“The Great In Height Will Be Hewn Down And The Lofty Brought Low” (10:1-34)
Neal Pollard
Chapter divisions in the Bible are imperfect. A better break in this material would have been after verse 4. The first four verses are a lament for Judah. The first nine chapters of the book have largely been aimed at the sins of the northern kingdom, interspersed with the first glimpses of a coming Messiah. Now, in Isaiah 10:1-4, there are the sins of the southern kingdom which will lead to punishment. Later in the chapter, Isaiah will lump Jerusalem (Judah’s capital) in with Samaria (Israel’s) and Judah in with Israel (10-11). There was a work which God needed to do in retribution against Mount Zion and Jerusalem (12). God would express His righteous anger with His outstretched hand of judgment (4). The chief sin mentioned here is injustice against the poor. While Ahaz had turned to Assyria for help against Syria and Israel, no one would be able to deliver them from God’s judgment in the day of His wrath.
So, Isaiah turns his focus to the instrument in God’s hand to exercise His judgment on Israel, namely Assyria. Many of the themes Isaiah has introduced already in his prophecy come back into play in this oracle against Assyria. God reveals His judgment against this heathen nation (5-19), which at this point probably drew a mixed reaction from Judah. They had relied upon Assyria to rescue them from Syria and Israel, but they also had paid dearly for it in terms of money and autonomy. God directs His message against Assyria, whom He calls the rod and club in His hand to mete out punishment against nations who had rebelled against Him with their sins. Assyria was arrogant and, as many nations have done, concluded that their might and success were attributed to themselves (see 13, for example). In great detail, God through Isaiah foretells how full and complete their fall would be.
Isaiah 10:20-27 are words of hope for Judah. The prophet’s use of “Israel” (20-22) is a generic reference to the people God formed from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob rather than the nation that formed in the divided kingdom. The context shows that these words of hope were for the southern kingdom, Judah. Isaiah refers to the sparing of a remnant (20-21) and the death of the majority (22-23). He returns to his message that Assyria should not be feared since God would destroy them (24-27). It is a mixed message, where few would be spared and many would be destroyed in Judah. The purpose had to have been to encourage his readers to be among those who trust in God rather than man.
Isaiah ends this chapter by returning to the coming Assyrian invasion. It appears that he is laying out the Assyrian army’s path of destruction in verses 28-32, which ends at Mount Zion and Jerusalem. There, “he will shake his fist” (32). Since Assyria is going to make several incursions into Palestine before it is overthrown by the Babylonians, it is not certain which march this is. The point is that it is foolish to trust in a nation which God is going lop, hewn down, bring low, cut down, and make fall (33-34). It is a message of hope that God is greater than earthly foes, a message of rebuke against trusting in man over Him, and a message of comfort for the righteous who sometimes suffer alongside the wicked majority. They will ultimately be delivered by their faith.
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