# Isaiah 10 đ: Judgment on Assyria's Pride
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> [!info] Table of Contents
> [[#đ Scripture Text (NET)]]
> [[#đ Verse-by-Verse Commentary]]
> [[#đ¤ Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights]]
> [[#đ§ Chapter Summary]]
> [[#âď¸ Christ in This Chapter]]
> [[#đ Key Principles / đ Life Application]]
> [[#đŹ Discussion Questions]]
> [[#âď¸ Key Verses to Remember]]
> [[#đ Related Passages/Cross Reference]]
> [[#đ Devotional Reflection]]
> [[#đ Internal Notes]]
## đ Scripture Text (NET)
(The NET Bible: New English Translation. Biblical Studies Press, 2005)
[[#Verse 01.]] Beware, those who enact unjust policies;
those who are always instituting unfair regulations,
[[#Verse 02.]]Â to keep the poor from getting fair treatment,
and to deprive the oppressed among my people of justice,
so they can steal what widows own,
and loot what belongs to orphans.
[[#Verse 03.]]Â What will you do on judgment day,
when destruction arrives from a distant place?
To whom will you run for help?
Where will you leave your wealth?
[[#Verse 04.]]Â You will have no place to go, except to kneel with the prisoners,
or to fall among those who have been killed.
Despite all this, his anger does not subside,
and his hand is ready to strike again.
### The Lord Turns on Arrogant Assyria
[[#Verse 05.]]Â âBeware, Assyria, the club I use to vent my anger,
a cudgel with which I angrily punish.
[[#Verse 06.]] I sent him against a godless nation,
I ordered him to attack the people with whom I was angry,
to take plunder and to carry away loot,
to trample them down like dirt in the streets.
[[#Verse 07.]]Â But he does not agree with this;
his mind does not reason this way,
for his goal is to destroy,
and to eliminate many nations.
[[#Verse 08.]] Indeed, he says:
âAre not my officials all kings?
[[#Verse 09.]]Â Is not Calneh like Carchemish?
Hamath like Arpad?
Samaria like Damascus?
[[#Verse 10.]]Â I overpowered kingdoms ruled by idols,
whose carved images were more impressive than Jerusalemâs or Samariaâs.
[[#Verse 11.]]Â As I have done to Samaria and its idols,
so I will do to Jerusalem and its idols.â
[[#Verse 12.]] But when the Lord finishes judging Mount Zion and Jerusalem, then he will punish the king of Assyria for what he has proudly planned and for the arrogant attitude he displays.Â
[[#Verse 13.]]Â For he says: âBy my strong hand I have accomplished this,
by my strategy that I devised.
I invaded the territory of nations,
and looted their storehouses.
Like a mighty conqueror, I brought down rulers.
[[#Verse 14.]]Â My hand discovered the wealth of the nations, as if it were in a nest,
as one gathers up abandoned eggs,
I gathered up the whole earth.
There was no wing flapping,
or open mouth chirping.â
[[#Verse 15.]]Â Does an ax exalt itself over the one who wields it,
or a saw magnify itself over the one who cuts with it?
As if a scepter should brandish the one who raises it,
or a staff should lift up what is not made of wood!
[[#Verse 16.]] For this reason the Sovereign Lord of Heavenâs Armies
will make his healthy ones emaciated.
His majestic glory will go up in smoke.
[[#Verse 17.]] The Light of Israel will become a fire,
their Holy One will become a flame;
it will burn and consume the Assyrian kingâs briers
and his thorns in one day.
[[#Verse 18.]]Â The splendor of his forest and his orchard
will be completely destroyed,
as when a sick manâs life ebbs away.
[[#Verse 19.]]Â There will be so few trees left in his forest,
a child will be able to count them.
[[#Verse 20.]] At that time those left in Israel, those who remain of the family of Jacob, will no longer rely on a foreign leader that abuses them. Instead they will truly rely on the Lord, the Holy One of Israel.Â
[[#Verse 21.]]Â A remnant will come back, a remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God.Â
[[#Verse 22.]] For though your people, Israel, are as numerous as the sand on the seashore, only a remnant will come back. Destruction has been decreed; just punishment is about to engulf you.Â
[[#Verse 23.]] The Sovereign Lord of Heavenâs Armies is certainly ready to carry out the decreed destruction throughout the land.
[[#Verse 24.]] So here is what the Sovereign Lord of Heavenâs Armies says: âMy people who live in Zion, do not be afraid of Assyria, even though they beat you with a club and lift their cudgel against you as Egypt did.Â
[[#Verse 25.]] For very soon my fury will subside, and my anger will be directed toward their destruction.âÂ
[[#Verse 26.]] The Lord of Heavenâs Armies is about to beat them with a whip, similar to the way he struck down Midian at the rock of Oreb. He will use his staff against the sea, lifting it up as he did in Egypt.
[[#Verse 27.]]Â At that time
the Lord will remove their burden from your shoulders,
and their yoke from your neck;
the yoke will be taken off because your neck will be too large.
[[#Verse 28.]] They attacked Aiath,
moved through Migron,
depositing their supplies at Micmash.
[[#Verse 29.]]Â They went through the pass,
spent the night at Geba.
Ramah trembled,
Gibeah of Saul ran away.
[[#Verse 30.]]Â Shout out, daughter of Gallim!
Pay attention, Laishah!
Answer her, Anathoth!
[[#Verse 31.]]Â Madmenah flees,
the residents of Gebim have hidden.
[[#Verse 32.]]Â This very day, standing in Nob,
they shake their fist at Daughter Zionâs mountainâ
at the hill of Jerusalem.
[[#Verse 33.]] Look, the Sovereign Lord of Heavenâs Armies
is ready to cut off the branches with terrifying power.
The tallest trees will be cut down,
the loftiest ones will be brought low.
[[#Verse 34.]]Â The thickets of the forest will be chopped down with an ax,
and mighty Lebanon will fall.
## đ Verse-by-Verse Commentary
###### Overall.
###### Verse 01.
###### Verse 02.
###### Verse 03.
###### Verse 04.
###### Verse 05.
###### Verse 06.
###### Verse 07.
###### Verse 08.
###### Verse 09.
###### Verse 10.
###### Verse 11.
###### Verse 12.
###### Verse 13.
###### Verse 14.
###### Verse 15.
###### Verse 16.
###### Verse 17.
###### Verse 18.
###### Verse 19.
###### Verse 20.
###### Verse 21.
###### Verse 22.
###### Verse 23.
###### Verse 24.
###### Verse 25.
###### Verse 26.
###### Verse 27.
###### Verse 28.
###### Verse 29.
###### Verse 30.
###### Verse 31.
###### Verse 32.
###### Verse 33.
###### Verse 34.
## đ¤ Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights
1. Assyria is called the rod of God's anger (10:5). God can use even a pagan empire to accomplish His purposes.
2. The cities in 10:9 (Calno, Carchemish, Hamath, Arpad, Samaria, Damascus) were all conquered by Assyria in the eighth century BC.
3. Isaiah compares Assyria's boasting to an axe bragging against the one who swings it (10:15).
4. Verses 28-32 trace an army's march toward Jerusalem from the north, naming towns like Michmash, Geba, Ramah, Gibeah, Anathoth, and Nob.
5. Nob (10:32) was close enough to Jerusalem that an army there could shake its fist at the city.
6. The phrase a remnant will return (10:21) is the meaning of the name of Isaiah's son Shear-jashub (7:3).
7. Paul quotes 10:22-23 in Romans 9:27-28 to explain how God saves a remnant of Israel.
8. The rock of Oreb (10:26) recalls the Midianite leader killed in Gideon's victory (Judges 7:25).
9. The yoke broken because of fatness or oil (10:27) is a difficult Hebrew phrase, and translators handle it in different ways.
10. Assyria's forest is cut down by the Lord (10:33-34), which sets up the contrast of the shoot from Jesse's stump in 11:1.
## đ§ Chapter Summary
> [!note] đą Still growing. This section is on its way.
## âď¸ Christ in This Chapter
Christ is the Mighty God to whom the remnant returns (10:21). Paul uses 10:22-23 to show that God saves a remnant by grace (Romans 9:27-28), and that remnant gathers around Jesus.
## đ Key Principles / đ Life Application
> [!note] đą Still growing. This section is on its way.
## đŹ Discussion Questions
1. God used Assyria as a tool of judgment, yet Assyria thought its victories were its own doing (10:5-15). How does pride make us forget who gives us strength?
2. Isaiah warns those who make unjust laws and deprive the poor (10:1-2). How should believers care about justice in their communities?
3. God promises that a remnant will return and lean on the Lord (10:20-21). What does it look like to truly lean on God?
## âď¸ Key Verses to Remember
- đ verses 1-2: Woe to those who make unjust laws that rob the poor.
- đ verse 15: Should an axe boast against the one who chops with it?
- đ verses 20-21: A remnant will return and truly rely on the Lord.
## đ Related Passages/Cross Reference
- đ [[Romans 09#Verse 27.|Romans 9:27-28]] - Only a remnant will be saved.
- đ [[Proverbs 16#Verse 18.|Proverbs 16:18]] - Pride goes before destruction.
- đ [[Habakkuk 01#Verse 05.|Habakkuk 1:5-11]] - God raises up a nation as His instrument.
- đ [[James 04#Verse 13.|James 4:13-16]] - Do not boast about tomorrow.
- đ [[Romans 11#Verse 05.|Romans 11:5]] - A remnant chosen by grace.
## đ Devotional Reflection
đ SOAP: [[Isaiah 10 - SOAP|It Wonât Always Be This Way]]
## đ Internal Notes