ISAIAH CHAPTER 10 1) 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! 3 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. a) This is a continuation of the last chapter "For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand [is] stretched out still." b) It seems the rulers made laws or decrees or statutes that did not conform to the laws of God but oppressed the needy and were to the advantage of those that were in control. It was the "leaders" in verse 16 of the last chapter that led the people to destruction. c) day of visitation: Not grace and mercy but in the visitation of God's anger. "What will you do in the day that your sins are visited upon you." We see "the desolation which shall come from far" connected to day of visitation. It "shall come" shows the absolute certainty of God's absolute control over the events of this world. It was to come from an evil nation, yet God had absolute control over it. It was to come from far, that is the Assyrian which was some distance from Judea. We see the Assyrian mentioned in verse 5 of this chapter. d) to whom will ye flee for help?: They boasted that they would replace the fallen brick with hewn stones, etc. They would "pull themselves up by their own bootstraps," so to speak. But when the next visitation came who would help them? In verse 13 of the last chapter God said, "For the people turneth not unto him that smiteth them, neither do they seek the LORD of hosts." Rezin the king of Syria who they had confederated with was now destroyed and the Syrians had become their enemies and they turned not to Jehovah, so who would they turn to for help? e) Without me: Not meaning without his sovereign hand in the matter, becuase he was bringing the Assyrians against them, but without his help they would be destroyed by them. f) For all this his anger is not turned away: There was more to come from the Assyrian. 5) 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. a) O: Was translated "woe" 36 times, Ah 7, Ho 4, O 3, Alas 2. Woe to him because he was but an instrument in the hands of God and was nothing but a proud man who attributed it all to his own power. b) rod and staff: have much the same meaning and were a shephard's rod and staff. Here it must be the rod of correction. We see that it was against Jerusalem and Mount Zion as well as the ten tribes (vs 12). The rod and the staff that was in the hands of the Assyrians was really God's rod and God's staff of His indignation. c) hypocritical nation: A nation of hypocrites. Religious and pretending to serve the Lord, but their heart was far from it. Isa 29:13 Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near [me] with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men: Mt 15:8 This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with [their] lips; but their heart is far from me. Eze 33:31 And they come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit before thee [as] my people, and they hear thy words, but they will not do them: for with their mouth they shew much love, [but] their heart goeth after their covetousness. d) give him a charge: In His sovereign purpose. Not that the Assyrian had received and was obeying Jehavah's verbal command out of duty in his heart. No his reasons were totally different that God's, yet it was though he had received a charge from God. It was a charge from the secret power of God's providence. Not God's miracelious power but His providential power. e) The Assyrians would treat them as nothing but mire in the streets. 7) 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. a) That is his intentions were not to be the instrument in the hands of Jehovah, for he did not know or worship Jehovah, but the intentions of his heart was to destroy and cut off nations and not just a few but the whole world if he could. b) In Habakkak we see the Chaldean leader impute his power to his god, yet it was Jehovah that brought him against Israel. 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? a) Calno as Carchemish: Gill's notes: For Carchemish was a city belonging to the Assyrians, situated upon the river Euphrates, (2 Chronicles 35:20 Jeremiah 46:2) called by Ammianus Circusium; the Syriac version calls it Barchemosh; and Calno is the same with Calneh in the land of Shinar, a city built by Nimrod, (Genesis 10:10 Amos 6:2) in the Septuagint version it is called Chalane, and it is added, "where the tower was built;" from whence the country, called by Pliny Chalonitis, had its name, the chief city of which was Ctesiphon, thought to be the same with Calneh. b) Hamath as Arpad: Gill's notes: Hamath and Arphad were both cities conquered by the Assyrians; (see 2 Kings 18:34) and are both mentioned along with Damascus, (Jeremiah 49:23). c) Samaria as Damascus: Gill's notes: Damascus was the metropolis of Syria, and was taken by the Assyrians; and Samaria was the metropolis of Ephraim, or the ten tribes; (see Isaiah 7:8,9) and was as easy to be taken as Damascus was. d) whose graven images did excel: He had conquered lands that had much better graven images than Samaria and Jerusalem had and yet their gods could not help them, so how much easier he thought it would be to conquer Jerusalem who had the least of the graven images, yet had them. Even though the images were stronger and mightier than Samaria and Jerusalem yet they could not protect the kingdoms of the idols, so how much less Samaria and Jerusalem. 12) 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. 13 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. a) it shall come to pass: NOT if it come to pass, but it SHALL come to pass. b) when the Lord hath performed his whole work: Not simply when something that was foretold come to pass, but when the Lord hath performed His whole work. Not when part of it was completed or as much as he could get the Assyrian king to do or as much as possibly would work out in accomplishing what he wanted, but when he had done all that he had planned with the Assyrian king in punishing Jerusalem and mount Zion. c) The Assyrain king thought that he had done it by his own power yet it was the sovereign hand of Jehovah that had brought it all about. God sometimes uses wicked people to punish his people and when he has finished using them he then breaks the rod that was used. The Assyrian king was but a rod of correction in the hand of Jehovah God. d) He moved on the people as one gathers eggs from a nest and the mother bird is not there to even peck or beat with her wings or make any noise as birds do when guarding their nests. 15) Shall the axe 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. a) Here we see the Assyrian king compared to an axe that is swung by a man, or a saw that men would pull back and forth to cut wood, or a rod or staff in the hands of a man. In each case the axe, the saw and the rod were being used by the man who had it in his hand. He used it as he saw fit and put it down when he was finished with it and could break it if he so desired. The Assyrian king could not take any more credit for his power than a piece of wood could take credit for the work than a man did by using it in his hands. 16) 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. a) Among the fat ones of the Assyrian king, shall the Lord send leanness and under the glory of the Assyrian king shall he kindle a burning, which shows the destruction that the Lord will bring upon the Assyrian king and his army. 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. a) Jesus Christ is the light of Israel and His Holy one. It was he who smote the Assyrian in one day. The one who was a light to Israel was a fire to the Assyrian king and his army. READ: 2Ki 18:17 - 19:37 b) The Assyrian king's army is compared to a forest because of their numbers, which were destroyed both soul and body in one day, which not only shows their physical destruction but their eternal destruction. c) And the rest of the trees of his forest shall be few: Gill's notes: Those of the Assyrian army that fled with Sennacherib their king; which, the Rabbins say, were no more than ten, as Jarchi and Kimchi observe; yea, some say there were but five left who escaped, and name them, Sennacherib and his two sons, Nebuchadnezzar and Nebuzaradan. d) that a child may write them: There are so few that a child could write them down and number them. 20) 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. a) At one time they did stay upon the Assyrian king and trusted in him for their protection. Compare: 2Ki 16:7 So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglathpileser king of Assyria, saying, I [am] thy servant and thy son: come up, and save me out of the hand of the king of Syria, and out of the hand of the king of Israel, which rise up against me. READ through 20:21 b) a stay: to lean on or trust in. They had trusted in the Assyrian king. (2Ki 16:7) In the last days they will trust in the antichrist. c) A remnant: A remnant returned from the Babylonish captivity. It was a remnant that returned and worshiped Christ their Messiah, and it will be a remnant of the Jews in the last days that will return to Christ again. d) It is God who reserves the remnant. Isa 1:9 Except the LORD of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, [and] we should have been like unto Gomorrah. e) the consumption decreed: Gill: That is, the precise and absolute decree, concerning the salvation of the remnant, God will cause to overflow, or abundantly execute, in a righteous manner, consistent with his divine perfections; and so it makes for the comfort of the remnant of the Lord's people, agreeably to the intent of the apostle's citation of it; though some understand it of God's punitive justice, in consuming and destroying the greater part of the Jewish people, the ungodly among them, and saving a remnant, which return and repent. consumption: kalah {kaw-law'} 1) completion, termination, full end, complete destruction, consumption, annihilation 1a) completion 1a1) completely, altogether (adv) 1b) complete destruction, consumption, annihilation It seems that God will make a full end of the Asyrian and end it in righteousness with the salvation of a remnant. He says in verse 24 for his people not to be afraid of the Assyrian who smote them for his end will be as it was in the days of Egypt when God delivered his people. 23) 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. 25 For yet a very little while, and the indignation shall cease, and mine anger in their destruction. a) consumption: same consumption as mentioned in previous verse. b) in the midst of the land: Gill thinks that this is the preaching of the Gospel by Christ and his disciples in several cities of Judah. It seems that the main focus is on the Assyrian and what he was doing to the Jews. The next verse says "therefore" that is because of this consumption in the midst of all the land be not afraid of the Assyrian. c) he shall smite thee with a rod: That is the assyrian shall smite thee with a rod. But the rod and staff of the Assyrian was Jehovah's indignation as was mentioned back in verse 5- 15. d) after the manner of Egypt: Gill: The sense is, that though the Assyrians should annoy and distress them, yet should not utterly consume them; there would be an end of their oppression, and a deliverance out of it; even as when they were in Egypt, and oppressed there, the Lord appeared for them, and supported them, and at length saved them, and so he would now. Such a deliverance from the antichrist by the Messiah shall be in the end time also. e) For yet a very little while: In a short period of time the indignation of God on the Jews will cease in the destruction of the Assyrian and his army. Similar statement: probably looks to the end times. Isa 26:20 Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast. Ps 27:5 For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock. Isa 54:7 For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee. Isa 54:8 In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the LORD thy Redeemer. Ps 30:5 For his anger [endureth but] a moment; in his favour [is] life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy [cometh] in the morning. 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. a) a scourge for him: That is for the Assyrian shall a scourge be stired up. A scourge is a whip used to whip a horse or for punishment when people were scourged or whip as a form of punishment. This whipping that the Lord is going to bring upon him will be as the slaughter of Midian at the rock of Oreb. b) slaughter of Midian: Gill: : This refers to the destruction of the Midianites in the time of Gideon; and suggests, that the slaughter of the Assyrians should be like that, as it was; for as that was in the night, and very general, and immediately from the hand of the Lord, and was unthought of, and unexpected, and such of their princes that fled were taken and slain, particularly Oreb, at the rock which took its name from him; for not mount Horeb, and the rock there smitten by Moses, are meant, which is written with different letters; see the history of this in (Judges 7:19-25) so it was in the night when the Assyrian army was destroyed, and that wholly; and not by the Israelites, but by the Angel of the Lord; and at once, at an unawares; and though Sennacherib fled and escaped, he was slain by his own sons, in his own city, in the temple of his god, (2 Kings 19:35-37) c) [as] his rod [was] upon the sea: The rod of the Lord in the hand of Moses at the red sea in which a great deliverance was executed by the power of God in their very presence and in the destruction of the Egyptian army by that same rod upon the red sea. What was the deliverance for the Israelites was the destruction for the Egyptians. Christ will deliver His people and destroy His enemies. d) after the manner of Egypt: which shows that the rod upon the sea is looking back to the destruction of the Egyptian army at the red sea. So too in like manner the Asyrian and his army shall be destroyed. 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. a) In the day that the Assyrian is destroyed shall the burden, which probably refers to the tax placed upon Hezekiah by the king of Assyria, (2 Kings 18:14), shall be taken off the Jews. This burden and yoke probably suggests more than just the tax burden, but all that the Assyrian had put on them. Isa 14:25 That I will break the Assyrian in my land, and upon my mountains tread him under foot: then shall his yoke depart from off them, and his burden depart from off their shoulders. b) because of the anointing: That is the Assyrian shall be destroyed for the sake of his anointed or the remnant. Ps 20:6 Now know I that the LORD saveth his anointed; he will hear him from his holy heaven with the saving strength of his right hand. Also Hezekiah was the anointed king and the Asyrian was destroyed for his sake. Also the remnant was saved for Christ's sake. Because Christ had to come from them, therefore the Assrian was destroyed. 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. a) come to Aiath: Gill: In this and the following verses is prophetically described the expedition of Sennacherib to Jerusalem, when he either went from Assyria, or returned from Egypt thither; and the several places are mentioned, through or by which he passed, or near to which he came, the tidings of which greatly distressed the inhabitants of them; and the first that is named is Ajath, thought to be the same with Ai, which was beside Bethaven, and on the east side of Bethel, (Joshua 7:2) and though it was burnt, and made desolate by Joshua, (Joshua 8:28) yet it was afterwards rebuilt, for it was in being in Nehemiah's time; or at least there was a place of this name, which was upon or near the spot where this stood, since it is mentioned with Geba, Michmash, and Bethel, (Nehemiah 11:31) according to the ancient Jewish writers, it lay three miles from Jericho. Jerom calls it Agai, and says that in his time there was scarce any remains of it, only the place was shown. b) he is passed to Migron: Gill: This place, as the former, was in the tribe of Benjamin; mention is made of it, as in the uttermost part of Gibeah, (1 Samuel 14:2). Sennacherib seems not to have stayed either in this, or the former place. c) at Michmash he hath laid up his carriages: Gill: Here was a passage, called the passage of Michmash, where was the garrison of the Philistines; and on each side of it were two rocks, one called Bozez, and the other Seneh; one of which fronted Michmash to the north, and the other Gibeah to the south, (1 Samuel 13:23 14:4,5,31) by Josephus it is called Mechmas, a city; and so it is in the Apocrypha. In Jerom's time it was a very large village, who says it was nine miles from Jerusalem: mention is made of it in the Misna, as famous for the best fine flour; and this the king of Assyria made his magazine, and in it laid up his provisions and warlike stores, from whence he might be supplied upon occasion. The words may be rendered, "he hath laid up his arms"; and Kimchi thinks he left the greatest part of his arms here, and went in haste to Jerusalem, imagining he should have no occasion for them, but should easily take it. d) they have taken up their lodging at Geba: Gill: or "Geba was their lodging"; that is, for a night only; not that they continued here for any time, as our version seems to suggest. This was a city in the tribe of Benjamin, (Joshua 21:17) called Geba of Benjamin, (1 Kings 15:22). e) Ramah is afraid: Gill: the inhabitants of it at the report of the march of the king of Assyria and his army, and their being near to them. Ramah was in the tribe of Benjamin, (Joshua 18:25) it is mentioned with Gibeah in (Hosea 5:8) upon which place Jerom says it was seven miles from Jerusalem; but elsewhere he says it was but six, and was to the north against Bethel. (see Judges 19:13). f) Gibeah of Saul is fled: Gill: That is, the inhabitants of it fled, upon hearing the king of Assyria with his army was coming that way. 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. a) lift up thy voice, o daughter of Gallim: That is in a mournful manner. Gallim, according to Gill was very probably in the tribe of Benjamin. b) unto Laish: Which Gill thinks was in the northern border of Judea, the furthermost part of the land. c) Anathoth, Madmenah and Gebim: other cities in tha land mentioned. Anathoth was in the tribe of Benjamin. Madmenah was the southern part of the tribe of Judah. d) shake his hand: Threatening what he was going to do to Jerusalem. e) verse 33 and 34 describe the destruction brought upon the king of Assyria by the Lord himself.