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Reading Isaiah 10:20-11:9 where Yahweh promises a remnant of Judah, and from that remnant will come the Messiah who brings peace. Visit wwutt.com for all our videos!
The Jews would be afflicted by the Assyrians, but God promised that the Assyrians would not wipe them out. He would preserve for Himself a remnant, and from that remnant would come a Savior of peace when we understand the text.
This is When We Understand the Text, a daily Bible commentary to help encourage your time in the Word. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday we feature New Testament Study, an Old Testament book on Thursday, and our Q &A on Friday.
Now here's your teacher, Pastor Gabe.
Thank you, Becky, and greetings everyone. My voice is still a little weak, but I have appreciated your prayers and encouragement. In our Old Testament study, we're in the book of Isaiah, and a couple of weeks ago we ended in chapter 10.
Now that last episode that I did in Isaiah, which would have been 1879, it said in the title card that we went from Isaiah 9, 8 to 10, 14. I actually went all the way through verse 19 in that lesson. So we're picking up today in verse 20.
Just to give you some quick recap, we had the prophecy given in Isaiah 9 that we often hear repeated at Christmas. Isaiah 9, 6, and 7, to us a child will be born, to us a son is given, and the government will be upon his shoulders.
His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. Remember reading about all of that? Then the Lord expressed his anger with Israel for their arrogance. And that was in verses 8 through chapter 10, verse 4.
And then Yahweh expressed his anger toward Assyria. Even though God used Assyria to bring judgment against Israel, nonetheless, God's judgment would also burn against Assyria. So we read about that in verses 5 through 19.
Then we have expressed the promise of a remnant that will return. And that starts in verse 20 and goes to the end of the chapter. So let me begin here in Isaiah chapter 10, beginning in verse 20 and reading through verse 34.
This is out of the Legacy Standard Bible. Hear the word of the Lord. Now it will be in that day that the remnant of Israel and those of the house of Jacob who have escaped will never again rely on the one who struck them, but will truly rely on Yahweh, the Holy One of Israel.
A remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God. For though your people, O Israel, may be like the sand of the sea, only a remnant within them will return. A destructive end is decreed, overflowing with righteousness.
For a complete destruction, one that is decreed, Lord Yahweh of hosts will do in the midst of the whole land. Therefore thus says Lord Yahweh of hosts, O my people who inhabit Zion, do not fear the Assyrian who strikes you with the rod and lifts up his staff against you the way Egypt did.
For in a very little while my indignation against you will end, and my anger will be directed to their destruction. And Yahweh of hosts will awaken a scourge against him like the slaughter of Midian at the rock of Oreb, and his staff will be over the sea, and he will lift it up the way he did in Egypt.
So it will be in that day that his burden will be removed from your shoulders, and his yoke from your neck, and the yoke will be broken because of fatness. He has come against Aath. He has passed through Migran.
At Mikmash he deposited his baggage. They have gone through the pass, saying, Geba will be our lodging place, Ramah trembles, and Gibeah of Saul has fled away. Cry aloud with your voice, O daughter of Galem.
Pay attention, Laisha and afflicted Anathoth. Madmanah has fled, the inhabitants of Gebim have sought refuge, yet today he will stand at Nob. He shakes his fist at the mountain of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem.
Behold, the Lord, Yahweh of hosts, will lop off the boughs with a terrible crash. Those also who are high in stature will be cut in pieces, and those who are lofty will be made low. He will cut down the thickets of the forest with an iron axe, and Lebanon will fall by the mighty one.
Now this promise of the remnant of the offspring of Jacob is being contrasted with the remnant that was just mentioned regarding Assyria. So God had expressed his anger toward Assyria, the very tool that he used to inflict punishment against Israel.
He was going to throw the very axe into the fire. There would be a remnant of Assyria, but they would be so few in number that even a child could count them. That was what we had at the end of that section, verses 18 and 19.
He will bring to an end the glory of his forest and of his fruitful orchard, both soul and body, and it will be as when a sick man wastes away. And the rest of the trees of his forest, the his here being the king of Assyria, the rest of the trees of his forest will be so small in number, a child could write them down.
So that's nothing to that remnant of the Assyrians. Hardly anybody left. You could count them individually, and even a child could write them down. But now here's what the Lord says about the remnant of his people.
Verse 20. Now it will be in that day that the remnant of Israel. So it's almost as if you go from talking about the remnant of the Assyrians being a paltry few, hardly any left at all, to now talking about the remnant of Israel.
In that day, the remnant of Israel and those of the house of Jacob who have escaped will never again rely on the one who struck them, but will truly rely on Yahweh, the Holy One of Israel. So they're not going to be clamoring for the Assyrians to deliver them.
They will rely on Yahweh. Now understand something here, that the remnant is very specifically the Jews. We're talking about the southern kingdom, Judah, because it was Judah that was relying upon Assyria to deliver them.
Remember that King Ahab had rejected the help of the Lord, and he was going to be dependent upon Assyria to come to his aid. Well, that wasn't going to end up being the case. The Assyrians would come against the northern kingdom and be successful at driving them off the land, but they would not be able to do the same with the Jews.
They would certainly afflict the Jews, but they're not going to move the Jews out of the land that they possess. Now that would happen eventually. It would be the Babylonians that would come against them in judgment.
The Assyrians would certainly be a problem for the Jews, but they would not defeat the Jews. So in that day, the remnant of Israel and those of the house of Jacob who have escaped will never again rely on the one who struck them, Assyria, but they will truly rely on Yahweh, the Holy One of Israel.
A remnant will return. The remnant of Jacob to the mighty God. For though your people, O Israel, may be like the sand of the sea, only a remnant within them will return. A destructive end is decreed, overflowing with righteousness.
It is because God is righteous, Israel has been wicked, the judgment that is going to come against them will be just. It will be God's justice that will be poured out upon them, and it is a destructive end for them, but it is the righteousness of God decreed.
Verse 23, for a complete destruction, one that is decreed, Lord Yahweh of hosts will do in the midst of the whole land. So that's specifically in reference to the Northern Kingdom. There would be a complete destruction of the Northern Kingdom.
The ten tribes of Israel would be moved out. The remnant is going to be Judah. Verse 24, therefore, thus says Lord Yahweh of hosts, O my people who inhabit Zion, do not fear the Assyrian who strikes you with the rod and lifts up his staff against you the way Egypt did.
For in a very little while, my indignation against you will end, and my anger will be directed to their destruction. Now keep in mind, at this time, Yahweh's anger is burning against Judah, because they have been as wicked as Israel had been.
Ahab refused the assistance of God and said, hey, we'll rely on the Assyrians to deliver us. So instead, the Lord is going to use the Assyrians to afflict Judah, just not successful in the way that they were successful against Israel.
There would be the siege against Jerusalem at about 700 BC, somewhere around there. Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, would lead his armies against Jerusalem when Hezekiah is king. Now we're going to read about that later on in Isaiah.
So this is prophetic. This is talking about something that is going to happen later. But the Lord's anger against Judah will subside, and then He will turn His anger against the Assyrians. And to kind of spoil the ending, the angel of Yahweh goes out and strikes down 185 ,000 in the camp of the Assyrians.
God just does that Himself. Strikes down the Assyrians to protect the city where He has placed His name. You can read about that if you want to read ahead, 2 Kings chapters 18 and 19. And of course, in Isaiah, it comes up in Isaiah 36 and 37, somewhere around in there.
So anyway, here, the Lord is talking about how He is going to direct His anger toward Assyria's destruction. All of this being prophesied before it ever happens. Verse 26, and Yahweh of hosts will waken a scourge against Him like the slaughter of Midian at the Rock of Oreb, and His staff will be over the sea, and He will lift it up the way that He did in Egypt.
Now all of this is very symbolic. Of course, the destruction of the Assyrians is not going to be the same way it was with the Egyptians. No one's going to go raise the staff, part the Red Sea. The Egyptians come into it, and then the sea closes in on them.
That's what's being suggested here. But all of that is just to say that the destruction that comes against Assyria is going to be as miraculous as it was against Egypt. And yeah, like I said, the Lord just goes into the camp, strikes down 185 ,000 of them.
All you see is just dead bodies. Who killed them all? There was no army that came against them. The Lord just strikes them down. So the slaughter is going to be the way that He took care of Egypt in protecting Jerusalem, protecting the Jews.
Verse 27, so it will be in that day that His burden will be removed from your shoulders and His yoke from your neck, and the yoke will be broken because of fatness. And then several different areas of Assyria mentioned here where the Lord has come against them.
In verse 32, yet today He will stand at Nab. He shakes His fist at the mountain of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem. Behold, the Lord Yahweh of hosts will lop off the boughs with a terrible crash.
Those also who are high in stature will be cut in pieces, and those who are lofty will be made low. He will cut down the thickets of the forest with an iron axe, and Lebanon will fall by the Mighty One.
Now, it's interesting to mention that. He's going to cut down the thickets of the forest with an iron axe, because remember how God said that His anger was going to come against the Assyrians. He referred to the Assyrians as an axe, that they were the axe, is the axe to boast in itself over the one who chops with it.
That was back in verse 15. And then remember how He talked about the Assyrians being like a forest, which is going to be cut down. It will be so small in number, a child could write down how many trees are left.
And so here you have, at the end of chapter 10, that Yahweh will cut down the thickets of the forest with an iron axe, and Lebanon will fall by the Mighty One. So the Lord turning the tables against the Assyrians.
Now, why would the Lord even do this at all, preserve a remnant of Judah? If they've been every bit as wicked as Israel, and the northern kingdom He just drives out, but the southern kingdom He's going to preserve.
Why would God even preserve a remnant? Well, of course, it's because through the remnant, the Messiah is going to come. The very Messiah that was promised back in chapter 9 is going to come from Judah.
So God will preserve Judah from their enemies. And here you have the promise of the Messiah that's given here in chapter 11. Chapter 11 won't take very long, we'll just read through it. Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, and a branch from his roots will bear fruit.
The spirit of Yahweh will rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of Yahweh. And he will delight in the fear of Yahweh.
And he will not judge by what his eyes see, nor render a decision by what his ears hear. But with righteousness he will judge the poor, and decide with uprightness for the afflicted of the earth. And he will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the heap of his lips he will put the wicked to death.
Also righteousness will be the belt about his loins, and faithfulness the belt about his waist. Now depending on the translation that you're reading, all the pronouns here regarding he are capitalized.
Because who are we talking about here? We're talking about Jesus. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth? And with the breath of his lips he will put the wicked to death? That can only be Christ.
Also righteousness will be the belt about his loins, and faithfulness the belt about his waist. Righteousness and faithfulness, none more righteous than Christ, none more faithful to do the will of the Father than the Son.
Verse 6,. And the wolf will dwell with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together, and a young boy will lead them. Let me stop there for a moment.
That's Isaiah 11 .6. I want to make a particular point. There is nowhere in the Bible that says the lion will lie down with the lamb. Are you aware of that? We say it all the time. There's paintings of it.
You can find the slogan, you know, I've seen it on t-shirts before. Anticipating the day when the lion will lie down with the lamb. The Bible never says it. That phrase is never there. Now Jesus is referred to as both lion and lamb.
So that might be the reason for the confusion. Of course, the lion doesn't lay down with the lamb in that sense because he is both. He's both lion and lamb. What scripture does say in Isaiah 11 .6 is that the wolf will dwell with the lamb.
The leopard will lie down with the young goat, the calf and the young lion and the fatling together. Now, a lot of times this verse and verses like it are taken literally. Like in the new heavens and the new earth, the literal wolf will literally lie down with the literal lamb and all these other animals too, you know, everything will be perfectly restored and in the animal kingdom there won't even be any predators and prey anymore.
But I don't really think that's the picture that we're given. This is all very symbolic to just simply say that under Christ, those who are generally the strong will not be able to enforce their brute strength on the weak.
Because remember previously it said that with righteousness he will judge the poor and decide with uprightness for the afflicted of the earth. So those who afflict will be disarmed and they will not have the strength to bring affliction against the weak.
Those who are weak will dwell in safety. So using these creatures, these various animals of the animal kingdom to metaphorically present this hope. It's not literally saying that these literal animals are going to be dwelling with one another in a new heavens and a new earth.
Now it could be that each one of these creatures represents a different facet of people. That could be the case. Like the wolf we often associate with being a false teacher. So the false teachers will no longer be devouring the sheep.
The calf and the young lion and the fatling together, you know, the lion is sometimes described as Satan. Satan prowls around like a roaring lion as said in 1 Peter 5. So the calf will not be threatened by Satan's schemes anymore.
It could be that. It could be that each one of these animals represents something like that. But I think instead the overall picture is just simply that in Christ, those who are in Christ Jesus will dwell in safety and we have nothing to fear of those who would otherwise try to conquer us.
Because remember what Paul said in Romans 8, we are more than conquerors. We are more than conquerors through him who loves us. So we go on to see further parallels of this in the in the verses that follow verse 7 also the cow and the bear will graze their young will lie down together and the lion will eat straw like the ox and the nursing baby will play by the whole of the Cobra and the weaned child will put his hand on the vipers den.
They will do no evil nor act corruptly in all my holy mountain for the earth will be full of the knowledge of Yahweh as the waters cover the sea. Now next we read about the restored remnant in verses 10 through 16.
I'm going to wait to read that portion and explain it. We'll do our exposition of that section of Isaiah 11 next week. So I've got a little bit more time to read through that and probably also get through chapter 12 because that's a shorter chapter where we read about Yahweh is my strength and my song.
But here we have the promise of the coming Messiah and through the Messiah there will be peace and that was the message of the angels to the shepherds was it not when the multitude of the heavenly host was gathered together praising God.
That they said glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among men with whom he is pleased and that peace has come to us my friends. We have the peace of God. We have peace with God through Jesus Christ and we have been adopted into the family of God that we have become his sons and his daughters.
And so what can man do to us? We have nothing to fear of what man will try to devise against us for we know that we are safe in Christ. He will deliver us and our eternity is secure with him in heaven above forever.
And in that place evil will never be able to touch us. Every tear will be dry from our eyes. We will dwell with Yahweh forever in glory and this is the peace that we have now as Paul describes it in Philippians 4 a peace that surpasses all understanding guarding our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus.
As we finish let me pray for you heavenly father I pray that these words will be a comfort and an encouragement even as we read Old Testament texts that were hundreds of years before Christ yet we see their relevance for us now.
The promise of peace eternal peace where there will no longer be an enemy or animosity that comes against us but we will be with the one who reigns and is conquered victoriously Jesus Christ our Lord.
The end of the story has already been written. If we are in Christ we are on the winning side. So let no one despair of anything in these days but even our most troubling times cause us to turn to Christ and cling to him and long all the more for his eternal perfect kingdom.
Come quickly Lord Jesus we pray in his name amen.
This has been when we understand the text of Pastor Gabriel Hughes. For all of our podcasts, episodes, videos, books and more visit our website at www .utt .com. If you'd like to submit a question to this broadcast or just send us a comment email whenweunderstandthetext at gmail .com and let your friends know about our ministry.
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