Behold the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, shall lop the boughs with violence; and the high ones of stature shall be hewn down, and the haughty shall be brought low;
The Assyrian army stands in sight of Jerusalem, shaking its fist at the hill of Zion. Then the picture changes from an army to a forest, and God takes an axe to the very invader He sent.
Earlier in the chapter God calls Assyria the rod of His anger and sends it against His own people. The trouble begins when the rod credits itself with the blow.
The Assyrian thought he was only doing his own will when he punished Samaria and Jerusalem. He said, "By the strength of my hand have I 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" (Isa. 10:13). He did not understand that he was only the rod of God's anger, carrying out God's judgment on His rebellious and idolatrous people. So the Lord said to him, "Shall the axe boast itself against him who hews with it… as if the rod should shake itself against those who lift it up" (verses 5, 15). This proud boasting of the Assyrian only brought upon them the judgment of God (verse 12).
The verse pictures the enemy as a tree. Behind that image lies a promise made earlier in the chapter: Jerusalem need not fear the Assyrian.
So again, in verses 24-34, there was the plain assurance to the inhabitants of Jerusalem that they need not fear the Assyrian. He would afflict them as with a rod, yet God would destroy him eventually. This came to pass, even though he would come to the very gates of the city and "shake his hand against the mount of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem." The prophecy describes his approach through the towns in vivid detail. He would seem to be like a great cedar of Lebanon, stretching his mighty bough over the city, but Jehovah of hosts would lop his bough with terror.
"The great in height" are the enemy's leaders. God cuts them down as He steps in for His own people.
Intervening for the godly, the Lord will bring destruction upon the leaders, "the high ones of stature," of those who are used to chastise His people. "He shall cut down the thickets of the forest with iron, and Lebanon shall fall by a mighty one" (Isaiah 10:33-34). It may be that this last phrase refers to the Beast of Revelation 13, whose armies are destroyed at Armageddon.
No human army brings this invader down. Writers link his end to prophecies about the same enemy in Daniel. The quotation of verse 33 below uses an older translation.
In Daniel 8 we read that the little horn, who undoubtedly is the king of the north, will "stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand" (v. 25). If this refers to the same event, as seems probable, then both Scriptures show the Lord Himself destroying the prophetic Assyrian. So he is broken "without hand," that is, without any human instrument. And more than that, "none shall help him." We learn the same from Isaiah: "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."
Sennacherib's defeat really happened. Yet the prophecy reaches past it to a later Assyrian.
When it was written, it was a prophecy. It has been fulfilled, but only in part. It marks the progress of the last Assyrian and describes his end, just as this book later describes the destruction of the Assyrian armies and the death of Sennacherib. The Lord who used, and will use, the Assyrian, Himself humbles the proud nation and its king (verses 33-34).
The felled forest is not the end of the story. The tree image leads straight into the next chapter.
But it is all in vain. He shall come to his end, and none shall help him… The image used here prepares the way perfectly for Messiah, whom the next and connected chapter introduces: the shoot from the stump of Jesse, and the fruitful sprout to grow from his roots.
- Rod. Assyria was the rod of God's anger against His own people. God can use a proud nation without approving of it.
- Boast. The rod fell because it took the credit for the blow. An axe that boasts against the one who swings it seals its own doom.
- Lopped. The empire towered over Jerusalem like a cedar. God lops it, and the tallest branches — the leaders — go first.
- Without hand. No army topples him. The Lord Himself breaks him, and no one can rescue him.
- Shoot. Once the proud forest is down, the next chapter brings the shoot from the stump of Jesse. Judgment on the haughty opens the way to Messiah.
and he shall make clearings in the thickets of the forest with iron; and Lebanon shall fall by a mighty one.
Isaiah ends his account of the Assyrian invasion with a scene from the woods. A tall forest is cut down, and Lebanon, famous for its cedars, falls with it. Who is the timber? Whose hand swings the axe? And why end the chapter on felled trees, when the next chapter opens with a green shoot?
Chapter 10 tracks the Assyrian army town by town. It halts within sight of Jerusalem, shaking its fist at the city. The trees in these closing verses are that same enemy, drawn at his full height.
The people of Jerusalem had a plain assurance: they need not fear the Assyrian. He would strike them like a rod, yet God would destroy him in the end. This came to pass, as we have seen, though he would come to the very gates of the city and "shake his fist at the mount of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem." Isaiah pictures his march through the towns in vivid detail. He would seem like a great cedar of Lebanon, with his mighty branch stretched over the city. But the LORD of hosts would lop that branch off with terror.
The one who brings Lebanon down — "the Majestic One," or "a mighty one" in older versions — is not another empire. Through this chapter the Assyrian is only a tool in God's hand.
God uses the pride and wickedness of the wicked to chastise His people; and afterwards He destroys the instrument. The Assyrian, God's rod to strike Israel, glorifies himself against God, who breaks the rod.
Daniel describes the same enemy. Read the two together, and God does the felling Himself, with no human hand in it.
In Daniel 8 we read of the little horn, who can only be the king of the north. He will "rise up against the Prince of princes, and he shall be broken — but by no human hand." If this refers to the same event, as seems likely, then both Scriptures show the Lord Himself destroying the prophetic Assyrian. That is why he is broken by no human hand — no human agent does it — and why no one will help him. Isaiah tells us the same: "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."
Sennacherib's ruin answered this prophecy in part. The full weight of it lies further on.
When it was written it was a prophecy. It has come true, yet only in part. It traces the march of the last Assyrian, and it also describes his end, just as this book later describes the destruction of the Assyrian armies and the death of Sennacherib. The Lord who used, and will use, the Assyrian, Himself humbles the proud nation and its king.
Commentators differ over whose fall the last words describe. One reading keeps it with the invader from the north. Another links it to a different enemy.
Stepping in for the godly, the Lord will bring destruction on the leaders — "the great in height" — of those He uses to chastise His people… It may be that this last part refers to the Beast of Revelation 13, whose armies fall at Armageddon.
The next chapter is joined to this one. The felled forest sets the scene for it: nothing tall still stands when the new image arrives.
But it is all in vain: he will come to his end, and no one will help him… The image used here fits perfectly. It prepares the way for the next chapter, which is joined to this one, and which brings in Messiah — the shoot from the stump of Jesse, the fruitful sprout that grows from his roots.
The axe had already fallen on David's royal line too. There the cutting is not the end of the story.
The stem has been cut down. It is better described as Jesse's than as David's, because royalty no longer belongs to it. So the Son of David comes into no outward rank or glory, but the opposite. And yet Jesse's name also bears witness that "the LORD exists"; and He is the God of resurrection. The Sprout, though lowly, still has the energy of life in it. In Him the tree that was cut down is to revive, and to outshine all its former glories.
- Timber. Lebanon's cedars picture the invader at full height, his branch stretched over Jerusalem. His height is what marks him for the axe.
- Tool. God used the Assyrian as a rod against His people. Then He breaks the rod that glorified itself against Him.
- Hand. God fells the tree "by no human hand" — no human sword, no ally, no help. The Majestic One is God Himself.
- Horizon. Sennacherib's fall answered the prophecy in part. Commentators read the last words of an enemy still to come, though they differ on which one.
- Shoot. The forest falls so a sprout can rise. The cut-down stem is lowly but alive, and it revives in Christ and outshines all its former glory.