Moral of the story, which also applies to JWs:
The heading of Is. 2:6 reads as follows: The Day of the LORD (CSBO, ESV) and The Lord’s Day of Judgment (NET). This is not only a
judgment of Judah,
but a universal judgment of the proud and arrogant. They are advised: “Enter into the rock and hide yourself in the dust because
of the dreadfulness of Jehovah, and from his splendid superiority” (Isa. 2:10). As we shall see, the Great
Tribulation will be leading up to the Day of the LORD:
9 Men bow down to them in homage, they lie flat on the
ground in worship. Don’t spare them!
10 Go up into the rocky cliffs, hide in the ground. Get
away from the dreadful judgment of the LORD, from his royal splendour!
11 Proud men will be brought low, arrogant men will be
humiliated; the LORD alone will be exalted in that day.
12 Indeed, the LORD who commands armies has planned a day
of judgment, for all the high and mighty, for all who are proud– they will be
humiliated;[1]
17 Proud men will be humiliated, arrogant men will be
brought low; the LORD alone will be exalted in that day.
19 They will go into caves in the rocky cliffs and into
holes[2]in the
ground, trying to escape the dreadful judgment of the LORD and his royal splendour,
when he rises up to terrify the earth.
20 At that time men will throw their silver and gold idols,
which they made for themselves to worship, into the caves where rodents and
bats live,
21 so they themselves can go into the crevices[3] of the
rocky cliffs and the openings under the rocky overhangs, trying to escape the
dreadful judgment of the LORD and his royal splendour, when he rises up to
terrify the earth.[4]
(Is. 2:9-12, 17, 19-21 NET)
Above confirms
Rev. 6:15-17:“And the kings of the earth and the top-ranking ones and the military
commanders and the rich and the strong ones and every slave and [every] free
person hid themselves in the caves and in the rock-masses of the mountains. And
they keep saying to the mountains and to the rock-masses, Fall over us and hide
us from the face of the One seated on the throne and from the wrath of the
Lamb, because the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?”
In its apocalyptic portrayal of
judgment, Rev 6:15f. speaks of caves as a refuge and rocks as a
(paradoxically mortally dangerous) covering before the annihilating countenance
of the judgment of God and his Messiah. EDNT.
Therefore Isaiah (2:22 NET) gives a stern warning: “Stop trusting in human beings,
whose life’s breath is in their nostrils. For why should they be given special
consideration? ”This is in line with Jeremiah’s
quote (17:5):“This is what Jehovah has
said, Cursed is the able-bodied man who puts his trust in earthling man and
actually makes flesh his arm, and whose heart turns away from Jehovah himself.” Yes, governments, kings,
religious leaders, important people and the super rich cannot be trusted. They
do not have the interests of the people at heart, but are focused only on their
own interests. The psalmist reinforces the argument: “Do not put YOUR trust in nobles, Nor in the son of
earthling man, to whom no salvation belongs. His spirit goes out, he goes back
to his ground; In that day his thoughts do perish” (Ps. 146:3, 4). Or phrased
differently: “Do not trust in
princes, or in human beings, who cannot deliver!” (Ps. 146:3 NET).
[1] “For a day
belonging to the LORD of Hosts is coming against all that is proud and
lofty, against all that is lifted up- it will be humbled-” (CSBO).
[2]מְחִלָּה: This feminine noun occurs only once, in Is.
2:19, where it is parallel to caves in rocks. See TWOT.
[3]נֻקַּרְתֶּם:
to be quarried out)rock(,
parallel with חֻצַּבְתֶּםIs 511. Der. *נְקָרָה. Syr. nqārā; Arb. Nuqrat
excavation: נִקְרַת, pl. cs. נִקְרוֹת:
cleft withצוּרEx 3322 Is 221. See HALOT.
[4] Or “land.” However, most translators agree that this points to a
universal judgment. Thus, they translate it as “earth” (cf. CSBO, ESV, NET,
etc.).