The Prophecy of Isaiah - Lesson 10: "The Lord's Anger against Israel" (Isaiah 9:8-10:4)

The Prophecy of Isaiah
Lesson 10: “The Lord’s Anger against Israel” (Isaiah 9:8–10:4)

Introduction

• Israel and Judah should have been paying attention to their relation to God and what he expected of them as his covenant partners.
• Instead, they were more concerned about the threat from Assyria (which was God’s judgment on their disobedience).
• Isaiah 9:8–10:4 is composed of four parallel sections.
• Each section ends with the refrain: “Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away, his hand is still upraised.” (9:12, 17, 21; 10:4)
• This repeated refrain communicates the fact that God’s anger against sin cannot be easily assuaged.
  His wrath will fall in multiple stages on Israel, because of their disobedience.

Outline

• The Lord’s Anger at Human Pride (9:8–12)
• The Lord’s Anger at Wicked Leaders (9:13–17)
• The Lord’s Anger at Internal Strife (9:18–21)
• The Lord’s Anger at Social Injustice (10:1–4)

The Lord’s Anger at Human Pride (9:8–12)

• The Lord’s warning to Israel has been clear (8–9a).

The Lord has sent a message against Jacob; it will fall on Israel. All the people will know it–– Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria–– who say with pride and arrogance of heart,
(Isa. 9:8–9 NIV)

• The Lord is angry with Israel because of their self-dependent pride (9b–10).

All the people will know it–– Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria–– who say with pride and arrogance of heart, "The bricks have fallen down, but we will rebuild with dressed stone; the fig trees have been felled, but we will replace them with cedars." (Isa. 9:9–10 NIV)

• The Lord’s wrath is coming and will not be quickly extinguished (11–12).

But the LORD has strengthened Rezin's foes against them and has spurred their enemies on. Arameans from the east and Philistines from the west have devoured Israel with open mouth. Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away, his hand is still upraised. (Isa. 9:11–12 NIV)

The Lord’s Anger at Wicked Leaders (9:13–17)

• Stubbornly unrepentant, even after the Lord’s judgments (13).

But the people have not returned to him who struck them, nor have they sought the LORD Almighty. (Isa. 9:13 NIV)

• The Lord’s anger directed at the leaders and prophets who have failed to guide the people to repentance (14–16).

So the LORD will cut off from Israel both head and tail, both palm branch and reed in a single day; the elders and dignitaries are the head, the prophets who teach lies are the tail. Those who guide this people mislead them, and those who are guided are led astray. (Isa. 9:14–16 NIV)

• The Lord’s anger will be all-inclusive and unrelenting (17).

Therefore the Lord will take no pleasure in the young men, nor will he pity the fatherless and widows, for everyone is ungodly and wicked, every mouth speaks folly. Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away, his hand is still upraised. (Isa. 9:17 NIV)

The Lord’s Anger at Internal Strife (9:18–21)

• Wickedness has devastating and far-reaching consequences (18).

Surely wickedness burns like a fire; it consumes briers and thorns, it sets the forest thickets ablaze, so that it rolls upward in a column of smoke. (Isa. 9:18 NIV)

• The tribes of Israel were full of internal strife and division. They selfishly looked out for the good of their own tribe above the good of the nation. Now, that internal strife was magnified by the devastation of war (19–21).

By the wrath of the LORD Almighty the land will be scorched and the people will be fuel for the fire; they will not spare one another. On the right they will devour, but still be hungry; on the left they will eat, but not be satisfied. Each will feed on the flesh of their own offspring: Manasseh will feed on Ephraim, and Ephraim on Manasseh; together they will turn against Judah. Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away, his hand is still upraised. (Isa. 9:19–21 NIV)

The Lord’s Anger at Social Injustice (10:1–4)

• The Lord’s holy wrath was particularly directed against those who distorted justice and took advantage of the weak (1–2).

Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees, 2 to deprive the poor of their rights and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people, making widows their prey and robbing the fatherless. (Isa. 10:1–2 NIV)

• There will be no hiding from the Lord’s wrath against wickedness (3–4).

What will you do on the day of reckoning, when disaster comes from afar? To whom will you run for help? Where will you leave your riches? Nothing will remain but to cringe among the captives or fall among the slain. Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away, his hand is still upraised. (Isa. 10:3–4 NIV)