"Therefore this is what the Lord, the Lord Almighty, says: '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. Very soon My anger against you will end and My wrath will be directed to their destruction.'" (Isaiah 10:24-25) The Lord's anger against His people is justified. The fact that it is temporary is not a sign that anger is not the correct response to their waywardness; the fact that His anger is temporary is a sign of His love and of His faithfulness to the covenant He made with Abraham.
"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." (Isaiah 10:26) The reference to "them" is a reference to the Assyrians.
The Lord's people, under the leadership of Gideon who was instructed by the Lord, won a great victory over the nation of Midian in the time of the judges. The Lord's people won a great victory over the nation of Egypt, under the leadership of Moses and by the miracles of the Lord, in the time of the Exodus. Their deliverance from Assyria will be just as complete and just as astonishing.
"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." (Isaiah 10:27) The use of the word "fat" is a symbol for prosperity, for blessing, and for strength.
The Lord will break the yoke off from their necks. The Lord will lift the burden from their shoulders. This is His doing.
Have you ever felt heavily burdened? Do you feel heavily burdened right now? The burdens of this world and the burdens of our sin are heavy---too heavy for human shoulders to carry. Whenever we are feeling heavily burdened and discouraged it helps to remember that the Lord's burden is light. A heavy burden is not from Him. Our sins burden us down and the weight of the world burdens us down; therefore, what we need to do is bow before Him and repent of anything we need to repent of and surrender our cares to Him. We were never designed to carry the weight of the world on our shoulders. Whenever we feel like we can't go on, it's because we are trying to do things we were never meant to do. We are either living in an attitude of rebellion and have gotten off track or else we are worrying about things that aren't in our power to control.
The world is a scary place, but He has overcome the world. (John 16:33) We must repent of any sin we are aware of and we must place all our cares at His feet. He will take the heavy burden from our shoulders and replace it with His yoke---and His yoke is comfortable, peaceful, and easy to carry. (Matthew 11:28-30)
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