ISAIAH 10: “Judgment Is Determined For The Assyrians”
By
1.
INTRO
1.1.
In our last study we looked
at the hope of all
1.1.1.
We saw from the prophesies
that this son has to be both fully God and fully man
1.1.2.
We also followed Isaiah in
the second half of the chapter as he again took up the judgment of the nation
of Israel which is to come because of her having turned away from following the
Lord
1.1.2.1.We saw that Isaiah portrayed
1.2.
In our study today we are
going to look at how that from prophesy now that Assyria has been used as the
tool of the Lord to judge the nations that it will itself be judged by the Lord
1.2.1.
God often has used wicked
nations for His purposes in history past, however His using them does not mean
that they have inherited His favor
1.2.2.
The Assyrians were the tool
of the Lord to judge rebellious
1.2.3.
In this chapter we are
confronted with the sovereignty of God as we see God choose to use a wicked
Assyria as His tool in executing His wrath upon unrepentant nations, including
Judea and Israel, and yet afterward hold those same Assyrians accountable for
their actions as He another nation to judge them just they were used
1.2.3.1.In Rev. 9:1-15, for an example of how God sometimes chooses to use evil
entities for working His purposes, during the plagues of the 7 year Tribulation
there are at God’s command demonic creatures released from the bottomless pit
to go and torment those who do not have the seal of God on their lives
1.2.4.
Many people in our world
today cannot imagine that God could be a God of wrath, yet in this chapter (as
well as in many other parts of the book of Isaiah) we see God’s wrath being
executed upon unrepentant nations. God’s
‘wrath’ can be defined as the tangeable means with which His anger is brought
to action
2.
VS 10:1-5 - “1 Woe to those who enact evil statutes,
And to those who constantly record unjust decisions, 2 So as to deprive the
needy of justice, And rob the poor of My people of their rights, In order that
widows may be their spoil, And that they may plunder the orphans. 3 Now what will you do in the day of
punishment, And in the devastation which will come from afar? To whom will you flee for help? And where will you leave your wealth? 4 Nothing remains but to crouch among the
captives Or fall among the slain. In
spite of all this His anger does not turn away, And His hand is still stretched
out. 5 Woe to Assyria, the rod of My
anger And the staff in whose hands is My indignation,” - Isaiah tells us that the Lord
pronounces a ‘woe’ against those who commit evil acts
2.1.
When the Lord pronounces a ‘woe’ upon any
nation or people it is pronounced with compassion and grief, for the ‘woe’ is
pronounced always in relation to impending and severe judgment that is going to
come from the Lord.
2.2.
The Lord will judge any nation which commits
the sins which are listed here in these verses:
2.2.1.
Enacting evil statutes
2.2.2.
Recording unjust decisions in court
2.2.3.
Depriving the needy of justice
2.2.4.
Robbing the poor of their rights (especially
God’s people)
2.2.5.
Plundering widows and orphans
2.3.
The Lord had used Assyria as the rod (or staff
of His hand) in His judgment against
2.4.
In essence, here the Lord tells Isaiah that when
the Lord turns to judge a nation that there is nothing which they will be able
to do to escape His wrath.
2.5.
The greed of the Assyrians is what had caused
them to commit all of the evil listed above, however now when God’s hand of
judgment falls against them, the Lord asks where they will now leave their
wealth.
3.
VS 10:6-11 - “6 I send it against a godless
nation And commission it against the people of My fury To capture booty and to
seize plunder, And to trample them down like mud in the streets. 7 Yet it does not so intend Nor does it plan
so in its heart, But rather it is its purpose to destroy, And to cut off many
nations. 8 For it says, “Are not my
princes all kings? 9 “Is not Calno like
3.1.
God had sent Assyria against Judea, Syria,
Israel, and perhaps other nations, and His purpose in sending them was to
conquer or capture the people, seize plunder (take their goods and fine
things), and humble them. However, the
Assyrians in their heart purposed to do much more and ‘destroy’ those whom they
conquered, and cut them off completely.
3.2.
We see in these verses a description of how
the Assyrians thought of themselves as being above all of the other nations.
3.2.1.
The Assyrians were puffed up in pride for
they also thought of their people as being elevated above all other people, and
as being ‘kings’.
3.2.2.
The Assyrians were also puffed up thinking
that their superiority was based upon the superiority of their gods to the gods
of
3.2.3.
Each of the six cities mentioned here had
been conquered by Assyria, the conquer of each of these cities caused
3.2.3.1.Calneh,
was probably Niffer in lower Mesopotania.
3.2.3.2.
3.2.3.3.Hamath,
was in Coelesyria on the
3.2.3.4.Arpad,
was probably Tel-Erfad near
3.2.3.5.
3.2.3.6.
4.
VS 10:12-14 - “12 So it will be that when the
Lord has completed all His work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, He will say, “I
will punish the fruit of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria and the pomp
of his haughtiness.”13 For he has said,“By the power of my hand and by my
wisdom I did this, For I have understanding;
And I removed the boundaries of the peoples, And plundered their
treasures, And like a mighty man I brought down their inhabitants, 14 And my
hand reached to the riches of the peoples like a nest, And as one gathers
abandoned eggs, I gathered all the earth;
And there was not one that flapped its wing or opened its beak or
chirped.”” - Isaiah tells us that the Lord vows that when
He is finished punishing Judea that He will punish ‘the fruit of the arrogant
heart of the king of
4.1.
4.1.1.
The Assyrians did not realize that it was the
Lord who had led them, inspired them, and made them victorious in conquering
the nations.
4.2.
As was mentioned at the outset of this study,
the sovereignty of God is seen in these verses.
God chose to use
4.2.1.
God is sovereign and thus it is His
prerogative to work as He wishes.
5.
VS 10:15-17 - “15 Is the axe to boast itself
over the one who chops with it? Is the saw
to exalt itself over the one who wields it?
That would be like a club wielding those who lift it, Or like a rod
lifting him who is not wood. 16
Therefore the Lord, the God of
hosts,will send a wasting disease among his stout warriors; And under his glory a fire will be kindled
like a burning flame. 17 And the light
of
5.1.
An axe or a saw is just a sharp and blunt
instrument in the hands of someone who knows how to wield it for good
purpose. It has no mind or intelligence
of it’s own since it is an inanimate object.
The Lord reckons the nation of
5.2.
A club or a rod is just a blunt piece of wood
with a handle that is used by someone of some intelligence to do good
purpose. However, it has no intelligence
of it’s own. The Lord reckons the nation
of
5.3.
The stout warriors of
5.4.
The Lord will judge
5.4.1.
Isaiah typifies the Assyrians as ‘thorns and
briars’ which would be burned up by the Lord in judgment.
6.
VS 10:18-19 - “18 And He will destroy the glory
of his forest and of his fruitful garden, both soul and body; And it will be as when a sick man wastes
away. 19 And the rest of the trees of
his forest will be so small in number That a child could write them down.” - Isaiah tells us that the Lord
will destroy the glory of
6.1.
That which is most precious and valuable to
the Assyrian’s will be destroyed when the Lord turns and uses another nation to
judge them.
6.2.
The judgment from the Lord will come upon the
nation as a horrible illness, and it will have tremendous destroying power.
6.3.
The Lord Himself eventually defeated the
Assyrian army. In 2 Kings 19:35-37, we read about how when the Assyrian army
finally came against Jerusalem under King Shennacherib, and Judea’s king,
Hezekiah, sought the Lord praying for God’s help, that the angel of the Lord
slew 185,000 of the Assyrian army, and then Shennacherib’s life was taken when
he returned from the defeat, “35 Then it happened that
night that the angel of the Lord went out, and struck 185,000 in the camp of
the Assyrians; and when men rose early in the morning, behold, all of them were
dead.36 So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and returned home, and lived at
Nineveh.37 And it came about as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his
god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer killed him with the sword; and they escaped
into the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son became king in his place.”
7.
VS 10:20-23 - “20 Now it will come about in
that day that the remnant of Israel, and those of the house of Jacob who have
escaped, will never again rely on the one who struck them, but will truly rely
on the Lord, the Holy One of Israel. 21
A remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God. 22 For though your people, O Israel, may be
like the sand of the sea, Only a remnant within them will return; A destruction is determined, overflowing with
righteousness. 23 For a complete destruction,
one that is decreed, the Lord God of hosts will execute in the midst of the
whole land.” - Isaiah returns to the theme of the faithful
remnant of
7.1.
We see in the book of Isaiah that this theme
of a faithful remnant whom the Lord shall raise up is one which Isaiah keeps
being led back to. Though judgment comes
about from the Lord, and according to verse 23 this will be a complete
destruction in the mist of the whole land, the end of Israel will be great for
the Lord promises to raise up a faithful remnant.
7.2.
In Romans 9:6,
the apostle Paul wrote that not everyone who is physically descended from
Israel is truly considered by the Lord to be of Israel, “6 But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For they are
not all Israel who are descended from Israel;”
7.2.1.
It is only the faithful ones whom the Lord
considers to be His people, not those who are descended from God’s people.
7.3.
Many people are in churches, and some have
even grown up in churches, and yet they are not truly God’s people. Being born of Christian parents, being
baptized in a church, going through confirmation in a church, and even going
forward in a service and praying an emotional prayer does not make a person one
of God’s people. A person has to come to
know Christ as His personal Lord (master) and Savior in order to be considered
one of God’s people.
7.4.
Isaiah tells us that when the faithful
remnant finally returns to the land that they will never again rely upon the
arm of the flesh for their hope, but their hope from then on shall be in the
Lord and Him alone.
7.5.
There is a dual fulfillment of this prophesy
of the faithful remnant to return to the land I believe. Under the restoration of Ezra and Nehemiah at
the end of the 70 year captivity to
8.
VS 10:24-27 - “24 Therefore thus says the Lord
God of hosts, “O My people who dwell in
Zion, do not fear the Assyrian who strikes you with the rod and lifts up his
staff against you, the way Egypt did.25 “For in a very little while My
indignation against you will be spent, and My anger will be directed to their
destruction.”26 And the Lord of hosts will arouse a scourge against him like
the slaughter of Midian at the rock of Oreb; and His staff will be over the
sea, and He will lift it up the way He did in Egypt.27 So it will be in that
day, that his burden will be removed from your shoulders and his yoke from your
neck, and the yoke will be broken because of fatness.” - Isaiah tells us that the
result of his word from the Lord should be that the people of Judea and
8.1.
Isaiah tells the nation that just the way the
Lord struck
8.2.
The Lord tells Isaiah that the slaughter of
the Assyrians will be like the slaughter which the Lord performed under Giddeon
of the Midianites, and of it’s two leaders Oreb and Zeeb.
8.2.1.
We read about this victory in Judges 7:19-25, “19 So Gideon and the
hundred men who were with him came to the outskirts of the camp at the
beginning of the middle watch, when they had just posted the watch; and they
blew the trumpets and smashed the pitchers that were in their hands.20 When the
three companies blew the trumpets and broke the pitchers, they held the torches
in their left hands and the trumpets in their right hands for blowing, and
cried, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!”21 And each stood in his place
around the camp; and all the army ran, crying out as they fled.22 And when they
blew 300 trumpets, the Lord set the sword of one against another even
throughout the whole army; and the army fled as far as Beth-shittah toward
Zererah, as far as the edge of Abel-meholah, by Tabbath.23 And the men of
Israel were summoned from Naphtali and Asher and all Manasseh, and they pursued
Midian. 24 And Gideon sent messengers
throughout all the hill country of Ephraim, saying, “Come down against Midian
and take the waters before them, as far as Beth-barah and the
8.2.2.
Remember in this story that God had Giddeon
pair down the 32,000 men who were to go to war to only 300. The Lord did this to show to Giddeon and the
people that when God is involved you don’t need the arm of man to rely upon,
for nothing shall be too difficult for the Lord to accomplish. He will perform His word for He is capable to
perform it.
9.
VS 10:28-34 - “28 He has come against Aiath, He
has passed through Migron; At Michmash
he deposited his baggage.29 They have gone through the pass, saying, “Geba will
be our lodging place.” Ramah is
terrified, and Gibeah of Saul has fled away.
30 Cry aloud with your voice, O daughter of Gallim! Pay attention, Laishah and wretched
Anathoth! 31 Madmenah has fled. The inhabitants of Gebim have sought
refuge. 32 Yet today he will halt at
Nob; He shakes his fist at the mountain
of the daughter of
9.1.
Assyria had gone through the earth terrifying
nation after nation, however the Lord says that they will stop at Nob and only
be able to shake their fists at
9.1.1.
We saw already how that the Lord Himself
conquered the Assyrian army of 185,000 in 2 Kings 19 when Hezekiah prayed and
sought the Lord’s help. Their attempt to
conquer
9.1.2.
In application, we Christians need to realize
how much we suffer needlessly because we simply do not take our cares and
burdens to the Lord in prayer. He wants
to deliver us just as He delivered Hezekiah, if we will just look to Him and
Him alone to be our help. We also must
never lean upon the arm of the flesh.
9.2.
The Lord describes the fall of
9.3.
The Lord is going to humble the lofty, Isaiah
tells us in verse 33.