Isaiah 2:20 describes a coming day when people will throw away the idols they made of silver and gold and no longer trust in them. The prophet is announcing judgment on a nation that has put its hope in things humans have crafted, and he says that when the Lord rises in power, those things will be seen for what they are. The words come from Isaiah, a prophet in Jerusalem in the eighth century BC, and they were spoken to the people of Judah.
In that day, men shall cast away their idols of silver, and their idols of gold, which have been made for themselves to worship, to the moles and to the bats…
Isaiah 2:20 (WEB)
What Isaiah 2:20 Means
The verse begins with “In that day,” a phrase Isaiah uses often to point to the time when God acts decisively in history. It refers to the moment when the Lord’s justice and majesty are fully displayed, not to an ordinary afternoon. Everything the verse describes is tied to that moment.
Next comes the picture of people casting away their idols of silver and gold. These were objects shaped by human hands, prized for their material worth and treated as sources of security, guidance or blessing. The verse says these were made “for themselves,” meaning the people chose and crafted them to serve their own wishes. Isaiah is exposing a deep irony: the nation had turned its own creations into objects of worship.
The final image, tossing them “to the moles and to the bats,” is deliberately humbling. These are creatures that live in darkness and hide in holes, the very opposite of the glory people once assigned to their gold. The verse does not promise that idolatry will be easy to abandon or that every person will repent. It describes what Isaiah saw as the inevitable result when God’s greatness is revealed and false hopes collapse.
The Context of Isaiah 2:20
Isaiah 2 belongs to the early chapters of a book that opens with a vision of Judah and Jerusalem. The prophet had watched the nation grow rich and proud, filling itself with wealth, horses, chariots and religious objects that gave a false sense of safety. The chapter moves from a hopeful vision of nations streaming to God’s house to a sharp warning about pride and self-reliance at home.
Just before verse 20, verses 17 and 18 declare that human loftiness will be brought low and that the idols will utterly pass away, and verse 19 shows people fleeing into caves from the terror of the Lord. Verse 21 repeats the flight into the rocks, and verse 22 calls the people to stop trusting in mere mortals. Read in that setting, verse 20 is not a separate note about hobbies or private superstition. It is part of a sustained call to take human pride seriously and to place trust where it belongs.
Key Phrases in Isaiah 2:20
Psalm 115:4-8
4 Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands. 5 They have mouths, but they don’t speak. They have eyes, but they don’t see. 6 They have ears, but they don’t hear. They have noses, but they don’t smell. 7 They have hands, but they don’t feel. They have feet, but they don’t walk, neither do they speak through their throat. 8 Those who make them will be like them; yes, everyone who trusts in them.
(WEB)
This psalm mocks the idols of the nations, which have silver and gold but cannot speak or act, and it says that those who make and trust them become like them. It deepens Isaiah’s point by showing the spiritual cost of trusting what cannot help.
Jeremiah 17:5-8
5 The LORD says: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man, relies on strength of flesh, and whose heart departs from the LORD. 6 For he will be like a bush in the desert, and will not see when good comes, but will inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, an uninhabited salt land. 7 “Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, and whose confidence is in the LORD. 8 For he will be as a tree planted by the waters, who spreads out its roots by the river, and will not fear when heat comes, but its leaf will be green; and will not be concerned in the year of drought. It won’t cease from yielding fruit.
(WEB)
Jeremiah contrasts the one who trusts in human strength with the one whose confidence is in the Lord. The passage connects closely to Isaiah 2:22 and offers a clear picture of where lasting hope is found.
A Short Prayer From Isaiah 2:20
Lord, you alone are worthy of my trust and worship. I confess the many ways I have placed my hope in things that cannot save me, whether money, approval, comfort or control. Show me what I have quietly made into an idol and give me the courage to set it aside. Help me rest in your greatness and your faithfulness, knowing that you will remain when everything else fails. Amen.
