◄ Isaiah 2:21 ►
They will flee to caverns in the rocks and crevices in the cliffs, away from the terror of the LORD and from the splendor of His majesty, when He rises to shake the earth.
Study Bible
They will flee to caverns in the rocks and crevices in the cliffs,

People facing the day of the LORD will seek shelter in the land’s natural strongholds, as inhabitants often did during invasion and calamity. Places once thought secure will become hiding places for those overwhelmed by terror. Adam and Eve hid among the trees after sin entered the world, and rebellious humanity will again attempt to conceal itself from the God whose presence exposes every heart.

Oba 1:3 The pride of your heart has deceived you,…
Rev 6:15-16 Then the kings of the earth, the nobles, the commanders…

away from the terror of the LORD

Judah’s idols, wealth, and human pride will offer no refuge when the LORD comes in judgment. His holiness rightly produces fear in those who have rejected His authority. The fear of the Lord that leads to wisdom includes humble recognition that He alone is God and that repentance is necessary.

Isa 8:13 The LORD of Hosts is the One you shall regard as holy.…
Heb 10:31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands…

and from the splendor of His majesty,

God’s revealed glory displays His absolute kingship over creation and exposes the emptiness of every rival object of worship. The majesty that brings joy and security to those who trust Him becomes terror to those who cling to sin. No earthly cave can shield anyone from the righteous Judge.

Psa 145:5 The glorious splendor of Your majesty. And I will…
Psa 96:6 Splendor and majesty are before Him; strength and beauty…

when He rises to shake the earth.

The LORD will intervene openly in history, overturning what human pride has established and removing what cannot endure His judgment. Isaiah’s imagery anticipates the final shaking described in Haggai and Hebrews, when all that is temporary will be shaken and God’s unshakable kingdom will remain.

Hag 2:6-7 For this is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Once more…
Heb 12:26-27 At that time His voice shook the earth, but now He has promised,…

Persons / Places / Events
1. Isaiah
A major prophet in the Old Testament, Isaiah's ministry spanned the reigns of several kings of Judah. He is known for his prophecies concerning the coming of the Messiah and the future judgment and restoration of Israel.

2. The LORD (Yahweh)
The covenant God of Israel, who is depicted as majestic and powerful, capable of shaking the earth and instilling terror in those who oppose Him.

3. The People
Those who are fleeing represent humanity's response to God's judgment. They seek refuge in natural formations, indicating a desire to escape divine wrath.

4. Caverns and Cliffs
These natural formations symbolize places of refuge and hiding, yet they are ultimately inadequate against the power of God.

5. The Earthquake
A metaphorical or literal shaking of the earth, representing God's intervention and judgment upon the world.
Teaching Points
The Inevitability of God's Judgment
God's judgment is certain and unavoidable. No earthly refuge can protect against His righteous wrath.

The Majesty and Power of God
The splendor of God's majesty is overwhelming. Recognizing His power should lead to reverence and awe.

The Futility of Human Efforts to Escape God
Human attempts to hide from God are futile. True refuge is found only in repentance and faith in Him.

The Call to Repentance
This passage serves as a warning and a call to repentance. It urges individuals to turn to God before the day of judgment arrives.

Living in Light of God's Sovereignty
Understanding God's sovereignty should influence how we live daily, encouraging us to align our lives with His will.
Bible Study Questions
1. What does the imagery of fleeing to caverns and cliffs reveal about human nature in response to God's judgment?

2. How does the description of God's majesty in Isaiah 2:21 challenge or encourage your current understanding of His character?

3. In what ways can the certainty of God's judgment motivate us to live differently today?

4. How do the connections to Revelation 6:15-17 and Hebrews 12:26-27 enhance our understanding of Isaiah 2:21?

5. What practical steps can you take to ensure that you are seeking refuge in God rather than in the temporary securities of this world?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Revelation 6:15-17
This passage describes a similar scene where people hide in caves and among the rocks, seeking to escape the wrath of the Lamb. It highlights the universal fear of God's judgment.

Hebrews 12:26-27
These verses speak of God shaking not only the earth but also the heavens, emphasizing the removal of what can be shaken so that what cannot be shaken may remain.

Psalm 18:7
This verse describes the earth shaking and trembling as a response to God's anger, illustrating His power and majesty.
Sermons
Retribution and its ResultsW. Clarkson Isaiah 2:6-21
The Day of JudgmentE. Johnson Isaiah 2:12-22
People
Amoz, Isaiah, Jacob, Tarshish
Places
Bashan, Jerusalem, Lebanon, Tarshish, Zion
Topics
Arise, Arises, Ariseth, Caverns, Cavities, Clefts, Cliffs, Cover, Cracks, Crags, Crevices, Dread, Enter, Excellency, Fear, Fissures, Glory, Hills, Holes, Honour, Majesty, Mightily, Order, Overhanging, Places, Power, Ragged, Rises, Rising, Rocks, Shake, Shaking, Splendor, Strength, Terribly, Terrify, Terror, Tops, Tremble
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Isaiah 2:21

     1045   God, glory of
     1090   God, majesty of
     1193   glory, revelation of
     1235   God, the LORD
     4203   earth, the
     4354   rock

Isaiah 2:19-21

     4218   cave

Library
For Godly Sorrow Worketh Repentance to Salvation, not to be Repented Of; but the Sorrow of the World Worketh Death. 2 Corinthians 7:10.
In this chapter the apostle refers to another epistle which he had formerly written to the church at Corinth, on a certain subject, in which they were greatly to blame. He speaks here of the effect that it; had, in bringing them to true repentance. They sorrowed after a godly sort. This was the evidence that their repentance was genuine. "For behold this self-same thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, …
Charles G. Finney—Lectures to Professing Christians

Sirs, what must I do to be Saved? and they Said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Who of God is Made unto us Wisdom, and Righteousness, and Sanctification, and Redemption, Acts 26:30, 31, with 1 Corinthians 1:30.
There can be no objection to putting these texts together in this manner as only a clause in the first of them is omitted, which is not essential to the sense, and which is irrelevant to my present purpose. In the passage first quoted, the apostle tells the inquiring jailer, who wished to know what he must do to be saved, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved." And in the other he adds the explanatory remark, telling what a Savior Jesus Christ is, "Who of God is made unto us wisdom, …
Charles G. Finney—Lectures to Professing Christians

A vision of the Latter-Day Glories
We shall not, to-day, look through all the dim vista of Zion's tribulations. We will leave the avenue of troubles and of trials through which the church has passed and is to pass, and we will come, by faith, to the last days; and may God help us while we indulge in a glorious vision of that which is to be ere long, when "the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it." The prophet saw two …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 5: 1859

But to Know Whether Christianity Wants, or Admits of War...
But to know whether Christianity wants, or admits of war, Christianity is to be considered as in its right state. Now the true state of the world turned Christian, is thus described by the great gospel-prophet, who showed what a change it was to make in the fallen state of the world. "It shall come to pass," says he, "in the last days," that is, in the days of Christendom, "that the mountain of the Lord's house" (his Christian kingdom) "shall be established in the top of the mountains, and all nations …
William Law—An Humble, Affectionate, and Earnest Address to the Clergy

Sweet is the Solace of Thy Love,
"I, even I, am He that comforteth you." -- Isaiah 2:12 Sweet is the solace of Thy love, My Heavenly Friend, to me, While through the hidden way of faith I journey home with Thee, Learning by quiet thankfulness As a dear child to be. Though from the shadow of Thy peace My feet would often stray, Thy mercy follows all my steps, And will not turn away; Yea, thou wilt comfort me at last, As none beneath Thee may. Oft in a dark and lonely place, I hush my hastened breath, To hear the comfortable words …
Miss A. L. Waring—Hymns and Meditations

General Remarks on the History of Missions in this Age.
THE operations of Christianity are always radically the same, because they flow from its essential character, and its relations to human nature; yet it makes some difference whether it is received amongst nations to whom it was previously quite unknown, either plunged in barbarism or endowed with a certain degree of civilization, proceeding from some other form of religion, or whether it attaches itself to an already existing Christian tradition. In the latter case, it will indeed have to combat …
Augustus Neander—Light in the Dark Places

The Condition of the World when Our Lord Returns Proves that his Second Advent Cannot be Post-Millennial.
God's Word makes known the exact conditions which are to obtain here immediately preceding the Redeemer's Return. The Holy Spirit has given a number of graphic portrayals of the world as it will exist when our Lord comes back to it. One of these pictures is to be found in Isaiah 2--"For the day of the Lord of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low: And upon all the cedars of Lebanon, that are high and lifted up, and …
Arthur W. Pink—The Redeemer's Return

A Clearing-Up Storm in the Realm
(Revelation, Chapters vi.-viii.) "God Almighty! King of nations! earth Thy footstool, heaven Thy throne! Thine the greatness, power, and glory, Thine the kingdom, Lord, alone! Life and death are in Thy keeping, and Thy will ordaineth all: From the armies of Thy heavens to an unseen insect's fall. "Reigning, guiding, all-commanding, ruling myriad worlds of light; Now exalting, now abasing, none can stay Thy hand of might! Working all things by Thy power, by the counsel of Thy will. Thou art God! …
by S. D. Gordon—Quiet Talks on the Crowned Christ of Revelation

"And Truly Our Fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. And These Things Write we unto You, that Your Joy May Be
1 John i. 3, 4.--"And truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full." It was sin that did first break off that fellowship that was between God and man, and cut off that blessed society in which the honour and happiness of man consisted. But that fundamental bond being loosed, it hath likewise untied all the links of society of men among themselves, and made such a general dispersion and dissipation of mankind, …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

Place of Jesus in the History of the World.
The great event of the History of the world is the revolution by which the noblest portions of humanity have passed from the ancient religions, comprised under the vague name of Paganism, to a religion founded on the Divine Unity, the Trinity, and the Incarnation of the Son of God. It has taken nearly a thousand years to accomplish this conversion. The new religion had itself taken at least three hundred years in its formation. But the origin of the revolution in question with which we have to do …
Ernest Renan—The Life of Jesus

Completion Op the Fifth Continental Journey.
1849-50. The disorganized state of Germany presented a serious obstacle to John and Martha Yeardley's resuming their labors on the Continent. FROM JOHN YEARDLEY TO JOHN KITCHING. Scarborough, 6 mo. 23, 1849. We spent two days at Malton with our dear friends Ann and Esther Priestman, in their delightful new abode on the bank of the river: we were comforted in being at meeting with them on First-day. On Second-day we came to Scarborough, and soon procured two rooms near our own former residence. The …
John Yeardley—Memoir and Diary of John Yeardley, Minister of the Gospel

The Image and the Stone
'This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king. 37. Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory. 38. And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath He given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold. 39. And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Upbringing of Jewish Children
The tenderness of the bond which united Jewish parents to their children appears even in the multiplicity and pictorialness of the expressions by which the various stages of child-life are designated in the Hebrew. Besides such general words as "ben" and "bath"--"son" and "daughter"--we find no fewer than nine different terms, each depicting a fresh stage of life. The first of these simply designates the babe as the newly--"born"--the "jeled," or, in the feminine, "jaldah"--as in Exodus 2:3, 6, 8. …
Alfred Edersheim—Sketches of Jewish Social Life

Concerning Salutations and Recreations, &C.
Concerning Salutations and Recreations, &c. [1273] Seeing the chief end of all religion is to redeem men from the spirit and vain conversation of this world and to lead into inward communion with God, before whom if we fear always we are accounted happy; therefore all the vain customs and habits thereof, both in word and deed, are to be rejected and forsaken by those who come to this fear; such as taking off the hat to a man, the bowings and cringings of the body, and such other salutations of that …
Robert Barclay—Theses Theologicae and An Apology for the True Christian Divinity

The General Resurrection
Behold, I show you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed; in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump, for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. A n object, great in itself, and which we know to be so, will appear small to us, if we view it from a distance. The stars, for example, in our view, are but as little specks …
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 2

Sennacherib (705-681 B. C. )
The struggle of Sennacherib with Judaea and Egypt--Destruction of Babylon. Sennacherib either failed to inherit his father's good fortune, or lacked his ability.* He was not deficient in military genius, nor in the energy necessary to withstand the various enemies who rose against him at widely removed points of his frontier, but he had neither the adaptability of character nor the delicate tact required to manage successfully the heterogeneous elements combined under his sway. * The two principal …
G. Maspero—History Of Egypt, Chaldaea, Syria, Babylonia, and Assyria, V 8

This Question I Should Briefly Solve, if I Should Say...
24. This question I should briefly solve, if I should say, because I should also justly say, that we must believe the Apostle. For he himself knew why in the Churches of the Gentiles it was not meet that a venal Gospel were carried about; not finding fault with his fellow-apostles, but distinguishing his own ministry; because they, without doubt by admonition of the Holy Ghost, had so distributed among them the provinces of evangelizing, that Paul and Barnabas should go unto the Gentiles, and they …
St. Augustine—Of the Work of Monks.

The Extent of Messiah's Spiritual Kingdom
The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ, and He shall reign for ever and ever! T he Kingdom of our Lord in the heart, and in the world, is frequently compared to a building or house, of which He Himself is both the Foundation and the Architect (Isaiah 28:16 and 54:11, 12) . A building advances by degrees (I Corinthians 3:9; Ephesians 2:20-22) , and while it is in an unfinished state, a stranger cannot, by viewing its present appearance, form an accurate judgment …
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 2

The Prophet Micah.
PRELIMINARY REMARKS. Micah signifies: "Who is like Jehovah;" and by this name, the prophet is consecrated to the incomparable God, just as Hosea was to the helping God, and Nahum to the comforting God. He prophesied, according to the inscription, under Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. We are not, however, entitled, on this account, to dissever his prophecies, and to assign particular discourses to the reign of each of these kings. On the contrary, the entire collection forms only one whole. At …
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament

Things to be Meditated on as Thou Goest to the Church.
1. That thou art going to the court of the Lord, and to speak with the great God by prayer; and to hear his majesty speak unto thee by his word; and to receive his blessing on thy soul, and thy honest labour, in the six days past. 2. Say with thyself by the way--"As the hart brayeth for the rivers of water, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, even for the living God: When shall I come and appear before the presence of God? For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand …
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety

Subterraneous Places. Mines. Caves.
Thus having taken some notice of the superficies of the land, let us a little search into its bowels. You may divide the subterraneous country into three parts: the metal mines, the caves, and the places of burial. This land was eminently noted for metal mines, so that "its stones," in very many places, "were iron, and out of its hills was digged brass," Deuteronomy 8:9. From these gain accrued to the Jews: but to the Christians, not seldom slavery and misery; being frequently condemned hither by …
John Lightfoot—From the Talmud and Hebraica

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