Isaiah 10

CHAPTER 10THEME: Judgment of Assyria after she executes God’s judgment on Israel; the Great Tribulation and Battle of ArmageddonOnce again I would like to remind you that this is a series of prophecies which began with chapter 7 and goes through chapter 12. They are prophecies which were given during the reign of Ahaz, a wicked king. On a black background Isaiah gives his predictions, speaking into a local situation, but also he looks down through the ages of time to that day when God is going to set up His Kingdom here on earth. This is another remarkable chapter in God’s Word. Great principles and gigantic programs in God’s dealings with men and nations are set forth. The chapter opens with a brief discussion on the courts of that day. The injustices of the courts of the nation are reflected in the culture of the people and the chastisement of God. God will use the Assyrians, as we shall see, to judge His people. And Assyria is a symbol of the future “king of the north” who shall come up against Immanuel’s land in the last days. This prophecy reaches beyond the immediate future of Isaiah’s day and extends down to the last days of the nation Israel. Isaiah identifies the period by the designation, “in that day.” The chapter concludes with the awesome picture of the approach of the enemy from the north to the Battle of Armageddon.

Isaiah 10:1

UNJUST JUDGES WILL BE JUDGED OF GOD"Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees"that is, hand down unrighteous decisions. They should represent justice, but they do not give justice. These first few verses may appear at first to be a discourse of Plato or one of the moralists. The one notable exception is that behind human justice is the justice of God. The judge and throne down here on earth are to reveal His justice and are answerable to Him.

Isaiah 10:2

This verse is very much up to date. I think we are seeing the working out of this in our contemporary culture, because the courts are to hand down justice and mirror the justice of God, and they don’t. Lawlessness abounds. People sink into degradation. The idea of freedom has been distorted. Every criminal who is arrested ought to be given a fair trial, but in order that my family and your family can walk the streets in peace, criminals will have to be punished. Many who are guilty of crimes are set free by a softhearted, softheaded judge. That judge is not giving justice to me and my family or to you and your family. We hear a lot about justice today, and that is what I want. I want the criminal punished so that I can walk the streets in safety and so that I can live in my home in safety. In our land it is no longer safe for women to walk on the streets at night. It is not even safe for men in many places. What is the problem? The problem is in our courtsthat is where God puts His finger down. The courts are not administering justice. Now God mentions the poor and the widows and the fatherless; they are the ones who need justice. One of the leading political analysts in this country recently stated on a telecast that every program that has been devised to help the poor has hurt the poor. What is wrong? The only One who will give justice to the poor is God. Judges are supposed to represent God on earth. Today many godless men are judges. They are in no position to judge at all until they recognize that they are representing God. One of the wonderful things about the founders of our country was the way they believed. Although Thomas Jefferson, for example, was a free thinker, he had great respect for the Bible. He was not what we would call a Christian, but he held God’s Word in high esteem and respected the statements made in it. We have gotten so far away from God and His Word that our courts and government don’t even recognize Him. It is a farce to have a man put his hand on the Bible and take an oath in a court of law today, because most judges do not believe it is the Word of God. The lawyers, the jury, and the men who are taking the oath probably do not believe it is God’s Word.

When you don’t believe it, you might as well take an oath on a Sears and Roebuck catalog. Some of them may have more respect for that than they do for the Bible. God is dealing with principles; and, until a judge represents God, he cannot represent the people. We have gotten so far from this concept that I am sure I sound like a square! And that’s what I am.

Isaiah 10:3

God is saying to the judges, “You are to represent Me, and the day is coming when I am going to judge you.” I feel that every judge ought to recognize the fact that he is one day going to stand before God and give an account of how he has handled his responsibility here on earth. Judges in our day seem to have bleeding hearts; they want to show mercy to the poor criminal. Well, they should be meting out justice to both rich and poor. In the day of reckoning, the unjust judges will stand before the Just Judge.

Isaiah 10:4

This distortion of justice works itself out in all strata of society. It affects all men and brings about deterioration and degradation. Today we are at a new low as far as morals are concerned.

Isaiah 10:5

JUDGMENT OF ASSYRIA AFTER SHE EXECUTES GOD’S JUDGMENT ON ISRAELNow we come to the key to the entire passage. Here God makes one of the strangest statements in the Bible, and it is too much for a great many folk. My friend, if you don’t like it, take your objections to God, because He is the one who said it. This is the key verse of the entire passage, and it sheds light on the whole purpose of God, for this verse says He will use Assyria as a rod to chasten His people Israel. This is an amazing thing. Just as you take up a switch to paddle a little fellow who has done wrong, so God is using Assyria as a switch. He is using Assyria to discipline His people. The destruction which Assyria will wreak is what the hand of the Lord God will wreak. This is difficult for modern man to swallow.

Isaiah 10:6

God goes so far as to say that He is responsible for sending Sennacherib, the Assyrian, against Israel and for sending the northern kingdom of Israel into captivity. Assyria is a symbol of another kingdom in the north whom God will use in the last days. Many Bible expositors believe this verse has reference to the “beast” which will come out of the sea, mentioned din Revelation 13, who would be the ruler in the Roman Empire. I prefer to be specific and think it is a reference to Russia. Have you noticed that every since World War II the Russians have won every diplomatic battle? They have won, and they have our country on the ropes today. I wonder if God may not be using them.

You might say, “You don’t mean that God would use godless Russia?” Well, He used godless Assyria to spank His people in Isaiah’s day. God may be using Russia to humiliate us today, and she may have already done that. When we fought in Vietnam, we were not fighting the North Vietnamese; we were fighting Russia. It was a very nice, polite war, and it was embarrassing. It was tragic and horrible. Was God permitting our humiliation in an attempt to bring us to our senses?

It didn’t seem to workwe have not turned to God.

Isaiah 10:7

If you had asked the Assyrian if he was being used as a rod to chasten Israel, he would have laughed at you. If you had asked Russia’s dictators if they knew they were rods in the Lord’s hands, they would have given you a great ha-ha! They would think such talk was ridiculous. Neither did the Assyrian have any notion that he was prompted of God, nor would he admit it. The Assyrians were having great victories on every hand, and their pride blinded them to their true status. Because they were resting on their own strength and supremacy and were victorious everywhere they turned, they were like Little Jack Horner who sat in a corner, put his thumb in the pie, pulled out a plum, and said, “What a smart boy am I.” There are some rulers of nations who are like Little Jack Horner today, but God overrules, though He may be using them to accomplish His purpose.

Isaiah 10:12

When God gets through using Assyria to punish His people, God will deal with the Assyrians and judge them. They do not escape, either; history is a testimony to the fact. God judged them. Isaiah shows that God controls and judges all the nations of the earth. Now He asks a very pointed question:

Isaiah 10:15

Imagine an axe out in the woods. You are walking through the woods and hear something patting itself on the back and saying, “Look at this big tree I cut down.” You walk over to the axe and find nothing but the axe. You say to the axe, “What do you mean, you cut down the tree?” The axe replies, “The tree is down, and I did it.” You say that is silly. Somebody had to be using the axe, and that is exactly how it was with Assyria and other nations of the world. God uses nations. That is the reason it is so important today for men in our nation to recognize God, men who look to God for leading and guidance.

But we have a divided nation today. In fact, we are lots more divided than we will admit. We have this minority group, that minority group, and the other minority group. However, the real minority is God. Although He is in the minority, Martin Luther said, “One with God is a majority,” and if you are with God, you are with the majority. We need to be sure that we are on God’s side today, because He is running the universe.

As a nation we are a Johnny-come-lately. A two hundred-year-old nation is a baby compared to many of the other nations in history, and we have just about had it. The Assyrians are only instruments in the hand of God.

Isaiah 10:20

THE GREAT TRIBULATION AND PRESERVATION OF THE REMNANTNow we have a vision of the Jewish remnant during the Great Tribulation: In this verse Isaiah begins to look beyond the immediate circumstances which concern the Assyrian to “that day.” As we have seen, “that day” is the Day of the Lord, which begins with the Great Tribulation period.

Isaiah 10:24

This is a word of comfort to Judah that she shall be spared from captivity by the Assyrians.

Isaiah 10:28

THE BATTLE OF ARMAGEDDONAgain Isaiah moves beyond,“in that day.” This is a remarkable section of prophecy. It gives certain geographical locations, all of them north of Jerusalem, and it shows the route taken by Assyria and of the future invader from the north, who I think will be Russia. The invader comes from the land of Magog (see Ezek. 38-39). Now notice the places mentioned: “Aiath” is about fifteen miles north of Jerusalem. “Migron” is south of Aiath and is the pass where Jonathan got a victory over the Philistines (see 1 Sam. 14). I understand that General Allenby secured a victory over Turkey in the same place. “Geba” and “Ramah” are about six miles north of Jerusalem. “Anathoth” was about three miles north of Jerusalem. This is the home of the prophet Jeremiah. “Laish” is in the extreme north of Palestine, in the tribe of Dan. “Madmenah” (dunghill) is a garbage dump north of Jerusalem. “Gebim” is probably north of Jerusalem. The exact site is not known. “Nob” is the last place mentioned, and it is north of the city and in sight of Jerusalem. This passage clearly charts the march of the enemy from the north, which brings a state of paralysis and defeat to Jerusalem.

Isaiah 10:33

God intervenes and delivers His people. I believe this is a reference to the second coming of Christ to establish His Kingdom.

Isaiah 10:34

I believe the “mighty one” is Christ when He comes to the earth.