Isaiah 2:18-21

Isaiah 2:18-21

[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.  [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. 

What does Isaiah 2:18-21 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

Even more explicit figures of speech picture Yahweh"s humiliation of the self-aggrandizing. Here the similarity of Isaiah"s description of the eschatological judgment is very close to the apostle John"s in the Book of Revelation (cf. Revelation 6:12-17). When God acts in judgment, all attempts to glorify the creation over the Creator will appear vain. Valuable idols will be cast aside to the bats and mice and consigned to the dark, unattractive places where those creatures live.
"Idols are precious. They are always our hard-won silver and gold. That"s why we prize them. They are beautiful, but also contemptible. J. R. R. Tolkien portrayed this in The Lord of the Rings. Everyone who wears the golden ring of power morphs into something weirdly subhuman, like Gollum, who cherishes it as "My Precious." So for Middle-earth to be saved, the ring must be thrown into the fire of Mount Doom and destroyed forever. Tolkien understood that the key to life is not only what we lay hold of but also what we throw away." [1]
"This portrayal of the Lord"s day contains several parallels with ancient Near Eastern accounts of the exploits of mighty warrior kings and deities. First, the very concept of the Lord"s "day" derives ultimately from the ancient Near East, where conquering kings would sometimes boast that they were able to consummate a campaign in a single day. [2] Ancient Near Eastern texts also sometimes associate cosmic disturbances and widespread panic with the king"s/god"s approach (cf. Isaiah 2:10; Isaiah 2:19-21)." [1]6