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Overview

In Isaiah 10, YHWH is asserting Himself as who He is, the God who is sovereign over the nations. YHWH uses Assyria for His glory. YHWH decreed a remnant will return. God speaks and His will is accomplished. Nothing can thwart His will. 

Isaiah 10:1-2

Woe to those who decree iniquitous decrees, and the writers who keep writing oppression, to turn aside the needy from justice and to rob the poor of my people of their right, that widows may be their spoil, and that they may make the fatherless their prey!

This is what I love about God’s word. Every time there seems to be a new observation, a new application. I never realized how many times the English translators did not do a proper job with chapter breaks. I feel like a broken record, but once again, Isaiah 10:1-4 is connected to Isaiah 9. Isaiah is still addressing the apostate Northern kingdom. 

Isaiah 10:5-6

Woe to Assyria, the rod of my anger; the staff in their hands is my fury! Against a godless nation I send him, and against the people of my wrath I command him, to take spoil and seize plunder, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.

You could say in some sense Assyria is the antagonist of the book of Isaiah. Assyria is arrogant. Assyria is wicked. Assyria is a bully. In 722 B.C. Assyria invaded the Northern kingdom, deporting many Israelites. We will learn later on in Isaiah that Assyria almost did the same thing to Judah. It is a crazy story. 

But I want you to notice the phrase “against the people of my wrath I command”. It is YHWH who commands Assyria to act. God’s sovereign hand guides everything. Is Assyria culpable for their actions? Of course. Assyria willingly and passionately wanted to destroy Israel. God’s sovereignty and human volition, walking hand in hand. It is so mysterious. Only a supremely powerful and wise being can pull it off. And He does. This is why we have confidence He will make everything right. His kingdom will reign forever. All other nations will bow at His feet. 

Isaiah 10:20-23

In that day the remnant of Israel and the survivors of the house of Jacob will no more lean on him who struck them, but will lean on the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. A remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God. For though your people Israel be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will return. Destruction is decreed, overflowing with righteousness. For the Lord God of hosts will make a full end, as decreed, in the midst of all the earth.

I have said this multiple times already. Prophecy is slippery. Hard to pin down. No matter what theological camp you subscribe to—this is called a double referent. All scholars agree this refers to the remnant being saved from the imminent destruction threatened by Assyria (i.e. the first referent). It is the second referent where things get murky. Is the second referent, the mass conversion of Jesus before the Second Coming of Christ? Is it referring to the Millennial kingdom? Some would say this is referring to the Church, the future ingathering of both Jews and Gentiles. 

But once again, don’t miss the hope. Don’t miss what God was trying to tell the people of God. Don’t be afraid. Don’t forget my promises to Abraham. A remnant will survive. The seed of Messiah will come through Judah. 

Trust in God, not in man. Life gets overwhelming. The waves are coming in. They keep crashing and crashing. Yet God can calm the sea. He did it before and He can do it again. Ask and you shall receive. But you have to ask with the right heart.