The northern kingdom of Israel will fall because the people there began lapsing into idolatry two centuries ago and the problem has only continued to grow worse. But Judah can learn from the fate of Israel. Idolatry has crept into Judah as well, and King Ahaz, to whom Isaiah was sent earlier in the book, is a prime example of ungodly living and ungodly leadership. Many have followed the wicked example of Ahaz and of some of the leaders before him. Many have followed the wicked desires of their own hearts. For these reasons, the Lord will allow Assyria to invade several cities of Judah and to cause destruction in a number of regions. But He will not allow the Assyrian army to take Jerusalem.
These next verses describe the progression of the Assyrian soldiers into Judah. "They enter Aiath; they pass through Migron; they store supplies at Mikmash. They go over the pass, and say, 'We will camp overnight at Geba.' Ramah trembles; Gibeah of Saul flees. Cry out, Daughter Gallim! Listen, Laishah! Poor Anathoth! Madmenah is in flight; the people of Gebim take cover. This day they will halt at Nob; they will shake their fist at the mount of Daughter Zion, at the hill of Jerusalem." (Isaiah 10:28-32)
It can be difficult for us to stand strong in faith when it looks like things are going from bad to worse. The cities named above are named in order from the outskirts of Judah moving inward toward Jerusalem. As the dreadful army advanced, many people must have shaken in fear. Many may have felt shaken in their faith as well. But the Bible never tells us to go by appearances or by what we feel. We are commanded instead to live by the word of God, in spite of it looking as if the world is falling down around us, in spite of how anxious we feel.
The Assyrian army will make it to as far as Nob, which is just outside of Jerusalem. The soldiers will "shake their fist" at Jerusalem, threatening to take that city as well, but right there is where the Lord is going to stop them. You may recall from our study of the kings that the Lord miraculously struck 185,000 Assyrian soldiers dead in the middle of the night, putting a halt to the enemy king's intention to lay siege or to attack the walls, for he lacked the manpower now and was obliged to retreat.
Every time the people of Jerusalem got word that the Assyrian army was continuing to move their way, they must have experienced intense feelings of dread---except for those who believed the word of the Lord who said to them through the prophet Isaiah, "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. He will cut down the forest thickets with an axe; Lebanon will fall before the Mighty One." (Isaiah 10:33-34)
The Lord compares the fierce warriors of the Assyrian army to the tall cedars of Lebanon. But just as an axe laid to the trunk of a tree cuts it down, He will cut down the men of this army. He will do it in such a way that it cannot be explained by human reasoning. The enemies of His people will be forced to acknowledge that a supernatural power is at work on behalf of Judah.
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