Notes on Isaiah 10
(Isa 10:1 KJV) Woe unto them
that decree unrighteous decrees, and that write grievousness which they have prescribed;
2 To turn aside the needy from judgment, and to take away the right
from the poor of my people, that widows may be their prey, and that they may rob the
fatherless!
This was a warning to lawmakers and judges who would decree
unrighteous laws that robbed and oppressed the poor, the widows and the orphans. This
shows us how our God does see how the poor any nation is treated. He brings judgment to
nations who do these things.
(Isa 10:3 KJV) And what will ye do in the day of visitation, and
in the desolation which shall come from far? to whom will ye flee for help? and where will
ye leave your glory?
4 Without me they shall bow down under the prisoners, and they shall fall under
the slain. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.
4 Without me they shall bow down under the prisoners, and they
shall fall under the slain. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is
stretched out still. 4 Without me they shall bow down
under the prisoners, and they shall fall under the slain. For all this his anger is not
turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.
When other nations come to conquer weaker nations, unless those
weaker nations have the power and presence of the Lord among them, they have no defense
against the stronger nations. It says here that without Him (the Lord) they will have no
defense against their enemies. In reality God doesn't have to send judgment, all He has to
do is withdraw His presence. Without His protecting hand, anything can happen. Sin and
disobedience to His word causes Him to withdraw His presence thereby leaving any group of
people open to whatever comes. Repentance and seeking the face of God brings God back into
our lives and into our nation. Israel and Judah had the word preached to them and they
were without excuse. This would apply also to the nations today that have had the Word of
God in their midst and rejected it for fables, theories and oppositions of science. We
have been so quick to believe the theories of men who claim to have knowledge. We have
been so quick to publish unproven claims and teach them as facts to our children.
(Isa 10:5 KJV) O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in
their hand is mine indignation.
6 I will send him against an hypocritical nation, and against the
people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and
to tread them down like the mire of the streets.
God uses the Assyrian to punish the nations of Judah and Israel.
The Assyrian is the one who oppressed them in the land of Egypt. In
the book of Exodus that a king rose to the throne who knew not Joseph. This was when
Assyria came into Egypt and put a king on their throne. I would guess then that the
Israelites in Egypt must have fallen away from the Lord and followed after the ways of
Egypt instead. They ended up in bondage and slavery. Yet God delivered them by the hand of
Moses. Later the Assyrian came against the northern tribe of Israel as Isaiah prophesied.
They tried to conquer Judah but the Lord stopped them. They were overstepping the will of
God in that matter.
This will have a latter day fulfillment when the Assyrian or
anti-christ rises to power to try destroy Israel in the latter day tribulation period.
Even though God allows this because of the nations refusing Him and
rejecting the gospel, He will bring the Assyrian to judgment for getting exalted in
himself and going beyond what God has allowed him to do.
Assyria was defeated then and will also be defeated in latter day
fulfillment.
(Isa 10:7 KJV) Howbeit he meaneth not so, neither doth his heart
think so; but it is in his heart to destroy and cut off nations not a few.
8 For he saith, Are not my princes altogether kings?
9 Is not Calno as Carchemish? is not Hamath as Arpad? is not Samaria
as Damascus?
10 As my hand hath found the kingdoms of the idols, and whose graven
images did excel them of Jerusalem and of Samaria:
11 Shall I not, as I have done unto Samaria and her idols, so do to
Jerusalem and her idols?
As God sent judgment to the Northern Kingdom of Israel, He will
also judge the southern kingdom of Judah for the same sins that Israel was guilty of.
Idolatry is the sin mentioned here.
Idolatry leads to all the other sins. When we reject God and love
other things it leads to covetousness, selfishness, pride, immorality, murder, deceit,
oppression of the poor, cheating, lying, and all other things that destroy society.
Without God in our midst the power of evil will prevail. That evil eventually destroys its
victims. We may think that we are free to do anything we want but in reality we are in
bondage and captivity to sin which will destroy us.
(Isa 10:12 KJV) 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.
After the Lord uses the Assyrian to punish Judah, He then turns on
the Assyrian and destroys him. No nation no matter how strong should be exalted. They can
do nothing unless our God allows it.
(Isa 10:13 KJV) 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:
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.
The Assyrian exalted himself as the anti-christ will do in latter
days. He boasted in himself that it was by his own power and might that other weaker
nations were conquered.
(Isa 10:15 KJV) Shall the ax 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.
This verse in one we all should remember. We can't boast. Who is
greater, the ax or the one using the ax. This shows that Assyria was only a tool. He was
nothing unless the Lord allowed him to be.
(Isa 10:16 KJV) 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.
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;
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.
19 And the rest of the trees of his forest shall be few, that a child
may write them.
The Assyrian will be so destroyed that a child would be able to
count the remaining army. Both the soul and body of the Assyrian shall perish.
(Isa 10:20 KJV) 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.
21 The remnant shall return, even the remnant of Jacob, unto the
mighty God.
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.
What is left of Israel after the scourge of the anti-christ will
return to God with repentance. They will no longer trust in other nations but will only
trust in God.
(Isa 10:23 KJV) For the Lord GOD of hosts shall make a
consumption, even determined, in the midst of all the land.
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.
God is comforting the people that they should not fear the
Assyrian. He is allowed to punish and bring destruction but he will come to an end.
(Isa 10:25 KJV) For yet a very little while, and the indignation
shall cease, and mine anger in their destruction.
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.
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.
28 He is come to Aiath, he is passed to Migron; at Michmash he hath
laid up his carriages:
29 They are gone over the passage: they have taken up their lodging
at Geba; Ramah is afraid; Gibeah of Saul is fled.
30 Lift up thy voice, O daughter of Gallim: cause it to be heard unto
Laish, O poor Anathoth.
31 Madmenah is removed; the inhabitants of Gebim gather themselves to
flee.
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.
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.
34 And he shall cut down the thickets of the forest with iron, and
Lebanon shall fall by a mighty one.
The anti-christ attempts to take over Jerusalem also. The power
of the anti-christ or the Assyrian is broken at the return of Jesus Christ, the Messiah.
The anointing spoken of here is none other than the Messiah and deliverer. All the enemies
of righteousness will be destroyed.
There are verses in Zechariah 12 which predict these things also:
10 And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the
inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look
upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only
son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.
11 In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the
mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon.
12 And the land shall mourn, every family apart; the family of the
house of David apart, and their wives apart; the family of the house of Nathan apart, and
their wives apart;
13 The family of the house of Levi apart, and their wives apart; the
family of Shimei apart, and their wives apart;
14 All the families that remain, every family apart, and their wives
apart.
13:1 In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of
David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness.
2 And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD of hosts,
that I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they shall no more be
remembered: and also I will cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to pass out of the
land.
This shows where Israel recognizes their true Messiah in the
latter days. They see His the one that their ancestors caused to be crucified. Perhaps
Jesus will still have the nail prints of His pierced hands and feet. They will see and
understand that the one they rejected, the stone which the builders rejected, has become
the chief cornerstone. This will be a great day of repenting and turning to the true and
living God. Jesus Christ then sets up His kingdom.
We don't have to wait until the 2nd Coming of Jesus Christ to receive
the kingdom in our hearts. We can receive Jesus Christ here and now. When we repent of sin
and turn to Jesus for salvation, He comes into our lives. We become born again by the
Spirit of God. We become a new creature in Christ Jesus. Old thing are then passed away
and all things will become new. This will happen one day literally at the return of Jesus
but it can happen in our lives now.
Isaiah 11