Isaiah 10:20-27

SALVATION OF THE REMNANT

TEXT: Isaiah 10:20-27

20

And it shall come to pass in that day, that the remnant of Israel, and they that are escaped of the house of Jacob, shall no more again lean upon him that smote them, but shall lean upon Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel, in truth.

21

A remnant shall return, even the remnant of Jacob, unto the mighty God.

22

For though thy people, Israel, be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them shall return: a destruction is determined, overflowing with righteousness.

23

For a full end, and that determined, will the Lord Jehovah of hosts, make in the midst of all the earth.

24

Therefore thus saith the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, O my people that dwellest in Zion, be not afraid of the Assyrian, though he smite thee with the rod, and lift up his staff against thee, after the manner of Egypt.

25

For yet a very little while, and the indignation against thee shall be accomplished, and mine anger shall be directed to his destruction.

26

And Jehovah of hosts will stir up against him a scourge, as in the slaughter of Midian at the rock of Oreb: and his rod will be over the sea, and he will lift it up after the manner of Egypt.

27

And it shall come to pass in that day, that his burden shall depart from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed by reason of fatness.

QUERIES

a.

When would the remnant return?

b.

Who is this remnant?

c.

What was the yoke God would remove from Israel's shoulder?

PARAPHRASE

Then at last, those left in Israel and in Judah will trust the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, instead of fearing the Assyrians. A remnant of them will return to the mighty God. But though Israel be now as many as the sands along the shore, yet only a few of them will be left to return at that time; God has rightly decided to destroy His people: Yes, it has already been decided by the Lord God of Hosts to consume them. Therefore the Lord God of Hosts says, O My people in Jerusalem, don-'t be afraid of the Assyrians when they oppress you just as the Egyptians did long ago. It will not last very long; in a little while My anger against you will end, and then it will rise against them to destroy them. The Lord of Hosts will send His angel to slay them in a mighty slaughter like the time when Gideon triumphed over Midian at the rock of Oreb or the time God drowned the Egyptian armies in the sea. On that day God will end the bondage of His people. He will break the slave-yoke off their necks, and destroy it as decreed.

COMMENTS

Isaiah 10:20-23 REPENTING REMNANT: A shear, remnant of Israel would survive the Assyrian captivity. Remnant is a small leftover. In this case the left-over piece of Israel is precious to God for it is the only part of the whole nation which has repented and turned back to Jehovah. The Assyrian captivity served as a sifting experience for those who claimed to be the covenant people. The majority of the ten northern tribes (the nation of Israel) were never to return to Palestine after the Assyrian captivity. They were dispersed all over the world by being sold as slaves, etc. Some who might have returned chose to stay where they had been taken and were the ancestors of that colony of Jews we read of in Esther. That a small remnant of the ten northern tribes did return in the days of Zerubbabel and Ezra is evident from the listing of tribal names in the book of Ezra. Judah, the southern kingdom, was taken captive by the Babylonians some 120 years after Israel's captivity. Then in about 536 B.C. the king of Persia, Cyrus, decreed the release of the Jews to return and rebuild their cities and temple. Jews from Israel and Judah returned as one nation. After many long years in forced exile among a vast sea of heathenism there was a sincere attitude of repentance and determination to do God's will permeating the returning Jews. This attitude of penitence did not last long with some of the people, however, and Jewish history became one long story of the struggles of a small remnant trying to remain faithful in the face of persecution and efforts to heathenize them.

The statement A remnant shall return is in Hebrew literally, shear-jashub. This was the name of one of Isaiah's sons (Cf. Isaiah 7:3) and was a sign or symbol to Ahaz that God would deliver a believing remnant. The idea is that deliverance is predicated upon one's spiritual relationship to God and not on one's national ancestry. This is the meaning of Isaiah 10:22. God promised Abraham that his progeny would, physically speaking, become as numerous as the sand of the sea. But God's spiritual promise of forgiveness, redemption and salvation was made to those who were the children of Abraham by faith (Cf. Galatians 3:1 to Galatians 4:7). Even in the days of Isaiah God's deliverance was focused not on physical relationship but spiritual relationship. These repenting Jews who believed God as He spoke through His prophets produced a small but steadfast line of faithful descendants down through the centuries. From their heritage of faith came people like the parents of John the Baptist, Mary, mother of Jesus, the apostles and others of Jesus-' day. Thus the Messiah, the seed of Abraham, was produced through this faithful remnant.

Isaiah 10:24-27 RESTORED REMNANT: Israel is warned and exhorted not to fear the Assyrians. The prophet bids them remember how mightily God delivered them from Egyptian bondage in the days of Moses. He also reminds them of the deliverance God wrought through the man Gideon after they had suffered years of bondage to their oppressors in the days of the judges. History proves God is able! The deliverance of God upon which man may depend is not wishful thinking. It is demonstrated time and again in history! Prophetic preaching today must take God's deeds demonstrated in history as its fundamental and ever-recurring basis! If preaching to our age is to accomplish its goal of evangelizing the world with the gospel of Christ it must concentrate on bringing a remnant to repentance.

The term indignation in Isaiah 10:25 is a technical term used by the prophets to designate the wrath of God executed in giving the covenant people over to captivity (Cf. Daniel 8:19; Daniel 11:36).

The Hebrew word shomen in Isaiah 10:27 translated fatness may also be translated anointing or fertility. For this reason some commentators think this passage is messianic and points to an ultimate deliverance when all men shall have opportunity to become seed of Abraham and a part of the remnant through Christ. Other commentators hold to the translation of fatness insisting it means only that deliverance from the Assyrian will be from within Israel because of her repentance (or fatness) as well as from God or without.

QUIZ

1.

What is a remnant?

2.

How do we know a remnant of Israel returned?

3.

Did God mean the whole Jewish nation would be the remnant? Why not?

4.

What did this remnant become?

5.

Why did the prophet appeal to past history?

6.

What does the term indignation mean?

7.

How may the word fatness be otherwise translated?