of objects mentioned mainly because they were famous for their proud status, the tall cedars of Lebanon and the strong oaks of Bashan of which they were so proud, the mighty mountains and the high hills on which they worshipped idols, the tall towers, and the strong walls from which men would shout defiance at the enemy, and in which they trusted to keep them safe, the tall-masted ships of Tarshish (Eze 27:5-8; Eze 27:25), manufactured from the great trees, and which were the great ships that went long distances, conquering the sea and returning with iron ore, (Tarshish means ‘refinery’), and then finally the magnificent imagery of great kings as depicted in their inscriptions, possibly having in mind especially their victory trophies. All this that man glories in will cease.
The ‘pleasant imagery’ may be any large inscriptions such as those depicting gods, or those inscribed as trophies of victory, or may even be another word for another type of splendid ship in parallel with the ships of Tarshish (the meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain, but signifies ‘the object gazed on’). However the detail is clear. All that man gloried in and saw as most imposing and permanent would fall in that day, his tall and mighty trees toppling to the ground, his great mountain fastnesses brought low, his powerful fortifications overwhelmed and his mighty ships sunk. Nothing that we exult in will stand in God’s final day.
Isa 2:17-21
‘And the loftiness of man will be bowed down,
And the haughtiness of men will be brought low,
And Yahweh alone will be exalted in that day,
And the idols will utterly pass away,
And men will go into the caves of the rocks,
And into the dust of the earth,
From before the terror of Yahweh,
And from the glory of his majesty,
When he arises to shake mightily the earth.
In that day a man will cast away his idols of silver,
And his idols of gold, which they made for him to worship,
To the moles (‘rodents’) and to the bats,
To go into the caverns of the rocks,
And into the clefts of the ragged rocks,
From before the terror of Yahweh,
And from the glory of his majesty,
When he arises to shake mightily the earth.’
Again there is twofold emphasis on man’s pride being humbled, and here it is ’adam and ’enosh, mankind in general and men as frail and mortal, that are in mind (contrast Isa 2:9). And we then have twice more repeated the description of the glorious and majestic appearing of Yahweh (compare Isa 2:10-11), the threefold repetition emphasising its prime importance. This is describing the end of time. His appearance in splendour will be manifested to all. But now is added twice that He is arising mightily to shake the earth. The glorious appearing is accompanied by the mighty shaking. His appearing will deal finally with all man’s pride and arrogance (Isa 2:12-17), and with all idols (elilim – ‘nonentities’), which will utterly pass away (Isa 2:18). They will be tossed to the rats in the dust ,and the bats in the caves, in final recognition of their utter uselessness (Isa 2:20). God will be all in all.
Thus will idolatry cease, the gods of the nations be humiliated, tossed away and destroyed. Thus will proud man be humbled in a way far deeper than his self-humbling before the idols in Isa 2:9. Thus will men, the god-makers, seek to hide as man once sought to hide in the Garden of Eden, but while in Eden it was among the trees, which had been God’s provision for him, here it is in caves, rocks and holes in the ground from which he had dug his gold and silver, the very gold and silver from which his idols were made. Anywhere will do to get away from the terrible vision.
The picture of man fleeing to his hiding places while casting away his gold and silver idols, made for him by men, is vivid. They have in the end proved useless. And why? Because the majestic splendour and glory of Yahweh has been revealed. Beside that nothing can stand. Beside that the gold and silver artificial splendour of the idols pales into total insignificance. Here is the true glory, the glory of God. The cry of the seraphim in Isa 6:3 is supremely fulfilled. ‘The whole earth is full of His glory’.
The huge contrast between the pictures in Isa 2:2-4 and Isa 2:10-21 brings out the constant contrast in Scripture between the triumph of God in His people and the fate of the remainder of mankind. On the one hand universal triumph and glory, on the other universal judgment and despair. The complicated interweaving of the fulfilment of Isaiah’s words in history as they came to their own in the spreading of the Gospel, the establishing of the Kingly Rule of God and His constantly repeated judgments on nations, leading up to the final consummation in the future in the rapture and resurrection of God’s people, the glorious appearing of Jesus Christ and the judgment of those in rebellion against God, followed by the everlasting heavenly kingdom, was outside the prophet’s awareness. He presented all this in terms that could be understood. It was ‘the future’ in ‘the latter days’, that is ‘days far from now’.
The final lesson from this great vision is that every man must give an account of himself to God. While He is the Merciful God He is also the Terrible God. We must never treat lightly our responsiveness to Him lest it prove false at the last (Mat 7:22). ‘It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God’ (Heb 10:31) unless we do so through Jesus.
Isa 2:22
Final Comment ( Isa 2:22 ).
‘Cease from man whose breath is in his nostrils, for in what way is he to be accounted of?’
This is one of the interjecting verses that we often find in Isaiah, although it fits into the chiasmus. Compare Isa 2:5; Isa 3:9-11. As there it connects what has been said with what follows. ‘Cease from’ here means ‘do not look to, do not rely on’. He is saying that man, unlike God Whose breath is in Himself and permanent, is but an earthly creature who depends on breathing noseful by noseful for his life and whose breath can easily be taken away. He is not therefore to be counted on, or even taken into account, in a major crisis (Isa 3:1) or in the face of eternal things such as have been described (Isa 2:19). It is to God that man should look, not to men. He alone is dependable in the greatest crises. Those who rely on God rather than men will be better able to face the soon-coming crisis (chapter 3)
This is not to say that we should not depend on each other when difficult times arise, but rather stressing where final dependence must lie. The truth is that man may often well not have the solution, and that man is not always dependable, whereas God does always have the solution and is always dependable. For it is only God Who can breathe life into men.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The Majesty of God in his Final Revelation
v. 10. Enter into the rock, v. 11. The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, v. 12. For the day of the Lord of hosts, v. 13. and upon all the cedars of Lebanon that are high and lifted up, v. 14. and upon all the high mountains, and upon all the hills that are lifted up, v. 15. and upon every high tower, and upon every fenced wall, v. 16. and upon all the ships of Tarshish, v. 17. And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, v. 18. And the Idols He shall utterly abolish, v. 19. And they, v. 20. In that day, v. 21. to go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks, v. 22. Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Isa 2:10. Enter into the rock The prophet’s discourse is here most sublime, in order to fill the mind with the highest ideas of the divine judgment impending. We have a preface concerning the greatness of this judgment, Isa 2:10-11 a more clear exposition of it with respect to the subjects to be humbled by God, with the consequences of it; Isa 2:12-21 and an admonition is subjoined at the end, Isa 2:22. The preface is figurative; and its aim is, to teach, that in the revelation of God’s judgments against the wicked, there will be the brightest display of the divine majesty and glory, which scarcely any mortal will be able to sustain; much less the impious and idolaters, the condemners of God and his law. He therefore exhorts them to hide themselves in the rocks and caves, that they might not be consumed by the fire of the divine majesty. The emblem is elegant, and seems to me to be taken from the circumstances in the history of Moses and Elijah, mentioned Exo 33:22 and 1Ki 19:13. See Vitringa.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
This Portion of the chapter opens in a very solemn manner. Whether the prophet means the visitations of God in the day of calamity of this world; or refers to the day of judgment for another; in both cases it is solemn. See Rev 6:12-17 . But is there not a spiritual sense of the passage, alluding to the day, when God by his Holy Spirit, awakens conviction in the heart? Never surely doth the soul lie lower in the dust before God, than when a sense of sin, and the fear of the wrath to come, first breaks in from the Spirit’s awakening in the soul. Then pleasant pictures and high mountains, both the cedars of Lebanon, and the oaks of Bashan, are as nothing: the sinner wants to flee if possible from himself; and nothing can comfort the soul under the apprehension of God’s wrath against sin, until Christ is revealed in all the suitableness of the Saviour, and formed in the heart the hope of glory.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Isa 2:10 Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty.
Ver. 10. Enter into the rock, and hide thee, ] q.d., Do if thou canst; go where thou thinkest thou mayest be most secret and secure; but God’s hand will surely find thee and ferret thee out, as it did the five kings of Canaan, hid in the cave of Makkedah, Jos 10:16-17 and as it did the wretched Jews, who were by the Romans pulled out of their privies and other lurking holes to the slaughter, at the last destruction of Jerusalem. Hoc autem perpetuo invenies apud peccatores, saith Oecolampadius here. This is ever usual with sinful persons, to desire to flee from God, but he meeteth them at every turn, as he did Adam, Cain, Jonah, &c. The safest way is to flee from God’s anger to God’s grace. Bloodletting is a cure of bleeding, and a burn a cure against a burn; and running to God is the way to escape him, as to close and get in with him that would strike you, doth avoid the blow. a
For fear of the Lord, and for the glory.
a Dr Rain.
b A mnemonic term for the first mood of the second figure of syllogisms, in which the major premiss and the conclusion are universal negatives, and the minor a universal affirmative.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
fear = dread. Compare 2Th 1:9, 2Th 1:10.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Enter: Isa 2:19-21, Isa 10:3, Isa 42:22, Jdg 6:1, Jdg 6:2, Job 30:5, Job 30:6, Hos 10:8, Luk 23:30, Rev 6:15, Rev 6:16
for fear: Isa 6:3-5, Job 31:23, Job 37:22-24, Psa 90:11, Jer 10:7, Jer 10:10, Luk 12:5, Rev 15:3, Rev 15:4
Reciprocal: Jos 10:16 – and hid 1Ch 29:11 – majesty Job 40:13 – Hide Isa 2:21 – go Isa 26:10 – in the Jer 13:9 – the pride Dan 10:7 – so Mic 1:3 – and tread Nah 3:11 – thou shalt be hid 2Th 1:9 – the glory Rev 21:23 – for
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Isa 2:10-11. Enter into the rock, &c. Such calamities are coming upon you, that you will be ready to hide yourselves in rocks and caves of the earth, for fear of the glorious and terrible judgments of God. The lofty looks of man shall be humbled The eyes that looked high; the countenance, in which the pride of the heart had showed itself, shall be cast down in shame and despair. The haughtiness of men shall be bowed down Judicially, as they prostrated themselves before their idols voluntarily, the punishment being suited to their sin. And the Lord alone shall be exalted The justice and power of Jehovah shall be magnified, and the impotence and vanity of all other gods shall be detected, at the same time that the self-confidence, self-sufficiency, and vain glory of man are abased and vilified.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The effect of the problem: humiliation 2:10-21
Isa 2:10-21 are a poem on the nature and results of divine judgment. Note the repetition of key words and phrases at the beginnings and ends of the sections and subsections. This section breaks down as follows:
The Lord is exalted over man and the world (Isa 2:10-17)
The fact that the Lord is exalted and man is humbled (Isa 2:10-11)
The demonstration that the Lord is exalted over every exalted thing (Isa 2:12-17)
The Lord is exalted over idols (Isa 2:18-21)
The fact that the Lord is exalted and idols and man vanish (Isa 2:18-19)
The demonstration that the Lord is exalted and idols are exposed (Isa 2:20-21) [Note: Adapted from ibid., p. 57.]
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
The proud and lofty people would eventually try to hide from God’s judgment of them when He exalts Himself in the day of His reckoning (see Isa 2:12). Having boasted in earthly resources (Isa 2:6-8), they now have only the earth to turn to (cf. Isa 1:24). Contrast the nations that the Lord will accept in the future (Isa 2:4).
"In preaching as he does here, Isaiah is going contrary to modern psychological theories which assert that it is unwise and even wrong to use fear as a motif in preaching and teaching. How different God’s appraisal of preaching! . . . The only way to run from God is to run to Him." [Note: Young, 1:122.]