Tyndale Open Study NotesIsaiah 10

These prophecies occurred when Assyria rose to power. Syria and Israel formed an alliance against Judah (Isaiah 7:1–2; see 2 Kings 16:5). God used Assyria as a tool to punish Syria, Israel, and Judah (Isaiah 7–10).

This prophecy was spoken against the leaders of Judah. They used their positions of authority for personal gain.

Instead of serving the people, they made themselves rich. They did this at the people’s expense. God spoke this message to confront their injustice and wrongdoing.

Woe: This introduces a threat of divine judgment.

• Isaiah asked several questions, but he did not expect an answer. The implied answer was clear. When God punished Judah, there would be no one to help them.

• Disaster first came from the distant land of Assyria. Later, it came from Babylon. These nations became the instruments of God’s judgment.

Isaiah 9:8–10:4 shows that the Lord’s moral law is supreme. This means God’s standards of right and wrong stand above every nation and ruler. The next section explains what this truth means:

1. Assyria was only a tool in God’s hands. Because of this, Assyria was also responsible to God. Like every other nation, it would face judgment for its sin (Isaiah 10:5–19, 28–34).

2. Those among God’s people who trusted in him and obeyed his covenant would be rescued (Isaiah 10:20–27).

3. God would establish his kingdom on earth (Isaiah 11).

God announced judgment on Assyria for several reasons:

• They destroyed other nations without mercy (Isaiah 10:7).

• They spoke with pride and dishonored God. They boasted about their own power (Isaiah 10:12).

• They oppressed other peoples and took what did not belong to them (Isaiah 10:13–14).

• They believed they were acting on their own. They did not recognize that God was using them (Isaiah 10:15).

The Assyrians were God’s instrument in judging Syria, Israel, and Judah. The prophet describes them as a rod and a club. These are tools used to strike or discipline someone.

God used Assyria to punish these nations. However, Assyria acted with pride and cruelty. Because of their own wickedness, they would not escape judgment.

• Judah had a special calling as God’s covenant people. A covenant is a binding agreement between God and his people. However, Judah turned away from the Lord and became a godless nation.

  Because of this, they became the object of God’s anger (Isaiah 10:4). God’s judgment came not because he broke his covenant, but because they did.

• The word plunder translates two Hebrew words, shalal and baz. Both words mean to take goods by force after victory in battle.

  These words recall the name Maher-shalal-hash-baz (see Isaiah 5:19; 8:1, 3, 5–10).

The Assyrians did not understand that they were carrying out God’s purpose. God used them to punish Israel and Judah.

However, the Assyrians acted on their own desires. They killed and looted other nations with cruelty. They did more than God intended.

Because of their pride and violence, God would hold them guilty. They would also face his judgment.

By 717 BC, Assyria controlled the regions north of Judah. These areas had fallen one by one.

Calno was a city in northern Syria. It is called Calneh in Amos 6:2. The Assyrian king Tiglath-pileser III captured it in 738 BC.

Carchemish stood on the Euphrates River. King Sargon II captured it in 717 BC.

Hamath was located on the Orontes River. Assyria brought it under control in 738 BC and again in 720 BC.

Arpad was a city south of Calno. Damascus and Samaria were the capital cities of Syria and Israel. Assyria captured Damascus in 732 BC and Samaria in 722 BC (Isaiah 7:8; 8:4).

whose images surpassed those of Jerusalem and Samaria: Assyria would make this argument while threatening Jerusalem (Isaiah 36:19–20; 37:12).

Assyria destroyed Samaria in 722 BC. This happened during the reigns of Shalmaneser V and Sargon II (2 Kings 17:3–6).

Samaria and Judah both worshiped the same God. Because Assyria had already defeated Samaria, the king of Assyria believed he could also defeat Judah.

Any royal power that exalts itself against the Lord is proud and arrogant. The Lord is the Great King over all rulers.

When kings lift themselves up against him, they set themselves in opposition to God. Such pride will not last.

God will humble and crush every ruler who stands against him (see Isaiah 2:11–12).

By the strength of my hand … and by my wisdom (compare Isaiah 10:5): Only God is all-powerful and wise. He plans the future and decides which nations will rise to power and which will be defeated.

axe … saw … rod … staff: These tools are only as effective as the person using them. Assyria thought it was independent of God's influence. However, their victories were possible only with his permission and to fulfill his purposes (Isaiah 10:5).

This prophecy was fulfilled in 701 BC. In that year, 185,000 Assyrian soldiers died.

They were struck down by a plague and by flaming fire. This event marked a sudden and dramatic defeat for Assyria (see Isaiah 37:36).

In the middle of Assyrian oppression, there was still hope for the remnant. This passage explains more clearly the meaning of the name Shear-jashub. The name means “a remnant will return” (Isaiah 10:21; see 7:3; 8:18).

The promise showed that God would not destroy all his people. Some would return to him and live under his care.

the survivors: This refers to a small group who remained alive. This group is called a remnant. A remnant is a small number of people who survive after great destruction.

A remnant from Jerusalem barely survived. However, their safety was secure because God had promised to preserve them (see Isaiah 1:8–9; 4:2; 6:13; 37:31–32).

These wars taught the remnant an important lesson. They were not to depend on powerful nations such as Assyria for help.

Instead, they were to trust faithfully in the Lord alone (see Isaiah 8:13; 17:7).

• God had promised Abraham that his descendants would be as numerous as the sand on the seashore (Genesis 22:17).

• Destruction has been decreed, overflowing with righteousness: God's decision was right and just. It was a response to the people’s continued and stubborn wickedness. God’s judgment did not cancel his promise. He remained faithful, even while he punished sin.

God promised his people that he would be with them and had a plan for them.

as the Egyptians did: See Exodus 1:8–2:25.

He struck Midian: See Judges 7:25.

Israel’s captivity ended in 539 BC. At that time, many of the people returned from exile. This return is sometimes described as a new exodus because God brought them out of a foreign land again.

Assyria has entered Aiath: Isaiah 10:29–32 describes the march of the Assyrian army in poetic language. The cities are listed in order from the north toward Jerusalem.

The army moves closer and closer to the city. When they reach Jerusalem, they are forced to stop and retreat.

God was with Jerusalem. Because of this, Assyria would not succeed. In time, Assyria itself would be destroyed.

This passage may refer to Sennacherib’s invasion in 701 BC (see Isaiah 36–37). However, it could also describe an earlier or later invasion.