Isaiah 10:5 - 7, 11:1 - 16

Bruce Thompson

Isaiah • Sermon • Submitted 5 years ago

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So tonight we pick up in Isaiah chapter 10. Now remember we found that 10:1-4 were connected to the prophesy of the “open hand” in chapter where there were 4 section all ending with His “hand is stretched out still”.

Now in 10:5 and following we will see God prophesying against Assyria. Before we read though we must consider some truths about God.

God is on the throne.

God is in control.

God does whatever please Him.

God is perfect in righteousness and wisdom.

That being understood, God uses whomever he chooses. In the case of our passage today He has been using Assyria to exact judgement on various nations.

So lets begin at verse 10:5:

“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?’ ”

In regard to 5 - 7 notice how Assyria is referred to, the rod of My anger and the staff in whose hand is My indignation. Assyria was Gods tool although they thought they were doing whatever they wanted and had no regard for Yahweh.

God has job for them, I will give him charge, which is To seize the spoil, to take the prey, And to tread them down like the mire of the streets.

And the staff in whose hand is My indignation.

Against, an ungodly nation, And against the people of My wrath

And to tread them down like the mire of the streets.

And against the people of My wrath

Who or what nations are God speaking about? Syria, Israel, and Judah.

In verse 7 - we get what Assyria is thinking in their heart. They think they are “badest on the block” , But it is in his heart to destroy, And cut off not a few nations. He, Assyria believes he will be the king of the World.

When He say in Verse 8 For he says,

And cut off not a few nations.

‘Are not my princes altogether kings?

9 Is not Calno like Carchemish?

Is not Hamath like Arpad?

Is not Samaria like Damascus?

Assyria had such an inflated view of themselves that they regarded their princes to be on the level of the kings of other nations.

He is comparing great victories of their history to what they will do to these cities of their time.

In verse 10 & 11 he continues to exalt himself saying in effect the idols of Samaria and Jerusalem cannot stand against him. They Assyrians considered Yahweh to be just another idol when in fact they were working out His will.

Isaiah continues:

12 Therefore it shall come to pass, when the Lord has 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 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.”

So notice that God says, when I am done using this tool, Assyria, saying, when the Lord has performed all His work , “I will punish the fruit of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his haughty looks.”

God has a lot to say about arrogance and haughty looks and none of it is good!

What is arrogance? The definition of arrogance is when a person believes he or she is better than others and knows more than everyone else, or when a person believes he is capable of something he really isn't.

The Bible describes God's opinion of haughty looks: A haughty look, a proud heart, and the plowing of the wicked are sin. () The one who has a haughty look and a proud heart, him I will not endure. () For You will save the humble people, but will bring down haughty looks. ()

Verse 13 is the definition in action. For he says:

By the strength of my hand I have done it,

“By the strength of my hand I have done it,

And by my wisdom, for I am prudent;

Be careful to not pat yourself on the back, Paul said it like this:

For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.

Verse 14 is the imagery of a predator taking eggs from a nest, he says I take whatever I want and “ And there was no one who moved his wing, Nor opened his mouth with even a peep.”

Nor opened his mouth with even a peep.”

Isaiah continues with God’s indictment of His tool, Assyia:

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!

In golf we say its not arrow, but the Indian. Like that song the touch of the masters hand. But our secular world sees Gods creation, the oceans, the mountains, and the heavens and concludes it must have made itself.

He continues:

Therefore the Lord, the 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.

In verse 17, who is the Light of Israel? Jesus said I am the light of the world!

When He says It will burn and devour

His thorns and his briers in one day. Remember one angel to out 185,000 Assyrians in one night.

Now Isaiah gives a word of hope, 20 - 23:

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 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.

So ultimately, Assyria would overthrow Israel and later Babylon would overtake everyone, but a remnant would return.

There is always a Godly remnant but it is always a smaller number by comparison to the original. How many survived the flood? 8. How many came back from the Babylonian captivity? about 50,000.

Verses 24 - 34

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 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.

Here note the term “the Assyrian” it is used as another name for the Antichrist. So here we see a near and far fulfillment, the far being the time of Jacobs trouble, Great Tribulation.

the slaughter of Midian at the rock of Oreb; Refers to Gideon in Judges 7:25.

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.

What a relief to the Jewish people to know that this heavy burden of the yoke of bondage on their shoulders and neck.

Jesus said, Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

Some say the anointing oil, in verse 27, could be translated as the Anointed One. It would make sense.

Now in verse 28 - 32 we get a foretelling of how the Assyrians will march into Judah. It’s a troop progression from North to South on their way to Jerusalem.

28 He has come to Aiath,

He has passed Migron;

At Michmash he has attended to his equipment.

29 They have gone along the ridge,

They have taken up lodging at Geba.

Ramah is afraid,

Gibeah of Saul has fled.

30 Lift up your voice,

O daughter of Gallim!

Cause it to be heard as far as Laish—

O poor Anathoth![fn]

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.

The listing of cities flows from the north to the south, describing the course of the Assyrian invasion. Ai-ath is 30 miles from Jerusalem, with each successive city a little closer until Nob is right on the outskirts of Jerusalem. This is as far as the army of the Assyrians came against Judah. They were stopped here when the LORD killed 185,000 Assyrian soldiers in one night.

Next, Isaiah prophesies against the proud of Judah in verses 33, 34:

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.

The imagery is of what? A thick forest with tall trees. What is He going to do with this forest? Cut it down, humble it. This is important because the image is continued in Chapter 11:1

There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots.

So here we see Judah a humbled nation, cut down, no longer tall and proud. From that we get the image of a barren stump, nearly dead with a green branch growing out. Now remember we looked at the indigenous trees of Israel, the Terebinth and the Oak, that have a propensity to stay alive when cut down and come back to life.

This verse is of course another Messianic prophesy and is talking about a family tree. The word here stem is a stump called the family of Jesse.

Jesse is important why? He is the father of David. Notice a Branch shall grow out of his roots. The word for Branch here is netser in Hebrew and is a play on the words. A netser is also Nazarene.

calls Jesus “the root of David And He who shall rise to reign over the Gentiles, In Him the Gentiles shall hope.”

netser

And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, “He shall be called a Nazarene.”

Referring to . and the pun on Netzer.

But one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals.”

Now we see something very interesting about Jesus. This verse solves a mystery in Rev 1:4

The Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon Him, The Spirit of wisdom and understanding, The Spirit of counsel and might, The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD.

John, to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne,

This is an OT idiom for the Holy Spirit. Seven being the number of completeness.

Picture of the Menorah in the taberacle. Vine and branches, One center vines with three pairs of branches. 7 in total.

He continues to talk about the Messiah:

His delight is in the fear of the LORD,

And He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes,

Nor decide by the hearing of His ears;

Remember But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the LORD does not see as man sees;for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”

For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. 13 And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.

In ..and His eyes like a flame of fire;

Here now we get a glimpse into life in the Millennium. I can hardly wait.

4 But with righteousness He shall judge the poor,

And decide with equity for the meek of the earth;

He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth,

And with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked.

5 Righteousness shall be the belt of His loins,

And faithfulness the belt of His waist.

How we long for the day that Christ will reign in righteousness and equity.

He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth - reminds us of Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.