Isaiah 10:23-34
Isa 10:23
For the Lord GOD of hosts shall make a consumption, even
determined, in the midst of all the land.
The word “consumption” means “a full and utter end.”
There is going to come the removal of the ten northern tribes by Assyria
and then there will be the invasion of Judah by Assyria in which many fenced
cities would be destroyed and over 200,000 captives will be removed to Assyria
but Jerusalem will not be destroyed by Assyria as God will withhold his judging
hand at that time. Jerusalem will
be razed in 587 B.C. when the Babylonians will remove Judah from the land for
seventy years. Then in 70 A.D. will
come the final destruction of Judah in its entirety and all the Jews will either
be killed or taken as slaves to Rome.
Isa 10:24
Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD of hosts, O my people
that dwellest in Zion, be not afraid of the Assyrian: he shall smite thee with a
rod, and shall lift up his staff against thee, after the manner of Egypt.
Then the LORD assures the people of Judah that they
should not fear the Assyrians as they come against them.
They will smite them with a rod which means they will afflict them but
they will not be utterly destroyed and the same thing is with the staff as
Assyria was called this as they performed the work of the LORD even though they
did not know it. The Egyptians had
afflicted Israel but instead of destroying them they became a great nation
within Egypt. The same situation
will occur with Judah when the Assyrian siege is over.
Isa 10:25
For yet a very little while, and the indignation shall
cease, and mine anger in their destruction.
The Lord’s use of Assyria as his means of judgment will
be short lived and then the LORD will deal with them by bringing their mighty
empire to an end. The inhabitants
of Judah were judged but not destroyed but the Assyrian army will be utterly
destroyed.
Isa 10:26
And the LORD of hosts shall stir up a scourge for him
according to the slaughter of Midian at the rock of Oreb: and as his rod
was upon the sea, so shall he lift it up after the manner of Egypt.
The scourge which the LORD sent forth was a destroying
angel who would destroy 185,000 men of the army of Assyria.
Then the angel of the LORD went forth,
and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and fourscore and five
thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they
were all dead corpses. (Isaiah
37:36) The slaughter of the
Midianites at the rock of Oreb took place during the time of Gideon.
24 And Gideon sent
messengers throughout all mount Ephraim, saying, Come down against the
Midianites, and take before them the waters unto Beth-barah and Jordan. Then all
the men of Ephraim gathered themselves together, and took the waters unto
Beth-barah and Jordan. 25 And they took two princes of the
Midianites, Oreb and Zeeb; and they slew Oreb upon the rock Oreb, and Zeeb they
slew at the winepress of Zeeb, and pursued Midian, and brought the heads of Oreb
and Zeeb to Gideon on the other side Jordan. (Judges 7:24-25)
Then just as Moses lifted up the rod over the Red Sea so
Egypt could pass through it safely and then after the manner of the death of the
Egyptians, the Assyrians will suffer the same fate as the army of Egypt.
Isa 10:27
And it shall come to pass in that day, that his
burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy
neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing.
Then once the Assyrian army has been destroyed and they
are no longer a threat, the burden which was upon their shoulders as one carries
something heavy and the yoke which binds them to someone or something will be
totally destroyed and will never bother them again.
They will be freed from that yoke.
The anointing may be pointing to David who was anointed king of Israel
and whom God promised to set a king upon his throne forever.
This is why Judah could not be destroyed until the Messiah had come who
was in the lineage of David.
Isa 10:28
He is come to Aiath, he is passed to Migron; at Michmash
he hath laid up his carriages:
This is describing the way which Sennacherib came to
Jerusalem. Aiath is the city of Ai
where Achan sinned and Joshua had to weed out his sin so the nation of Israel
could once again receive the blessing of the Lord.
Migron was located within the tribe of Benjamin that was located within
Judah.
And Saul tarried in the uttermost part of
Gibeah under a pomegranate tree which
is in Migron: and the people that
were with him
were about six hundred men; (1
Samuel 14:2) Michmash was
approximately 7 miles (11 KM) north of Jerusalem.
Laying up his carriages means that is where his base of operation was as
he stored his weapons and chariots of war so he could dispatch them as he saw
fit to attack whatever he wanted.
Isa 10:29
They are gone over the passage: they have taken up their
lodging at Geba; Ramah is afraid; Gibeah of Saul is fled.
The passages was the passage of Michmash.
And the garrison of the
Philistines went out to the passage of Michmash. (1 Samuel 13:23)
The passage was a ford or some type of crossing which allowed the army to
cross over. Geba was a city in the
tribe of Benjamin where they had only stayed one night.
Ramah was about seven miles from Jerusalem located in the tribe of
Benjamin.
Blow ye the cornet in Gibeah,
and the trumpet in Ramah: cry
aloud at Beth-aven, after thee,
O Benjamin. (Hosea 5:8) Gibeah
was also a city in Benjamin.
Saul chose him three thousand
men of Israel;
whereof two thousand were with
Saul in Michmash and in mount Beth-el, and a thousand were with Jonathan in
Gibeah of Benjamin: and the rest of the people he sent every man to his tent. (1
Samuel 13:2) The Assyrians had
made very swift advances and that is why the inhabitants of these cities were in
fear and put up no resistance.
Isa 10:30
Lift up thy voice, O daughter of Gallim: cause it to be
heard unto Laish, O poor Anathoth.
Gallim was a city in the tribe of Benjamin and Laish was
on the northern border of Judea.
What this is meaning here is that they were to howl and lament so loudly that it
would be heard throughout all of Judah.
Anathoth was also a city in the tribe of Benjamin and was the hometown of
Jeremiah the prophet and was about 3 miles (5 KM) from Jerusalem.
Isa 10:31
Madmenah is removed; the inhabitants of Gebim gather
themselves to flee.
Madmenah was located in the southern part of Judah and
near the city of Gaza.
And Ziklag, and Madmannah, and Sansannah,
(Joshua 15:31) The city of Gebim is
nowhere to be found in Scripture and its location is lost to antiquity.
Isa 10:32
As yet shall he remain at Nob that day: he shall shake
his hand against the mount of the daughter of Zion, the hill of
Jerusalem.
Sennacherib left Gebim but remained at Nob the last
portion of the day. Shaking his
hand against Jerusalem and the people of Zion is all he was allowed to do.
He would proceed no further and would not be allowed to enter Jerusalem.
Isa 10:33
Behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, shall lop the bough
with terror: and the high ones of stature shall be hewn down, and the
haughty shall be humbled.
In verse 18 Sennacherib’s army was compared to that of a
forest where there were big trees and many of them close together.
Here the promise from the LORD was that he would lop, which is cut or
remove the boughs which are the branches of the trees.
He is going to deforest the forest, that is, he is going to destroy the
army of Sennacherib. The high ones
and the haughty are the nobles and the army commanders who thought they were
invincible and will be brought down, humbled and killed along with the other
members of the army. Hewing down a
tree means that it will die and never grow leaves again or live again.
Isa 10:34
And he shall cut down the thickets of the forest with
iron, and Lebanon shall fall by a mighty one.