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
“‘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.
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