“The Remnants”
[Isaiah 10:16-34]
August 12, 2018, Second Reformed
Church
God is Sovereign, and we have seen
that God allowed the evil Assyrians to conquer Israel and attack Judah to
accomplish the good work of God’s discipline of His people. So, one act can be done for both evil and
good reasons.
And we saw that we are responsible for our
actions. When we sin, that debt to God
must be paid. We can pay it – or, if we
believe in Jesus – Who He is and what He did as God and Savior, Jesus will pay
the debt to God.
When we left off last week, God explains
that the Assyrians were conquering for their own evil agenda, and they are absolutely,
ignorantly, arrogant about who they are and their power. They thought they were “all that” and no one
would ever be able to hold them accountable or stop them.
God continues speaking about what He will
do to punish the Assyrians for their sin.
And we see, a remnant of the Assyrians
will remain.
“Therefore the Lord GOD of hosts will
send wasting sickness among his stout warriors, and under his glory a burning
will be kindled, like the burning of fire.”
The Lord God, the Sovereign God,
will send a sickness that kills off a large percentage of the warriors that
march against Israel and Judah. And,
whereas the Assyrians gave themselves glory for their evil deeds, God will set
a fire beneath them that burns up their glory – that will shrivel away and die
and effectively become nothing under the Hand of God.
“The light of Israel will become a fire, and
his Holy One a flame, and it will burn and devour his thorns and briers in one
day.”
The Light of Israel, Who is the Holy God –
is Light, revelation, promise, hope to Israel, but it is fire – rapid fire and
destruction to the Assyrians. Their
downfall will take place in the space of a day.
“The glory of his forest and of his
fruitful land the LORD will destroy, both soul and body, and it will be as when
a sick man wastes away. The remnant of the trees of his forest will be so few that
a child can write them down.”
God will destroy the Assyrians, both in
soul and body. They will lose their
physical wealth and health, and they will lose their spiritual health and
future. They will be left without hope.
And the number of Assyrians that will be
left on the earth will be so few that a child can write them down. Think about your grandchildren – when they were
3 or 4 – how high could they count? That
is how few Assyrians would be left after God punishes them.
And we might wonder why God left any of
them at all.
We’re not told, but God doesn’t have to
physically punish His enemies in this life.
And it may be that God leaves witnesses to His power and to the evil of
this type of group by leaving a remnant behind.
Yet, they are without hope.
Everything is lost.
For those who never believe in Jesus
savingly, there is no hope – everything is lost.
Second, a remnant of Israel and Judah will
return.
“In that day the remnant of Israel
and the survivors of the house of Jacob will no more lean on him who struck
them, but will lean on the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. A remnant
will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God.”
When the time of Israel and Judah’s
discipline is over, a remnant will physically return to the land and
spiritually repent and exhibit faith and obedience to the Lord, the Holy One,
the Almighty God. This will be proof
that the discipline did what it was intended to do – to restore God’s people to
a right relationship with Him – to have them turn from their sin and to place
their hope and obedience in Him.
“For though your people Israel be as
the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will return. Destruction is
decreed, overflowing with righteousness. For the Lord GOD of hosts will make a
full end, as decreed, in the midst of all the earth.”
God promises Abraham that his descendants
would be numbered like the sand of the sea, but, at this time, they will be
small in number. Destruction will occur,
and the keeping of God’s Law will occur, and this will happen.
We need to remember that Isaiah is
telling Israel and Judah things that are going to happen – as he tells them how
God will destroy the Assyrians, they haven’t taken Israel and Judah into
captivity yet – these are still things that will occur in the future. God is revealing what He will do so Israel
and Judah will not lose hope, but be ready and come to repentance.
Do you remember times when God has
brought you through discipline and suffering?
Are you thankful?
As David repents of his sins
regarding Bathsheba, he writes, “Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones
that you have broken rejoice” (Psalm 51:8, ESV).
Did you hear that? God may break our bones in discipline to save
us, and our response ought to be to turn and repent and rejoice that God broke
our bones – and not more. The goal of
discipline is restoration.
God saved a remnant of Israel and
Judah, and God is saving a remnant out of every people, nation, tribe, and
tongue in humanity.
Third, there is no need to fear the
Assyrians.
“Therefore thus says the Lord GOD of
hosts: ‘O my people, who dwell in Zion, be not afraid of the Assyrians when
they strike with the rod and lift up their staff against you as the Egyptians
did. For in a very little while my fury will come to an end, and my anger will
be directed to their destruction. And the LORD of hosts will wield against them
a whip, as when he struck Midian at the rock of Oreb. And his staff will be
over the sea, and he will lift it as he did in Egypt. And in that day his
burden will depart from your shoulder, and his yoke from your neck; and the
yoke will be broken because of the fat.’”
God tells the inhabitants of Zion –
of Jerusalem – in particular – not to be afraid of the Assyrians because it
will not be long after they begin striking that God will deliver Jerusalem.
Like Midian.
We remember that Israel was
oppressed by the Midianites in Judges chapter seven, and Gideon called up and
army of 32,000 to wage war. But God told
Gideon that that was too large an army. So, Gideon said that anyone who was
afraid could leave, and 10,000 went home.
But God said that 22,000 was too large an army. The numbers had to be pared down further so
the people would understand that God won the victory for them, So, God told Gideon to have the men drink from
the stream, and those who lapped up the water like dogs would be the ones to
take into battle. The army then numbered
300 men.
Gideon led the 300 to the Midian
camp and they all blew their trumpets.
God caused the Midianites to be so startled and confused that they
pulled out their swords and killed each other, and some ran away. The Lord won the battle over the Midianites.
Like the Red Sea of Egypt.
In Exodus 14, Israel had made her
way to the shore of the Red Sea after leaving Egypt, and they were, seemingly,
stuck, and they saw the Egyptians coming towards them. They cried out that they would give themselves
back into slavery in Egypt, if the Egyptians would not kill them in the
wilderness. But God said He would
deliver them if they would just be quiet.
And we read:
“Then Moses stretched out his hand over
the sea, and the LORD drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night and
made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. And the people of Israel
went into the midst of the sea on dry ground, the waters being a wall to them
on their right hand and on their left. The Egyptians pursued and went in after
them into the midst of the sea, all Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, and his
horsemen. And in the morning watch the LORD in the pillar of fire and of cloud
looked down on the Egyptian forces and threw the Egyptian forces into a panic,
clogging their chariot wheels so that they drove heavily. And the Egyptians
said, ‘Let us flee from before Israel, for the LORD fights for them against the
Egyptians.’
“Then the LORD said to Moses, ‘Stretch
out your hand over the sea, that the water may come back upon the Egyptians,
upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen.’ So Moses stretched out his hand
over the sea, and the sea returned to its normal course when the morning
appeared. And as the Egyptians fled into it, the LORD threw the Egyptians into
the midst of the sea. The waters returned and covered the chariots and the
horsemen; of all the host of Pharaoh that had followed them into the sea, not
one of them remained. But the people of Israel walked on dry ground through the
sea, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left” (Exodus
14:21-29, ESV).
The Lord won the battle over the
Egyptians.
Has God done anything good for you
in your past? Anything? Does that give you courage not to be afraid
of what may come? Courage to endure the
discipline of our loving Father?
The author of Hebrews writes, “For
the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it
yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it”
(Hebrews 12:11, ESV).
There is no reason to be afraid of
the Assyrians. The worst they can do is
kill your body. They cannot separate you
from God, if you are reconciled to Him.
Then God gives a dramatic telling of
moving towards Jerusalem – naming towns closer and closer to the city:
“He has come to Aiath; he has passed through
Migron; at Michmash he stores his baggage; they have crossed over the pass; at
Geba they lodge for the night; Ramah trembles; Gibeah of Saul has fled. Cry
aloud, O daughter of Gallim! Give attention, O Laishah! O poor Anathoth! Madmenah
is in flight; the inhabitants of Gebim flee for safety. This very day he will
halt at Nob; he will shake his fist at the mount of the daughter of Zion, the
hill of Jerusalem. Behold, the Lord GOD
of hosts will lop the boughs with terrifying power; the great in height will be
hewn down, and the lofty will be brought low. He will cut down the thickets of
the forest with an axe, and Lebanon will fall by the Majestic One.”
Yes, the Assyrians are coming. Yes, God is using them to discipline Israel
and Judah. Yes, they are getting closer
– by the time the stop at Nob, they would only be a mile outside of the
city. But God has promised to end the
discipline at the right time. Just as He
confused and defeated the Midianites and drown Pharaoh and his army – God has a
plan that He is bringing to fruition. No
matter who is coming, God is in change, God is Sovereign, God will lead us and
even directly intercede to bring it to an end, as He is willing.
In II Kings 19, we read
that the Assyrians, under the leadership of their King, Sennacherib, were on
the march against Jerusalem, and King Hezekiah of Judah went to Isaiah to ask
him to plead for them before the Lord, and he did.
God says that Jerusalem
should plant wheat and vineyards so they will be bearing when the remnant
returns out of captivity.
“Therefore thus says the
LORD concerning the king of Assyria: He shall not come into this city or shoot
an arrow there, or come before it with a shield or cast up a siege mound
against it. By the way that he came, by
the same he shall return, and he shall not come into this city, declares the
LORD. For I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake and for the sake
of my servant David.”
“And that night the angel
of the LORD went out and struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians. And
when people arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies.
Then Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and went home and lived at Nineveh.
And as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, Adrammelech and
Sharezer, his sons, struck him down with the sword and escaped into the land of
Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son reigned in his place” (II Kings 19:32-37, ESV).
Before the Assyrians
could conquer Jerusalem, God killed most of their army and sent their king back
home to be murdered by his sons.
Isaiah’s son is named,
Shear-jashub, a remnant will return. A
remnant will return.
We don’t know how our
lives will play out. We don’t know what
discipline God knows we need. We don’t
know if we will die sooner, rather than later.
We don’t know if we will be taken into captivity. We don’t know if we will remain here and see
the Hand of God against His – and our – enemies.
What we do know is God is
faithful. We have seen God’s
faithfulness in the past. And God
continues to prove Himself faithful. God
is just and merciful. What mercy we have
received! What grace we have been given.
Let us pray:
Almighty God and Father,
Holy One, we come to You as Your children, bought by Your Son, Your Gift to
Your people. That alone should fill us
with confidence and thanks to follow after You in faith and obedience. But we shake as the Midianites come and the
Egyptians come and the Assyrians come.
Shore us up by the power and work of God the Holy Spirit. Give us Your wisdom and help us to receive every
word You have said in trust. In Jesus’
Name, Amen.
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