Shall the axe boast over him who hews with it, or the saw magnify itself against him who wields it? As if a rod should wield him who lifts it, or as if a staff should lift him who is not wood! Therefore the Lord God of hosts will send wasting sickness among his stout warriors, and under his glory a burning will be kindled,like the burning of fire. The light of Israel will become a fire, and his Holy One a flame, and it will burn and devour his thorns and briers in one day. The glory of his forest and of his fruitful land the Lord will destroy, both soul and body, and it will be as when a sick man wastes away. The remnant of the trees of his forest will be so few that a child can write them down.
Isaiah 10:15-19
We have “Therefore the Lord God of hosts” to stress the sovereignty of God in all these events that simply look like men fighting. In all the confusion and fear we still have God as sovereign in all the affairs of men. We may not understand and if we had been in Israel then we would have mourned these events but God wants us to understand that the King of Assyria really wasn't ultimately in charge. God says that he will use fire destroying from outside and disease destroying from inside to judge the tool of judgement. The ax, the saw, the rod, and the staff may boast and glory but God will destroy them from within and without.
God's covenant with Abraham and David would still be honored. God had the atoning sacrifice coming in the person of Christ from this people. He was going to use an ax that was ugly and, after using it, it was going to be judged and scorched and diseased. The Assyrian ax would be so ruined that a child could do a census of their warriors after God was done with them. The glory doesn't go to the ax, or saw, or rod but rather the glory goes to the one in whom all wisdom and knowledge are found. God was doing an eternal work and correcting a people but saving a remnant that would return and rebuild the temple. Those who returned with Nehemiah were a different people than these who were going to fall before the Assyrians.
And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was above all the people, and as he opened it all the people stood. And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God, and all the people answered, “Amen, Amen,” lifting up their hands. And they bowed their heads and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground. Also Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, the Levites, helped the people to understand the Law, while the people remained in their places. They read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly, and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading.
And Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, “This day is holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn or weep.” For all the people wept as they heard the words of the Law. Then he said to them, “Go your way. Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”
Nehemiah 8:5-10
This remnant was created by the fire that Israel and Judah walked through. They were the silver after the dross was burned away. There is a challenge here for each of us to hear what Scripture says to us and to bow before God and accept His correction early. To hear what Scripture says with all our attention and hearts is a product of the Holy Spirit. We know the source of what we need and to neglect that source in our lives is foolish … and I'll say that first of all to me. Scripture is worthy of our best effort and is worthy of all our intellect is able to bring to the table. The best of us can never exhaust the depth of what God has placed in Scripture for us.
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.
Isaiah 10:20-23
Isaiah here is looking forward to the time of the remnant. Here, God draws the contrast of Israel trying to lean on their enemies by creating a political alliance but then eventually learning again to lean on God in truth. They actually tried to lean on someone who had been an enemy for a century rather than turn to God. The word “survivors” shows the danger of judgment in abandoning God for a political solution and literally means “those who escaped”. The remnant will return to “the mighty God” and with this name we have this verse tied back to Isaiah 9:6. The link is both to Shear-Jashub in the remnant will return and to Christ in “the mighty God”. The destruction is a coming to an end or a falling away and it will be overflowing in righteousness. In fact, the overflowing mercy shown in keeping the remnant will be just as overflowing as the judgment. So the events are not according to the interacting desires of leadership or by random chance but by the decree of our omnipotent God perfect in righteousness and mercy. He takes pleasure in righteous judgment but takes no pleasure in the destruction of either
Therefore thus says the Lord God of hosts: “O my people, who dwell in Zion, be not afraid of the Assyrians when they strike with the rod and lift up their staff against you as the Egyptians did. For in a very little while my fury will come to an end, and my anger will be directed to their destruction. And the Lord of hosts will wield against them a whip, as when he struck Midian at the rock of Oreb. And his staff will be over the sea, and he will lift it as he did in Egypt. And in that day his burden will depart from your shoulder, and his yoke from your neck; and the yoke will be broken because of the fat.”
Isaiah 10:24-27
The focus shifts here to Zion or Judah. These people of God have a promise of protection and a limit to the destruction that will come from the Assyrians.
God will keep the Assyrians from overwhelming Jerusalem in spite of their faithless king. Eventually, God will destroy the power of the Assyrians. If God could save slaves from the Egyptians then He can save from the Assyrians. The whip stretched out at Oreb and killed a Midianite Prince who ran from battle to save his life. The whip also stretched out against the Assyrians.
“Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the king of Assyria: He shall not come into this city or shoot an arrow there, or come before it with a shield or cast up a siege mound against it. By the way that he came, by the same he shall return, and he shall not come into this city, declares the Lord. For I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake and for the sake of my servant David.”
And that night the angel of the Lord went out and struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians. And when people arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies. Then Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and went home and lived at Nineveh. And as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, Adrammelech and Sharezer, his sons, struck him down with the sword and escaped into the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son reigned in his place.
2 Kings 19:32-37
Sennacherib was found by the whip as well. He left and was far from Jerusalem but he was not too far from God. Hezekiah was king when this happened and Isaiah was there with him. Sennacherib's assassination came 20 years after his defeat at Jerusalem.
He has come to Aiath; he has passed through Migron; at Michmash he stores his baggage; they have crossed over the pass; at Geba they lodge for the night; Ramah trembles; Gibeah of Saul has fled. Cry aloud, O daughter of Gallim! Give attention, O Laishah! O Poor Anathoth! Madmenah is in flight; the inhabitants of Gebim flee for safety. This very day he will halt at Nob; he will shake his fist at the mount of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem. Behold, the Lord God of hosts will lop the boughs with terrifying power; the great in height will be hewn down, and the lofty will be brought low. He will cut down the thickets of the forest with an axe, and Lebanon will fall by the Majestic One.
Isaiah 10:28-34
This list of locations gives the path of invasion until Nob. The city of Nob is close (maybe a mile) to Jerusalem but God will set the limit because of His covenant (for my own sake, and for the sake of my servant David). Note the change from the statements about the ax in reference to Assyria and then here in which God Himself will lop, hew, bring low, and cut down the Assyrians. As we see in the book of 2 Kings this is no idle threat.
I think Isaiah is convincing me that God loves poetry and literature if I didn't think so before hand. Between the end of Chapter 10 and the beginning of Chapter 11 we see a contrast of stumps. Chapter 10 ends with stumps made by God from the Assyrians. And then we begin Chapter 11 with stumps again.
There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. And 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 the fear of the Lord. And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear, but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist, and faithfulness the belt of his loins.
Isaiah 11:1-5
Here Isaiah begins a series of prophecies that focus on Christ. We are seeing Isaiah 9:6 rephrased in a sense. Using Jesse's name rather than his son David stresses that this promise is not for just another king in David's line. This will be a fulfillment of prophecy and promise but not just another king. The picture of the stump is off a felled tree and I imagine an olive tree because they will sprout from the root and from a stump that looks dead.
We have a seven fold elaboration of the Holy Spirit. First in personification as the Spirit of the Lord. Then as the wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, knowledge, and the fear of the Lord. Wisdom and understanding would be good to think of as the reservoir or general character in wisdom and carefully directed flow or specific application in understanding. It seems prudence would be a good term for understanding here since prudence deals with the correct and timely application of wisdom and knowledge. Counsel and might are more focused on military strategy and strength. So the branch will have the ability to develop a well thought out plan of action and the strength to carry it out. The last two characteristics are the “knowing” of relationship with God and the appropriate fear that forms the basis of all knowing and knowledge. Knowledge here is truth understood and applied to life. The fear of God lays the groundwork of that knowledge base. The knowledge leads to a life of reverence. All the best characteristics of David without the sin from the Root of Jesse.
Then we see inside the Root of Jesse and find that His delight will be in the fear of God. The lifestyle of truth generated by this great honoring of God will be something that the Root of Jesse will find a pleasing aroma. The delight has a root meaning of aromatic. Responding to God the Father in a way that is appropriate to His limitless power and perfect holiness will be His great pleasure.
Guided by the Holy Spirit, He will not judge just by sight and hearing but His judgment will be right. It will be righteous and equitable because it will be informed by the Holy Spirit. The rod of His mouth and breath of His lips are His judgment that destroys the wicked.
His cloths reflect His heart. The belt shows readiness for action in righteousness and faithfulness. The belt shows a life characterized by righteousness in all ways to God's commands and faithful to keep the course set for Him.
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