Today let’s study from the whole chapter of Isaiah 2. The title of today’s message is “Stop trusting in mere humans who have but a breath in their nostrils” which is from verse 22. Today I would like to talk about three points of trusting in God.

I. Walk in the light of the Lord (vs. 1-5)
First look at verses 1 to 5.
These are the words of prophecy by Isaiah to Judah and Jerusalem. Isaiah prophesized, “In the last days the mountain of the LORD’s temple will be established as the highest of the mountains; it will be exalted above the hills, and all nations will stream to it.” (2) “In the last days” is the Millennium which will be brought in after Jesus reappears eventually. Isaiah saw a vision of the shinning kingdom of God that will appear “in the last days” (2).
In that day “the mountain of the LORD’s temple will be established as the highest of the mountains; it will be exalted above the hills, and all nations will stream to it.” (2) “the mountain of the LORD’s temple” (2) is Jerusalem. This does not mean that literally like it is written that Jerusalem will become higher than all other mountains. This means that Mt. Zion, Jerusalem will be shinier than any other mountain. That is because the Lord will be present and stand there.
Zechariah 14:4
In that day, the Lord will take with him all the saints and stand on the Mt. of Olives. “On that day living water will flow out from Jerusalem, half of it east to the Dead Sea and half of it west to the Mediterranean Sea.” (Zechariah 14:8) It will flow out in the summer and the winter. Also “on that day there will be neither sunlight nor cold, frosty darkness.” (Zechariah 14:6) There is “no distinction between day and night. When evening comes, there will be light.” (Zechariah 14:7) That is because when Jesus returns, he will be standing on the Lord’s mountain. What Jesus will do when he is standing on this mountain is written in verse 3.
When the Lord stands on the mountain, he will teach the Word of God. The Lord himself will teach. Now there are many pastors, teachers, evangelists and through them the Word of God is taught, but at that time the Lord himself will teach. The Lord will teach so there are no mistakes. I spend a lot of time preparing the message, but even so it’s still not so good. However, at this time the Lord will talk face to face with us. He will speak clearly to us. How great this will be! At that time we will hear the words that the Lord is speaking to us and will experience our hearts being moved.
That’s not all. We see in verse 4, “He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.” This means that in that day the Lord will judge the nations and give his judgment and that will bring perfect peace. That is because God’s judgment is perfect. At that time the swords will be changed into plowshares and the spears into pruning hooks. Weapons of war will be tools of farming. Weapons of war won’t be necessary any more. A military budget won’t be necessary. It will all be changed into a farming budget. Now if that was done, it would have serious consequences. If that was done other countries would threaten. Therefore, all countries have to strengthen their armament, and prepare themselves for war. However, this is too colossal so every country is in the condition of screaming. However, in the last days, such things will not be necessary. God will judge the nations righteously so there will be perfect peace. Evil won’t prevail at all so women can walk at night in security. Children don’t have to worry about being kidnapped. You won’t be deceived by anyone. It will be like the Garden of Eden. This type of world will come once more to the earth. This is the Millennium. In addition the Lord says, “Come, descendants of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the LORD.” (5)
The Lord says to the crowds who were looking at the future scene of the Lord’s house on the mountain, “Come.” (5) The Lord brings them back from the future to the present. He is urging them to put into practice. To put into practice means to “walk in the light of the LORD.” (5) To “walk in the light of the LORD” (5) is to live following the Word of God. The Israelites rather than listening to the Word of God, put the values of the world first and like the Gentiles, worshipped the things that man made. The Lord is saying to repent of that sin and walk the road of the Lord.
God asks the same of us Christians too. Colossians 3:5 says, “Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.” Greed is idolatry. By being greedy we commit idolatry. We put greater value on ourselves, on the world, than we put on God. What the Lord desires of us is that we climb the Lord’s mountain, listen to his teaching, and walk the narrow road. We shouldn’t be making human relationships or programs the center of our lives, but living a life of listening and following God’s word. The Word of God must be the center of our lives.
What are your priorities? By listening to the Word of the Lord, by walking the narrow road, let’s “walk in the light of the LORD.” (5)

II. The Lord alone will be exalted (vs. 6-21)
Next let’s look at verses 6-21 and how the Israelites responded to the Lord’s invitation. First let’s look at verses 6 to 9.
“Do not forgive them” (9) are terrible words. Isaiah said this because the ways of the Israelites were so terrible. First of all, “they are full of superstitions from the East; they practice divination like the Philistines”. (6) When people don’t know what the future holds, they practice divination. Christians know somewhat through the Bible what the future holds so they don’t fall to this so much, but people who don’t know the Bible always are falling to it. Then they depend on divination. It’s been a while back but, how much money was spent on divination in Japan in one year was studied．It was more than 500,000,000,000 yen. That is how uncertain people are. I think it would be better to study the Bible! Such people run to divination more than the Bible. It’s quicker.
Not only that, but it says in verse 7, “their land is full of silver and gold; there is no end to their treasures…” This is wealth. They depend on their wealth. It is like the foolish rich man who when he had enough grain and goods saved up for many years he said to himself, “Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.” (Luke 12:19) However, then God said, “You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?” (Luke 12:20) This type of person thinks that his life is possessions. However, when this life is taken away, the things he has stored will have no purpose.
In addition, here it says, “Their land is full of horses; there is no end to their chariots.” (7) This refers to military strength. All countries are like this, but when a country becomes wealthy, they want to make the country stronger. Then they depend on military strength. Israel at that time was the same.
Then there was idol worship. “Their land is full of idols; they bow down to the work of their hands, to what their fingers have made.” (8) The land of Judah was full of idols. They worshiped things which they had made with their own hand, “to what their fingers have made.” (8)
How God will respond to such an Israel is in verse 9. “So people will be brought low and everyone humbled.” “So people will be brought low” means “Human nature will be brought low”.
Psalm 115:4-8
“Those who make them (idols) will be like them and so will all who trust in them.” (Psalm 115:8) Those who worship idols will become like idols, powerless and ineffectual. Those who worship the real God, become like God. People are like what they come in contact with. Israel worshipped such idols so they became like the idols. That is what it means by “people will be brought low.” (9)
Then Isaiah says, “Do not forgive them.” (9) Their condition is such that they can’t be helped. It is a confession that there is no hope except God’s wrath and judgment.
No matter how much God tries to bless them, they don’t except it but rather refuse it, and fill their hearts with other things. Their problem is pride. If you look up pride in the dictionary it defines pride as thinking of yourself as having better skills, or appearance than other people, and looking down on others. However, in the Bible “pride” has a little different meaning. “Pride” in the Bible is not thinking of yourself as having better skills or appearance than other people, but not believing in God. It refers to not listening to God and following Him. It is thinking, “I don’t need God. I can do it myself.” Or “I’m content without God.” That is pride. If you have such pride, God will judge and such “people will be brought low.” (9)
Verses 10 and 11 say, “Go into the rocks, hide in the ground from the fearful presence of the LORD and the splendor of his majesty! The eyes of the arrogant will be humbled and human pride brought low; the LORD alone will be exalted in that day.” God is the enemy of those who are proud and will violently judge so people will “go into the rocks, hide in the ground.” (10)
Also, look at verses 12 to 18.
12-18
In these verses, “the cedars of Lebanon” (13), “the oaks of Bashan” (13) and “every ship of Tarshish” are all wonderful things. For example, “the cedars of Lebanon” (13) were used in Solomon’s temple. “Bashan” (13) was a region east of the Jordan River and north of Gilead. It was famous for its oaks and animals and beauty. Tarshish was a city in the southern part of Spain. It was a port used for commercial ventures. Everything that man looks at and thinks is wonderful will all “disappear”. (18)
The worst is verses 19 and 21. Here the Lord “rises to shake the earth”.(19) This is a huge earthquake. There will be a time when the Lord will rise up and by a huge earthquake the earth will be shaken. That will occur in the great tribulation. That is prophesized in Revelations 6:12-17
Revelations 6:12-17
Eventually, in the end of the world there will be a huge earthquake. Everything in heaven and earth will be shaken. Then “people will flee to caves in the rocks and to holes in the ground.” (19) The “people will throw away to the moles and bats their idols of silver and idols of gold, which they made to worship.” (20) “and the idols will totally disappear.” (18) “the LORD alone will be exalted in that day.” (17)
The reason that God’s glory is not seen in this world is because man does not depend upon God, but upon divination. He doesn’t depend upon God, but upon wealth. He doesn’t depend upon God, but upon human strength. He doesn’t depend upon God, but upon idols. Since man does such things they can’t see God’s glory. All these things come about from the pride of man. God will break down man’s pride.
Proverbs 6:16-19
Here 7 things that God detests are listed. Of them all the first one mentioned is pride. That is because the number one thing God detests is pride. It is gradually shaved downed and brought low, and “the LORD alone will be exalted in that day.” (17)

III. Stop trusting in mere humans who have but a breath in their nostrils (22)
Isaiah’s conclusion is verse 22. Let’s read it together. “Stop trusting in mere humans, who have but a breath in their nostrils. Why hold them in esteem?”
This means that “humans who have but a breath in their nostrils” (22) will soon be no more. If you quit breathing you soon die. Man is that fragile. Don’t trust in such a human. “Why hold them in esteem?” (22) However, this is a struggle. It is a struggle for Christians too. Man feels security when they hear the words of other people. Therefore they depend on man’s words rather than the Word of God. However, human words are only a breath and they soon disappear. However, that is the reason that some can’t believe in Jesus. They are depending on man. They put their hope in man. They are centered in man. That is the problem.
Someone took a survey on “What would you depend upon if your country met a crisis?” In America the most common answer was “God”. Therefore, even though it may have been for a short time, but after the Terrorist attack many people went to church. Throughout the nation people sang, “God bless America”. The book, “Left behind” was being read a lot. That was because there is a consciousness that in the end it is God that you can depend on. However, Japan is different. Japan depends upon mass media, the T.V. and newspaper. The rule of thumb is what the mass media says. Mass media is the words of men. It is depending upon man. That is Japan. This is how Japan made progress.
Gyouji Nabetani in his commentary on Isaiah says that Japan after Meiji was able to become a capitalistic society because of its reliance on scientific thinking rather than religion and on the thinking that money is the number one priority. The Japanese have lived more by human rationalism rather than by God.
There are cases where this tendency has infiltrated the church too. Good and bad are not determined by what the Bible says, but by what kind of person the pastor is, or by what kind of people are coming to the church. People are more interested in other people than in God and depend on other people’s words rather than the Word of God What other people are saying becomes the rule of life rather than what the Bible is saying. Then people are very concerned about what other people are thinking. If others say something bad then they become deeply depressed. However, what is important is not what others are saying, but what the Word of God says. We must stop depending on other people, and depend only upon God. Why hold mere humans that have only a breath in their nostrils in esteem? They are like a flower that blooms today and is dried up tomorrow. We should only exalt God who made the heavens and the earth and continues to rule over all. This is who we need to depend upon.
Before when God called Moses to bring the Israelites out of Egypt, the words given were, “I AM WHO ＩAM” (Exodus 3:14) This means that God depends on no one to exist. Our Lord can exist from eternity to eternity without depending on anything to exist. This is who we can really depend upon. We need to depend not on “mere humans who have but a breath in their nostrils” (22), but on our Lord. We don’t know what will happen after this, but no matter what happens, let’s depend only on Him. Then at just the right time you will be exalted.

Let’s apply it to our lives!

1. Are you climbing the Lord’s mountain seeking the teaching of the Lord? Are you running around according to the values of this world more than listening to the Word of God?

2. Human pride will be brought low. In what ways are you prideful? With a humble heart do you consider your brothers and sisters as better than yourself?

3. Are you depending only upon God? Are you “trusting in mere humans who have but a breath in their nostrils.” (22) To depend only upon God, what do you need to overcome?