Isaiah 9:8

The Bible says in Isaiah 9:8-13, “The Lord sent a word into Jacob, and it hath lighted upon Israel. And all the people shall know, even Ephraim and the inhabitant of Samaria, that say in the pride and stoutness of heart, The bricks are fallen down, but we will build with hewn stones: the sycomores are cut down, but we will change them into cedars. Therefore the LORD shall set up the adversaries of Rezin against him, and join his enemies together; The Syrians before, and the Philistines behind; and they shall devour Israel with open mouth. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still. For the people turneth not unto him that smiteth them, neither do they seek the LORD of hosts.” It says in Isaiah 9:8, “The Lord sent a word unto Jacob.” The Lord always sends His Word to the people of the world. That is exactly why He gave us the Bible. God has spoken to mankind. God has a message for mankind, and that message is the written Word of God.

The message that was given to the people of Israel in the time of the prophet Isaiah was a message of judgment and destruction. All people have sinned. Why does God not bring the same punishment upon us all? God’s chastisement is often more involved than just bringing His judgment against sin. Yes, Israel had sinned, and then God brought the first phase of judgment and chastisement. But the initial judgments were not for the purpose of destroying Israel. God chastises His people so that we will learn a lesson, so that we will quickly repent and turn to Him, and so that we will then become better servants of our Lord Jesus Christ. This principle of chastisement is found in Hebrews 12:5-11, “And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.”

Of course, there is one way to avoid this chastisement from the Lord. That one way is to make sure to judge yourself and immediately confess your sins. It says in First Corinthians 11:30-32, “For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.”

The final judgment and destruction that came upon Israel was not because of their sins, but was because of their lack of repentance after they had sinned. Israel did not respond properly to the chastisements that God had brought upon them. Instead of turning to the Lord, they continued to look for human solutions to fix their problems. The Israelites said, “The bricks are fallen down, but we will build with hewn stones: the sycomores are cut down, but we will change them into cedars.” That unrepentant humanism was their down-fall. Anyone who does not rely upon the Lord is heading for destruction. Anyone who does not respond properly to God’s chastisement is heading for destruction. And anyone who does not turn to the Lord Jesus Christ is also heading for an eternity without God outside of the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus said in Luke 13:5, “I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.”

The Bible says in Isaiah 9:14-21, “Therefore the LORD will cut off from Israel head and tail, branch and rush, in one day. The ancient and honourable, he is the head; and the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail. For the leaders of this people cause them to err; and they that are led of them are destroyed. Therefore the Lord shall have no joy in their young men, neither shall have mercy on their fatherless and widows: for every one is an hypocrite and an evildoer, and every mouth speaketh folly. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still. For wickedness burneth as the fire: it shall devour the briers and thorns, and shall kindle in the thickets of the forest, and they shall mount up like the lifting up of smoke. Through the wrath of the LORD of hosts is the land darkened, and the people shall be as the fuel of the fire: no man shall spare his brother. And he shall snatch on the right hand, and be hungry; and he shall eat on the left hand, and they shall not be satisfied: they shall eat every man the flesh of his own arm: Manasseh, Ephraim; and Ephraim, Manasseh: and they together shall be against Judah. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.”

There is one important point made in these verses that tell us why all of the people in the land of Israel became so wicked. It answers the questions: Where does wickedness start, and how does wickedness spread so widely in a particular country? It says, “For the leaders of this people cause them to err.” Everyone learns from someone else, especially in the younger and formative years. Also, everyone teaches and has influence on others in some way, perhaps by example or perhaps by words. Therefore, everyone teaches according to their own choices, circumstances, and opportunities. Of course, leaders have the greatest opportunity to teach, and they often set the standards and guidelines. What a leader says on a certain subject often becomes the teachings that many others will accept and follow. Human beings are followers, and they will for the most part follow their leaders. What happens when the leaders teach the wrong things? What happens when those who are older teach the wrong things to those who are younger? What usually happens is that they all go down the wrong path, and the greater part of the blame for it goes to the leaders. Jesus spoke of those who cause children to fall, and Jesus said in Luke 17:1-2, “Then said he unto the disciples, It is impossible but that offences will come: but woe unto him, through whom they come! It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones.” To “offend” means to cause to stumble, or to cause to be entrapped. A human being is definitely entrapped if he or she has received the wrong moral or spiritual teachings. Lives are ruined because of being taught the wrong things. Eternity is lost because of believing and accepting the wrong things. And judgment from God will surely come if the leaders of a people “cause them to err.”

The Bible says in Isaiah 10:1-3, “Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that write grievousness which they have prescribed; To turn aside the needy from judgment, and to take away the right from the poor of my people, that widows may be their prey, and that they may rob the fatherless! And what will ye do in the day of visitation, and in the desolation which shall come from far? to whom will ye flee for help? and where will ye leave your glory?” Notice that this wickedness starts with what the leaders think and say, and ends with how they treat the people. The leaders “decree unrighteous decrees” because they have the wrong ideas about life and because they have the wrong motivation. They do not know the Word of God, or they refuse to allow the Word of God to be a part of their thoughts. Because they think wrong, they also do wrong. These wicked people in positions of power and authority take advantage of the weak and needy people around them. There were no social security systems or welfare systems in the days of the Bible. Those who were disadvantaged such as widows and orphans were really exposed to danger, and were really in need for someone to help them. You could not be any worse of a human being than: “To turn aside the needy from judgment, and to take away the right from the poor of my people, that widows may be their prey, and that they may rob the fatherless!” God sees and knows, and His judgment will come against those who have harmed the innocent ones of the earth.

The Bible says in Isaiah 10:4-12, “Without me they shall bow down under the prisoners, and they shall fall under the slain. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still. O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation. I will send him against an hypocritical nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets. Howbeit he meaneth not so, neither doth his heart think so; but it is in his heart to destroy and cut off nations not a few. For he saith, Are not my princes altogether kings? Is not Calno as Carchemish? is not Hamath as Arpad? is not Samaria as Damascus? As my hand hath found the kingdoms of the idols, and whose graven images did excel them of Jerusalem and of Samaria; Shall I not, as I have done unto Samaria and her idols, so do to Jerusalem and her idols? Wherefore it shall come to pass, that when the Lord hath performed his whole work upon mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the stout heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his high looks.”

God uses people to accomplish His will. As we see here with the country of Assyria, God even uses the unsaved to do His bidding. Because God is God, He is involved in all the events of the world. Man is held responsible for his actions, but somehow God even uses the free-will of man to accomplish His perfect will. Assyria was only allowed to defeat Israel because God allowed it. Of course, we do not always know why God allows what He allows to happen, but we do know the reason in the case of Assyria conquering Israel. God was bringing judgment on Israel because of Israel’s sins. God is judge of the whole earth, and He judges when and where He knows that it’s time for judgment. God always gives an opportunity to repent because He is merciful, but if someone refuses to repent, judgment will eventually come from a holy God. God is the Judge of the whole earth. Assyria was used by God to judge Israel, but then Assyria was also judged because they committed the same sins that Israel had committed: the sins of arrogance and pride. God said in Isaiah 10:12, “I will punish the fruit of the stout heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his high looks.”

For many people the judgment that they face will come when they stand before the Lord on the last day. It will be a terrible judgment for those who do not know the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior. The Bible says in Revelation 21:8, “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.”

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