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Isaiah 10 Commentary

The Powerful Punished

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KEY THOUGHT: Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger  [Isaiah 10:5a NKJV]

Kindly read your Bible before going through the commentary!

Isaiah 10 NKJV
Assyria Shall Be Broken

10 “Woe to those who decree unrighteous decrees,
Who write misfortune,
Which they have prescribed
2 To rob the needy of justice,
And to take what is right from the poor of My people,
That widows may be their prey,
And that they may rob the fatherless.
3 What will you do in the day of punishment,
And in the desolation which will come from afar?
To whom will you flee for help?
And where will you leave your glory?
4 Without Me they shall bow down among the prisoners,
And they shall fall [a]among the slain.”

For all this His anger is not turned away,
But His hand is stretched out still.

Arrogant Assyria Also Judged

5 “Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger
And the staff in whose hand is My indignation.
6 I will send him against an ungodly nation,
And against the people of My wrath
I will give him charge,
To seize the spoil, to take the prey,
And to tread them down like the mire of the streets.
7 Yet he does not mean so,
Nor does his heart think so;
But it is in his heart to destroy,
And cut off not a few nations.
8 For he says,
‘Are not my princes altogether kings?
9 Is not Calno like Carchemish?
Is not Hamath like Arpad?
Is not Samaria like Damascus?
10 As my hand has found the kingdoms of the idols,
Whose carved images excelled those of Jerusalem and Samaria,
11 As I have done to Samaria and her idols,
Shall I not do also to Jerusalem and her idols?’ ”

12 Therefore it shall come to pass, when the Lord has [b]performed all His work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, that He will say, “I will punish the fruit of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his haughty looks.”

13 For he says:

“By the strength of my hand I have done it,
And by my wisdom, for I am prudent;
Also I have removed the boundaries of the people,
And have robbed their treasuries;
So I have put down the inhabitants like a [c]valiant man.
14 My hand has found like a nest the riches of the people,
And as one gathers eggs that are left,
I have gathered all the earth;
And there was no one who moved his wing,
Nor opened his mouth with even a peep.”

15 Shall the ax boast itself against him who chops with it?
Or shall the saw exalt itself against him who saws with it?
As if a rod could wield itself against those who lift it up,
Or as if a staff could lift up, as if it were not wood!
16 Therefore the Lord, the [d]Lord of hosts,
Will send leanness among his fat ones;
And under his glory
He will kindle a burning
Like the burning of a fire.
17 So the Light of Israel will be for a fire,
And his Holy One for a flame;
It will burn and devour
His thorns and his briers in one day.
18 And it will consume the glory of his forest and of his fruitful field,
Both soul and body;
And they will be as when a sick man wastes away.
19 Then the rest of the trees of his forest
Will be so few in number
That a child may write them.

The Returning Remnant of Israel

20 And it shall come to pass in that day
That the remnant of Israel,
And such as have escaped of the house of Jacob,
Will never again depend on him who [e]defeated them,
But will depend on the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, in truth.
21 The remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob,
To the Mighty God.
22 For though your people, O Israel, be as the sand of the sea,
A remnant of them will return;
The destruction decreed shall overflow with righteousness.
23 For the Lord God of hosts
Will make a determined end
In the midst of all the land.

24 Therefore thus says the Lord God of hosts: “O My people, who dwell in Zion, do not be afraid of the Assyrian. He shall strike you with a rod and lift up his staff against you, in the manner of Egypt. 25 For yet a very little while and the indignation will cease, as will My anger in their destruction.” 26 And the Lord of hosts will [f]stir up a scourge for him like the slaughter of Midian at the rock of Oreb; as His rod was on the sea, so will He lift it up in the manner of Egypt.

27 It shall come to pass in that day
That his burden will be taken away from your shoulder,
And his yoke from your neck,
And the yoke will be destroyed because of the anointing oil.

28 He has come to Aiath,
He has passed Migron;
At Michmash he has attended to his equipment.
29 They have gone [g]along the ridge,
They have taken up lodging at Geba.
Ramah is afraid,
Gibeah of Saul has fled.
30 [h]Lift up your voice,
O daughter of Gallim!
Cause it to be heard as far as Laish—
[i]O poor Anathoth!
31 Madmenah has fled,
The inhabitants of Gebim seek refuge.
32 As yet he will remain at Nob that day;
He will shake his fist at the mount of the daughter of Zion,
The hill of Jerusalem.

33 Behold, the Lord,
The Lord of hosts,
Will lop off the bough with terror;
Those of high stature will be hewn down,
And the haughty will be humbled.
34 He will cut down the thickets of the forest with iron,
And Lebanon will fall by the Mighty One.

Footnotes

a. Isaiah 10:4 Lit. under
b. Isaiah 10:12 completed
c. Isaiah 10:13 mighty
d. Isaiah 10:16 So with Bg.; MT, DSS YHWH (the LORD)
e. Isaiah 10:20 Lit. struck
f. Isaiah 10:26 arouse
g. Isaiah 10:29 Or over the pass
h. Isaiah 10:30 Or Cry shrilly
i. Isaiah 10:30 So with MT, Tg., Vg.; LXX, Syr. Listen to her, O Anathoth

New King James Version (NKJV)

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Isaiah 10 Commentary

Isaiah speaks to his own environment and time. The laws are unjust and oppressive. We are looking at the systems designed to disadvantage the poor and rob the fatherless. The LORD God is not happy. A day of disaster comes to the nations.

Then an important question comes: where will you run to? Vanity leaves a man empty. It all comes to nothing. If a man must proceed, among the slain or as a slave of their own self-made ambitions, what difference does it make? Meaningless, empty, and worthless. “Where will you leave your riches?”

The LORD God hates sin; the LORD God is holy. Because of ungodliness, Kalno, Carchemish, Hamath, Apad, Samaria, and Damascus are all brutally scattered. Assyria is the instrument the LORD God uses.

But Assyria is no better. She will also face the same fate. Regardless of where ungodliness is found, the LORD God scatters it. Jerusalem faces the same fate as the other nations.

The Church does well to check herself. She must distinguish herself from the world around her; otherwise, the same judgment falling on the world will fall on her. Isaiah underlines the importance of purity on the part of the church.

What is exactly Assyria’s sin? Pride. For he says: “By the strength of my hand I have done this, and by my wisdom, because I have understanding. I removed the boundaries of nations, I plundered their treasures; like a mighty one I subdued their kings.” Verse 13.

Notice the many occurrences of the words ‘I’ and ‘my’. That is pride – pretty much like the world today. Let not the saint fall under the same judgment.

Internal conflicts, invasions by foreign armies, wasting diseases, and a constant sense of incompleteness; we have seen it all. The nations, including Assyria, have all these adverse conditions because of ungodliness. It is a world without the grace of the LORD on humanity.

However, the mention of the remnant and the promise of deliverance is in line with the LORD’s hand of protection for His own. In the midst of messages of judgment against the nations and the peoples, Isaiah is commanded to repeat the message of hope to the righteous: “It shall be well.”

The scripture talks about nations. But the remnant is a “loose” collection of a few individuals whom the LORD God cleanses. The question of salvation isn’t national, international, or even global. It’s personal. Individuals must answer the call.

Loving Scripture….

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25 thoughts on “Home”

  1. It has been exciting learning how God can make things happen to his choosen one, God workout something wonderful and fulfils the promises he made to the father of Joseph.

    God’s words remains true so are his promises and indeed it has been God working out the salvation of man Kind by Grace through Faith alone.

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  11. Profound. My life needs a new introduction to God. Not that I have been right, but because God desires to help me… I see an amazing Grace here. Having broken the first commandment, still God looks for me and helps me to build up with him… And live for him. A littles knowledge of the Lord will ignite my passion and desire to serve him. This morning I pledge to seek, live and serve the Lord Jesus Christ and His purposes everyday of my life.
    Beautiful lesson

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  12. The Lord reintroduces himself and shows Israel, He is all they need. Some boast in horses and others in chariots but we’ll boast in the Lord. He is able and the only one worthy of our trust. Lord teach me how to always look up to you at all times and not focus on my strength or capabilities. This is my prayer

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  14. This far too common today. Just do something that seems like true worship yet it’s intent and actual practice is not even close to the set standard by the Lord. I personally feel challenged of some things we do in our personal lives, the focus of many churches and ministries today. We’ll need to realize the Lord must be worship as he has personally guided. Provides a good start of my reflection today

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  15. In those days when there was no King everyone did as they pleased. This is a good reminder to us that we are on own when the King of Kings isn’t leading our lives we’ll be doing what is not right and the results will show clearly how life without Christ looks like. We thank God that even when it looks like he’s not there, he’s behind the scenes working. I have learnt to trust in the Lord always.

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  16. Iam seeing this being stressed… There was no King in Israel… So lawlessness is the order of the day. This shows how heartless and wicked man can be with out the right King in his life. He can do anything. May the Lord help us to allow Christ in our lives that every aspect of our lives is changed and we yield ourselves to him alone.

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  17. I’m sure as the two daughters in-law stayed in Naomi’s home they learned about the God of Israel and appreciated His works among his people. Ruth’s determination and what she says moves my heart. She’s convinced she must go with Naomi and wants to spend her life with her, this relationship was strong especially between a mother inlaw and a daughter in-law. Yet Ruth stays and how she puts it shows the depth of her heart, I’ll go with with you, your people will be my people, your God will be my God…

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