OUR FATHER WHO INTERVENES ON BEHALF OF HIS PEOPLE 

The book of Isaiah chapter 10 verse 33 says this;

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.

Continuing on to verse 33, we see the reason why the Assyrians attempt to overrun Jerusalem is thwarted.

The direct intervention by the Lord Almighty to disassemble the kingdom of darkness occurs here.

The heirarchical structures that were assembled  by the Assyrian to create a platform from which to rule the whole  earth, are cut off by the Lord himself.

The nations and kingdoms that formed the Assyrian's  power base are cut apart and are weakened and destroyed.

Amen.

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OUR FATHER SAVES HIS PEOPLE 

The book of Isaiah chapter 10 verses 30 - 32 says this;

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.

The desparate scramble by Assyria to reach Jerusalem to try and forestall their inevitable defeat, occurs in this passage.

The towns along the route to Jerusalem are in fear as the Assyrians march past them.

Some, like Gallim, cry out in fear while Laisha lays low and listens. Others just brace for the coming assault and suffer as Anathoth does.

Others, like Madmenah,  in the face of the approaching Assyrians, pack and run away while Gebim takes cover and hides from the army.

When the Assyrian army reaches the town of Nob (which is about 3 miles from Jerusalem), they stop and they lament and shake their fists at the mount of Daughter Zion ( the mount of olives) at the hill of Jerusalem which is between Nob and the city of Jerusalem.

The push to reach Jerusalem by the frantic Assyrians fails and they angrily shake their fists at what impedes their attack.

This symbolizes the attempt of the kingdom of darkness to short-circuit prophecy by invading Jerusalem but the daughty of Zion, the nation of Israel, prevents this from happening.

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OUR FATHER WHOSE ENEMIES FLEE BEFORE HIM

The book of Isaiah chapter 10 verse 28 says this;

They go over the pass, and say, “We will camp overnight at Geba.”

Ramah trembles;  Gibeah of Saul flees.

Continuing from verse 27 which we examined yesterday,  we look now see some details of the retreat of the Assyrians.

As they escape from the debilitating plagues that are being visited upon them,  they march away over a mountain pass so as to be able to defend their retreat.

As the Assyrians crowd into Geba to camp, Ramah ( which is just 2 miles down the road ), is in fear because of the proximity of the harsh army.

Seven miles away, the town of Gibeah evacuates in fear of the Assyrian army.

In the spiritual realm, the retreating army of darkness acts vengefully towards those it comes across and those in its path of retreat suffer the violence and violation of its creed.

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 OUR FATHER WHO KNOWS EVERY MANEUVER OF THE ENEMY

The book of Isaiah chapter 10 verse 28 says this;

They enter Aiath; they pass through Migron; they store supplies at Mikmash.

This verse speaks of the movements of the Assyrians after they have been struck by the power of God.

They move through towns that are not known today and they hide their supplies that they amassed for their operations at Mikmash (which means a concealed place).

These are stored at a hidden location ( the identity of Mikmash is not certain) for future plans once the kingdom of darkness regroups.

This effort by the Assyrian reveals the thought process that got him to believe that a pre-emptive power-grab would give him total control of the earth without needing to go through the judgement at the end of time.

Once the futility of the lunge for power becomes obvious, he will run and hide and wait for another time.

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OUR FATHER WHO EMPOWERS HIS REMNANT PEOPLE

The book of Isaiah chapter 10 verse 27 says this;

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.

This verse speaks of the causal agent of the end of the bondage of slavery of the Assyrians over the people of God.

In the interpretation of the NIV and many other versions, the yoke of oppression is removed because of  the increase of fat. This is then read to mean the prosperity and well-being of the people of God expands beyond the capability of the Assyrian oppressor to contain or control them.

Alternately, versions such as the NKJV, render the text this way;

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.

In this case, instead of 'fat', the translators interpreted the Hebrew to say, 'annointing oil'.

Instead of a mechanical metaphor representing the cessation of bondage because of a misfitting of the yoke as the size of those yoked grew, the causal agent of the end of bondage is represented as an 'annointing oil' which can be understood to be a spiritual amplifier of strength in the natural realm.

Thus, the text can be read to mean that the oppression of God's people is brought to an end because they are annointed with oil and are able, even as a remnant, to break away from under the Assyians by the strength they are imbued with.

Because the narrative has a unambiguous backdrop of the people of God being a small remnant at the time of the events being described, I believe it is more accurate to see the causal agent of the removal of the yoke of bondage over God's people as a function of a spiritual empowering via announting oil rather than an enlargement of their numbers or prosperity represented as fat.

Amen.

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 OUR FATHER WHO TAKES ACTION AGAINST THE OPPRESSORS OF HIS PEOPLE

The book of Isaiah chapter 10 verse 26 says this;

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.

This verse speaks of the ways that the Lord will take action against the Assyrians when His anger is redirected toward them.

These actions are compared to specific actions that were taken against the enemies of the children Israel when they were leaving the bondage of Egypt.

Firstly, the  Assyrians will be struck with a whip as Midian was struck at the rock of oreb by the remnant of 300 men under Gideon.

As Midian was struck down, the present oppressors will be suddenly surprised in their camps and they will be struck and sent scattering in a panic. Some of their leaders will be tracked down as Oreb and Zeeb were tracked down and they will be put down as described in the book of Judges chapter 7.

Secondly, just as the staff of Moses was raised over the waters in Egypt to turn all their surface water to blood,  the Lord's staff will be raised over the waters of the Assyrians and their resources will be turned to blood.

Every resource that the Assyrians have amassed for themselves will become as blood and carry an unbearable stench and will be rendered unusable.

Thus , two prongs of action against the Assyrians will leave them defeated.

Amen.

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