Isaiah 10:1-4

The Sovereign Lord’s Effective Word Against Israel Who Have Failed To Respond To His Warnings (Isaiah 9:8 to Isaiah 10:4 ).

It is a huge and deliberate anticlimax to move from the coming of the Davidic king and his great triumph back to the sinful state of Israel, the northern kingdom. (But as we have already seen these contrasts are a feature of Isaiah). For whereas the future was moving forward to triumph, the present was heading for disaster. As well as being concerned for Judah, Isaiah was desperately concerned for Israel in its present state, and we now have depicted a series of events in which God will reveal His anger against Israel because of their disobedience to the covenant, and will seek by chastisement to bring them back to Himself.

Isaiah 9:8 to Isaiah 10:4

The Four Chastisements (Isaiah 9:8 to Isaiah 10:4 ).

The four chastisements are distinguished by their all ending with the words, ‘For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.’

Analysis.

a The first chastisement is the invasion by Syria and Philistia, seeking to make them join an alliance with them against Assyria (Isaiah 9:8-12).

b The second is the removal of their leadership (Isaiah 9:13-17).

b The third is the disintegration of their society (Isaiah 9:18-21).

a The fourth is bad leadership, rank injustice, and captivity (Isaiah 10:1-4).

In ‘a’ there is the threat of captivity and in the parallel it is to become a reality. In ‘b’ their leadership is to be removed, and in the parallel it results in their society becoming disjointed.