Isaiah 7–10

Open your Bibles to the seventh chapter of Isaiah, and we are going to get started with prayer. So, pray with me. Heavenly Father, we thank You so much for the opportunity to gather this evening. We know, Lord, that there are many people who are tuning in from other parts of the world. For some it is morning. For some it is late, late night, for some it is the middle of the afternoon. Whatever the time of day, Lord, we thank You that You are Lord of all, and that Your Holy Spirit is moving in the hearts of Your people in such a way as to make Your Word alive. And Lord, we thank You that when we get into the Scripture, it feeds and nourishes us in ways that we have come to expect and truly need. So, as we go through some chapters here tonight in the book of Isaiah, we pray for insight and understanding, Lord, that only You can bring. We believe, Lord, that as we read the words, it is truly the work of the Spirit that enlivens our hearts to be able to hear, understand, to perceive the message of the Spirit, and then to apply that word to our lives. Father, give us the strength that we need today. We are living in difficult times. And yet, Lord, You are on the throne, and You are able to keep us and protect us according to the purpose of Your will. And we ask that You would do it. And we pray it in the name of Jesus Christ, our Savior, amen. Amen. Isaiah, Chapter 7. Now I want to say as we are getting into this, in fact, Isaiah chapters 7 through 12– and we certainly won't get that far tonight– but these have been called by some “The Book of Immanuel,” just this section of the chapters of Isaiah. And the reason, of course, is because there are so many incredible and very clear prophecies that are given here in these chapters of Isaiah concerning Messiah. And I want to also point out this: while we see some absolutely amazing prophecies related to Messiah, we also see prophecies concerning people and events that were going on at the time of Isaiah, at the time of his writing, which, by the way, was about 700 years before the birth of Christ. So, we are going to see this as we get into these chapters. Chapter 7 begins with a common form of dating that was used to give us the relative date or time when the prophecy is given. And it begins in verse 1 by saying, “In the days of Ahaz…” and that helps us to understand a little bit about the time frame, because he is talking about King Ahaz, king of Judah. Now, you will remember back in Isaiah, Chapter 1, Isaiah listed the kings of Judah who were on the throne during his prophetic ministry. Let me put that verse up for you on the screen so that you can see it once again. It says:

“The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem, (and again, this is for the Southern Kingdom of Judah. And then he lists those kings. He says,) in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.” So, if we take the names of the kings and put them in kind of a bullet list, this is what we get. We see their names here: Kings of Judah during Isaiah’s prophetic ministry ● Uzziah ● Jotham ● Ahaz ● Hezekiah So, as Isaiah is writing these words, we are still in the reign of Ahaz, but I need you to know that Ahaz did not reign all that long. He only reigned in Jerusalem for a period of sixteen years. But in the twelfth year of his reign– in other words, getting close to the end of his reign– a man by the name of Hoshea came on the throne of Israel. And after he had been on the throne of Israel for nine years, Hoshea was captured by the Assyrian army, and his kingdom, the Northern Kingdom of Israel, was conquered by the Assyrian army. And that all happened during the reign of Hezekiah. I will show you this on the screen: ---

Kings of Judah during Isaiah’s prophetic ministry ● Uzziah ● Jotham ● Ahaz ● Hezekiah –During the reign of this king, the northern kingdom of Israel fell to the Assyrian empire You will see here that it is Hezekiah who was actually on the throne when Israel fell to the Assyrian Empire. In fact, if I'm not mistaken, I believe Hezekiah had only been on the throne for six years in Judah when Israel fell. Now I'm going to stop for just a moment because some of you are confused. I get letters from time to time, and people get confused when I talk about Judah and Israel. Remember that the Kingdom of Israel split into two kingdoms. The Northern Kingdom retained the name Israel. Its capital city was Samaria. The Southern Kingdom, named after the largest tribe of that region, was called Judah. Its capital was Jerusalem. So, you have a divided kingdom with different kings. You have the kings of Israel; you have the kings of Judah. And the Northern Kingdom of Israel fell first to the Assyrian Empire. And that is what we are going to be talking a lot about tonight. Even though Isaiah's prophecies are geared toward the Southern Kingdom of Judah, he is going to be talking a lot about the fall of the Northern Kingdom because it was to be a warning to the Kingdom of Judah to understand why Israel fell, why Israel was given over to their enemies. God was using it as a warning to the people of Judah so that they would return to the Lord with all of their hearts, and so that they would not suffer the same fate. So, let's keep reading now. It says, again in (chapter 7) verse 1,

What do we have going on here? We have a two-nation federation of Syria and the Northern Kingdom of Israel coming together and saying let's conquer Judah. Let's put our armies together and we will march against Ahaz, and we will conquer the Southern Kingdom of Judah. So, verse 2 says that, “2When the house of David (and that is a reference to the king of Judah, and that is at this time Ahaz. When the house of David) was told, ‘Syria is in league with Ephraim,’ (now, I want you to notice, Israel is here called Ephraim because Israel goes by several different names. It says, when Ahaz heard that Syria had joined up with Israel or Ephraim) the heart of Ahaz and the heart of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake before the wind (that is, of course, another way of saying they became extremely fearful).” And remember, Ahaz was an ungodly king. So, he is not the kind of guy who is going to likely put his trust in the Lord. “3And the Lord said to Isaiah, ‘Go out to meet Ahaz, you and Shear-jashub your son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool on the highway to the Washer's Field.’” So, God is sending Isaiah along with his son to go meet the king and to give him a message. And he is going to give him a very gracious message, a very merciful message. And he is going to tell him don't worry about these guys. They are not going to be able to do what they are planning to do. But before we get into that message, I want you to take note of the name of Isaiah's son in this passage, because it is significant. His name is Shear-jashub, and his name actually means, “a remnant shall return.” And you are going to hear that played out prophetically when we get to Chapter 10. So, I want you to keep that in mind. In fact, if you have your study Bible in front of you, you might just put a little note there by the name of (Israel or) Isaiah's son (rather) and just put Chapter 10 right next to it, because that is a note to remember that. Verse 4 goes on. This is the message now to Ahaz, who is quaking with fear. It says, ‘

” You almost wonder why God is doing such an incredibly merciful thing to Ahaz, who is an ungodly king. But to go to him through Isaiah and say these guys who have come up against you, don't be afraid of them because whatever they have planned, it isn't going to come to pass. The reason God is doing this is because it is not yet time for Judah to be conquered. God has more time in store for Judah to repent of their sin. So, he says, it is not going to come to pass. You don't need to worry about it.

--- God tells Ahaz that this attack will not be effective, saying in verse 8: “For the head (and this in a sense means the capital, if you will) of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin (and that is the king. And look what he says here, because this is predictive prophecy). And within sixty-five years Ephraim will be shattered from being a people. 9And the head (or capital, if you will) of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah. If you are not firm in faith, you will not be firm at all.” Let's pause here for a minute, and let's see what the Lord is actually saying here to Ahaz. First, you will notice that God tells the king through Isaiah that they will not be attacked by this two-nation confederacy, if you will, of Syria and Israel. Secondly, God tells Ahaz that within 65 years, Israel, whom he refers to there as Ephraim, will be a shattered people, or, if you will, too shattered to be a people. And then lastly, he tells Ahaz that he needs to stand by faith. In other words, he needs to believe the message that Isaiah is bringing. Now, concerning this time period, this is very interesting. God says to Ahaz, within 65 years, Israel will be too shattered even to be a people. Here is the interesting thing about that. If you have done any kind of research into the timing of the fall of Israel, the fall of Israel is going to happen long before 65 years is up. In fact, it is going to happen in probably, roughly, maybe twelve to fourteen years. Don't quote me on that date, but it is going to happen in a fairly short period of time from the time this word is given. But when 65 years from this prophecy comes to pass, Assyria will have finished its final deportations of other nations that it conquered, bringing them into Israel, patriating them into the land so that it will be such a culturally mixed people that Israel would be, if you will, shattered beyond recognition as a people. Now see, this all goes in historically into the New Testament. Remember, the Northern Kingdom is called Israel. Its capital city was Samaria. Now, what do you know about Samaria when you get to the New Testament? Samaria is an entire area, entire region. And you remember the Jews hated the Samaritans, the people from the area of Samaria. Why? Because they were part-Jew, but they had also intermixed with the people that the Assyrians had deported to live also in Israel. By the way, that is how the Syrians conquered peoples and kept them conquered. They would conquer a nation, deport them, and set them up to live in another nation that was not their own. ---

And that would be a way of keeping those people off-balance, keeping them in a place of servitude and fear. So, although there were a few people left in Israel, there were also people deported from other nations that Assyria had conquered, brought into the Northern Kingdom of Israel. They intermarried with some of the few Jews that were still living there, and they became known as the Samaritans of the New Testament. And again, the Jews living in the southern area –which is then called Judea after the Greek name for that region, that kingdom– the Jews living in Judea wouldn't even set foot in Samaria. They would walk around because they felt that it would defile them. The Samaritans were despised by the Jews because they were intermixed with all these other cultures. And Isaiah prophesies here that within 65 years, after all these deportations and repatriations of the land are finished by the Assyrians, that the people of Israel will be too shattered to even be a people. Now, the last thing that you will notice that God says to Ahaz at the second part of verse 9, it is a very personal message for Ahaz, and He says, if you are not firm in your faith, you will not be firm at all. So, God is challenging Ahaz here to believe the Word of the Lord, to accept it and to stand on the promise that these nations will not come against the Southern Kingdom of Judah, and so forth. But he said, you must be firm in your faith. Now, God has a second challenge for the king of Judah here in verse 10; he says:

So, this is interesting. God is inviting Ahaz to ask for a sign in order that he might be given an assurance of the validity of the word that has been given to him through Isaiah. And you will notice that Ahaz declines the sign and what sounds like an excuse of godliness. But we know that Ahaz was not a godly man, and it could be that he was just not wanting it to be given as a sure sign so that he could trust somebody else with his issues other than the Lord. But God uses this in a powerful way. Look at verse 13:

deserted. 17The LORD will bring upon you and upon your people and upon your father's house such days as have not come since the day that Ephraim departed from Judah (in other words, since the time of the split of the kingdom and)-- the king of Assyria!” So, he is telling him that the king of Assyria is also going to come ultimately to Judah, although that is going to happen during the reign of Hezekiah. And we will talk more about that when we get there. So, what is this sign that God is giving to Ahaz here from the Lord? This is another example of something that we have seen so many times through the Scriptures, both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament. It is called “the law of double reference.” Do you remember my talking about that in other studies? The law of double reference is a rule of prophecy that is applied specifically when dealing with certain prophecies, where there is a short-term fulfillment to that prophecy and then a long-term and often greater fulfillment of that prophecy. And so we have this prophecy that is given to Ahaz, and in the short term, Ahaz is told that a young woman who was a virgin– and that word can also be translated maiden– but there is a young woman who was a virgin apparently at the time when this prophecy was given, would soon after be married, and then she would bear a son and would call him Immanuel. And of course, the name Immanuel means “God with us.” And according to this prophecy of Isaiah, before this child who would be born to this woman, knew and understood the difference between right and wrong, the Syrian-Israeli alliance would be broken, and their nations would be deserted. And when Ahaz was to see these things come to pass, he would know that God had spoken through Isaiah. What is interesting is Ahaz wasn't around to actually see the fulfillment. But the long-term fulfillment of this prophecy speaks in the far-distant future, in fact, 700 years in the future. And the virgin spoken of here is Mary, and “God with us” or Immanuel is how we would come to understand and know about the child to whom she would give birth. And we know that this is a long-term fulfillment by a statement given to us in Matthew's Gospel account. Look here from Matthew, Chapter 1, beginning at verse 22. It says:

You know, I have had people write me and tell me that couldn't possibly be a prophecy about Jesus because they never named him Immanuel. They named him Jesus. What the prophet is saying here is that we will refer to him as “God with us.” That is what he is saying. He is saying that this fulfillment of the virgin birth will be God with us. And that is what we call him. We call him God. And He came to live among us. As John says He became flesh. He took on flesh and dwelt among us. That is Immanuel. And that is what we refer to Jesus as. Now Isaiah, beginning here in verse 18 and following, begins to speak prophetically of the coming of the Egyptians and the Assyrians to discipline and humble the Southern Kingdom of Judah. Now, I want you to remember while the Assyrians did a lot to hurt the Southern Kingdom of Judah, ultimately they never did conquer it. That was going to be left to the Babylonian Empire much later, but they did harass and hurt Judah. And God prophesies some of that discipline right here. But again, it is always discipline to get their attention so they will repent. Verse 18: “In that day the LORD will whistle for the fly that is at the end of the streams of Egypt (talking about Egypt), and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria. 19And they will all come and settle in the steep ravines, and in the clefts of the rocks, and on all the thornbushes, and on all the pastures (in other words, these armies will come, and they will settle in the land). “20In that day the Lord will shave with a razor that is hired beyond the River – with the king of Assyria– the head and the hair of the feet, and it will sweep away the beard also.” And do you remember that this shaving of the beard of a man was considered to be an act of great shame and humiliation. Do you remember when David sent some men as an envoy to go and speak to a nearby king concerning the death of the king's father? (2 Samuel 10) And David sent this group of men to go say, King David is sorry for the loss of your father. This foreign king was convinced by his advisors that these men had come to spy out the land. And so he decided to humiliate them by cutting off half of their beards. And then he sent them back to their homeland. That was an act of humiliation. And God is saying that He is going to use Assyria to humiliate Judah, again, to get their attention. That's the point, right?

--- It says in verse 21:

(In other words, the Assyrians are going to come in, and they are going to ruin their crops).

And so again, the Assyrians are going to come, and God is going to allow the Assyrians to come and discipline Judah for their unfaithfulness. And He is going to allow them to ruin the crops and the fields of the Jews living in the Southern Kingdom of Judah in order to get their attention. Chapter 8 begins with another prophecy related to giving the timing of when the Assyrian Empire is going to be overrunning both Syria and the Northern Kingdom of Israel. It says:

’ And by the way, that means, “The spoil speeds; the prey hastens.” In other words, the spoil refers to the result of the impending Assyrian invasion. We just read about it in the last chapter, how the Assyrians are going to spoil their fields. And the prey hastens or moves at a rapid speed. So, he says in verse 2,

In other words, the Lord is going to give the same message to these other men to further witness this coming of the Assyrians to spoil the land. Verse 3, and this is Isaiah now speaking:

And so before this child is able to say mommy and daddy, he says, –and that happens pretty quickly in a child's life, within the first two years of a child's life– he said that Syria and Israel will have all of their wealth carried away by the Assyrian Empire. ---

Verse 5: “The LORD spoke to me again: ‘6Because this people has refused the waters of Shiloah that flow gently (and by the way, this people now we are talking about Jerusalem. Now we're talking about the Southern Kingdom of Judah. Because the people have refused the waters of Shiloah that flow gently), and rejoice over Rezin and the son of Remaliah, 7therefore, behold, the Lord is bringing up against them the waters of the River, mighty and many, the king of Assyria and all his glory. And it will rise over all its channels and go over all its banks, 8and it will sweep on into Judah, it will overflow and pass on, reaching even to the neck, and its outspread wings will fill the breadth of your land, O Immanuel.’” The waters of Shiloah refer to a river that feeds, or a water source that feeds, Jerusalem, which in the New Testament is called Siloam. But here it represents the presence of God, the water of God that comes to refresh the people. He says, because the people rejected God's presence and sought help and comfort from other sources, God tells them through Isaiah that Assyria is going to come, is going to sweep away Israel, and it is going to flow into Judah. He says, some of that water is going to flow over into Judah. In fact, he says, it is going to be up to your neck. Now, he doesn't say it is going to overflow you to the point where you are going to be drowned, but he says it is going to come up to your neck. And that is a pretty frightful thing, to have water up to your neck. But God is prophesying to Judah to warn them about this coming attack of the Assyrians. And so here is what he says to the people: “9Be broken, you peoples, and be shattered; (that may sound like he is being cruel but let me explain here as we read on. He says,) give ear, all you far countries; strap on your armor and be shattered; strap on your armor and be shattered. 10Take counsel together, but it will come to nothing; speak a word, but it will not stand, for God is with us. “11For the LORD spoke thus to me with his strong hand upon me, and warned me not to walk in the way of this people, saying: (and this is a good word for today, too) ‘12Do not call conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy. And do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread. 13But the LORD of hosts, him you shall honor as holy. Let Him be your fear, and let him be your dread. 14And He will become a sanctuary and a stone of offense and a rock of stumbling to both houses of Israel, a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 15And many shall stumble on it. They shall fall and be broken; they shall be snared and taken.’” The Lord is giving an interesting prophecy here, saying that, first of all, don't fear what these people fear. Don't call conspiracy what they call a conspiracy but fear the Lord. Trust in Him. And for those who trust in Him, He will be a sanctuary. But for those who refuse to trust, He will be a stone of offense and a rock of stumbling. Now in verse 16 and following Isaiah writes saying, “Bind up the testimony, seal the teaching among my disciples…” Isaiah realizes by this time, the king is not listening. So, he goes to his own disciples and he says, we are going to take this; we're going to bind it up. We're going to seal this teaching. We're going to keep it among those who care. And he says, as far as I'm concerned, verse 17, “I will wait for the Lord, (he says) who is hiding his face (right now) from the house of Jacob, and I will hope in him. 18Behold, I and the children whom the Lord has given me are signs and portents in Israel from the LORD of hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion.” And now Isaiah speaks to his disciples here in verse 19; look what he says: “And when they say to you, ‘Inquire of the mediums and the necromancers who chirp and mutter,’ should not a people inquire of their God? Should they inquire of the dead on behalf of the living? 20To the teaching and to the testimony! If they will not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn. (In other words, the light has not dawned upon them. Their hearts have not been enlightened. He says,) 21They will pass through the land. greatly distressed and hungry. And when they are hungry, they will be enraged and will speak contemptuously against their king and their God, and turn their faces upward. 22And they will look to the earth, but behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish. And they will be thrust into thick darkness.” So, Isaiah is giving a prophecy now to his disciples. And he is telling them, first of all, when they come to you, when the people come to you and they say, give us a word, we need to hear a word and they tell you to inquire of the mediums and to go to those who speak to the dead, he says don't even listen to them, because then he asked this question, “Should not a people inquire of their God?” Of course, it is a rhetorical question. Of course, people should inquire of their God. Why are they talking to the dead-on behalf of the living? And so he says there at the end of that chapter, they are just going to pass through the land distressed. And the more distressed they get, the more angry they are going to become. And they are going to shake their fist at God. And they are going to turn to try to find things in the earth to sustain them. And all they are going to find is gloom and darkness and anguish. Chapter 9. Now, the first part of Chapter 9 includes an incredible section which foretells the coming of the ministry and the character of Messiah. Look at these

--- first few verses: “1But there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali (And of course, that was in that area, that northern area), but in the latter time he has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of (the Gentiles or) the nations (if you will). “2The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone.” This is a beautiful prophetic passage about the coming ministry of Jesus. Let me show you where Matthew shows us the fulfillment, from Matthew, Chapter 4. It says:

So do you see that Isaiah had just at the latter part of the last chapter predicted a great distress and darkness upon the land? But now he says, but there will be a light that will dawn upon the darkness of the land. And of course, he is referring to the coming of Messiah. Verse 3: “You have multiplied the nation; you have increased its joy; they rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest, as they are glad when they divide the spoil (Notice that Isaiah is prophesying a time of great joy). 4For the yoke of his burden, and the staff for his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, you have broken as on the day of Midian (speaking of when Midian was defeated by Gideon and his army). 5For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult and every garment rolled in blood will be burned as fuel for the fire.” And that speaks of an end of war. And what's the reason? What's the reason for all this rejoicing and gladness? Look at verse 6, one of the most amazing prophecies in the Bible: “6For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over His kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness, from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.” ---

Wow! What an amazing prophecy we are given here in Isaiah, Chapter 9. But I want you to notice the precise wording of the prophecy. Notice he begins by saying, “6A child is born.” And that speaks of the humanity of Jesus. This is all about Jesus. A child is born. But he doesn't stop and just say a child is born. He also says, “A son is given.” Given from whom? By God. He is going to be the son of God. This speaks of the deity of Jesus Christ, Son of Man, Son of God. And then regarding this son, notice what it says about him. “The government shall be upon his shoulder.” Now, this is already moving us into the Millennial Kingdom when he sits upon the throne of David and rules the world for that 1000-year period. It says that his name shall be called “Wonderful Counselor.” People, we are told in the Scriptures, will stream to Israel to hear him speak. He will be called Wonderful Counselor. But he will also be called “Mighty God.” And if that doesn't prove the deity of Messiah, nothing does. He will be called Mighty God. He will also be called “Everlasting Father.” Now, don't be confused by that. It doesn't mean that the Son is the Father. Everlasting Father is literally a way of saying, Father of Everlasting, or, if you will, the Father of Eternity. In the Scripture, when someone is said to be the father of something, they are the originator of that thing. Satan is called “the father of lies”

He originated lies. God, or in this case, Jesus is being referred to here, is the father of eternity and therefore he is referred to that way, but he is also called “Prince of Peace.” I love that. Prince of Peace. We are also told, “7Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end.” So His reign will not come to an end. It says that He will reign “on the throne of David and over his kingdom,” establishing and upholding that kingdom, and it will be established and upheld “with justice and with righteousness.” And then finally –look at– this is very important. It says, “The zeal of the Lord” will accomplish this. In other words, this is not going to be a work of men. Do you remember during the ministry of Jesus there were many times when Jesus deduced that the people who were listening to Him were so impressed by His miracles and His words that they were going to take Him by force and make him king? And Jesus would discern that, and He would go off into the hills or somewhere in a solitary area to thwart their passion to make Him king by force. Why? Because His kingship will not be a work of men. The zeal of the Lord will accomplish it. It will be a work of God.

Now in verses 8 through the following, Isaiah is going to turn again to speak a word of prophecy over the Northern Kingdom of Israel. And again, Isaiah was not a prophet to Israel, the Northern Kingdom. He speaks these things so that Judah might hear and understand what is going on, and that God is judging Israel so that they might hearken to that judgment and repent of their own sin. It says:

In other words, they recognize the destruction around them, but in their own pride and instead of turning to the Lord, they say, we will rebuild. We're going to trust in ourselves. We are going to pick ourselves up by our bootstraps and be self-made men, and so forth. You know, the old, “I did it my way” sort of refrain. Little did they know that it was God who had caused the bricks to fall and the sycamores to be cut down. And so they would not be successful in rebuilding. And that is what it goes on to say.

In other words, God put hardships in their path. They didn't respond. They didn't turn to the Lord.

together they are against Judah. For all this his anger has not turned away, and his hand is stretched out still.” So, God begins to speak of Israel as getting to a point where they literally begin to turn on one another, and they begin to devour one another. And you will notice he then refers to the Northern Kingdom of Israel by two of the larger tribes, the areas of Manasseh and Ephraim, who were the sons of Joseph, you will remember, but he speaks of them as devouring one another, literally turning on one another almost in a way of becoming cruel and wicked toward one another. We are going to read through chapter 10 fairly rapidly, because the first four verses of Chapter 10 speak of the punishment that is now going to be coming upon Assyria. And you might say well, wait a minute, I thought Assyria was the nation God was using to punish Israel. It is. But I want you to hear what God is saying here, because He is using Assyria as His rod of punishment, or, if you will, His spanking spoon for Israel. Assyria is going to go way beyond. And it says,

(This is where it turns to Assyria.)

In other words, are not all these nations considered alike?” Did not all these nations depend on their gods and we conquered them anyway, in our own power and might? And he says, “10As my hand has reached to the kingdoms of the idols, whose carved images were greater than those of Jerusalem and Samaria, 11shall I not do to Jerusalem and her idols as I have done to Samaria and her images?” In other words, God is exposing the fact that Assyria is planning to go way beyond what God intended. And so he says, “12When 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. “13For 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. 14My 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. (He's saying, nobody can stand against me. But now the Lord responds to the boastfulness of the king of Assyria. Look what he says: “15Shall the axe boast over him who hews with it, (or who cuts down trees 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! (but in fact flesh and bone.) 16Therefore 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. 17The 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. 18The 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. 19The remnant of the trees of his forest will be so few that a child can write them down. “20In that day (now listen to this, because we talked about this in the first chapter we covered 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. (And that is where the Lord, remember, spoke of the son of Isaiah with the name Shear-jashub, which means, a remnant shall return, “21A remnant will return, (he says in verse 21) the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God. 22For though your people Israel be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will return.” In other words, no more than a very small group will survive the approaching judgment or come back from deportation. “Destruction is decreed overflowing with righteousness. 23For the Lord God of hosts will make a full end as decreed in the midst of all the earth.”

Now God speaks to the people of Judah. “24Therefore 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. 25For in a very little while my fury will come to an end, and my anger will be directed to their destruction. 26And 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. 27And 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.’” Now the Lord recounts the cities the Assyrians conquered, saying: “28He has come to Aiath; he has passed through Migron; at Michmash he stores his baggage; 29they have crossed over the pass; at Geba they lodge for the night; Ramah trembles; Gibeah of Saul has fled. 30Cry aloud, O daughter of Gallim! Give attention, O Laishah! O poor Anathoth! 31Madmenah is in flight; the inhabitants of Gebim flee for safety.” But –look what he says in verse 32: “32This very day (even though he goes through all those different areas and conquers, he says) he will halt (he will stop) at Nob; he will shake his fist at the mount of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem. “33Behold, the Lord GOD of hosts will lop the bows with terrifying power; the great in height will be hewn down, and the lofty will be brought low. 34He will cut down the thickets of the forest with an axe, and Lebanon will fall by the Majestic One.” And by the way, this began to be fulfilled during the kingship of Hezekiah when Assyria came to attack them, and the Lord Himself put the Assyrians to death. But ultimately it was fulfilled when the Babylonian Empire conquered Assyria.