ISAIAH 33: “Woe To The Treacherous Destroyer: Assyria”

Jim Bomkamp

1. INTRO

1.1. In our last study we looked in chapter 31 at the ‘woe’ Isaiah pronounces for those who go down to Egypt for help and rely on horses, and then in chapter 32 at the reign of the righteous king

1.1.1. We saw that this ‘woe’ pronounced in chapter 31 was the last ‘woe’ which Isaiah pronounces against the nation of Judea, and it is also a reiteration of previous ‘woes’ and warnings which he has already given

1.1.2. We saw also that the ‘righteous’ King who will reign is the Messiah Himself, and the reign will be His Millennial Reign upon the earth

1.2. In our study today we are going to look at the last of the 6 ‘woes’ which demark this section of the book of Isaiah, and it is the ‘woe’ against the treacherous destroyer, Assyria

1.2.1. We see that Assyria had deceived Hezekiah and the people of Jerusalem promising them peace for tribute but then she had surrounded them and was demanding that the city of Jerusalem let down it’s gates and let her conquer them

1.2.2. This was a time of great distress, however the king and the people had cried out to the Lord and so the Lord was planning now to arise and judge Jerusalem’s enemy, the Assyrians, and thus we have this ‘woe’

1.2.3. Assyria would now eat the fruit of her own actions for the Lord would treat her in kind as she had treated His people

1.2.4. Some of the judgments and principles mentioned in this chapter have a scope that reaches also to the end times and the establishment of Christ’s kingdom

2. VS 33:1 - “1 Woe to you, O destroyer, While you were not destroyed; And he who is treacherous, while others did not deal treacherously with him. As soon as you shall finish destroying, you shall be destroyed; As soon as you shall cease to deal treacherously, others shall deal treacherously with you.” - Isaiah pronounces a ‘woe’ upon the ‘destroyer’, who we know from later on in this chapter is Assyria

2.1. We have already seen in our study that at time of Isaiah’s writing that the nation of Assyria was beginning to sweep across the land conquering nations. Because of the threat of Assyria at the time of this writing most of the Jews living in Judea had already relocated into Jerusalem since it afforded them the most security. The particular time depicted in the writing of this chapter is 701BC when Assyria was threatening Jerusalem and Judea. It seemed that every nation was doomed to fall to Assyria, and now Assyria had even surrounded Jerusalem with it’s armies and was demanding that the gate be lowered so that they could in and conquer her.

2.2. This last of the 6 woes which demark this section of the book of Isaiah is pronounced against Assyria primarily because she had dealt treacherously with Israel. God had promised Abraham in Gen. 12:3 that those who would bless his descendants, would be blessed, and those who would curse his descendants, would be cursed. We see then another principle active and working in this chapter, and that is that whatever then is done to God’s people, whether good or bad, is taken personally by the Lord as if done directly against Him!

2.2.1. Since the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable (Rom. 11:29), and thus the Lord will once again draw Israel to be His people on a future day when all Israel shall be saved (Rom. 11:26), then this is why in our world today it is imperative for our nation as well as every other nation that we align ourselves with Israel and not turn our back to her during this present time of international crisis over the Israeli/Palestinian issue. If we do not support Israel as a nation then we and any other nation who does the same shall suffer the curse of God.

2.3. Assyria is called the ‘treacherous’, and this Hebrew word can be translated as ‘deceiver’ or ‘betrayer’. Assyria had been treacherous to Jerusalem and Judea for in 2 Kings 18:13-18 we read that Hezekiah had paid a tribute bribe to Assyria in exchange for her not attaching them, however now the king of Assyria was carrying out the siege of Jerusalem just as if this had not been paid, “13 Now in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and seized them.14 Then Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria at Lachish, saying, “I have done wrong. Withdraw from me; whatever you impose on me I will bear.” So the king of Assyria required of Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold.15 And Hezekiah gave him all the silver which was found in the house of the Lord, and in the treasuries of the king’s house.16 At that time Hezekiah cut off the gold from the doors of the temple of the Lord, and from the doorposts which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid, and gave it to the king of Assyria.17 Then the king of Assyria sent Tartan and Rab-saris and Rabshakeh from Lachish to King Hezekiah with a large army to Jerusalem. So they went up and came to Jerusalem. And when they went up, they came and stood by the conduit of the upper pool, which is on the highway of the fuller’s field.18 When they called to the king, Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebnah the scribe and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder, came out to them.”

2.4. There is another principle in the economy of God that we see working in this chapter as well as many other places in scripture and that is that the Lord will see that every nation shall receive in turn whatever it dishes out to others, so to speak, and thus what Jesus said is an ever active maxim, “Those who live by the sword will die by the sword. Another way to say this is, “7 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap,” Gal. 6:7”

2.4.1. In Assyria’s case they were using ‘treachery’ and ‘deception’ against Jerusalem and Judea, and Isaiah tells us in this verse that the Lord would see that they would be brought down by treachery themselves.

2.4.2. We read in the Old Testament accounts of what happened after this prophesy by Isaiah was given. In Isaiah 37:36-38 we read that Hezekiah prayed to the Lord and God slew 185,000 of their army encamped against Jerusalem, and the Lord caused the king of Assyria to be destroyed by treachery himself, for his sons then fell upon him shortly after this and slew him, “36 Then the angel of the Lord went out, and struck 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians; and when men arose early in the morning, behold, all of these were dead.37 So Sennacherib, king of Assyria, departed and returned home, and lived at Nineveh.38 And it came about as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons killed him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son became king in his place.”

3. VS 33:2-4 - “2 O Lord, be gracious to us; we have waited for Thee. Be Thou their strength every morning, Our salvation also in the time of distress. 3 At the sound of the tumult peoples flee; At the lifting up of Thyself nations disperse. 4 And your spoil is gathered as the caterpillar gathers; As locusts rushing about, men rush about on it.” - Isaiah begins to intercede in prayer for Jerusalem in the midst of his prophetic declaration

3.1. This is a very interesting and unusual development in Isaiah’s writing, for in the midst of making God’s prophetic declarations he begins to pray and intercede for the nation. Isaiah was passionately involved in his writing and prophesies, and he loved his people and nation so much that his words of prophesy brought him to his knees to pray and intercede for them.

3.2. Knowing the failure of the nation to follow the Lord’s commands Isaiah prays for “undeserved merit”, or God’s graciousness, upon the nation.

3.3. Isaiah reminds the Lord that they were waiting upon Him to answer their prayers at this point in time.

3.4. Isaiah prays that the Lord would be the strength of Jerusalem’s king and leaders every morning and the salvation of the nation in ‘the time of distress’. They were presently in great distress because of the threatening Assyrian army.

3.5. Isaiah’s prayer prefigures the slaying of the 185,000 men of the Assyrian army by the angel of the Lord, for when that occurred the people of Jerusalem rushed out to them and took their valuable possessions as spoil, and it is most likely the case that at least for awhile the other nations around Jerusalem who might have wanted to try to attack her themselves stood back in fear of the Lord. It was not until much later, in 586BC, that Babylon came against a very backslidden Jerusalem and conquered her and took the people captive to Babylon.

4. VS 33:5-6 - “5 The Lord is exalted, for He dwells on high; He has filled Zion with justice and righteousness. 6 And He shall be the stability of your times, A wealth of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge; The fear of the Lord is his treasure.” - Isaiah sees prophetically that the Lord has answered His people’s prayer for help and protection against Assyria and thus he proclaims that the Lord is and will be exalted, and, most importantly Isaiah tells us that He alone shall be the stability of their times

4.1. As often happens in times of prayer when God’s people focus upon the Lord, Isaiah in his prayer begins to just simply exalt the Lord for His greatness. Isaiah proclaims that the Lord dwells on high, as he exalts the Lord above man and heaven, where His throne dwells, above the earth.

4.1.1. Prayer and intercession should not be undertaken without first just exalting and worshipping the Lord for who He is. God’s people should not just rush in and begin asking for stuff when we pray, rather we first are to extol and lift up the Lord. As we do so we also will begin to realize that He already has things in control, He is the one leading us to pray, and also that we need to pray for His perfect will to be done.

4.2. God is always good to all people, and especially to His own called out people, and thus Isaiah realizes the Lord’s goodness to them in that He had already ‘filled’ Zion (Jerusalem) with ‘justice and righteousness’.

4.3. Isaiah tells us that the only stability that there would be in his time, as well as at any time in history, is stability that comes from the Lord and being where He wants us to be. For to those who fear the Lord He becomes a ‘wealth’ of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge.

4.3.1. The people were in need of ‘salvation’ from the Lord for they were in a great distress. The Lord promised that He would be a wealth of salvation to them if they would just be His people and look to Him as their God.

4.3.2. The Lord gives supernatural ‘wisdom’ to His people in order to wisely and uprightly directly their steps when they have to make difficult and far-reaching decisions. The people of this world are blinded and ignorant of true wisdom and thus guided by the devil they make such poor decisions regarding their life and future, just as Judea had been doing in looking to an arm of the flesh in Egypt to be their hope and strength. The people needed to rely upon the Lord in prayer to give them wisdom instead of relying upon their owning minds and thinking.

4.3.2.1.Isn’t it always our own thinking and plans that get us into trouble in our lives? The Lord tells us in Prov. 3:5 to not rely upon our own understanding of things but in all of our ways acknowledge Him, “5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And do not lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight.”

4.3.3. The Lord gives supernatural ‘knowledge’ or insight about events and the true nature of situations to His people in order for them to make the decisions that they need to make in their lives. The people of Judea and Jerusalem desperately needed to see things as they really were at this point in time, and that their hope and trust had to be in the Lord and Him alone, for any other hope would let them down.

4.4. Isaiah says something that I think is both intriguing and encouraging, he says that the Lord’s treasure to His people is the ‘fear of the Lord’.

4.4.1. Prov. 1:17 tells us that the ‘fear of the Lord’ is the beginning of knowledge, “7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; Fools despise wisdom and instruction.”

5. VS 33:7-9 - “7 Behold, their brave men cry in the streets, The ambassadors of peace weep bitterly. 8 The highways are desolate, the traveler has ceased, He has broken the covenant, he has despised the cities, He has no regard for man. 9 The land mourns and pines away, Lebanon is shamed and withers; Sharon is like a desert plain, And Bashan and Carmel lose their foliage.” - Isaiah tells us of the sorrow and grieving that the people in Jerusalem were experiencing because of the treachery of Assyria after she had taken their huge amount of tribute money to not attack and then had continued to prepare to conquer them

5.1. Tempted, the people thought that they could pay for peace, but God would not allow them to merely buy peace with money. Whenever God’s people fall to temptation, the devil never delivers what he promised, does he?

5.1.1. Isaiah tells us that their ‘brave men’, which probably refers to the warriors of Jerusalem, were crying in the streets of Jerusalem over Assyria’s treachery.

5.1.2. The ‘ambassadors of peace’ who had obtained the tribute agreement with Assyria so that she wouldn’t attack them were now crying bitterly because of Assyria’s treachery.

5.2. We see in these verses that the Assyrian king had broken his covenant he had made with Hezekiah, and despised the cities of Judea in the process, and had no regard for mankind at all. The result of this is that most of the people had migrated from the cities of Judea to Jerusalem for protection and thus the highways were now desolate and deserted, Lebanon had withered, Sharon had become like a desert plain, and Bashan and Carmel had lost their foliage.

6. VS 33:10-13 - “10 “Now I will arise,” says the Lord,“Now I will be exalted, now I will be lifted up. 11 “You have conceived chaff, you will give birth to stubble; My breath will consume you like a fire. 12 “And the peoples will be burned to lime, Like cut thorns which are burned in the fire. 13 “You who are far away, hear what I have done; And you who are near, acknowledge My might.”” - Isaiah tells us that the Lord is now going to arise and consume Jerusalem’s enemies, the Assyrian army and nation

6.1. The nation of Judea had been humbled, king Hezekiah had gone to the Lord in prayer to the Lord, as had the nation. Now that His people had been waiting upon the Lord, it was His time to become strong on their behalf and destroy the Assyrian army himself.

6.1.1. You see, the nation did not need to rely upon any arm of the flesh, no matter how strong it may have appeared to them, for the Lord Himself would go to battle against her enemies, and who could ever stand against the Lord?

6.1.2. We in our day need to look to the Lord as our only hope and strength as well.

6.2. People often have a hard time understanding how that the Lord could be a God of love and yet also be a God who judges and avenges His enemies as the Bible tells us that He does. However, the Lord is in the process of turning nations and world events so that He can establish His kingdom. As any king who begins to rule, He must bring down His enemies in order for Him to rule over the earth. That is what He is going to do during the 7 Year Tribulation of the book of Revelation also. He is going to pour out His wrath on and bring down the nations of the world so that He can establish His rule upon the earth over His people.

6.3. When the Lord judges nations He is lifted up and exalted as a result, for in doing so His power and might are clearly seen in the world. Thus, Isaiah writes that the Lord says that He will be exalted and lifted up.

6.4. Isaiah tells us that since Assyria had conceived plans that we worthless chaff before Him that the Lord would see to it that the king would himself give birth to stubble. As stubble, the king and his nation and rule would be consumed like fire and burned to ashes of lime or like thorns burned up and consumed to powder in a fire.

6.5. The Lord calls upon all the earth, those near and even those ‘far away’, to hear of and acknowledge His might over the nations.

7. VS 33:14-16 - “14 Sinners in Zion are terrified; Trembling has seized the godless. “Who among us can live with the consuming fire? Who among us can live with continual burning?” 15 He who walks righteously, and speaks with sincerity, He who rejects unjust gain, And shakes his hands so that they hold no bribe; He who stops his ears from hearing about bloodshed, And shuts his eyes from looking upon evil; 16 He will dwell on the heights; His refuge will be the impregnable rock; His bread will be given him; His water will be sure.” - Isaiah asks in essence the question of who among them can live when the Lord begins to judge the world in righteousness?

7.1. Isaiah tells us that the Lord is a consuming fire:

7.1.1. As the Lord is in the process of establishing His kingdom in the earth, He is going to test the people of this world through fire and burn away the chaff because only those who walk righteously before Him will be allowed in His kingdom.

7.1.1.1.In Heb. 12:28-29, the author of that book writes that the Lord is a consuming fire, for, “28 Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe;29 for our God is a consuming fire.”

7.1.1.2.In Heb. 12:14, we read about the fact that unless a person is walking a sanctified and holy life before the Lord he is not going to enter into God’s kingdom, “14 Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:”

7.1.2. When people see the Lord as a judge and that He will pour out His wrath and righteous indignation upon His enemies, then Isaiah tells us that sinners will be terrified and the godless will tremble.

7.2. The only ones who will be able to stand on the day that the Lord moves to judge nations and the earth are the ones who are walking upright with the Lord, or are ‘right’ with the Lord, those who have repented of their sins and who are seeking to be obedient to the Lord in their life.

7.3. Whenever the Lord begins to move mightily in judgment in the earth, there is another principle that comes into play, and that is that His people repent and are purified as they see His might and power revealed!

7.3.1. This happened when God judged and destroyed the Assyrian army, and it will happen during the 7 Year Tribulation of the book of Revelation.

7.3.2. In our country when the terrorists bombed the World Trade Center in New York City on 9/11/2001, many non-believers or people on the fence about their walk with God came into the churches, but also the church itself began at least for a time to realize that she needed to repent and return to walking uprightly before the Lord.

7.4. Isaiah tells us what the person’s life that is righteous and thus acceptable before God will be doing:

7.4.1. Walks righteously.

7.4.2. Speaks with sincerity.

7.4.3. Rejects unjust gain.

7.4.4. Shakes his hands so that they hold no bribe.

7.4.5. Stops his ears from hearing about bloodshed.

7.4.6. Shuts his eyes from looking upon evil.

7.5. Isaiah then lists the blessings for the one who does walk uprightly before the Lord as he should:

7.5.1. He will dwell on the heights.

7.5.1.1.He is protected from his enemies there for God will be his protection.

7.5.2. His refuge will be the impregnable rock.

7.5.2.1.When God protects him no one will be able to penetrate his defense.

7.5.3. His bread will be given him.

7.5.3.1.God will provide all of the needs of His people who seek Him first in their lives.

7.5.4. His water will be sure.

7.5.4.1.God will see that His people are watered financially as well as spiritually for the Lord will watch out over them.

8. VS 33:17-21 - “17 Your eyes will see the King in His beauty; They will behold a far-distant land. 18 Your heart will meditate on terror: “Where is he who counts? Where is he who weighs? Where is he who counts the towers?” 19 You will no longer see a fierce people, A people of unintelligible speech which no one comprehends, Of a stammering tongue which no one understands. 20 Look upon Zion, the city of our appointed feasts; Your eyes shall see Jerusalem an undisturbed habitation, A tent which shall not be folded, Its stakes shall never be pulled up Nor any of its cords be torn apart. 21 But there the majestic One, the Lord, shall be for us A place of rivers and wide canals, On which no boat with oars shall go, And on which no mighty ship shall pass—” - Isaiah tells us that when the Lord begins to judge the Assyrians that God’s people will see ‘the King in His beauty’

8.1. Isaiah seems to speak prophetically in these verses about what the people of Jerusalem will see and experience when the Lord finally begins to move on their behalf and to destroy their enemies:

8.1.1. They will see the ‘King in His beauty’.

8.1.1.1.Judgment reveals the ‘terrible’ side of God that brings about fear and trembling amongst the impenitent, however among God’s people when God moves to judge nations and the world His beauty is revealed. When the patience and long-suffering of God which seemed to be infinite in length finally run out, then God will remove the wicked from the earth, and thus at that time when the Lord’s righteousness and justice is revealed it will also reveal His beauty.

8.1.1.2.They were wondering if the Lord took into account all of the terrible deeds of the wicked, however at the time when God moves to judge the wicked they will not longer seem so fierce as before, and in fact they will just become faded memories, however the Lord Himself will always be the center of the attention of God’s people.

8.2. Isaiah tells us that because the Lord has determined to make Jerusalem His habitation and the throne for His kingdom, when He moves to remove the wicked from the earth that the people will see that Jerusalem shall not be like a tent be folded up, nor have it’s tent pegs pulled up, and not have it’s cords pulled apart.

8.2.1. Jerusalem shall truly become the cup of trembling and the burdensome stone that will not be able to be moved by the nations at the end times, as Zechariah promised it would be in Zech. 12:3.

8.2.2. In Jerusalem the Lord promises there will be rivers and wide canals on which no boat with oars shall go and no mighty ship pass. In other words, speaking allegorically here, I believe that Isaiah is saying that at the end times Jerusalem shall indeed be the center of commerce and of government for the world but the government shall be a divine government not that of man, not run by the schemes or commercial enterprises of man.

9. VS 33:22 - “22 For the Lord is our judge, The Lord is our lawgiver, The Lord is our king; He will save us—” - Isaiah tell us that the Lord is the judge, lawgiver, and king over His people to save them

9.1. The ‘judge’ in Israel’s history were those who would rescue the people when they had strayed away from the Lord and then an enemy had come against them and they had turned to the Lord for their help. The Lord would again arise as the deliverer of His people when they begin to cry to Him for help.

9.2. The ‘lawgiver’ is the Lord Himself, as His law reflects His own standards of righteousness, of right and wrong. The Lord will protect the people of Israel as the righteous ‘lawgiver’ whose justice shall be a protection for God’s people.

9.3. The Lord is the “king” of His people, and as such He will reign over them for all eternity. It is the kingdom of the Lord that is being set up over all of the earth, not the kingdom of the Jews nor even of the church for that matter. God will protect His people because He is their king and watches and rules over them as the righteous king.

10. VS 33:23 - “23 Your tackle hangs slack; It cannot hold the base of its mast firmly, Nor spread out the sail. Then the prey of an abundant spoil will be divided; The lame will take the plunder.” – Isaiah tells us that the sails of Judea’s enemies (Assyria particularly) shall not be able to hold fast against the winds of His judgment

10.1. We see that Assyria is like a ship whose mast is not able to stay in it’s holder because of the great wind, and thus it can’t spread out it’s sail and go where it desires to go and do what it desires to do. God is going to fulfill His purposes in a whirlwind that none can stop or control.

10.2. When the Assyrians are slain by the Lord as they are surrounding Jerusalem in 701BC, evidently there will again be an opportunity for the people of Jerusalem to plunder them and divide the spoil among themselves.

11. VS 33:24 - “24 And no resident will say, “I am sick”; The people who dwell there will be forgiven their iniquity.” - Isaiah tells us that when the Lord moves to judge the people of this world and set up His millennial kingdom that He will remove all sin and sickness from among His people

11.1. The curse of the earth will be removed on the day that Christ sets up His millennial reign, and even the earthly bodies of men will no longer be plagued by sickness on that day.

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