Yesterday we saw what God had planned for the Assyrians and their arrogant King Sennacherib come true. How God sent His Angel (Immanuel/Jesus) to take care of the Assyrian army that was encroaching on Jerusalem. All because King Hezekiah of Judah humbled himself and asked for God’s help. He knew he could not manage without God’s divine intervention. We need to remember that. Today we look at Isaiah’s prophecy of this very event. Moreover, we also see that God’s judgment is not just for Assyria, but for the world in the end times. Let’s dig in…
Isaiah 10 – Assyria Shall Be Broken
“Woe to those who decree unrighteous decrees,
Who write misfortune,
Which they have prescribed
2 To rob the needy of justice,
And to take what is right from the poor of My people,
That widows may be their prey,
And that they may rob the fatherless.
3 What will you do in the day of punishment,
And in the desolation which will come from afar?
To whom will you flee for help?
And where will you leave your glory?
4 Without Me they shall bow down among the prisoners,
And they shall fall among the slain.”For all this His anger is not turned away,
But His hand is stretched out still.
Arrogant Assyria Also Judged
5 “Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger
And the staff in whose hand is My indignation.
6 I will send him against an ungodly nation,
And against the people of My wrath
I will give him charge,
To seize the spoil, to take the prey,
And to tread them down like the mire of the streets.
7 Yet he does not mean so,
Nor does his heart think so;
But it is in his heart to destroy,
And cut off not a few nations.
8 For he says,
‘Are not my princes altogether kings?
9 Is not Calno like Carchemish?
Is not Hamath like Arpad?
Is not Samaria like Damascus?
10 As my hand has found the kingdoms of the idols,
Whose carved images excelled those of Jerusalem and Samaria,
11 As I have done to Samaria and her idols,
Shall I not do also to Jerusalem and her idols?’ ”12 Therefore it shall come to pass, when the Lord has performed all His work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, that He will say, “I will punish the fruit of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his haughty looks.”
13 For he says:
“By the strength of my hand I have done it,
And by my wisdom, for I am prudent;
Also I have removed the boundaries of the people,
And have robbed their treasuries;
So I have put down the inhabitants like a valiant man.
14 My hand has found like a nest the riches of the people,
And as one gathers eggs that are left,
I have gathered all the earth;
And there was no one who moved his wing,
Nor opened his mouth with even a peep.”15 Shall the ax boast itself against him who chops with it?
Or shall the saw exalt itself against him who saws with it?
As if a rod could wield itself against those who lift it up,
Or as if a staff could lift up, as if it were not wood!
16 Therefore the Lord, the Lord of hosts,
Will send leanness among his fat ones;
And under his glory
He will kindle a burning
Like the burning of a fire.
17 So the Light of Israel will be for a fire,
And his Holy One for a flame;
It will burn and devour
His thorns and his briers in one day.
18 And it will consume the glory of his forest and of his fruitful field,
Both soul and body;
And they will be as when a sick man wastes away.
19 Then the rest of the trees of his forest
Will be so few in number
That a child may write them.
The Returning Remnant of Israel
20 And it shall come to pass in that day
That the remnant of Israel,
And such as have escaped of the house of Jacob,
Will never again depend on him who defeated them,
But will depend on the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, in truth.
21 The remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob,
To the Mighty God.
22 For though your people, O Israel, be as the sand of the sea,
A remnant of them will return;
The destruction decreed shall overflow with righteousness.
23 For the Lord God of hosts
Will make a determined end
In the midst of all the land.24 Therefore thus says the Lord God of hosts: “O My people, who dwell in Zion, do not be afraid of the Assyrian. He shall strike you with a rod and lift up his staff against you, in the manner of Egypt. 25 For yet a very little while and the indignation will cease, as will My anger in their destruction.” 26 And the Lord of hosts will stir up a scourge for him like the slaughter of Midian at the rock of Oreb; as His rod was on the sea, so will He lift it up in the manner of Egypt.
27 It shall come to pass in that day
That his burden will be taken away from your shoulder,
And his yoke from your neck,
And the yoke will be destroyed because of the anointing oil.28 He has come to Aiath,
He has passed Migron;
At Michmash he has attended to his equipment.
29 They have gone along the ridge,
They have taken up lodging at Geba.
Ramah is afraid,
Gibeah of Saul has fled.
30 Lift up your voice,
O daughter of Gallim!
Cause it to be heard as far as Laish—
O poor Anathoth!
31 Madmenah has fled,
The inhabitants of Gebim seek refuge.
32 As yet he will remain at Nob that day;
He will shake his fist at the mount of the daughter of Zion,
The hill of Jerusalem.33 Behold, the Lord,
Isaiah 10 NKJV
The Lord of hosts,
Will lop off the bough with terror;
Those of high stature will be hewn down,
And the haughty will be humbled.
34 He will cut down the thickets of the forest with iron,
And Lebanon will fall by the Mighty One.
The First Superpower
From 729-609 BC, the Assyrians were the superpower of the time. Furthermore, as we saw in the previous posts from 2 Kings 18 and 19, they loved to brag about it. They took credit for their victories over all the other nations including Israel, the northern kingdom. Clearly, as Isaiah explains, it was God using them as pawns to accomplish what He needed to do.
God can use anyone He pleases for what He has planned. He uses evil for good. Satan thinks he has a grip on the world, but, no matter what, GOD IS STILL IN CONTROL! Even though an entity or a person is used for God’s work, they will face judgment in the end times.
The Last Superpower
We’ll see this term, “the Assyrian”, used by the Old Testament prophets. They are referring to the final Antichrist. Obviously, they didn’t know “the Christ” back then. “Christ” is Greek where “Messiah” is Hebrew. They both mean “the Anointed One” — Jesus. To them, the Assyrians were the first “superpower” and they see in the future the Last Superpower, the Antichrist, being taken down by the Holy One of God — Jesus, Messiah, Yeshua Ha-Mashiach.
That doesn’t mean that the Antichrist is coming from the Middle East. No, he will be from Roman descent. He’ll rebuild the Roman Empire into the New World Order. We’re seeing signs of that right now! If you’ve been listening to or watching the main-stream media news, you’re not getting the whole picture. Check out the Bible Prophecy Links here to garner the truth about the end times and last days. Friend, we are here!
Mighty nations today like, Russia, Iran, Turkey and China are all being used by God as mere pawns. God is controlling it all. His plan for the last days is taking shape as I write this!
Trust in God Not in People
Everybody else will let you down! Whether they are representing a government, a church, or any organization, you must rely on the Holy Spirit to help you discern what is the truth. Without the Holy Spirit in your heart, in your soul, you are susceptible to believing Satan’s lies and deceptions.
God will judge the nations. He will judge each and every one of us. Only the born-again believers will be spared the punishment because Jesus already took it at the cross.
In the end, the judgment of the world will be with fire. In Genesis, God judged the world with the flood and He promised that He’d never flood the whole world like that ever again. Consequently, He will use fire. Read the Book of Revelation. God lays out His plan right there. By the way, the “fires of judgment” are not purgatory! Purgatory doesn’t exist! I explain who invented it and why here.
Let’s Hear from Paul. He quoted a passage from this chapter in Romans chapter 9. In Romans 8:28, he reiterates…
28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
Romans 8:28 NKJV
Notice the last part of that passage, “to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” See, there’s a caveat. Things will work out if you are like King Hezekiah, who humbled himself and turned to God for help. It’s the people who seek God’s purpose for their lives. The ones who pray and ask Him to reveal His Will to them.
In Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians, he also tells us what the Antichrist or the “lawless one” will be like…
9 The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, 10 and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11 And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, 12 that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
2 Thessalonians 2:9-12 NKJV
Friend, Jesus can come back for His church in the Rapture at any moment! You really don’t want to be Left Behind to face the Great Tribulation!
It’s YOUR Choice!
If you’re not sure if you’re saved or not, if you truly want to be born again and have the assurance of salvation, receive the Holy Spirit, feel His Shalom — a peace that surpasses all understanding, and get a 1-way, non-stop ticket to Heaven after you die, or that you won’t be left behind at the Rapture, which can happen at any moment, this is what you have to do…
