The men who are of great worldly position, whose importance derives from the precepts of men, are those who will be brought down by the Lord. Their glory in the world of the flesh will not survive the wrath of the Lord, and they will be brought down because the have not lived the law of the Lord.
This is not a blanket condemnation of the powerful of the world, but very specifically of an Israel that should have known better, yet followed the models of the world.