Week 18: A Properly Placed Pedestal

Isaiah 2:12-14 English Standard Version (ESV)

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;


   There is a day, a day that might not be to far off now, when God's glory will be all that matters. Everything that is proud and lofty, all that is lifted up, will be brought low. in other words, what was formerly the "in" crowd will now be out.

   And the picture here is dramatic. All of the things in the natural world that we quite literally look up to, the cedars of Lebanon, the oaks of Bashan, any mountain or hill, be they near or far, all of these we have given a certain reverence. We call them mighty and majestic. For ages past we have worshiped them and anything reaching high above us, very rarely worshiping God for the creation of them. In our modern day we worship them through our desire to preserve and protect them, as if it is the natural world that holds and controls our destiny. 

    It is almost as if they are being bought low because of the place that we have put them! Is this perhaps a clue as to the importance He places on our thoughts and actions, that these things will eventually pass away because we have put His very creation on a pedestal above Him? It almost makes me wonder if perhaps when he was speaking in Isaiah 2:2 about the mountain of the house of the Lord being established as the highest, he was saying that all the others would be brought down low.

  Lord, please help me to keep my reverence and awe for you alone and to see creation in its proper place. As Yours, for us to see, enjoy and take care of.

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