Background
The first four verses finish the poem against Israel that began in Isa. 9:8. Then the focus shifts to Assyria, the superpower that had just destroyed Samaria (722 BC) and was eyeing Jerusalem next.
This is one of the Bible’s most important passages on how God works in history. Assyria was brutal, and its kings recorded their conquests with pride. Their inscriptions boast of flaying rebels, deporting whole populations, and receiving tribute from terrified kings. Isaiah has a startling claim to make about this empire: it is only a tool, and the Lord is holding it.
The chapter ends with a vivid sequence (verses 28–32) of an army marching town by town toward Jerusalem, and then a sudden felling of the forest. Nephi quoted the chapter as 2 Ne. 20.
The thread through the chapter
Isaiah 10 answers a question that troubled Israel and still troubles believers: How can God use wicked nations, and what happens to them afterward?
The answer comes in a single, unforgettable image: “Shall the axe boast itself against him that heweth therewith?” (verse 15).
The Lord calls Assyria “the rod of mine anger” (verse 5). He is sending it to discipline a “hypocritical nation,” His own people. But Assyria doesn’t know it’s a rod. “He meaneth not so” (verse 7). In Assyria’s mind, its victories are its own: “By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom” (verse 13). It lines up its conquests like trophies and assumes Jerusalem will be next (verses 8–11). It gathers nations the way a boy gathers eggs from an abandoned nest, and “none… peeped” (verse 14).
So the tool will be broken once its work is done (verse 12). The axe that thought it was the woodsman will itself be cut down. The chapter ends with the Lord lopping the proud forest of Assyria “with terror,” so that Lebanon falls (verses 33–34).
In between, Isaiah plants a seed of hope. A remnant of Israel will return, not to Assyria, the power that struck them, but “unto the mighty God” (verse 21). That is the same title given to the child in Isa. 9:6.
And the fallen forest sets up the next chapter perfectly. Assyria’s forest will never regrow. But from the cut-down stump of Jesse, a rod will sprout (Isa. 11:1).
Tap any highlighted phrase to open a note beneath its versein the margin.
Woe to those who write unjust laws
Woe to those who make unjust laws and write oppressive decrees to deprive the poor of justice, rob My people’s needy of their rights, prey on widows, and plunder orphans. What will you do on the day of reckoning, when disaster comes from far away? Who will you run to for help? Where will you leave your wealth? You will crouch among the prisoners or fall among the dead. Even so, His hand is still stretched out.
1 Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that write grievousness which they have prescribed;
2 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!
3 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?
4 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.
The rod that thinks it is the hand
Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger and the club of My wrath! I send it against a godless nation to plunder it and trample it like mud in the streets. But that’s not what Assyria intends. It only wants to destroy nations. It boasts, “Aren’t my commanders all kings? Didn’t Calno, Hamath, and Samaria fall like Carchemish, Arpad, and Damascus? I conquered kingdoms whose idols were greater than Jerusalem’s. I’ll do to Jerusalem what I did to Samaria.” When the Lord has finished His work on Mount Zion, He will punish the arrogant king of Assyria, who says, “I did this by my own strength and wisdom. I erased borders and plundered treasures. I gathered the wealth of nations like eggs from a nest, and no one flapped a wing or chirped.” Does the axe boast over the one who swings it? Does the saw brag against the one who uses it? As if a stick could lift the person holding it! So the Lord will send a wasting disease on Assyria’s strong warriors. The Light of Israel will become a fire and His Holy One a flame, and in one day it will burn up Assyria’s thorns and briers and the glory of its forests and fields. So few trees will be left that a child could count them.
5 O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation.
6 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.
7 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.
8 For he saith, Are not my princes altogether kings?
9 Is not Calno as Carchemish? is not Hamath as Arpad? is not Samaria as Damascus?
10 As my hand hath found the kingdoms of the idols, and whose graven images did excel them of Jerusalem and of Samaria;
11 Shall I not, as I have done unto Samaria and her idols, so do to Jerusalem and her idols?
12 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.
13 For he saith, By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom; for I am prudent: and I have removed the bounds of the people, and have robbed their treasures, and I have put down the inhabitants like a valiant man:
14 And my hand hath found as a nest the riches of the people: and as one gathereth eggs that are left, have I gathered all the earth; and there was none that moved the wing, or opened the mouth, or peeped.
15 Shall the axe boast itself against him that heweth therewith? or shall the saw magnify itself against him that shaketh it? as if the rod should shake itself against them that lift it up, or as if the staff should lift up itself, as if it were no wood.
16 Therefore shall the Lord, the Lord of hosts, send among his fat ones leanness; and under his glory he shall kindle a burning like the burning of a fire.
17 And the light of Israel shall be for a fire, and his Holy One for a flame: and it shall burn and devour his thorns and his briers in one day;
18 And shall consume the glory of his forest, and of his fruitful field, both soul and body: and they shall be as when a standardbearer fainteth.
19 And the rest of the trees of his forest shall be few, that a child may write them.
A remnant shall return to the mighty God
In that day the remnant of Israel will no longer lean on the power that struck them. They will truly lean on the Lord, the Holy One of Israel. A remnant will return, a remnant of Jacob, to the Mighty God. Though Israel is as numerous as the sand of the sea, only a remnant will return. The destruction has been decided, overflowing with justice. So the Lord says: My people in Zion, don’t be afraid of Assyria, though it beats you as Egypt did. In a very little while My anger will end and turn against Assyria. I will strike it as I struck Midian at the rock of Oreb and as I raised My staff over the sea against Egypt. In that day its burden will be lifted from your shoulder and its yoke from your neck; the yoke will be broken because of the anointing.
20 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the remnant of Israel, and such as are escaped of the house of Jacob, shall no more again stay upon him that smote them; but shall stay upon the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, in truth.
21 The remnant shall return, even the remnant of Jacob, unto the mighty God.
22 For though thy people Israel be as the sand of the sea, yet a remnant of them shall return: the consumption decreed shall overflow with righteousness.
23 For the Lord GOD of hosts shall make a consumption, even determined, in the midst of all the land.
24 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD of hosts, O my people that dwellest in Zion, be not afraid of the Assyrian: he shall smite thee with a rod, and shall lift up his staff against thee, after the manner of Egypt.
25 For yet a very little while, and the indignation shall cease, and mine anger in their destruction.
26 And the LORD of hosts shall stir up a scourge for him according to the slaughter of Midian at the rock of Oreb: and as his rod was upon the sea, so shall he lift it up after the manner of Egypt.
27 And it shall come to pass in that day, that his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing.
The march on Jerusalem, and the felling of the forest
The invader has reached Aiath, passed through Migron, and stored his supplies at Michmash. He crosses the pass and camps at Geba. Ramah trembles; Gibeah of Saul runs away. Cry out, Gallim! Listen, Laish! Poor Anathoth! Madmenah is fleeing; Gebim’s people are taking cover. Today he stops at Nob and shakes his fist at Mount Zion, at the hill of Jerusalem. But look! The Lord of hosts will lop off the branches with terrifying power. The tallest trees will be cut down, the lofty brought low. He will cut down the forest thickets with an axe, and Lebanon will fall before the Mighty One.
28 He is come to Aiath, he is passed to Migron; at Michmash he hath laid up his carriages:
29 They are gone over the passage: they have taken up their lodging at Geba; Ramah is afraid; Gibeah of Saul is fled.
30 Lift up thy voice, O daughter of Gallim: cause it to be heard unto Laish, O poor Anathoth.
31 Madmenah is removed; the inhabitants of Gebim gather themselves to flee.
32 As yet shall he remain at Nob that day: he shall shake his hand against the mount of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem.
33 Behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, shall lop the bough with terror: and the high ones of stature shall be hewn down, and the haughty shall be humbled.
34 And he shall cut down the thickets of the forest with iron, and Lebanon shall fall by a mighty one.
Seeing Christ in Isaiah 10
Two titles in chapters 9–10 belong together. In Isa. 9:6 the child is called “The mighty God.” In Isa. 10:21 the remnant returns to “the mighty God.” For Latter-day Saints, both point to Jesus Christ, the Jehovah of the Old Testament, who would be born as the child of promise.
The chapter also shows Christ as the Light of Israel (verse 17), warmth to His people and fire to their oppressors. And it sets up the image of the stump in Isa. 11:1. When every proud tree is cut down, the Lord’s Anointed grows from what looked dead. The one who breaks the yoke “because of the anointing” (verse 27) is the Anointed One Himself.
Liken it to yourself
- In what areas of my life am I like the axe, tempted to take credit for what God has done through me? How can I “boast of my God” instead (Alma 26:12)?
- Is there someone or something I’ve been leaning on (verse 20) that has turned out to strike me? What would it mean to lean on the Lord “in truth”?
- When an “army” seems to march closer and closer (verses 28–32), what past deliverances can I remember, my own “day of Midian” or “rock of Oreb”?
- Can I trust that even people who hurt me, who “mean not so,” are not beyond the Lord’s ability to limit and redeem?
Worth exploring next
- God and the nations. Compare how God uses Assyria in Isaiah 10 with how He uses Cyrus in Isa. 44:28–45:7. What’s similar? What’s different about Cyrus?
- The remnant. Trace the remnant through Isa. 1:9, Isa. 4:2–3, Isa. 6:13, Isa. 7:3, Isa. 10:20–22, and Isa. 11:11–16. How does the promise grow?
- The deliverance. Read the fulfillment in Isa. 36–37 (or 2 Kgs. 18–19). Which details of chapter 10 come true?
This chapter elsewhere in scripture
Nephi’s text of this chapter (2 Ne. 20) reads differently from the King James Version in 16 verses. The BoM markers show the 9 where more than a small word changes.
- 2 Ne. 20 — Nephi quotes the chapter.
- Rom. 9:27–28 — Paul quotes verses 22–23 about the remnant.
- 2 Kgs. 18–19 — The historical account of Sennacherib’s invasion.
Sources & further reading
- “Assyria and Babylonia”, Bible Dictionary.
- “Sennacherib”, Bible Dictionary.
- Sennacherib’s Prism (the “Taylor Prism”), British Museum, London, museum no. 91032.
- Donald W. Parry, Jay A. Parry, and Tina M. Peterson, Understanding Isaiah, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1998.
- John N. Oswalt, The Book of Isaiah, New International Commentary on the Old Testament, 2 vols. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1986–1998.
- Chapter 13: The Establishment of Zion (Isaiah 1–12), Old Testament Student Manual: 1 Kings–Malachi (2003).