Isaiah 2:1-22 Visions of God’s Greatness WC McCarter
The LORD Alone Shall Be Exalted
Introduction
One
of the things that seems to be lacking in churches today, especially in America
and even in solid evangelical churches, is an accurate picture of Almighty God.
We seem to have lost who God is, what He does, and what He is going to do. We
have lost the attributes of God: the holiness of God, His righteousness, His
justness, and more. We have lost it, and it’s a problem. Instead, we have filled
our minds with the latest self-help or positive-thinking nonsense. In doing so,
all we can think about is how we can live our best life now. We are selfish and
sinful. We have lost the greatness of God and the global vision that He has
given us. To combat this spiritually devastating epidemic, I am going to preach
God in all His glory the best I can over the next several weeks.
As
we begin this new sermon series in the book of Isaiah, we will be looking at
six different chapters which contain visions of God and what He will do. Isaiah
is considered the greatest of the writing prophets because his book is the
longest of all the prophets. His career lasted at least four decades as he
warned the Israelites of the North of coming judgment, and then he warned the
Jews of the South of the same. He began preaching in about the year 740 B.C.
Isaiah preached judgment, repentance, and hope for the future.
READ Scripture- This is the Word of God
Global Vision (1-4)
The
first thing to notice about this chapter is the global vision that the Lord
reveals to the prophet Isaiah. He promises a splendid future when “all nations”
shall flow to the Lord’s house; “many people” shall come to the mountain of the
Lord to declare His greatness; and the instruction of the Lord shall “go forth”
from Zion, the holy city, into all nations. The Lord also promises righteous
judgment of the “nations;” He will rebuke “many people;” and “nations” will no
longer think of war. As one writer has said, “This vision depicts nothing short
of the transformation of human society” (Chisholm, 18).
Verse
one tells us that this was a “word” that Isaiah “saw,” that is to say, this was
a vision from the Lord. The vision revealed the promises of God for the future.
In the “latter days” the Lord’s dwelling place on earth will be exalted. His
house will sit at the heights of the mountains. The Lord’s house will be
established on the peak of the tallest mountain.
The
instruction of the Lord will bring about peace worldwide. It will truly
transform global society. War will be a thing of the distant past as nations
give it up to cultivate their own lands. War is an awful thing, especially in
ancient times. In those days, war meant hand-to-hand combat. It was bloody, and
it was ugly. There was slaughter, starvation, raping, cannibalism, slavery, and
all forms of human atrocities. But in the latter days this will all be
abandoned.
Filled with Eastern Ways (5-9)
Verse
five is a call to all Israel to repent and obey their Lord which would usher in
the long-awaited “latter days” when God would bring the blessings of verses one
through four.
Verse
six begins a different section in the chapter. God is acknowledged as having
forsaken His people. The reason He has done so is clear, and the cause runs
from verse six to verse nine. Twelve lines are listed representing three evils
found among God’s people: eastern ways, wealth, and idols.
The Lord Alone Shall be Exalted
(10-17)
Verse
ten says that a wicked person can try to hide, but verse eleven makes clear
that the wicked will be found and brought down. The only one left standing on
that day will be the Lord. Not only will He be left standing, but He alone will
be exalted.
The
question that comes to mind from the end of verse eleven is, what is “that
day?” The answer comes in verse twelve. It is the “day of the Lord.” This is a
common phrase for the prophets of the Old Testament which refers to the
judgment that the Lord will bring down upon the earth. Sometimes it refers to
the very end times, and sometimes it refers to an immediate judgment against
the people of Israel.
Israel
is seen here as having fallen into the evil ways of all of humanity. They have
become proud and arrogant. The day of the Lord is said to come upon everything
that is lifted up, and, when it does, those things will be brought low.
Verses
13-16 list eight things which the Israelites would have considered high and
mighty. The prophet says that these things will be brought down and, “The Lord
alone will be exalted in that day.” These verses are almost poetic and
certainly emphatic. For a Jew who only knew small, warped trees in Palestine,
the massive trees of Lebanon and Bashan were greatly admired. For a people who
feared the seas, the mighty merchant ships of Tarshish were wondrous. Some
things which were a little closer to home, for which the Jews took great pride
in, were the high mountains and raised hills, the high towers and fortified
walls. These were great prides in the land of Canaan.
All
the things that the people of earth take great pride in will be brought down.
All the things that the Israelites considered mighty and marvelous would be
brought low. The great sin of man is the sin that was committed first in the
Garden and has occurred in every generation since: the sin of attempting to
become God. We are selfish, proud, and arrogant people who are out of line and
out of place. We do not have a proper perspective of ourselves, especially in
relation to the Lord of hosts. Those who persist in arrogance will experience
the terror of the Lord.
Idols Utterly Abolished (18-22)
On
the day of the Lord, idols will be shown for what they are: helpless and
useless. They will not save their devotees. The day of the Lord will be the end
of all idols. They will be utterly annihilated. The only good those idols will
be in the day of the Lord is as deterrents against rodents as the idolaters
flee to the caves and holes to hide from the terror of the Lord, and they throw
them at the moles and bats to keep them away.
Conclusion and Christian
Application
(1) Come and let us walk in the light of
the Lord.
(2) Arrogance and pride bring about the
judgment of God. It is a broken and contrite heart that the Lord will not
despise. The Lord looks favorably upon the lowly. God resists the proud and
gives grace to the humble. Blessed are the poor in spirit. You see, the
doctrine taught here in Isaiah is taught throughout the Bible. The Lord says in
the New Testament, “For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles
himself will be exalted.”
(3) Not only should you forsake your own
pride and self-centeredness, but you should also reject those around you who
follow that path. We are told to sever ourselves from such people. Bad company
corrupts good character.