Isaiah 2:6-8

For you have rejected your people, the house of Jacob, because they are full of things from the east and of fortune-tellers like the Philistines, and they strike hands with the children of foreigners. Their land is filled with silver and gold, and there is no end to their treasures; their land is filled with horses, and there is no end to their chariots. Their land is filled with idols; they bow down to the work of their hands, to what their own fingers have made.

The excerpt tells of Israel being rejected by God because they are full of the things of the east. The Israelites went after the treasures: silver, gold, horses, chariots and idols of the people around them. They bowed down to the work of their own hands.

At first glance, the term idol makes us think it refers only to the worship of a statue form of a god. And so we think this passage does not apply to us because we cannot be tempted to worship a statue; we know better than that. Do we? But this verse describes idol worship as worshipping things made by man’s hands. This applies to us. We live in a world where we are brought up to believe the most important things are the works of our hands such as career (what we do), education (a badge of honour for learning), money (what we earn by the work of our hands), popularity (gained because of some material reason like physical beauty or ability), material possessions and things that money can buy.

This pattern of God and Israel and their departure from Him can be directly mapped unto us today. We look at the world and see the treasure and a way of life that’s desirable to us. Just like Eve saw that it was good and delight to her eyes (Genesis 3:6), and she took it. So too, we see and take at the detriment of being rejected by God. We easily depart from God’s way (the harder way) to the way of the world (the fun and easy way).

Isaiah 2:9-22

⁹ So man is humbled,
    and each one is brought low—
    do not forgive them!
¹⁰ Enter into the rock
    and hide in the dust
from before the terror of the Lord,
    and from the splendor of his majesty.
¹¹ The haughty looks of man shall be brought low,
    and the lofty pride of men shall be humbled,
and the Lord alone will be exalted in that day.

¹² 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;
¹³ against all the cedars of Lebanon,
    lofty and lifted up;
    and against all the oaks of Bashan;
¹⁴ against all the lofty mountains,
    and against all the uplifted hills;
¹⁵ against every high tower,
    and against every fortified wall;
¹⁶ against all the ships of Tarshish,
    and against all the beautiful craft.
¹⁷ 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.
¹⁸ And the idols shall utterly pass away.
¹⁹ And people shall enter the caves of the rocks
    and the holes of the ground,^[b]
from before the terror of the Lord,
    and from the splendor of his majesty,
    when he rises to terrify the earth.

²⁰ 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,
²¹ 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.
²² Stop regarding man
    in whose nostrils is breath,
    for of what account is he?

But just as Israel reaped rejection from God, we too will be rejected if we choose the world’s ways. The passage tells us that man will be humbled, and God will be exalted. It speaks of the terror of the LORD that terrifies the earth. Do we want to end up in that place? Is all the fun, delight and comfort worth it? We exalt the work of our own hands above God even though He has gifted us the ability to create and work, but we forget that and take credit for it all.

But the good news is that it is not too late. It is not too late to realise if we are falling into this trap and change it. We are given the privilege of a new beginning each day (before Christ returns) to accept him and live for him. So, I urge you to reflect as I am and determine if you are on a path towards rejection or acceptance.