12. The Day of the LORD of Host

Posted on Posted in Sermon Notes Tagged with , , ,

Hymns: RHC 229 Thy Kingdom Come, O God 332 Moment by Moment 156 Good Christian Men, Rejoice

Isaiah 2:10-22

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 everyone 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. 20In 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 Day of the LORD of Host

OUTLINE

(1) When God’s Judgment Comes (v10)

(2) Proud Men Bowed Down (v11-18)

(3) No Place to Flee (v19-21)

(4) Cease Ye from Man (v22)

INTRODUCTION

When man disregards God’s laws to destroy its foundations, there is only a fearful awaiting of judgment. Israel has been trending on that downward slope for years. But the decisive attack on the foundations of society was the disregard for God’s law and God’s order for that society. Hard times have indeed come upon Israel as the prophet Isaiah observed the movement of disobeying God’s laws and the trend towards lawlessness have come to a head. 

As one pastor rightly points out, “When a nation celebrates what God condemns, judgment from on high must eventually come. No one can say how or when or where that judgment will come. But as certainly as God destroys Sodom and Gomorrah, as certainly as the great empires of history have fallen…” so will our nation not escape God’s judgment. It is a dark day indeed when God’s law in section 377A was taken down on 29 November 2022 in Singapore. 

For the people of God, we cling on to God’s promise in Psalm 37:7 (KJV) Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.

We may indeed say that perilous times are upon us (2 Timothy 3).

For the people of God, we take refuge in the LORD in the face of an uncertain future as the psalmist said in Psalm 11:1-2 (KJV) To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. In the LORD put I my trust: how say ye to my soul, Flee as a bird to your mountain? For, lo, the wicked bend their bow, they make ready their arrow upon the string, that they may privily shoot at the upright in heart.

Trusting that God can protect him, the psalmist David flee to the LORD for refuge. We can apply this to our moral crisis in Singapore. Only 3 men had the window to cast a vote courageously, truthfully and insightfully to warn of the perils to come.

The people of God must not fear and the people of God must not fret – Psalm 11:2-3 (KJV) For, lo, the wicked bend their bow, they make ready their arrow upon the string, that they may privily shoot at the upright in heart. If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?

The word “foundations” refers to the moral and spiritual underpinnings of any society, Romans 1 foresees such a day.

The psalmist David’s spiritual response is not despondence but to rest in the LORD’S – Psalm 11:4 (KJV) The LORD is in his holy temple, the LORD’S throne is in heaven: his eyes behold, his eyelids try, the children of men.

God is still on the throne and sovereignly ruling over the universe. He knows, God’s people can rest in Him by dwelling in His presence.

Psalm 11:5 (KJV) The LORD trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth.

It will be a time of testing to prove His people. 

Psalm 11:6-7 (KJV) Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and an horrible tempest: this shall be the portion of their cup. For the righteous LORD loveth righteousness; his countenance doth behold the upright.

Our text in Isaiah 2:6-9 showed the sad incursions of lawlessness in the land of Israel. A day of judgment is coming for those who mock God and reject His Word. We saw Isaiah 2:1-5 when God rules in the Millennium, there is true peace in Israel and the world.

(1) When Judgment Comes (v10)

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

The nations seemed to have the sense to know that the day to safety is to dig deep into the crevices of the earth and hide there from possible calamity.  

Instead of simply predicting that their sinful course should be interrupted by a terrible manifestation of God’s presence, the Prophet views Him as already come or near at hand, and addressing the people as an individual, or singling out one of their numbers, exhorts him to take refuges underground or in the rocks, advice peculiarly significant in Palestine, a country full of caves, often used, if not originally made, for this very purpose.

1 Samuel 13:6 (KJV) When the men of Israel saw that they were in a strait, (for the people were distressed,) then the people did hide themselves in caves, and in thickets, and in rocks, and in high places, and in pits.

1 Samuel 14:11 (KJV) And both of them discovered themselves unto the garrison of the Philistines: and the Philistines said, Behold, the Hebrews come forth out of the holes where they had hid themselves.

Judges 6:2 (KJV) And the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel: and because of the Midianites the children of Israel made them the dens which are in the mountains, and caves, and strong holds.

The tone of this address is not sarcastic but terrific. By the terror of the LORD seems to be intended not the feeling of fear which He inspires but some manifest manifestation of His presence. [Alexander Addision]

(2) Proud Men Bowed Down (v11-18)

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. 

The eyes of the loftiness of man (his haughty looks) are cast down, and the height (or pride) of men is brought low, and the LORD alone is exalted in that day, not only in fact, but in the estimation of His creatures. [Alexander Addison]

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. 

The general threat of humiliation is now applied specifically to a variety of lofty objects in which the people might be supposed to delight and trust (v12-16). This enumeration is connected with what goes before, by an explanation of the phrase used at the close of the 11th verse.

It is called “that day” in v11 because there is a day to the LORD of hosts, an appointed time for the manifestation of His power upon or against everything high and lofty and upon everything exalted, and it comes or shall come down. There is a day to the LORD, He has a day, has it appointed, has it in reserve.  

To convey the idea of lofty and imposing objects, the Prophet makes use, not of symbols but of specimens selected from among the things of this class most familiar to his readers, beginning with the two noblest species of forest trees. 

And on all the cedars of Lebanon (or the White Mountain, the chain dividing Palestine from Syria) ad on all the oaks of Bashan (now called El Bethenyeh), a mountainous district, east of Jordan, famous for its pastures and oak forests). Cedars and oaks are supposed to be here named, as emblems of great men in general or of the great men of Syria and Israel distinctively; but this is not keeping with the subsequent conquest, in which some things are mentioned, which cannot be understood as emblems, but only as samples of this verse. 

To the trees and hills, he now adds walls and towers, as a third class of objects with which the ideas of loftiness and strength are commonly associated. And upon every high tower and upon every fenced wall, literally, cut off, rendered inaccessible by being fortified.

The Prophet now concludes his catalogue of lofty and conspicuous objects by adding, first, as a specific item, maritime vessels of the largest class, and then a general expression, summing up the whole in one descriptive phrase, as things attractive and imposing to the eye. 

And upon all ships of Tarshish (such as were built to navigate the whole length of the Mediterranean Sea) and upon all images (visible objects) of desire, or rather admiration and delight. It is a very old opinion that Tarshish means the sea, and ships of Tarshish sea-faring vessels, as distinguished from mere coast or river craft.

As the principal maritime trade, with which the Hebrews were acquainted, was to this region, ships of Tarshish would suggest the idea of the largest class of vessels, justly included in this catalogue of lofty and imposing objects. To suppose a direct allusion either to commercial wealth or naval strength, is inconsistent with the context, although these ideas would of course be suggested by association. 

The loft and imposing objects as had just been enumerated – “cedars, oaks, mountains, hills, towers, walls, ships, and in short, all attractive and majestic objects.” [Joseph Alexander Addision]

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.

This verse is a repeating of v11, brings us back from the details to the general proposition which they were designed to illustrate and enforce, and at the same time has the effect if a strophical arrangement, in which the same burden or chorus recurs at stated intervals – And thus, by this means, or in this way, shall the loftiness of man be cast down, and the pride of men be brought low. The LORD alone be exalted for the present. So sinks the loftiness of man and bows the pride of men, and the LORD alone is exalted in that day. [Joseph Alexander Addision]

18 And the idols he shall utterly abolish.

To the humiliation of all lofty things the Prophet now adds the entire disappearance of their idols. And the idols (as for the idols) the whole shall pass away. The brevity of this verse, consisting of a single clause, has been commonly regarded as highly emphatic and, as some think, sarcastic. [Joseph Alexander Addision]

(3) No Place to Flee (v19-21)

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.

This verse differs from the 10th only by substituting a direct prediction for a warning or exhortation, and by adding the design of God’s terrible appearance. And they (the idolaters, or men indefinitely) shall enter into the caves of the rocks and into the holes of the earth, from before the terror of the LORD and the glory of His majesty in His arising (when He arises) to terrify the earth. The first word rendered “earth” is the same that was translated as “dust” in v10, but even there it signifies the solid surface rather than the crumbling, particles which we call dust. The most exact translation would perhaps be “ground”. God is said to arise when He addresses Himself to anything, especially after a season of apparent inaction.

This is an amplification of v18, explaining how the idols were to disappear, by being thrown away in haste, terror, shame and desperate contempt, by those who had worshipped them, and trusted in them, as a means of facilitating their escape from the avenging presence of the LORD. 

In that days shall men cast his idols of silver and idols of gold (here named as the most splendid and expensive, in order to make the set of throwing them away still more significant) which they have made for him to worship, to the moles and bats. The idols made for them to worship they shall cast to the moles and bats, not to idolators still blinder than themselves, but to literal moles and bats, or the spots which they frequent, the dark and filthy places. Moles and bats are put together on account of ther defect of sight.

Continuing the sentence, he declares the end the for which they should throw away their idols, namesly, to save themselves, casting them off as worthless incumbrances in order the more quickly to take refuge in the rocks. 

To go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the dissures of the cliffs (or crags) from before the terror, and before the terror of the LORD, and from the glory of His majesty in His arising to terrify the earth, or as Lowth more poetically renders it, to strike the earth with twrror. The final recurrence of the same refrain which closed the 11th and 17th verses, marks the conclusion of the choral or strophical arrangement at this verse, the next beginning a new context.

(4) Cease Ye from Man (v22)

22 Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted of?

Having predicted that the people would soon lose their confidence in idols, he now shows the folly of transferring that confidence to human patrons, by a general statement of man’s weakness and mortality, explained and amplified in the following chapter. 

Cease ye from man – cease to trust him or depend on him whose breath is in his nostrils (whose life is transient and precarious, with onvious allusion to Genesis 2:7 (KJV) And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. For therein is he to be accounted of.) The interrogation forcibly implies that man’s protection cannot be relied upon.

CONCLUSION

Solomon spoke in his concluding thought in Ecclesiastes to come back to God and serve Him in the time of our youth. A time comes when we can serve Him no more. A time of judgment is coming, let it be a judgment of reward. Amen.