And the haughtiness
of man shall be humbled, and the lofty pride of men shall be brought low, and the LORD alone
will be exalted in that day. Isaiah
2:17
Our
passage this week (Isaiah
2) begins with a
beautiful picture and promise of a day of peace, and ends with a devastating
picture and promise of a day of God’s judgment.
Both days are promised. And both
days will be accomplished through Christ, whom Isaiah declares to be the Prince
of Peace (Is 9:6) and the righteous Judge (Is 11:4).
In Isaiah
2 the focus is on the contrast between the exaltation of God and the exaltation
of man. It is a preview of the great day
that is coming when the nations will stream up to the Mountain of God to
worship Him, and a preview of that terrible coming day when God will come
against the pride of man seen in idolatry and self-worship. “For
the LORD of hosts has a day against all that is proud and lofty, against all
that is lifted up—and it shall be brought low” (Is 2:12).
Isaiah
speaks to a people whose “land is filled
with idols; they bow down to the work of their hands, to what their own fingers
have made.” (Is 2:8) But as we read
and study Isaiah we must guard against our tendency to focus on ‘their sin’; their blatant idolatry, their
daily horoscopes (v6a), their
emphasis on politics (6b), their
trust in silver and gold, their reliance
on military strength.
Isaiah 2 declares to us that human
pride was the root of their sin, and
pride is the root of our sin as well.
The human heart has not changed.
John Piper summarizes it well: “The root of sin is the insanity of forsaking
the pursuit of your pleasure in God.
Here's the text: Jeremiah 2:12-13: "Be
appalled O heavens, be shocked. Be
utterly desolate, says the Lord. For my
people have committed two great evils.
They have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters and have hewed out
for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold no water." Tell me, what is evil? The definition of evil, that which appalls
the universe, that causes the angels of God to say, "No! It can't be!"...what is it? It is
looking at God, the fountain of all-satisfying, living water, and saying
"No thank you," and turning to the television, sex, parties, booze,
money, prestige, a house in the suburbs, a vacation, a new computer program,
and saying "Yes!" That's
insane! And it causes all heaven to be
appalled, according to Jeremiah 2:12.” http://www.desiringgod.org/messages/passion-for-the-supremacy-of-god-part-2
Isaiah
points us to “the mountain of the house
of the Lord” which “shall be
established as highest of the mountains”.
This is a place of grandeur and glory, a place where God’s word goes
forth and people are taught in his ways (Is 2:3).
I believe
Isaiah 2 speaks of a physical place that points ultimately to the place we read
about in Hebrews where Abraham “was
looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is
God” (Heb 11:10). “But you have come to Mount Zion and to the
city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in
festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in
heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made
perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled
blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a
kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship,
with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire. (Heb 12:22-24, 28)
Jesus is
the One we focus on in this place, and with God’s help Jesus is the One we will
focus on this Sunday. As you prepare to
gather this Lord’s Day with your church family for worship I encourage you to
read Isaiah 2. As you do ask God to
reveal the pride, the self-reliance, the misplaced trust that resides in all
our hearts. Pride manifests itself in
each of us differently, but this is true for us all: God
opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. (Ja 4:6, I Pet 5:5) Do what is necessary for this humility. Pray for and be thankful for this grace.
Pride and
humble Spirit-led worship cannot co-exist.
When Isaiah saw the Lord high and lifted up he was humbled, his pride
and self-reliance was crushed (Is 6).
Pray for this pride-killing vision of God.
This
Sunday one of our worship songs will be Crown Him With Crowns. In this hymn we praise the One who is the
Lamb upon the throne, the One who is the Lord of Life and the Lord of Love. He is also the Lord of the peace we read
about in Isaiah 2:
Crown Him the Lord of peace
whose
power a sceptre sways.
From pole to pole that wars may
cease,
and all be prayer and praise;
His reign shall know no end,
and
round His pierced feet
fair flowers of paradise extend
their fragrance ever sweet
I look
forward to seeing you in church this Sunday.
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