Isaiah 10:12-22
Isa 10:12
Wherefore it shall come to pass, that when the
Lord hath performed his whole work upon mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will
punish the fruit of the stout heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his
high looks.
Once the LORD had accomplished all he wanted to do and
one of the main things he wanted to accomplish was to bring to light the sins
they were committing and that they would realize it and come back to their
senses and to humble them back into obedience and once that truly takes place
and Judah and Jerusalem are once again walking in obedience, then God will turn
his judging hand upon Assyria because they are a pagan nation and their leaders
are filled with pride thinking they were a juggernaut, an unstoppable nation and
could have whatever they wanted but their doom because of their pride and
paganism was sure.
Isa 10:13
For he saith, By the strength
of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom; for I am prudent: and I have
removed the bounds of the people, and have robbed their treasures, and I have
put down the inhabitants like a valiant man:
Here the Assyrian king ascribes the successful conquests
to his own wisdom and might. He
also brags that he was prudent which means skillful.
He assesses himself as a skillful king.
Removing the bounds of the people which means he has included many
different people groups within the boundaries of his kingdom.
He also boasts that he has robbed or taken the spoils from each of these
countries that he has invaded and conquered and boasts he did it as a valiant or
brave man who puts down the weaker people.
Isa 10:14
And my hand hath found as a nest the riches of the
people: and as one gathereth eggs that are left, have I gathered all the
earth; and there was none that moved the wing, or opened the mouth, or peeped.
Then he boasts that just as he found a nest the riches of
the people, that is, he took the spoils of war as one would take eggs out of a
nest where there is no hen or mother bird protecting it.
He claims that he gathered all the earth, that is, wherever he attacked
he conquered. As a bird would cluck
or flutter its wings to defend its eggs, there was none who resisted the armies
of Assyria so they just went in and conquered without any or little resistance.
Isa 10:15
Shall the axe boast itself against him that heweth
therewith? or shall the saw magnify itself against him that shaketh it?
as if the rod should shake itself against them that lift it up, or
as if the staff should lift up itself, as if it were no wood.
Here the prophet attacks the boasting of the king of
Assyria. The axe is used as an
instrument to chop wood but it is at the mercy of the one using it and cannot
boast. The principle here is that
Assyria is the axe and God is the one who is wielding the axe.
The axe does not work on its own but must be utilized in the proper way
to chop wood. The same situation is
found in Assyria as they are the ones whom God is directing and they are not
working out of their own reasons but God is the one who is directing them as his
instruments of judgment against Judah and Israel.
In the same manner the saw does not work independently of the one who is
using it. In 10:5 we read that God
called Assyria the rod of God’s anger.
The rod which can be used for a walking stick or a fighting stick will
not have its usage identified until it is picked up and used.
The rod also does not act independently of the usage its owner decides
on. God is sovereign owner of the
people on earth by means of creation and can use them for whatever he decides
on. Then the staff will be in the same
category as the others. It will not
make its own decisions as to what it will be used for because it is only wood
and has no mind of its own. It too
is under the authority of the one who uses it for whatever it is needed for.
Isa 10:16
Therefore shall the Lord, the Lord of hosts, send among
his fat ones leanness; and under his glory he shall kindle a burning like the
burning of a fire.
Since the king of Assyria has boasted of great things and
not realizing that he is acting under the leadership of the LORD, he will also
suffer loss. His great army will be
diminished as a fat person who contracts a major disease and becomes emaciated.
Then the LORD will destroy their army as a fire destroys dry thorns or
briers. They will be consumed.
Assyria met its defeat at the Battle of Carchemish in 605 B.C. when they
were conquered by the Babylonians.
Even though Assyria was under the leadership of God at this time, their arrogant
attitudes still had to be punished plus they were a very cruel people as history
exposes.
Isa 10:17
And the light of Israel shall be for a fire, and his Holy
One for a flame: and it shall burn and devour his thorns and his briers in one
day;
Just as God is the one who brought Assyria against Judah
and Israel, it will be he who will destroy the Assyrian army.
Fire is used as a symbol for their destruction and the use of briers and
thorns means that the destruction will be swift and not stretched out over a
long period of time. The thorns and
briers represents the vast Assyrian army which will be destroyed in one day
which means very quickly. The
Egyptians will ally with Assyria but will be destroyed along with the Assyrian
army at Carchemish.
Isa 10:18
And shall consume the glory of his forest, and of his
fruitful field, both soul and body: and they shall be as when a standardbearer
fainteth.
The Assyrian army is compared to a forest which contains
many trees and some who are very big.
Then the fruitful field is another term for the army as they have stood
as tall as corn in a field and many corn stalks in a small area meaning the army
had many soldiers. They will be
destroyed both soul and body, which means they will fall in death in battle and
because they are worshippers of the false gods, their soul will also be
destroyed in hell after they will be judged for their sins on the last day.
The standardbearer was the one on the battlefield who carried the emblem
of the army and if the standardbearer was killed or fell, it could panic the
army. In the American Civil War,
when a standardbearer was killed, anther took up the battle flag and continued
to march toward the destination or goal.
Isa 10:19
And the rest of the trees of his forest shall be few,
that a child may write them.
Once the main body of the Assyrian army has been
destroyed, there may still be a few left which God had allowed to live.
They will be so few in number that a child would be able to record their
names and the number of them left.
Before there were hundreds of thousands but now there is probably only a few
hundred, if that much.
Isa 10:20
And it shall come to pass in that day, that the
remnant of Israel, and such as are escaped of the house of Jacob, shall no more
again stay upon him that smote them; but shall stay upon the LORD, the Holy One
of Israel, in truth.
Then once the kingdom of Assyria is destroyed and their
army is no longer an ally of King Ahaz as he desired. Those that escaped in
Judah from the Assyrian invasion will no longer look to Assyria as their helper
which also symbolizes the fact that they should look no longer to any earthly
power. Now since Isaiah has
revealed the fact that Assyria was acting on behalf of the LORD and that their
cruelty and arrogant attitudes were condemned by the LORD, they were now to
return to the LORD and they were to stay upon him.
Stay means “rest or rely.”
This is also what the true believer in Christ does, they rest in Calvary for
their salvation.
Thou wilt keep
him in perfect peace,
whose mind
is stayed
on thee: because he trusteth in
thee. (Isaiah 26:3) We will
have perfect peace when our minds are resting on Christ, no matter what
situation is encountered by the believer.
Isa 10:21
The remnant shall return, even the remnant of
Jacob, unto the mighty God.
This is one of those verses which carry a dual meaning.
First, those who accepted the alliance with Assyria will no longer look
to them as their protectors but those who escaped the sword of Assyria will come
back to the LORD. The word “mighty”
carries with it the meaning of “champion, strong or valiant.”
Earthly men may be strong but compared to the LORD, their valiance fades
in comparison and God is the valiant or strong God of Israel who will be their
real protector. Then the second
meaning in this verse speaks about salvation as the Apostle Paul requotes this
verse in a different manner speaking about the remnant who will become saved.
Esaias also crieth concerning
Israel, Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a
remnant shall be saved: (Romans 9:27)
Out of ancient Israel there will be a remnant of true believers.
There will also be those in the northern kingdom who will become saved
and return unto the LORD.
Isa 10:22
For though thy people Israel be as the sand of the sea,
yet a remnant of them shall return: the consumption decreed shall
overflow with righteousness.
God had made a promise to Abraham that his descendants
would be numerous like the sand of the sea which cannot be counted by man but
out of that great number through the ages a remnant will become saved and will
return unto the LORD.
That in blessing I will bless thee, and
in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the
sand which is upon the sea
shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; (Genesis 22:17)
The destruction of the nation of Israel has already been divinely decreed
and it was going to happen. The
fact that the judgment will be coming from God, it will also be permeated with
righteousness and there will be no frivolous judgments coming.
All will be done from a righteous framework.
It will be according to the sins they committed and will not go any
further than God has decreed. Two
times in the New Testament is the term “righteous judgment” used describing
God’s judgments.
But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up
unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous
judgment of God; (Romans 2:5)