Isaiah 10:20-34 Real Reliance
3/25/01e D. Marion Clark
Introduction
It is hard to figure out punishment, at least when you are on the other side of it. We’ve all been punished and usually we thought at the time that it wasn’t quite fair. Sure, we may have admitted that we should have been punished, but it never seemed to quite fit the crime. After all, we never meant to do wrong, at least to be really bad. Of course, the more trouble we got into, the more unjust the punishment seemed. It sure seemed like we were being picked out more than our fellow law breakers; it seemed like our parents or teachers or whatever authority worked us over more than others and looked for us to do wrong.
Israel, both Israel and Judah, certainly wondered if God has chosen them among all the nations for punishment rather than blessing. Both kingdoms had it rough with the neighbors and the prophets certainly were not encouraging. It seemed that they could do little right. If they stood up against the powers of the day, they got whipped; if they tried to form alliances with those powers, the prophets would pronounce doom on them. Just what did God want from them and what was he doing?
Our passage helps sort these questions through.
In the previous passage, God turned his attention finally to Assyria. He had raised Assyria to power to be his instrument for punishment for Israel and Judah. Assyria, puffed up with pride, had other plans, which included world domination. God’s warning is, Once I am through with the judgment of Israel and Judah, I will deal with you.
In this passage Isaiah helps to put the whole subject of judgment, especially for God’s people, into perspective.
20 In that day the remnant of Israel,
the survivors of the house of Jacob,
will no longer rely on him
who struck them down
but will truly rely on the LORD,
the Holy One of Israel.
21 A remnant will return, a remnant of Jacob
will return to the Mighty God.
22 Though your people, O Israel, be like the sand by the sea,
only a remnant will return.
Destruction has been decreed,
overwhelming and righteous.
23 The Lord, the LORD Almighty, will carry out
the destruction decreed upon the whole land.
The judgment of Israel (both kingdoms) is a judgment that preserves and purifies. It is a judgment that ultimately brings atonement.
In that day refers to the judgment that will be directed towards Assyria, who also represents all of Israel’s oppressors including Babylon still to come. In that day of judgment against Israel’s enemies, God’s people will be delivered and come to truly rely on Yahweh, the Holy One of Israel.
This refusal to trust God has been a sore spot in the relationship between God and Israel. He delivers his people from Egypt, forms them into a nation, carries them through the wilderness, gives them victory over the settled nations in the Promised Land, gives them great judges and kings, sends them mighty prophets, and still they turn to idolatry, to alliances with pagan countries, and to trusting their own abilities and power for protection and success. Judah, through Ahaz, even looked to Assyria for protection and embraced that countries idols and religious practices.
So, out of the judgment will come a holy remnant who will rely on God and remain faithful to him (21). Verse 22 is hard to follow. Is Isaiah saying that though the number people of Israel used to be like the sand, there will now only be a few remaining? Is he encouraging Israel saying, But her people will be like the sand again when the remnant return?
It could be both ideas are correct. Only a small remnant will survive the judgment, but that remnant will grow to be like the sand.
Destruction, i.e. the judgment will come and it will be thorough (22b,23), but it will be a righteous judgment – righteous in that the punishment will justly fit the crime and righteous in that a righteous people will be the result. This supposed is the intent of punishment – to bring about repentance and change in the offender; God’s judgment will bring such results.
Verses 24-27 then give assurance to Israel that the judgment will not be total and that the instruments of his punishment will themselves will receive an even greater punishment.
24 Therefore, this is what the Lord, the LORD Almighty, says:
“O my people who live in Zion,
do not be afraid of the Assyrians,
who beat you with a rod
and lift up a club against you, as Egypt did.
25 Very soon my anger against you will end
and my wrath will be directed to their destruction.”
26 The LORD Almighty will lash them with a whip,
as when he struck down Midian at the rock of Oreb;
and he will raise his staff over the waters,
as he did in Egypt.
27 In that day their burden will be lifted from your shoulders,
their yoke from your neck;
the yoke will be broken
because you have grown so fat.
Regarding that last line, the interpretation is unclear. The KJ reads “because of the anointing.” There is debate over the Hebrew word, whether is related more to fatty substance or to oil. It could mean that the yoke place on Israel will eventually break because she is so fat, i.e. too great. Perhaps the anointing refers to the one who is anointed with oil who will deliver Israel. Whatever the case, she will break free of her bondage.
Verse 28-32 present a dramatic scene of the Assyrian army traveling down to attack Jerusalem. It moves through Aiath, then Migron, down to Gibeah until it reaches Nob, just a mile outside Jerusalem where it is poised to attack the capital city.
28 They enter Aiath;
they pass through Migron;
they store supplies at Micmash.
29 They go over the pass, and say,
“We will camp overnight at Geba.”
Ramah trembles;
Gibeah of Saul flees.
30 Cry out, O Daughter of Gallim!
Listen, O Laishah!
Poor Anathoth!
31 Madmenah is in flight;
the people of Gebim take cover.
32 This day they will halt at Nob;
they will shake their fist
at the mount of the Daughter of Zion,
at the hill of Jerusalem.
But there will be not attack. Instead, the might of the Assyrian army will be attacked by the Lord.
33 See, the Lord, the LORD Almighty,
will lop off the boughs with great power.
The lofty trees will be felled,
the tall ones will be brought low.
34 He will cut down the forest thickets with an ax;
Lebanon will fall before the Mighty One.
Lesson
The lesson for Israel is that God is the one in control of judgment just as he is in control of deliverance. If she is punished, it is the punishment of the Lord; if she is saved, it comes by the hand of the Lord. And both judgment and deliverance serve the same purpose – to glorify God through righteousness.
The judgment is a righteous judgment. The deliverance is a deliverance into righteousness.
What we see here is an illustration of the judgment-redemptive act of Christ on behalf his people. Of course, we know that Israel was never fully purged of sin through its judgment, just as the remnant did not fully turn to the Lord in righteousness. That full work was to take place through the Messiah, of whom the next chapter will speak of.
Here is the full problem. God’s people are still at heart sinful and still deserving the just judgment of God. If God is to be just, he must carry out the judgment that their sins call for. The problem there is that the judgment must be total, for death, full destruction, is what is required. How then can there be a remnant? How can God show mercy while at the same time acting with justice?
21 But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25 God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— 26 he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus (Romans 3:21-26).
