The Extended Hand of Wrath

The Extended Hand of Wrath ()

(Temple 01/13/2019) The prophecies of the coming Messiah are followed by prophecies of the going nation of Israel. As surely as God will give His Son one day for the sins of the world, He will give over the kingdom of Israel to their enemies for their sins. In this chapter we see the mercy of God to send a Messiah, a Savior; but we also see the wrath of God to send judgment on an unrepentant nation.

I call this passage “The Extended Hand of Wrath.” The title comes right out of image in these verses of God’s outstretched hand. His mighty hand can unite. It can divide. And it can be restrained to allow the consequences of wickedness to run their full courses.

The Hand Unites Forces (9:8-12)

The Lord sent a word into Jacob, and it hath lighted upon Israel. 9And all the people shall know, Even Ephraim and the inhabitant of Samaria, that say in the pride and stoutness of heart, 10The bricks are fallen down, but we will build with hewn stones: The sycamores are cut down, but we will change them into cedars.

11Therefore the Lord shall set up the adversaries of Rezin against him, And join his enemies together; 12The Syrians before, and the Philistines behind; And they shall devour Israel with open mouth. For all this his anger is not turned away, But his hand is stretched out still.

In defiance to her enemies, Israel (Ephraim and Samaria) determined that whatever they brought down, they would rebuild it bigger and better than ever! If the brick house was leveled, a stone house would replace it. If the sycamores were cut down, then the larger and grander cedars would replace them.

While the sycamore tree of this passage produces fruit like fig trees, it grows much larger than the shrub-like fig trees of the area. One Bible Encyclopedia says this about this tree:

The sycamore fig of the Bible is a strong-growing, robust, wide-spreading tree growing 30 to 40 feet tall [and sometimes attaining a trunk circumference of 20 or more feet with a crown 120 feet in diameter.] It is a tree which is easily climbed and is frequently planted along road-sides, which accounts for the reference in . It produces an abundant amount of fruit in clusters on all parts of the tree, on both young and old branches and even on the trunk itself. It is very similar to the common fig, only smaller and much inferior in quality. In David’s day it was so valuable that he appointed a special overseer for the sycamore trees ().

The tree is evergreen, unlike the common fig, and produces fruit several times a year. It is essentially a lowland tree and will not survive the unfavorable weather of mountainous regions ().

It is thought that Amos was not a gatherer of sycamore fruit but rather a dresser of sycamore trees. It was customary for growers of the sycamore fig to pare or scrape off a part of the center of the fruit or to make a puncture with the fingernail or sharp pointed instrument three or four days before gathering when the fruit was about an inch long. Unless this is done the fruit will secrete a quantity of watery juice and will not ripen.[1]

The cedar mentioned in this passage refers to a tree much larger and more majestic than cedars around here. I think of redwoods in California when I read their description from the Baker Encyclopedia:

With few exceptions the references to “cedar” are to the well-known cedar of Lebanon, Cedrus libani. This is a noble tree, the tallest and most massive with which the Israelites were acquainted. It grows quite rapidly, attaining a height of up to 120 feet with a trunk diameter of as much as 8 feet. In Solomon’s day these trees were obviously abundant on the mountains of Lebanon, but now because of excessive lumbering and the grazing of goats, they are very rare. The cedar of Lebanon was held in high esteem not only for its vigor, beauty, and age but also for the fragrance and remarkable lasting qualities of the wood. It was employed to symbolize grandeur, might, majesty, dignity, lofty stature, and wide expansion. References in , and 31:3–18 beautifully illustrate how these lofty kings of the forest were used by the prophet to symbolize and typify worldly strength, power, and glory.[2]

Thirty to forty feet tall sycamore versus 120 feet tall cedar. It would be like our replacing crepe myrtle trees with oak trees. Can you see the defiance of Israel against not only their enemies, but also against the hand of God as He has prophesied their destruction?

Israel’s defiance toward enemies was directed at the Lord God. If He chastised them, they would be even more defiant of His authority. Israel knew that the stretched-out hand of God was bringing these enemies against them. Instead of repenting and seeking the merciful heart of the Lord, they became even more resistant to His correction.

The hand of the Lord would unite the enemies of Israel to destroy utterly the nation and scatter its inhabitants throughout the other nations. Their hearts were beyond resistant to God to openly defiant of God. Don’t we see a similar attitude of some people in America today? Some groups of heathens who previously resisted God are now openly defiant of Him. If you can imagine such wickedness taking over a nation completely, you can see why God in His righteousness destroyed the nation of Israel utterly.

The Hand Divides the Foolish (9:13-17)

Not only would the hand of the Lord in His wrath unite enemies against Israel, He would divide the nation internally.

For the people turneth not unto him that smiteth them, neither do they seek the Lord of hosts. 14Therefore the Lord will cut off from Israel head and tail, branch and rush, in one day. 15The ancient and honorable, he is the head; And the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail. 16For the leaders of this people cause them to err; And they that are led of them are destroyed. 17Therefore the Lord shall have no joy in their young men, neither shall have mercy on their fatherless and widows: For everyone is an hypocrite and an evildoer, And every mouth speaketh folly. For all this his anger is not turned away, But his hand is stretched out still.

This description of the deceptive leaders of Israel reminds me of the serpent in the garden. His crafty wickedness led Adam and Eve to defy God. Likewise, the leaders of the northern kingdom led the people to defy God. They had become a people proudly hostile to the Lord.

By His outstretched hand the Lord would cut off the head and the tail of that wicked serpent. He would break up or break down their leadership. He would strip away their power and have them fighting one another for power. He would not have mercy on their leadership.

Nor would He have mercy on the people who were deceived. Why would He show no mercy? Because the people supported those wicked lying leaders! They were just as corrupt as their leadership. Liars living in a false reality love to be lied to. Everyone is a hypocrite and godless as verse 17 says, and they support godless leadership that profanes the Law and Name of the Lord.

Verse 17 also says that their mouths speak folly. The ultimate folly is to say there is no God. The Book of Proverbs also points out the folly of worldliness, of pride, of self-centeredness. The strange folly of Israel was to think that the same God who built them up as a nation could not just as easily demolish them.

Don’t we see this same worldly culture around us today? Leaders openly utter profanities in defiance of any morality. Public figures spew obscenities and supporters cheer! Entertainment purposely adds profanities to get a rating that adults will consider edgy. But it’s not just the entertainment industry’s fault. They are rewarded at the box office and music stores and in higher television ratings for their godlessness. In addition, they glorify themselves with awards to positively reinforce their wickedness.

The hand unites. The hand divides. Third, the hand abstains.

The Hand Allows Fires of Wickedness (9:18-21)

The hand of the Lord may also permit the consequences of sin and wickedness to consume a people.

For wickedness burneth as the fire: It shall devour the briers and thorns, And shall kindle in the thickets of the forest, And they shall mount up like the lifting up of smoke. 19Through the wrath of the Lord of hosts is the land darkened, And the people shall be as the fuel of the fire: No man shall spare his brother. 20And he shall snatch on the right hand, and be hungry; And he shall eat on the left hand, and they shall not be satisfied: They shall eat every man the flesh of his own arm: 21Manasseh, Ephraim; and Ephraim, Manasseh: And they together shall be against Judah. For all this his anger is not turned away, But his hand is stretched out still.

As children, we are taught to not play with matches or we will get burned. God teaches us not to play with sin lest we burn ourselves with its consequences. Wickedness was like a raging fire in Israel. The inferno of iniquity would consume them. The Lord in His wrath allowed the smoke of sin smut to darken the land. The people had no regard for one another. They degenerated into beasts that consumed each other in their sin.

The outstretched hand of wrath didn’t start the fire of wickedness. His hand didn’t fan the flames. But His hand stayed and allowed the wages of sin to be paid. He allowed Israel’s self-destruction.

The people were hypocrites religiously and socially. They had no regard for one another. They didn’t care about their neighbor (brother). is an easy transition to a New Testament description of the depravity of Israel.

Another point I must make about this passage is that Isaiah is not in the northern kingdom preaching to them. He is preaching to Judah. The extended hand of wrath is stretched out over Judah, also.

The Lord can unite otherwise enemies in a common purpose. The Lord can cause division among people to humble them and to separate the wheat from the chaff. The Lord in His wrath can lift His hand and allow godlessness to rage life a wildfire through a land. shows us what happens when the Lord gives people over to their sin. They self-destruct.

This passage reminds us that the Lord can work in more ways than we can imagine. Therefore, the sinner cannot win against God because sin cannot win against God. The Lord shall go forth as a mighty man, He shall stir up jealousy like a man of war: He shall cry, yea, roar; He shall prevail against his enemies. The Lord will prevail!

[1] Walter A. Elwell and Barry J. Beitzel, “Plants,” Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1988), 1724.

[2] Walter A. Elwell and Barry J. Beitzel, “Plants,” Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1988), 1708.