Isaiah 10:5-34 Comments by Stephen Ricker
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The Remnant of Israel
Comments for Study 8

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Outline
A MAP OF THE KINGDOMS OF ISRAEL AND JUDAH
A MAP OF ASSYRIA
OLD TESTAMENT BOOKS TIMELINE
ISRAEL'S HISTORY
A LIST OF MAJOR EVENTS FROM BABYLON TIMES TO ROMAN OCCUPATION OF JUDAH
A LIST OF ISRAEL'S KINGS AND PROPHETS

SORRY, THE COMMENTS FOR THIS CHAPTER HAS NOT BEEN FINISHED.
A LIST OF BOOKS THAT ARE COMPLETED.

I. Judgement on Assyria (5-19)

>1. Who was Assyria and how was God going to use it? (5-6)

* Isaiah 10:5-6 "Woe to the Assyrian, the rod of my anger, in whose hand is the club of my wrath! I send him against a godless nation, I dispatch him against a people who anger me, to seize loot and snatch plunder, and to trample them down like mud in the streets."

* "Woe to the Assyrian"

* "the rod of my anger"

* "in whose hand is the club of my wrath"

* "I send him against"

* "to seize loot and snatch plunder, and to trample them down like mud in the streets"

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>What angered God?

* "a godless nation"

* "a people who anger me"

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>Was Jesus ever angry? (Mark 3:4-5; John 2:14-17)

* Mark 3:4-5 "Then Jesus asked them, "Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?" But they remained silent. He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored."

* John 2:14-17 "In the temple courts he found men selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple area, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. To those who sold doves he said, "Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father's house into a market!" His disciples remembered that it is written: "Zeal for your house will consume me."

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>2. How was Assyria's intentions different than the Lord's even though they would be doing his work? (7)

* Isaiah 10:7 "But this is not what he intends, this is not what he has in mind; his purpose is to destroy, to put an end to many nations."

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>What was Assyria's motivation to attack Judah?

* Isaiah 10:8-11 "'Are not my commanders all kings?' he says. 'Has not Calno fared like Carchemish? Is not Hamath like Arpad, and Samaria like Damascus? As my hand seized the kingdoms of the idols, kingdoms whose images excelled those of Jerusalem and Samaria-- shall I not deal with Jerusalem and her images as I dealt with Samaria and her idols?'"

* "Are not my commanders all kings?"

* "Calno"

* "Carchemish"

* "Hamath"

* "Samaria"

* "Damascus"

>What did Assyria know and not fear about Judah?

* "As my hand seized the kingdoms of the idols"

* "kingdoms whose images excelled those of Jerusalem and Samaria"

* "shall I not deal with Jerusalem and her images as I dealt with Samaria and her idols"

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>3. Why was Assyria going to be punished? (12)

* Isaiah 10:12 "When the Lord has finished all his work against Mount Zion and Jerusalem, he will say, "I will punish the king of Assyria for the willful pride of his heart and the haughty look in his eyes."

* "I will punish the king of Assyria"

* "for the willful pride of his heart and the haughty look in his eyes"

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>What would they not acknowledge? (13-14)

* Isaiah 10:13-14 "For he says: "'By the strength of my hand I have done this, and by my wisdom, because I have understanding. I removed the boundaries of nations, I plundered their treasures; like a mighty one I subdued their kings. As one reaches into a nest, so my hand reached for the wealth of the nations; as men gather abandoned eggs, so I gathered all the countries; not one flapped a wing, or opened its mouth to chirp.'"

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>What must all tools of God remember? (15; Luke 17:10)

* Isaiah 10:15 "Does the ax raise itself above him who swings it, or the saw boast against him who uses it? As if a rod were to wield him who lifts it up, or a club brandish him who is not wood!"

* Luke 17:10 "So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, 'We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.'"

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>4. How quickly would Assyria fall when it attacks Jerusalem? (16-19)

* Isaiah 10:16-19 "Therefore, the Lord, the LORD Almighty, will send a wasting disease upon his sturdy warriors; under his pomp a fire will be kindled like a blazing flame. 17 The Light of Israel will become a fire, their Holy One a flame; in a single day it will burn and consume his thorns and his briers. 18 The splendor of his forests and fertile fields it will completely destroy, as when a sick man wastes away. 19 And the remaining trees of his forests will be so few that a child could write them down."

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>When did this happen? (Isaiah 36:1, 37:5-7, 18-23, 36-38)

* Isaiah 36:1 "In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah's reign, Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them."

* Isaiah 37:5-7 "When King Hezekiah's officials came to Isaiah, Isaiah said to them, "Tell your master, 'This is what the LORD says: Do not be afraid of what you have heard--those words with which the underlings of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. Listen! I am going to put a spirit in him so that when he hears a certain report, he will return to his own country, and there I will have him cut down with the sword.'"

* Isaiah 37:18-23 "It is true, O LORD, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste all these peoples and their lands. They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods but only wood and stone, fashioned by human hands. Now, O LORD our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all kingdoms on earth may know that you alone, O LORD, are God." Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah: "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Because you have prayed to me concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria, this is the word the LORD has spoken against him: "The Virgin Daughter of Zion despises and mocks you. The Daughter of Jerusalem tosses her head as you flee. Who is it you have insulted and blasphemed? Against whom have you raised your voice and lifted your eyes in pride? Against the Holy One of Israel!"

* Isaiah 37:36-38 "Then the angel of the LORD went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand men in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning--there were all the dead bodies! So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there. One day, while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer cut him down with the sword, and they escaped to the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son succeeded him as king."

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II. The Remnant of Israel and Judah (20-23)

>5. What does "in that day" mean?

* Isaiah 10:20 "In that day the remnant of Israel, the survivors of the house of Jacob, will no longer rely on him who struck them down but will truly rely on the LORD, the Holy One of Israel."

* "In that day" -"In that day" and "In the last days" and "in the day of the Lord" all referred to the future from the Old Testament prophets' point of view. They all referred to events concerning Jesus first and second coming. The day of the Lord is the time when God reveals His sovereignty over human powers and human existence.

* "In that day" -In Hebrew this is "aharit yom". Aharit is usually translated "end", "latter", or "last".

* Seven Old Testament prophets (Isa. 13:6,9; Eze. 13:5, 30:3; Joel 1:15; Amos 5:18,20; Oba. 1:15; Zep. 1:7,14; Mal. 4:5; perhaps Zec. 14:1 too) uses the term "the day of the Lord". Sometimes they abbreviated it to "that day". It was familiar to their audience, a term by which the audience expected light and salvation (Amos 5:18), but the prophets painted it as a day of darkness and judgment (Isa. 2:10-22; 13:6,9; Joel 1:15; 2:1-11,31; 3:14-15; Amos 5:20; Zeph. 1:7-8,14-18; Mal. 4:5). The Old Testament language of the day of the Lord is aimed at warning sinners among God's people of the danger of trusting in traditional religion without commitment to God and to His way of life. It is language that could be aimed at judging Israel or that could be used to promise deliverance from evil enemies (Isa. 13:6,9; Ezek. 30:3; Obad. 15). The day of the Lord is thus a point in time in which God displays His sovereign initiative to reveal His control of history, of time, of His people, and of all people.

* Eschatology is the teaching concerning the last things in world history. The Greek word "eschatos" means "last" or "final." Accordingly, eschatology is the study of the things expected to occur at the end of history. This does not include what will happen after the Lord Jesus creates the new heaven and the new earth as described at the end of Revelation.

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>Who are the remnant?

* "the remnant of Israel"

* "the survivors of the house of Jacob"

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>What will they do?

* "no longer rely on him who struck them down"

* "will truly rely on the LORD"

* "the Holy One of Israel"

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>6. What does it mean to return to the Mighty God? (21)

* Isaiah 10:21 "A remnant will return, a remnant of Jacob will return to the Mighty God."

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>What was decreed?

* Isaiah 10:22-23 "Though your people, O Israel, be like the sand by the sea, only a remnant will return. Destruction has been decreed, overwhelming and righteous. The Lord, the LORD Almighty, will carry out the destruction decreed upon the whole land."

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>Why might only a few return to Jerusalem?

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III. My Anger Against Zion Will End (24-34)

>7. What words of encouragement was given Zion?

* Isaiah 10:24 "Therefore, this is what the Lord, the LORD Almighty, says: "O my people who live in Zion, do not be afraid of the Assyrians, who beat you with a rod and lift up a club against you, as Egypt did."

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>Why? (25)

* Isaiah 10:25 "Very soon my anger against you will end and my wrath will be directed to their destruction."

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>What can be learned about the Lord?

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>8. What happened to Midian and Egypt after they mistreated Israel?

* Isaiah 10:26 "The LORD Almighty will lash them with a whip, as when he struck down Midian at the rock of Oreb; and he will raise his staff over the waters, as he did in Egypt."

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>What does the Lord promise about the mistreatment this world's kingdoms impose on God's people? (27)

* Isaiah 10:27 "In that day their burden will be lifted from your shoulders, their yoke from your neck; the yoke will be broken because you have grown so fat."

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>9. What would be the track of invading Assyria? (28-32)

* Isaiah 10:28-32 "They enter Aiath; they pass through Migron; they store supplies at Micmash. 29 They go over the pass, and say, "We will camp overnight at Geba." Ramah trembles; Gibeah of Saul flees. 30 Cry out, O Daughter of Gallim! Listen, O Laishah! Poor Anathoth! 31 Madmenah is in flight; the people of Gebim take cover. 32 This day they will halt at Nob; they will shake their fist at the mount of the Daughter of Zion, at the hill of Jerusalem."

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>What is again predicted of their advance? (33-34)

* Isaiah 10:33-34 "See, the Lord, the LORD Almighty, will lop off the boughs with great power. The lofty trees will be felled, the tall ones will be brought low. 34 He will cut down the forest thickets with an ax; Lebanon will fall before the Mighty One."

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>Why did the Lord go in such detail about Assyria's fall?

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