Isaiah 2:17-22 - When God Strips Away Our Crutches - 294

What if the things we trust most can’t breathe, can’t save, and won’t stand when reality shows up? Walking through Isaiah 2:17–22, we trace a sobering and hopeful arc: human pride gets leveled, idols get tossed to the bats, and the Lord alone is lifted high. We read the passage, connect it to Sinai’s thunder and Revelation’s hiding kings, and ask hard questions about our own “golden” securities—wealth, platforms, alliances, and even beloved leaders we quietly place on pedestals.

As we unpack the “terror of the Lord” and the “splendor of His majesty,” we explore why God’s presence feels like rescue to the humble and like panic to the proud. The images are vivid: caves, rock clefts, breathless idols, and people scrambling for cover. Yet the aim isn’t dread; it’s clarity. Isaiah’s final command—stop regarding man whose breath is in his nostrils—lands right in our present moment, where technology mimics omniscience and status masquerades as safety. We offer practical ways to relocate trust, re-center worship, and practice habits that grind down pride: Sabbath, hidden service, generous giving, and testing every voice by Scripture.

If you’re hungry for teaching that is biblical, clear, and pointed at the heart, this conversation brings theology to ground level. Expect strong application, modern parallels, and a steady reminder that God alone is worthy of your weight. Listen, share with a friend who needs courage to drop an idol, and tell us: what “breathless thing” will you set down this week? Subscribe, leave a review, and help more people find these studies.

Transcript

Opening Hook And Theme

Daniel Moore 0:05

If your God needs you to carry it, protect it, and hide it, is it really a god or just an expensive paperweight? If you've ever panic cleaned your house because someone important was about to show up, Isaiah chapter 2 is gonna feel very familiar. Today we're finishing up Isaiah chapter 2, where human pride gets humbled, idols get exposed, and people start doing what we all do when fear hits. They panic. Isaiah describes people running into caves, hiding in rocks, and throwing their idols to rats and bats. Turns out gold statues don't make great saviors. This passage reminds us that when the Lord rises, everything else shrinks, including our pride and our self-reliance. Today, we're gonna talk about what happens when God shows up, why false security always fails, and why trusting the breathless things has never worked, then or now. So grab your Bible, check your pride, and let's get to it. Welcome to Connecting the Gap. This is a podcast about marriage, Bible, and book studies. And we interview people that have a story. I'm Daniel Moore, your host. Thank you guys for joining us this week. If you're familiar with our show, check out our website, connectingtheGap.net for our platforms. Our YouTube and Rumble links are there. We're also on the Christian podcasting app, Edifi. We're also on your Alexa and Google Smart Devices. You can also visit us on social on Facebook, Instagram, and X at CTGAPonline. If you're a fan of our show, please subscribe. And feel free to leave a comment on our platforms, give us a thumbs up or a five-star review on Apple Podcasts, and we'll be thankful to you for doing that. While you're at our website, there is a contact form there. You can reach out to us here at Connecting the Gap if you'd like to. You can also email us at Daniel at connectingthegap.net. And also while you're there, there's a couple of books available that we've written. And so if you'd like to sew into our ministry and maybe build your marriage just a little bit and do some maybe some devotionals with your spouse or whatever it may be, we've got some resources there just for you. So go check that out on our website at connectingthegap.net. Well, this week we are going to go ahead and finish up Isaiah chapter 2. Uh, we've got about six verses that we're going to blaze our way through this week and try to wrap up this chapter. It's been a great series so far. It's hard to believe it's already February. We've already worked our way through the first month of 2026 and it's flying right on by. But along with that, we have some progress here with our Isaiah verse by verse study. And I hope that you guys have all enjoyed that so far this year. And this week, as I said, we're going to go ahead and finish up Isaiah chapter 2 as we work our ways through verses 17 through 22. So as we start this week, we're going to go ahead and read our passage of scripture, and we are reading this from the ESV version of the Bible. So this week, as we begin, we're going to be in chapter 2 of Isaiah, starting with verse 17. It says, And the haughtiness of man shall be humble, and the lofty pride of men shall be brought low. And the Lord alone will be exalted in that day, and the idols shall utterly pass away, and people shall enter the caves of the rocks and the holes of the ground, from before the terror of the Lord, and from the splendor of his majesty, when he rises to terrify the earth. In that day, mankind will cast away their idols of silver, their idols of gold, which they made for themselves to worship, to the moles and to the bats, to enter the caverns of the rocks and the clefts of the cliffs, from before the terror of the Lord, and from the splendor of his majesty, when he rises to terrify the earth. Stop regarding man in whose nostrils is breath, for of what account is he? So as we get started this week, it kind of sounds a little familiar. If you've been with us in the last couple of episodes as we've been working our way through chapter two here, we've been talking a little bit about the pride of Judah, the things that they had put their faith in and their trust in besides God. God was calling them out on all of that through the prophet Isaiah, letting them know that it didn't matter what they ever did with their wealth, their strength, their military might, their walls, their gates, anything that they had faith and security in, it did not matter because God was bigger than all of that. And they were putting their pride in so many things and putting their trust in so many things, they were completely forgetting about God the Creator. So as we wrap up here in chapter two of Isaiah, the first verse here is verse 17. It says, 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. So here this verse continues the theme of God's impending judgment upon human pride and arrogance. It's part of a poetic oracle that projects a divine reckoning destined to humble all pretensions of self-sufficiency and pride before God's supreme authority. This structure emphasizes a dramatic reversal. What is exalted, which is the pride of man, is going to be brought low, and what is supreme and eternal, which of course is our Lord, will be revealed as the only truly worthy of exaltation. You know, historically Judah had become filled with pride, as we've been discussing throughout this whole chapter, due to the political alliances, their wealth accumulation, and their idolatrous practices. And we have talked about this earlier in this chapter, specifically in verses six through eight here in chapter two. The prophet Isaiah he saw this human arrogance as a major cause of spiritual downfall and national judgment. Isaiah here speaks prophetically of a day of the Lord, which is a theme common in prophetic literature. You can flip over to Amos chapter five, verse eighteen, and Zephaniah chapter one verses fourteen to eighteen, as well as other places, and you will see some familiar passages reflecting what's been spoken of here in Isaiah, denoting a time of divine intervention where God's justice confronts human sin. John Oswald and his commentary on Isaiah highlights this passage as central to Isaiah's theology. God's holiness cannot exist with human pride. Sometimes I think in today's society we forget that. We let our pride rise up. You look especially at our government. We are a country that was supposed to have been created and built on godly biblical principles, but yet if you look around in our society today, even to the smallest cities of the United States, you will see a resemblance of pride within the leadership, within the government of those cities. And you especially see it in some of the bigger cities. You know, we still have our churches, we still have our religion, we still have our faith in God, and we have that freedom that we can worship Him. But just like it was in the days of Isaiah with what Judah and what Israel ended up doing throughout their history, we are mixing up the gospel, mixing up the word of God in the middle of all of this pride that we have in our society. And what happens with that is eventually you have to come down to make a choice. Do you bow down to that human pride? Do you let it take control of you and create you and who you are? Or do we let God's holiness shine through us and we put that human pride down? Because those two things cannot exist. Edward J. Young also emphasizes the eschatological dimension pointing to a final day when all human structures of pride are leveled and God alone is glorified. That's what's going to be happening after the end times, whenever Jesus comes back and he destroys Satan and all of his demons, all of the people that were not following Christ, when all of that's gone, and when we get to that new heaven and that new earth, pride is going to be abolished. It will not be here anymore, and God will be lifted up and he will be glorified. Something that we all get to look forward to as Christians someday upon his return. As we continue here on to verse 18 and chapter 2 of Isaiah, it says, And the idols shall utterly pass away. Here this verse speaks of the absolute eradication of idolatry resulting from the manifestation of God's glory and his power. Idolatry, as denounced continually by the prophets, signified the corruption of true worship and reliance on false powers. The brevity of this verse emphasizes the finality of the judgment. In context here, the people of Judah had filled the land with idols, as we read back in Isaiah 2, verse 8, borrowing heavily from pagan nations. In the ancient Near East, idols were believed to house the presence of divine spirits, and people gave them sacred status. Isaiah, however, derides them, showing them as powerless and destined to perish before the one true God. If you recall here in one of our previous episodes, the idols were likened to firewood. Basically, you take a block of wood, you carve out an idol that you worship, but then that same stick of wood, you can cut a piece off of it and start a fire and cook your food with it. How do you get to the point that you feel like that idol has any power when you burn that wood to ash, when it's completely burned up, there's nothing left. But yet Israel and Judah was putting all of their trust and their faith in these idols that they were picking up from these pagan countries around them. The idea here that the idols will utterly pass away implies both physical destruction and theological nullification. It's a dismissal of their validity and a declaration of their irrelevance once God manifests Himself in undeniable ways. Matthew Henry noted on this verse, he noted that how it reflects God's presence and it reveals the worthlessness of everything else that people once revered or feared. As we move on to verse 19, it says, And the people shall enter the caves of the rocks and the holes of the ground from before the terror of the Lord, and from the splendor of his majesty, when he rises to terrify the earth. This verse here is a little bit sounds like what we talked about, I believe it was two weeks ago, maybe, when we was talking about this, or maybe it was last week. It offers a vivid image of people fleeing in terror before the appearing of God's glory. The rocks, caves, and ground holes depict desperation to hide from divine judgment. This imagery echoes scenes from other prophetic texts and apocalyptic literature, such as Revelation six, fifteen through seventeen, where people also seek to hide from the wrath of God, and we talked about that here in a previous episode. The phrase terror of the Lord ties to the day of the Lord motifs, a time when God will reveal Himself in overwhelming power and righteousness. The splendor of His Majesty presents God's revealed glory as both awe inspiring and fear inducing to sinful humanity. In ancient Israel, the presence of God was always linked with fear, as you can see in Exodus chapter twenty, verse eighteen to twenty one, recognizing the gap between God's holiness and human human sinfulness. So let's take a look here at Exodus twenty, verse eighteen to twenty one, and let's see what happened there. It says Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled. And they stood far off and said to Moses, You speak to us and we will listen, but do not let God speak to us, lest we die. Moses said to the people, Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, and you may not sin. The people stood afar off, while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was. So the context of this scripture here, this is a pivotal chapter in the Bible where God gives the Ten Commandments to the people of Israel through Moses. This context begins with the Israelites having recently been delivered from slavery in Egypt, and they are now encamped at Mount Sinai. God speaks directly to the people from the mountain in thunder, lightning, and smoke, demonstrating his holiness and power. This chapter opens with God declaring his identity as the Lord who brought them out of Egypt, and then he delivers the Ten Commandments which serve as a foundational moral and spiritual laws for the Israelites. These commandments cover duties to God such as having no other gods, not making idols, not taking God's name in vain, and keeping the Sabbath holy, as well as duties to others like honoring parents, prohibitions against murder, adultery, theft, false witness and coveting. So here we see where these laws started. They were actually given to them at Mount Sinai and the Ten Commandments, and then here later in Isaiah's day, what are they doing? They're creating idols, they're worshiping idols, they are having other gods before them, and they are not following God the way that he was wanting them to by keeping the Sabbath holy like they should be, and all the other duties that they had, they were failing everywhere in what God had called them to. So after hearing God's voice and witnessing the dramatic signs on the mountain, the people are filled with fear and ask Moses to speak to God on their behalf, fearing that direct contact with God would lead to their death. Moses reassures them that God's purpose is to instill reverence so that they will not sin. So overall, here in this chapter of Exodus 20, in these verses that we are looking at here, they mark the formal establishment of God's covenant with Israel, setting the stage for the laws and instructions that follow in the subsequent chapters after chapter 20. So you would think that when these Israelites, when they had this fear of God and they did not want to even go up close to the cloud where God was inhabiting, you would think that that would still be burned in their memory when they were at in this time here with Isaiah and they were worshiping these idols. You'd think that that fear would still be there. But obviously they had forgotten. They didn't remember back then. Generations had passed, and some of the people that were there at that time may not have been there anymore, so a new generation was was raising up at that point, and they chose to follow the pagan lands. Contextually, Isaiah uses this language to warn that no human stronghold or concealment would suffice when God arises in judgment. Alec Mother notes that this verse underlines human helplessness before divine purity and majesty. Moving on to verse 20 here of chapter two, it says, In that day mankind will cast away their idols of silver and their idols of gold, which they made for themselves to worship to the moles and to the bats. This verse here crescendos with a symbolic act of complete rejection of idolatry. Mankind here is pictured casting aside valuable idols of silver and gold into unclean places associated with darkness and vermin, which would be the moles and the bats. These animals dwell in dark, hidden, unclean places, according to Levitical law, and Leviticus eleven you can read about that, reinforcing the disgrace of the idols. By stating that these idols were made for themselves to worship, Isaiah highlights the futility and absurdity of idolatry, humans crafting objects of their own labor and then ascribing divine power to them. This critique is expanded in Isaiah forty-four and Psalm 115, where the impotence of idols is mocked. The rejection of these idols is not presented as repentance here, but rather as people discarding them out of sheer terror of God's appearing. It is symbolic of how worthless these idols become in the light of divine reality. John Calvin interprets this as a temporary and superficial rejection rather than a true conversion. The reason for that? Because Israel and the Judah they would be going right back into idolatry. They did not would not learn their lesson. So taken as a whole, these four verses here from 17 to verse 20 presents a sobering prophecy about the futility of human pride, the complete collapse of false worship, and the supreme glory of God, and it also serves as a call to humility, repentance, and the persistent theme in Isaiah's message is that only in God is salvation and security found. So as we continue here with the last two verses of chapter two, verse 21 says, To enter the caverns of the rocks and the clefts of the cliffs, from before the terror of the Lord and from the splendor of his majesty, when he rises to terrify the earth. This verse here continues the theme from verse 19, emphasizing how people, confronted by the awe-inspiring presence and judgment of God, will attempt to hide in natural caves and crevices. The repetition of this imagery strongly reinforces the magnitude of the fear and panic that the Lord's appearance inspires among sinful humanity. As you've noticed here in chapter two, this scenario has been repeated a couple of times. Historically, this kind of fear would have been vivid to Isaiah's original audience who may have sought physical refuges during warfare, such as the Assyrian invasions. Ancient people commonly use caves and strongholds built into rocks for hiding during times of danger. You can read some more about that in Judges chapter 6, verses 2 and 1 Samuel 13, verse 6. But Isaiah here elevates this image to express a spiritual reality that no earthly cover can shield. People from the moral and cosmic judgment of Yahweh. The phrase the terror of the Lord and splendor of his majesty juxtapose God's wrath and his glory. While God's beauty and majesty should inspire worship and reverence for the rebellious, it becomes a source of paralyzing fear. When Isaiah says God rises to terrify the earth, he uses apocalyptic language to describe an eschatological intervention, a final decisive act of judgment. This type of language will be echoed later in prophetic and apocalyptic literature, such as what we've already been through in Revelation chapter six, verses fifteen through seventeen. Alec Mulcher here notes that the repetition of cave imagery in verses nineteen and twenty one forms an inclusion, a literary framing device, intensifying the theme of futile human attempts to hide from divine judgment. John Oswald also emphasizes that this verse again demonstrates that the response to God's revealing is determined by man's spiritual state. For the humble, God is hope. For the proud, he is terror. And as we get to the last days when the coming of the Lord draws nigh, and we see that happen, you will see this actually take place. The people that are ready for Christ to come back are going to be so excited. They're going to be exalted in his presence, they're going to be lifted high, taken away in that rapture. The people that did not know Christ, they are going to be here frightened and full of terror, because they did not make the choice that they should have, and they're going to be left behind. So that's a very vivid imagery here that's being put forth here through these scriptures. Now, as we look at the final scripture here in this section of Scripture today, verse 22 of Isaiah 2, it says, Stop regarding man in whose nostrils is breath, for of what account is he? Here in this final verse, here in chapter two, is a concluding exhortation, sharply contrasting the earlier portraits of human arrogance and self-reliance. Isaiah commands the people to cease valuing or fearing mortal men, the very ones whose pride, idolatry, and self-dependence have incurred divine wrath. The description in whose nostrils is breath highlights the frailty and limited nature of humans. It alludes to Genesis chapter two, verse seven, where God breathes life into man. Breath in this context signifies not just life, but the temporary and dependent nature of that life. Here, Isaiah is essentially saying, Why put your allegiance trust or fear in mere mortals who live only by the breath that was granted by God to them? This indictment serves a dual function. It criticized both those who revere powerful men more than God, such as foreign allies that they had like Egypt or Assyria, and it calls out those who trust in human wisdom, wealth, or idols crafted by human hands. All the loftiness and the trust in man showcased earlier in the chapter here in verses six through eight of this chapter two is rebuked for this final plea. The historical context of this verse, Judah had become increasingly oriented toward foreign coalitions and reliance on human strength and political power. Instead of trusting in the covenant keeping God of Israel, they had placed their hope in powerful nations and earthly kings. Edward J. Young explains that this verse serves as a theological application of the divine judgments described earlier. It reminds the people that all human glory, power, or invention will be brought low and that only God is worthy of ultimate trust. Matthew Henry likewise highlights that this verse calls everyone to stop idolizing humanity and redirect their reverence to God alone. This caps the entire chapter's theme. Human pride will be humble, idols will be destroyed, and only God's glory and majesty will stand. Here, Isaiah leaves us with a powerful admonition for say trust in mortal men and worship the everlasting Lord. Isaiah does not merely present a message of doom, but a clear call to humility, repentance, and renewed trust in the Lord. This chapter began with a hopeful vision of a future where the nations streamed to God's house, seeking his ways and walking in his light. Yet it swiftly turned to a stern warning for those who put confidence in pride, wealth, idols, and human power. The central message of this chapter is unmistakable. Human arrogance is going to be brought low, and only the Lord will be exalted in that day. The repetition here of the themes of idol worship, fleeing before God's terror and the futility of trusting in man reminds us that nothing's going to stand before the majesty of God except what is rooted in him. Isaiah's urgency remains just as relevant today. We must stop placing our hope in temporary things, whether people, possessions, or institutions, and instead set our hearts firmly on the eternal and the faithful sovereign. To add to this here, I see a lot of people today that actually go to churches and they put their pastors on pedestals. They put their leadership on pedestals. I can think of my in my mind vividly right now of people past and present that have been elevated to this high status because they're scholarly or they've, you know, been a pastor for many, many years, and yes, there is an authority in that, and there is a respect that they deserve for what God has called them to, but they are still human beings just like we are. You don't elevate people like that and worship them for the ground that they stand on and expect them to do no wrong. God is the only sovereign. He is the one that we worship. Everything that we are ever taught from the pulpit, anything that I teach you from this podcast, anything that you learn from biblical studies anywhere, you should always take those back to the word and study those things out for yourselves. Interpretation is different between different people, and it's real easy to get into that, jump on that bandwagon of wanting to follow someone and idolize them and hold everything that they say as gold. And there are a lot of smart people out there that say things that are very worthy to know and to write down and make note of. There's no doubt about that at all. But regardless of what is told to us or who says it, we should always go back to the one who matters the most and put that up against the word of God. Make sure that that's true. That way when we follow those things, we know that we are heading in the right direction to that eternity with Christ someday, because we are following what He has taught us in His Word. So here in Isaiah chapter two, this also presents a sweeping vision that moves from future hope to present warning. It begins with a glimpse of the latter days when the mountain of the Lord will be exalted, and all nations will come to worship and learn his ways. This imagery here in this chapter reflects a future of peace, unity, and divine instruction, where God's rule brings justice and harmony among peoples. It sets a powerful contrast with the condition of Isaiah's present day. As the chapter progresses, Isaiah shifts to a sharp critique of Judah's spiritual corruption. The people have turned to foreign influences, material wealth, military power, and most notably idolatry. Human pride and trust and man made strength have replaced the reverence they once had for God. Isaiah warns of the coming day of the Lord, a day when God's majesty will shatter every exalted thing, humble human pride, and destroy every idol. The imagery of people fleeing into caves illustrates the terror that will grip those who once trusted in their own greatness. As this chapter closes with today's episode, it closes with a clear command. Stop regarding man whose breath is in his nostrils. This final verse drives home the message that people are mortal, we are limited, whereas God alone is eternal and worthy of trust and praise. Here in chapter two, Isaiah calls us to reject arrogance and idolatry, to walk in the light of the Lord, and look forward to the day when He alone is exalted. It's both a warning and an invitation to humble ourselves now so that we may be lifted up by God in the days to come. So what is the application of this chapter that we can apply in our lives today as we close up this episode for this week here on Connecting the Gap? Well, there is a lot in this chapter that speaks clearly to us in the modern world that we live in today. On one hand, it gives a hope-filled glimpse of a future where God brings lasting peace, where humanity unites in worship and obedience. On the other hand, it challenges us to examine where we place our trust today. Many people today rely on wealth, technology, political systems, or personal achievements to find security and meaning. Isaiah reminds us that only the Lord deserves our ultimate trust and worship. So isn't it crazy? Isaiah was speaking to a people at a time that was doing the exact same thing that's happening today. We have not evolved into nothing. The most part, our countries and our world still worships things in many places and many areas that are not God. It's something that God has always spoken against. So the call to humility is also key. In a society that often values self-promotion and pride, God's word urges us to humble ourselves, seek his will, and reject idolatry in any form. The vision of peace here in Isaiah chapter two encourages believers to be peacemakers now, modeling God's justice, mercy, and truth while waiting for the fulfillment of his kingdom on earth. Well, that's going to do it for this week's episode of Connecting the Gap, and that also wraps up chapter two in our verse-by-verse study here on Isaiah. Want to thank everyone for listening to the podcast this week, and ever since the beginning of this series, uh the listens have really upped a lot, and I do appreciate that. I am so thankful just to give you a little update about the podcast. Here over this last year, our podcast grew by 118%. And of course, we give God all the glory for that. We've always prayed that God would just expand these borders of this podcast, and whoever he always wanted these to reach, the it would reach the people that needed to hear it. And I'm so thankful for that. And if you know of anyone else that you think would love studies like this or would love to be a part of our marriage podcast that I do with my wife, marriage life and more, please share these episodes and get them to people that have never heard of us before and uh get them to jump on board. And we can all study together each week here on Connecting the Gap. So we truly thank you all for listening. Again, you can visit our website at connectingthegap.net, and there you will uh be able to see how to get a hold of us. If you'd like to send us a message, you can use the contact form or email us at Daniel at connectingthegap.net. And so we'd be looking forward to hearing from you there if you'd like to do that. Otherwise, we're gonna go ahead and call it good for this week. And as we always say when we go, we just want to remind you that God's word never fills us. God's word has stood the test of time, and through Jesus' death on the cross, he has connected the gap. This is an extension of Connecting the Gap Ministries, and we pray that you have a blessed week.