Woe to those who decree iniquitous decrees,
and the writers who keep writing oppression,
2 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!
3 What will you do on the day of punishment,
in the ruin that will come from afar?
To whom will you flee for help,
and where will you leave your wealth?
4 Nothing remains but to crouch among the prisoners
or fall among the slain.
For all this his anger has not turned away,
and his hand is stretched out still.
Judgment on Arrogant Assyria
5 Woe to Assyria, the rod of my anger;
the staff in their hands is my fury!
6 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.
7 But he does not so intend,
and his heart does not so think;
but it is in his heart to destroy,
and to cut off nations not a few;
8 for he says:
“Are not my commanders all kings?
9 Is not Calno like Carchemish?
Is not Hamath like Arpad?
Is not Samaria like Damascus?
10 As my hand has reached to the kingdoms of the idols,
whose carved images were greater than those of Jerusalem and Samaria,
11 shall I not do to Jerusalem and her idols
as I have done to Samaria and her images?”
12 When the Lord has finished all his work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, he will punish the speech of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria and the boastful look in his eyes. 13 For he says:
“By the strength of my hand I have done it,
and by my wisdom, for I have understanding;
I remove the boundaries of peoples,
and plunder their treasures;
like a bull I bring down those who sit on thrones.
14 My hand has found like a nest
the wealth of the peoples;
and as one gathers eggs that have been forsaken,
so I have gathered all the earth;
and there was none that moved a wing
or opened the mouth or chirped.”
15 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!
16 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.
17 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.
18 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.
19 The remnant of the trees of his forest will be so few
that a child can write them down.
The Remnant of Israel Will Return
20 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. 21 A remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God. 22 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. 23 For the Lord God of hosts will make a full end, as decreed, in the midst of all the earth.
24 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. 25 For in a very little while my fury will come to an end, and my anger will be directed to their destruction. 26 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. 27 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.”
28 He has come to Aiath;
he has passed through Migron;
at Michmash he stores his baggage;
29 they have crossed over the pass;
at Geba they lodge for the night;
Ramah trembles;
Gibeah of Saul has fled.
30 Cry aloud, O daughter of Gallim!
Give attention, O Laishah!
O poor Anathoth!
31 Madmenah is in flight;
the inhabitants of Gebim flee for safety.
32 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.
33 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.
34 He will cut down the thickets of the forest with an axe,
and Lebanon will fall by the Majestic One. Isaiah 10 ESV
Isaiah 10
1-4. Woe to those who decree iniquitous decrees - This continues from the last chapter. Israel and Judah have had many wicked rulers; Israel has seen the most, starting with the state religion of Jeroboam. They have hated and or murdered those who God sent to warn them. If God has said a thing, made a law, like thou shalt not kill, or told us that children are a blessing, then those that make decrees against such are going against God. There is the iniquity of the people that will be judged, but their is a greater iniquity in those that would legislate to lead them astray. It happens in government and it happens in the church as well. Do not be deceived, God is not mocked.
3Beloved, although I made every effort to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt it necessary to write and urge you to contend earnestly for the faith entrusted once for all to the saints. 4For certain men have crept in among you unnoticed— ungodly ones who were designated long ago for condemnation. They turn the grace of our God into a license for immorality, and they deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. 5Although you are fully aware of this, I want to remind you that after Jesus had delivered His people out of the land of Egypt, He destroyed those who did not believe.… Jude 1: 3-5
And writers who keep writing oppression - Making stupid laws that hurt or keep people down. It would be like writing a law that closed down small businesses, keeping people from earning a living, forcing them to let go of employees, but allowing big businesses to run. It's hard to imagine something like that happening, and then the same people who won't let others run their business, or let the common folk come to that establishment, imagine those same law makers getting their hair blown and without following the protocols put in place for the rest of the population. I hope we never see anything like that here.
To turn aside the needy from justice - Justice only for the rich or the ruling class. Sorry, you can't afford justice. Imagine leadership that would surround themselves with security but then call out to defund the police who patrol and protect the poorer communities. That would probably make crime go up, and make life even more difficult on those struggling to get by.
That widows may be their spoil - Here the prophet gives a good example. God has spoken against oppression of the fatherless and widows, yet these people use them and take advantage of their misfortune. Give her a stripper pole, send her to the welfare line, tax everyone hard, so when they default you can seize their property for someone who is paying you under the table.
In His teaching Jesus also said, “Watch out for the scribes. They like to walk around in long robes, to receive greetings in the marketplaces, 39and to have the chief seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets. 40They defraud widows of their houses, and for a show make lengthy prayers. These men will receive greater condemnation.”… Mark 12: 38-40
And that they may make the fatherless their prey - Pimps, sex traffickers, men and women who deceive the young to fulfill their greed and perverseness. What kind of country turns on its young, misguides the future, turns them over to the wolves rather then getting rid of the wolves? I would think a just God would have to judge a place like that.
And where will you leave your wealth - Their real concern, what will trouble them most. You can't buy your way out of this, ruin is coming, and there is no one to turn to that can deliver you.
Crouch among the prisoners or fall among the slain - Be taken as a slave, a thing you had no issue with other men being, or die fighting, these are your choices.
5-19. Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger - God will use the godless to judge Israel. This is ultimate sovereignty, like when Joseph's brothers sold him into slavery, but as Joseph, through providence noted, what they intended for evil, God used for good. He calls them a rod, a tool at His disposal, His wrath against a godless nation. Yes, godless, for they acted as their neighbors, as the people who God drove from the land before them. They were engaged in all the same sin, but with less excuse, if there were ever an excuse fitting.
But he does not intend - Though the king of Assyria will be God's instrument of wrath, he is not for God; it is not his intent or heart to do justice. He cares nothing of the honor of God, and everyone who exalts themselves will be brought low.
Whose carved images were greater than those of Jerusalem and Samaria - None of the gods of the other nations were able to save them, and the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob will not save the northern kingdom from the Assyrian invasion, because they have forsaken God. Isaiah is prophesying what will happen, and though Israel will be taken captive, Jerusalem will be spared in the siege.
Shall the axe boast over him who hews with it - The little king thinks he made himself, that he is a great force to be reckoned with, but God will let him know that he is a tool made for that day. Pride is the darkest of all things to come across in ourselves. Once a man sees it as evil he wishes he could go back to being blind, but no, humble thyself in the sight of the Lord. Beg for the strength to fight this grotesque beast. Let no sin sicken me so much as my own. I need a Mediator.
And His Holy One a flame - God is a consuming fire and Jesus is the True Light; if you read the links above you see that part of what Isaiah was saying had a near fulfillment, and the fullness of it for the whole world was yet to be revealed. Christ true followers are to be a light in this darkness, and He will come again to set all things right.
…8He himself was not the Light, but he came to testify about the Light. 9The TRUE Light who gives light to every man was coming into the world. 10He was in the world, and though the world was made through Him, the world did not recognize Him.… John 1: 8-10
Only a remnant of them will return - Though they be dispersed, God will bring His elect back to the land He promised Abraham.
5Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them proceeds the human descent of Christ, who is God over all, forever worthy of praise! Amen. 6 It is not as though God’s word has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. 7Nor because they are Abraham’s descendants are they all his children. On the contrary, “Through Isaac your offspring will be reckoned.”… Romans 9: 5-7
…18Then Balaam lifted up an oracle, saying: “Arise, O Balak, and listen; give ear to me, O son of Zippor. 19God is not a man, that He should lie, or a son of man, that He should change His mind. Does He speak and not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?20I have indeed received a command to bless; He has blessed, and I cannot change it.… Numbers 23: 18-20
if we endure, we will also reign with Him; if we deny Him, He will also deny us; 13if we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself. 14Remind the believers of these things, charging them before God to avoid quarreling over words, which succeeds only in leading the listeners to ruin.… 2 Timothy 2: 12-14
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