Isaiah 14, Babylon and Philistia

Isaiah continues his prophecy against Babylon.

Isaiah 14:1-2, Chosen once again

The Lord will have compassion on Jacob;

    once again he will choose Israel

    and will settle them in their own land.

Foreigners will join them

    and unite with the descendants of Jacob.

Nations will take them

    and bring them to their own place.

And Israel will take possession of the nations

    and make them male and female servants in the Lord’s land.

They will make captives of their captors

    and rule over their oppressors.

The people of Israel will return to their own land. The Israelites will be "chosen" once again, as they were in the exodus from Egypt. Grogan says that a New Exodus theme runs throughout the book of Isaiah. And in this new day, foreigners, outsiders, will join them. (See Isaiah 56:6-8 for another passage on the welcomed foreigner.)

Isaiah 14:3-6, Taunt

On the day the Lord gives you relief from your suffering and turmoil and from the harsh labor forced on you, you will take up this taunt against the king of Babylon:

How the oppressor has come to an end!

    How his fury has ended!

The Lord has broken the rod of the wicked,

    the scepter of the rulers,

which in anger struck down peoples

    with unceasing blows,

and in fury subdued nations

    with relentless aggression.

Isaiah now describes a taunt against the king of Babylon, describing his destruction.

Isaiah 14:7-9, Celebration

All the lands are at rest and at peace;

    they break into singing.

Even the junipers and the cedars of Lebanon

    gloat over you and say,

“Now that you have been laid low,

    no one comes to cut us down.”

The realm of the dead below is all astir

    to meet you at your coming;

it rouses the spirits of the departed to greet you—

    all those who were leaders in the world;

it makes them rise from their thrones—

    all those who were kings over the nations.

The taunt continues with a celebration of the freedom given as the realm of the dead welcome this king. Grogan (p. 104) says that this passage, through verse 11. has the form of a funeral dirge, with "the limping rhythm of a Hebrew lament", to form "a taunt in the guise of a lament."

Isaiah 14:10-11, Couches replaced by maggots

They will all respond,

    they will say to you,

“You also have become weak, as we are;

    you have become like us.”

All your pomp has been brought down to the grave,

    along with the noise of your harps;

maggots are spread out beneath you

    and worms cover you.

The pomp of a once victorious king is replaced by maggots and worms.

Isaiah 14:13, Morning star

How you have fallen from heaven,

    morning star, son of the dawn!

You have been cast down to the earth,

    you who once laid low the nations!

The king of Babylon -- or the evil forces behind him -- is now the morning star (Venus), cast down from Heaven. It is possible that in the New Testament, it is this passage Jesus is remembering in Luke 10:18.. Again, a prophecy that appears to be about the ANE of the seventh century BC has global characteristics.

Isaiah 14:13-14, Babylonian arrogance

You said in your heart,

    “I will ascend to the heavens;

I will raise my throne

    above the stars of God;

I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly,

    on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon.

I will ascend above the tops of the clouds;

    I will make myself like the Most High.”

I am reminded of a similar passage in Obadiah's prophecy (Obadiah 1:4); Grogan is reminded of the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11:1-9.

Isaiah 14: 15-17, Realm of the dead

But you are brought down to the realm of the dead,

    to the depths of the pit.

Those who see you stare at you,

    they ponder your fate:

“Is this the man who shook the earth

    and made kingdoms tremble,

the man who made the world a wilderness,

    who overthrew its cities

    and would not let his captives go home?”

The realm of the dead, in ANE culture, was a shadowy world. The king will enter into Sheol and people will look at him and shrug, "He used to be able to make the world tremble! Now he is nothing."

Isaiah 14:18-21, No proper burial,

All the kings of the nations lie in state,

    each in his own tomb.

But you are cast out of your tomb

    like a rejected branch;

you are covered with the slain,

    with those pierced by the sword,

    those who descend to the stones of the pit.

Like a corpse trampled underfoot,

you will not join them in burial,

for you have destroyed your land

    and killed your people.

Let the offspring of the wicked

    never be mentioned again.

Prepare a place to slaughter his children

    for the sins of their ancestors;

they are not to rise to inherit the land

    and cover the earth with their cities.

For a powerful king, the most humiliating defeat would include death without proper burial or respect. The king's corpse will be trampled and (presumably) left in the open, a public humiliation. (The humiliating treatment of one's corpse may seem to be a strange concern to the modern mind but I am reminded that at the end of World War II  the display of the bodies of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini and his mistress was seen as the utmost in humiliation of a once powerful ruler. When Adolf Hitler recognized the inevitability of defeat, he made sure his own body would be destroyed and not face such humiliation.)

About 705 BC, the Neo-Assyrian king Sargon II was killed in battle and his body not retrieved by his soldiers.

Isaiah 14:22-23, A place for owls

“I will rise up against them,”

    declares the Lord Almighty.

“I will wipe out Babylon’s name and survivors,

    her offspring and descendants,”

declares the Lord.

“I will turn her into a place for owls

    and into swampland;

I will sweep her with the broom of destruction,”

    declares the Lord Almighty.

Babylon, says God, will become a swampland, settled by owls. It is not just the king who will be destroyed, but his land.

Isaiah 14:24-27, Watch Assyria be crushed

The Lord Almighty has sworn,

“Surely, as I have planned, so it will be,

    and as I have purposed, so it will happen.

I will crush the Assyrian in my land;

    on my mountains I will trample him down.

His yoke will be taken from my people,

    and his burden removed from their shoulders.”

This is the plan determined for the whole world;

    this is the hand stretched out over all nations.

For the Lord Almighty has purposed, and who can thwart him?

    His hand is stretched out, and who can turn it back?

Isaiah's message turns from Babylon to Assyria. Historically, it will be Assyria that overruns the northern kingdom of Israel/Samaria and then later, Babylon, that conquers Assyria and Judah. But this prophecy is designed (says Motyer) to occur during the lifetime of Isaiah's listeners, so that they will see Assyria's destruction as an assurance that the other prophecies will come true.

Isaiah 14:28-32, Against the Philistines

This prophecy came in the year King Ahaz died:

Do not rejoice, all you Philistines,

    that the rod that struck you is broken;

from the root of that snake will spring up a viper,

    its fruit will be a darting, venomous serpent.

The poorest of the poor will find pasture,

    and the needy will lie down in safety.

But your root I will destroy by famine;

    it will slay your survivors.

Wail, you gate! Howl, you city!

    Melt away, all you Philistines!

A cloud of smoke comes from the north,

    and there is not a straggler in its ranks.

What answer shall be given

    to the envoys of that nation?

“The Lord has established Zion,

    and in her his afflicted people will find refuge.”

The final prophecy of the chapter turns west, towards the Mediterranean, and focuses on the Philistines. It probably occurs about 715 BC but there is considerable disagreement on the date of the death of King Ahaz. Ahaz, not a good king according to the author of 1 & 2 Kings (see 2 Kings 16) was ruler of Judah when Tiglath-Pileser III made Israel a vassal state. Ahaz then went to Tiglath-Pileser and offered him gifts and submission. Despite the intrigue to the east, this prophecy concerns the neighbors to the west, the perpetual enemies, the Philistines.

Motyer suggests that this prophecy may have been aimed at a Philistine delegation that came of Jerusalem for the funeral of Ahaz. Although the funeral would have been a solemn occasion, the Philistine delegation may have rejoiced at another blow to the once mighty kingdom of David.

The Philistines are compared to a progression of reptiles, snake (nachash), viper (tsepha') venomous serpent (seraph), as "root", "spring" then "fruit." The final animal, the venomous (or fiery) serpent is the same Hebrew word translated "seraphim" elsewhere.

The Philistines are told that their defeat has come from the Lord of Zion, where God's people afflicted people will (someday) find refuge.

Some Random Thoughts

Isaiah's prophecies seem to stretch across generations, even centuries, even when viewed as "local" prophecies for the ANE. How slow (in human terms) are the actions of God!

Isaiah 13, The Burden of Babylon

Isaiah now begins a new prophecy. Motyer argues that this prophecy runs through chapter 27 in three divisions, chapters 13-20, chapters 21-23 and chapters 24-27. The first set, chapters 13-20, deals with five kingdoms: Babylon, Philistia, Moab, Damascus-Samaria, and Egypt. The passage on Babylon runs through 14:23 and describes Babylon's use as a punishment for Israel's apostasy. But Babylon too will pay for its evil.

Isaiah 13:1-3, Invitation to Babylon

 A prophecy against Babylon that Isaiah son of Amoz saw:

Raise a banner on a bare hilltop,

    shout to them;

beckon to them

    to enter the gates of the nobles.

I have commanded those I prepared for battle;

    I have summoned my warriors to carry out my wrath—

    those who rejoice in my triumph.

The first Hebrew word in this passage is massa', translated "prophecy" by the NIV is literally "burden." For this reason, this passage has been called "the burden of Babylon." In this introduction, soldiers are being mustered for battle, called to a banner on a hilltop.

Isaiah 13:4-5, Listen, listen!

Listen, a noise on the mountains,

    like that of a great multitude!

Listen, an uproar among the kingdoms,

    like nations massing together!

The Lord Almighty is mustering

    an army for war.

They come from faraway lands,

    from the ends of the heavens—

the Lord and the weapons of his wrath—

    to destroy the whole country.

Warriors come from faraway lands to destroy the country. As Grogan points out, there is a poetic rhythm, an urgency to the three sentences "Listen, ...! Listen, ...! The Lord Almighty is mustering...!" followed by two sentences about the mustered swarm.

Isaiah 13:6-8, A Day to wail

Wail, for the day of the Lord is near;

    it will come like destruction from the Almighty.

Because of this, all hands will go limp,

    every heart will melt with fear.

Terror will seize them,

    pain and anguish will grip them;

    they will writhe like a woman in labor.

They will look aghast at each other,

    their faces aflame.

In the Day of the Lord, terror and distress fall on everyone. A woman in labor is given as an example of the extremes of personal suffering. The "face aflame" is an embarrassed, blushing face, representing shame.

Isaiah 13:9-10, A cruel day

See, the day of the Lord is coming

    —a cruel day, with wrath and fierce anger—

to make the land desolate

    and destroy the sinners within it.

The stars of heaven and their constellations

    will not show their light.

The rising sun will be darkened

    and the moon will not give its light.

The "Day of the Lord" is here described as a cruel day, emphasized by dramatic statements about the skies and stars. The local devastation, a day of judgment, has become global, even universal.

Isaiah 13:11-12, The world and its arrogance

I will punish the world for its evil,

    the wicked for their sins.

I will put an end to the arrogance of the haughty

    and will humble the pride of the ruthless.

I will make people scarcer than pure gold,

    more rare than the gold of Ophir.

Those who stand against God begin with arrogance and pride. The Old Testament prophecies consistenly point to the haughty and ruthless and announce their judgment.

Like many Old Testament prophecies, there seems to be overlap between "local" prophecies, that is, upcoming events for Israel and Babylon in the ancient Near East, and "global" longterm prophecies about the earth and the universe. Commentator Grogan (p. 101) writes "Every local judgment is meant to stir in human beings a recognition of final accountability."

Isaiah 13:13, Earth shakes

Therefore I will make the heavens tremble;

    and the earth will shake from its place

at the wrath of the Lord Almighty,

    in the day of his burning anger.

Isaiah continues to describe the Day as one in which the entire cosmos is shaken.

Isaiah 13:14-16 Sheep without a shepherd,

Like a hunted gazelle,

    like sheep without a shepherd,

they will all return to their own people,

    they will flee to their native land.

Whoever is captured will be thrust through;

    all who are caught will fall by the sword.

Their infants will be dashed to pieces before their eyes;

    their houses will be looted and their wives violated.

The captives will be destroyed, children brutally murdered. All will flee like shepherdless sheep.

Isaiah 13:17-18, The Medes also attacked

See, I will stir up against them the Medes,

    who do not care for silver

    and have no delight in gold.

Their bows will strike down the young men;

    they will have no mercy on infants,

    nor will they look with compassion on children.

Along the way, the Medes will attack. (The Medes, out of northwest modern Iran, apparently became a unified political force in the seventh century BC, capturing Nineveh in 612 BC.  A century later they will bring down Babylon.)

Isaiah 13:19-22, The Jewel overthrown

Babylon, the jewel of kingdoms,

    the pride and glory of the Babylonians,

will be overthrown by God

    like Sodom and Gomorrah.

She will never be inhabited

    or lived in through all generations;

there no nomads will pitch their tents,

    there no shepherds will rest their flocks.

But desert creatures will lie there,

    jackals will fill her houses;

there the owls will dwell,

    and there the wild goats will leap about.

Hyenas will inhabit her strongholds,

    jackals her luxurious palaces.

Her time is at hand,

    and her days will not be prolonged.

Ultimately, the destruction of Babylon will be total. Did this happen? Will it happen someday later? Or is this hyperbole?

Jeremiah 51 also has a prophecy about the fall of Babylon. Isaiah's prophecy against Babylon continues into the next chapter.

In the New Testament, the book of Revelation includes prophecies about Babylon. (See Revelation 14:8 and Revelation 17:1-8 for example.) Babylon represents there much more than a physical nation, but a general opposition to the plans of God.

Grogan points out that, like many zoological identifications, the identity in ancient Hebrew of these animals (translated as "jackals, owls, wild dogs, hyenas") is not clear and is only an educated guess, based on root words or other associations.

Isaiah 12, Praise on that Day

The previous chapter described a Messiah in David's line who will restore all of Israel, indeed the ancient Near East. This Branch, with the Spirit of the Lord, will restore everything, to Eden's beauty and beyond. We pause to reflect on how we will react to that, in that day.

Isaiah 12:1-3, Anger turned away

In that day you will say:

“I will praise you, Lord.

    Although you were angry with me,

your anger has turned away

    and you have comforted me.

Surely God is my salvation;

    I will trust and not be afraid.

The Lord, the Lord himself, is my strength and my defense;

    he has become my salvation.”

With joy you will draw water

    from the wells of salvation.

Isaiah pauses to reflect on how the people of Israel will react to that, in that day. The pronoun "you" in verses 1 and 2 is second person singular, says Grogan. It become plural, representing a larger audience (?) in the rest of this psalm.

There are echoes here of the jubilation of the Song of the Sea (or Song of Moses), Exodus 15. Compare especially verse 2 both in this chapter and in Exodus 15. (A common praise refrain also occurs in Psalm 118:14.) The salvation here is physical (Grogan); it is salvation from enemies and disaster.

In the New Testament, a similar song of victory and praise is described in Revelation 5:2-5. (That passage even refers to the song of Moses, attributing it to both Moses and the Lamb.)

Isaiah 12:4-6, Make known among the nations...;

In that day you will say:

“Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name;

    make known among the nations what he has done,

    and proclaim that his name is exalted. 

Sing to the Lord, for he has done glorious things;

    let this be known to all the world.

Shout aloud and sing for joy, people of Zion,

    for great is the Holy One of Israel among you.”

See Psalm 105:1 for a song that opens with verse 4 here. This praise is a joyous announcement to "the nations", to "all the world." 

The Hebrew word tsahal begins the second line from last, above. It means to cry shrilly, to ululate. The NIV translation "shout aloud" tames this down too much (says Motyer). That word is followed by the word ranan, translated "sing for joy", but should also be understood to be ecstatic and loud. This is no organized praise chorus. This event includes excited uncontrolled shouting, singing, dancing, crying in joy.

Motyer says that the NIV translation "people" (of Zion) is a Hebrew word (yō·še·ḇeṯ-) which means a female dweller. As was common in Israel, it was the women who led the singing after victory. Examples date back to Miriam leading the women in the Song of the Sea in Exodus 15:20-21. and women cheering David's victory in 1 Samuel 18:6-7. When the final victory comes, Isaiah instructs the women to sing and dance in the streets. In addition to the examples just mentioned, the example of a male doing this is David's dancing in 2 Samuel 6:14-15. 

Some Random Thoughts

It is not unusual for an Old Testament character to break into praise and sing a psalm to God. Not all the songs are in the book of Psalms. Moses and Miriam sing a song in Exodus 15, Deborah sings a song of praise in Judges 5, Hannah in 1 Samuel 2, David in 2 Samuel 22 and Isaiah reports on a future praise sone here. Moving into the New Testament, Mary sings a praise sone in Luke 1:46-55, Zechariah in Luke 1:67-79, Simeon in Luke 2:28-32, (There is a touch of Isaiah in all three of those New Testament songs, as the people are rejoicing at finally seeing the Messiah promised by the scroll of Isaiah.)

To be a devout Jew was to be prepared to sing praises.

This blog is posted on my sister's birthday. Were she still alive, she would be 63. She loved music in all its forms and lived a life immersed in music. It is my hope that she gets to dance through the streets and lead singing in that future Day.

Isaiah 11, Jesse's Branch

Despite the upcoming conquest by Assyria (and later, Babylon), there will be surviving remnant from Israel.

Isaiah 11:1, Branch from Jesse

A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;

    from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.

Now we have a branch of God, a branch of Israel, saved and protected, cleaned up and honored. The new growth comes from the "stump" of Jesse, that is, the father of David, and so is in the Davidic line. Earlier we saw Assyria compared to a forest; here the future Israel comes out of a single branch growing from the stump.

As Grogan points out, the term "branch" (here tsemach) takes on a significant Messianic meaning in Isaiah (see 11:1 where a different word, netser, is used) and in the prophetic books of Jeremiah and Zechariah (Jeremiah 23:5, 33:15, Zechariah 3:8, 6:12.) A similar development messianic development occurs with the term "Servant" in later chapters.

Isaiah 11:2-4, The Spirit of the Lord

The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him—

    the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,

    the Spirit of counsel and of might,

    the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord—

 and he will delight in the fear of the Lord.

He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes,

    or decide by what he hears with his ears;

but with righteousness he will judge the needy,

    with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth.

He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth;

    with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.

The future Branch will be guided by the Spirit of the Lord, with full wisdom, able to judge righteousness, not merely be external evidence. Grogan sees a deliberate use of the number seven in the statements about the Spirit, first a single statement, then three pairs of attributes of this Spirit.

Isaiah 11:5-7, Wolf, leopard, lion, cobra, child

Righteousness will be his belt

    and faithfulness the sash around his waist.

The wolf will live with the lamb,

    the leopard will lie down with the goat,

the calf and the lion and the yearling together;

    and a little child will lead them.

The cow will feed with the bear,

    their young will lie down together,

    and the lion will eat straw like the ox.

The new kingdom will be characterized by righteousness and faithfulness. And by peace. The peace is described by animal kingdom metaphors, predator and prey together.

Isaiah 11:8-9, Wolf, leopard, lion, cobra, child

The infant will play near the cobra’s den,

    and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest.

They will neither harm nor destroy

    on all my holy mountain,

for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord

    as the waters cover the sea.

In this new kingdom, a child is safe even if it plays next to the viper and reaches into its nest. There will be neither harm nor destruction in this "holy mountain" as all are filled with the knowledge of God.

Isaiah 11:10-12, Resting place for remnant

In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his resting place will be glorious. 

In that day the Lord will reach out his hand a second time to reclaim the surviving remnant of his people from Assyria, from Lower Egypt, from Upper Egypt, from Cush, from Elam, from Babylonia, from Hamath and from the islands of the Mediterranean.

He will raise a banner for the nations

    and gather the exiles of Israel;

he will assemble the scattered people of Judah

    from the four quarters of the earth.

Assyria (in the northeast), Egypt to the west are major powers at this time. The kingdoms if Cush, Elam, and Babylonia (south of Assyria) and the islands of the Mediterranean are smaller, bit players in the politics of the region. The city/country called Hamath is was probably north or northwest, in what is modern Syria.  Together these kingdoms encompass most, if not all, of the ancient Near East. Together these lands might, in that culture, represent all the kingdoms of the world.

Isaiah 11:13, End of civil war

Ephraim’s jealousy will vanish,

    and Judah’s enemies will be destroyed;

Ephraim will not be jealous of Judah,

    nor Judah hostile toward Ephraim.

The fighting and bickering between Ephraim (Israel) and Judah will end. The divided kingdoms will unite.

Isaiah 11:14, Conquest

They will swoop down on the slopes of Philistia to the west;

    together they will plunder the people to the east.

They will subdue Edom and Moab,

    and the Ammonites will be subject to them.

Together, as a single entity, Israel will conquer to the west, the east, in all directions.

Isaiah 11:15-16, Red Sea and Euphrates conquered

The Lord will dry up

    the gulf of the Egyptian sea;

with a scorching wind he will sweep his hand

over the Euphrates River.

He will break it up into seven streams

    so that anyone can cross over in sandals.

There will be a highway for the remnant of his people

    that is left from Assyria,

as there was for Israel

    when they came up from Egypt.

In this impending victory, Israel will control the far western Egypt and far eastern Assyria, water barriers will disappear. The scorching wind over the Eyptian Sea (Red Sea?) echoes Exodus 14:21-22. In all directions a highway of conquest is prepared for the new kingdom. On the east, the Euphrates River is broken into seven pieces.

There is no event in history which corresponds to this description. It is possible to read this passage as a poetic statement of a final, global kingdom, Israel spreading out in all directions.

Isaiah 10, Looking Past Assyria

Isaiah has been prophesying about the upcoming destruction of the northern kingdom. The prophesies of chapter 9 are followed by an explanation.

Isaiah 10:1-2, Oppressors

Woe to those who make unjust laws,

    to those who issue oppressive decrees,

to deprive the poor of their rights

    and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people,

making widows their prey

    and robbing the fatherless.

The sins of the northern kingdom include oppression of the poor, the vulnerable, the widows and fatherless. This is aided by laws that deprive people of their rights. This issue has been a problem in every country long before Isaiah and long after.

Isaiah 10:3-4. To whom will you run?

What will you do on the day of reckoning,

    when disaster comes from afar?

To whom will you run for help?

    Where will you leave your riches?

Nothing will remain but to cringe among the captives

    or fall among the slain.

Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away,

    his hand is still upraised.

Retribution for these injustices is coming. "Where will you hide then?" asks Isaiah. And then, as before, there is the ominous statement, "... his hand is still upraised," that is, God's justice is not yet finished.

Isaiah 10:5-6, Assyria, my club

“Woe to the Assyrian, the rod of my anger,

    in whose hand is the club of my wrath!

I send him against a godless nation,

    I dispatch him against a people who anger me,

to seize loot and snatch plunder,

    and to trample them down like mud in the streets.

The Assyrians, who will be conquering Israel/Samaria, act as the club of God's justice. Assyria, being used as God's tool, does not know that it is under His control. 

The Hebrew in verse 6 says this enemy will shalal shalal and bazaz baz, that is, plunder plunder, and seize seized things; the deliberate repetition of identical verb and noun create an emphatic, dramatic effect (Motyer.)

Isaiah 10:7-11, Not what they intend

But this is not what he intends,

this is not what he has in mind;

his purpose is to destroy,

    to put an end to many nations.

‘Are not my commanders all kings?’ he says.

‘Has not Kalno fared like Carchemish?

Is not Hamath like Arpad,

    and Samaria like Damascus?

As my hand seized the kingdoms of the idols,

    kingdoms whose images excelled those of Jerusalem and Samaria—

shall I not deal with Jerusalem and her images

    as I dealt with Samaria and her idols?’”

The Assyrians, in their arrogance, believe they can conquer everyone. But not so. They do not know how temporary their empire will be.

The sites named in verse 9 progress southward, towards Israel/Samaria and Judah, from the north (Motyer.) The attack on Judah, when in comes around 701 BC, will eventually come from the southwest, conquering Lachish but not quite overrunning Jerusalem. See Isaiah 36-37. 

Isaiah 10:12-15, Assyria's time is coming

When the Lord has finished all his work against Mount Zion and Jerusalem, he will say, “I will punish the king of Assyria for the willful pride of his heart and the haughty look in his eyes. For he says:

“‘By the strength of my hand I have done this,

    and by my wisdom, because I have understanding.

I removed the boundaries of nations,

    I plundered their treasures;

    like a mighty one I subdued their kings.

As one reaches into a nest,

    so my hand reached for the wealth of the nations;

as people gather abandoned eggs,

    so I gathered all the countries;

not one flapped a wing,

    or opened its mouth to chirp.’”

Does the ax raise itself above the person who swings it,

    or the saw boast against the one who uses it?

As if a rod were to wield the person who lifts it up,

    or a club brandish the one who is not wood!

Assyria, God's ax against Israel, has no right to believe it is in control. Does the ax have control of the one who swings it? No! Assyria's time is coming. Assyria reached into the nest and grabbed the eggs and vulnerable chicks, but this predator will some day be the prey.

Isaiah 10:16-19, Consuming flame

Therefore, the Lord, the Lord Almighty,

    will send a wasting disease upon his sturdy warriors;

under his pomp a fire will be kindled

    like a blazing flame.

The Light of Israel will become a fire,

    their Holy One a flame;

in a single day it will burn and consume

    his thorns and his briers.

The splendor of his forests and fertile fields

    it will completely destroy,

    as when a sick person wastes away.

And the remaining trees of his forests will be so few

    that a child could write them down.

The proud Assyrian warriors will be destroyed by disease. A fire will be kindled to destroy the arrogance of Assyria. A fire, a blazing flame, a consuming flame... are all words used to describe the actions of the "Holy One", the "Light of Israel." In addition there seems to be destruction of fertile fields and forests, so that at some point there are so few trees that a child could count them.

The Hebrew in verse 16 has a typical dramatic Hebrew repetition (Motyer.) Where the NIV has "fire will be kindled", the Hebrew is yaqad yeqod, that is "burn a burning."

Isaiah 10:20-23, A remnant returns

In that day the remnant of Israel,

    the survivors of Jacob,

will no longer rely on him

    who struck them down

but will truly rely on the Lord,

    the Holy One of Israel.

A remnant will return, a remnant of Jacob

    will return to the Mighty God.

Though your people be like the sand by the sea, Israel,

    only a remnant will return.

Destruction has been decreed,

    overwhelming and righteous.

The Lord, the Lord Almighty, will carry out

    the destruction decreed upon the whole land.

Amidst all the dark disaster, there is an emphasis on a remnant, a collection of survivors. The theme of remnant echoes the message to Elijah in 1 Kings 19:14-18, in which, unknown to the discourage prophet, there were still 7000 faithful to YHWH in Israel. A theme of the prophets will be the survival of a remnant, throughout the ages, waiting for the Day of the Lord.

Isaiah 10:24-29, The burden lifted

Therefore this is what the Lord, the Lord Almighty, says:

“My people who live in Zion,

    do not be afraid of the Assyrians,

who beat you with a rod

    and lift up a club against you, as Egypt did.

Very soon my anger against you will end

    and my wrath will be directed to their destruction.”

The Lord Almighty will lash them with a whip,

    as when he struck down Midian at the rock of Oreb;

and he will raise his staff over the waters,

    as he did in Egypt.

In that day their burden will be lifted from your shoulders,

    their yoke from your neck;

the yoke will be broken

    because you have grown so fat.

They enter Aiath;

    they pass through Migron;

    they store supplies at Mikmash.

They go over the pass, and say,

    “We will camp overnight at Geba.”

Ramah trembles;

    Gibeah of Saul flees.

The attack on Zion (Jerusalem) will fail. God's anger against Judah will subside and the power of Assyria will dissipate.

The incident at Midian, at the rock of Oreb (verse 26) is described in Judges 7:22-25.

Aiath is probably another name for the town Ai (of Joshua 7-8), says Grogan,

Isaiah 10:30-32, Shake your fist!

Cry out, Daughter Gallim!

    Listen, Laishah!

    Poor Anathoth!

Madmenah is in flight;

    the people of Gebim take cover.

This day they will halt at Nob;

    they will shake their fist

at the mount of Daughter Zion,

    at the hill of Jerusalem.

As in verse 9, the sites described in verses 28-32 progressively move south. The Assyrians will shake their fists at Judah, but that will be the extent of their power this time.

Isaiah 10:33-34, Felled trees

See, the Lord, the Lord Almighty,

    will lop off the boughs with great power.

The lofty trees will be felled,

    the tall ones will be brought low.

He will cut down the forest thickets with an ax;

    Lebanon will fall before the Mighty One.

The powerful forest of Assyria will lose its power, the trees and their boughs will fall; the forest will be cut down with an ax.

Some Random Thoughts

The Christian culture around me, for the last fifty years has (when it read the Old Testament) tended to focus on the glorious days of David and Solomon, at the height of the nation of Israel. But a prominent theme of much of the Old Testament is the survival of a remnant. a collection of faithful survivors of calamity and oppression. This concept appears in the psalms, in 1 Kings 19:14-18, and is prominent here. And it runs throughout the New Testament. There is no expectation, in the Roman Empire of the first century, that followers of Messiah Yeshua will rule. The book of Acts, the various letters by Paul and others all deal with a growing underground movement that expects a coming Day of the Lord; the final book of the New Testament is intended to encourage that remnant.

A recognition of a faithful remnant -- as opposed to a ruling kingdom -- should be the attitude of the Church in the 21st centure.

Isaiah 9, Wildfire Before Eternal Peace

Isaiah is describing the coming calamity as Assyria invades the northern kingdom and threatens the southern kingdom.

Isaiah 9:1-2, Galilee

Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future he will honor Galilee of the nations, by the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan—

The people walking in darkness

    have seen a great light;

on those living in the land of deep darkness

    a light has dawned.

A future conqueror will humble the northern tribes Zebulun and Naphtali by overrunning them and carrying away much of the population.  (This happens when Tiglath-Pileser III of Assyria conquers the northern kingdom of Israel in 733-2 BC.) But in a future day God will no longer humble the people of Zebulun and Naphtali (both west of the Sea of Galilee) but in fact will honor Galilee. A light will dawn there....  In the New Testament, Matthew quotes this passage (Matthew 4:12-17) at the beginning of the ministry of Messiah Jesus, as He begins to preach in Galilee.

Isaiah 9:3-5, Enlarge the nation and increase its joy

You have enlarged the nation

    and increased their joy;

they rejoice before you

    as people rejoice at the harvest,

as warriors rejoice

    when dividing the plunder.

For as in the day of Midian’s defeat,

    you have shattered

the yoke that burdens them,

    the bar across their shoulders,

    the rod of their oppressor.

Every warrior’s boot used in battle

and every garment rolled in blood

will be destined for burning,

    will be fuel for the fire.

The passage turns to second person, addressing God, who will "enlarge the nation" and "increase their joy", breaking the yoke across the shoulders of Israel. This God restoring Israel, possibly with a military Messiah, returning in power.

Verses 4, 5 and 6 all begin with an emphatic ki, ("because", "for".) This is somewhat lost in the NIV. The nation will be enlarged --

because the yoke on Israel will be shattered..., 

because the warrior's boot will be burned up..., 

The next passage explains how this will happen:

because a child is born....

Isaiah 9:6-7, A Son, a Counselor, eternal peace

For to us a child is born,

    to us a son is given,

    and the government will be on his shoulders.

And he will be called

    Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,

    Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Of the greatness of his government and peace

    there will be no end.

He will reign on David’s throne

    and over his kingdom,

establishing and upholding it

    with justice and righteousness

    from that time on and forever.

The zeal of the Lord Almighty

    will accomplish this.

How will Israel be restored? A child, a son (echoing the prophesies through Isaiah's children) will rule the government. He is given four names, several that identify Him as God. His reign is eternal, a continuation of David's throne. This passage is clearly Messianic.

It is to this same ’êl gib·bō·wr (God the Mighty) that the nation returns in 10:21.

Isaiah 9:8-12, Enemies on all sides

The Lord has sent a message against Jacob;

    it will fall on Israel.

All the people will know it—

    Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria—

who say with pride

    and arrogance of heart,

“The bricks have fallen down,

    but we will rebuild with dressed stone;

the fig trees have been felled,

    but we will replace them with cedars.”

But the Lord has strengthened Rezin’s foes against them

    and has spurred their enemies on.

Arameans from the east and Philistines from the west

    have devoured Israel with open mouth.

Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away,

    his hand is still upraised.

Destruction is coming to Israel. Arrogant hopes of rebuilding will be in vain. And in all of this, God is not finished. The ominous sentence, "His anger is not turned away, his hand is still upraised", will be repeated several times in this chapter.

The identity of Rezin is unclear. The Septuagint replaces "Rezin's foes" with "adversaries of Zion". The Hebrew word Retsin apparently is the name of a king of Aram (Damascus, a perennial enemy of Israel.) The gist of the passage is that a number of armies (Arameans from the east, Philistines from the west) will descend on Israel/Samaria, even (possibly) enemies of the king of Aram.

Isaiah 9:13-17, Head and tail

But the people have not returned to him who struck them,

    nor have they sought the Lord Almighty.

So the Lord will cut off from Israel both head and tail,

    both palm branch and reed in a single day;

the elders and dignitaries are the head,

    the prophets who teach lies are the tail.

Those who guide this people mislead them,

    and those who are guided are led astray.

Therefore the Lord will take no pleasure in the young men,

    nor will he pity the fatherless and widows,

for everyone is ungodly and wicked,

    every mouth speaks folly.

Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away,

    his hand is still upraised.

The destruction of Israel will remove the elders and leaders, the "head", and will also remove the lying and dishonest prophets, the "tail." Indeed, everything in between will be destroyed, as it is all "ungodly and wicked." And after all this is done, God is still not finished.

Isaiah 9:18-21, Wickedness like fire

Surely wickedness burns like a fire;

    it consumes briers and thorns,

it sets the forest thickets ablaze,

    so that it rolls upward in a column of smoke.

By the wrath of the Lord Almighty

    the land will be scorched

and the people will be fuel for the fire;

    they will not spare one another.

On the right they will devour,

    but still be hungry;

on the left they will eat,

    but not be satisfied.

Each will feed on the flesh of their own offspring:

Manasseh will feed on Ephraim, and Ephraim on Manasseh;

    together they will turn against Judah.

Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away,

    his hand is still upraised.

The wickedness of Israel/Samaria spreads like wildfire, engulfing the land. Indeed, intertribal civil war will be part of the destrution; the  tribes of Manasseh and Ephraim will feed on each other. And after all this destruction, God is still not finished.

Some Random Thoughts

What a strange intermission in the middle of this distressing prophecy! In between the coming destruction of Israel/Samaria described in chapter 8 and the destruction and civil war in the last half of chapter 9, we have the announcement of an eternal King who will restore everything. And the honor will go to Galilee!