The Lord sent a word unto Jacob, and it lighteth upon Israel.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
And all the people shall know [it], Ephraim and the inhabitant of Samaria, that say in pride and stoutness of heart,
The word God has just sent lands on the northern kingdom: Ephraim, its leading tribe, and Samaria, its capital. What lands is not comfort but exposure. God reads out the thought of their hearts, and that thought is pride.
Verse 8 picks up a song of judgment that Isaiah broke off chapters earlier. One writer traces the seam:
Isaiah 5 opens a new prophetic message… After six woes in verses 8-24, Jehovah declares that His hand is stretched out over them, and that solemn refrain of coming chastening begins (verse 25): "For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still."… Isaiah 6 interrupts the song for a moment, and so does Isaiah 7 – 9:7. Only at Isaiah 9:8 do we take up again the lament begun in Isaiah 5.
God had already struck this people. So why was His hand still stretched out?
God has chastised His people, but this has not yet dealt with their pride: they still trust in themselves (vv. 8-12). The anger of Jehovah is not yet turned away, but His hand is stretched out still, for the people do not turn to Him who strikes them, and have not recognised His hand. And until they see this, they resist and strengthen themselves in their own power.
The verse traces their trouble to "pride and arrogance of heart." The next verse gives that pride a voice: the ruins will be rebuilt better than before.
It is clear that so far the ten rebellious tribes are the object of judgement, and above all their pride of heart, which despises Jehovah's rebuke and trusts in their own powers. This is their cherished hope and empty boasting: they turn their loss into an occasion for greater strength and display than ever.
Another writer sets that boast beside a line from Malachi:
"Built of cedar" may well remind us how Ephraim and Samaria say in pride, "The bricks are fallen, but we will build with hewn stone" (Isaiah 9:9-10). Of such God says in Malachi, "They may build, but I will throw down."
Kelly points to where the blow fell — on the ally they had courted:
Had Syria's king, Rezin, joined them in an unholy league against Judah? Then Jehovah will set the adversaries of Rezin against him, the Syrians in front and the Philistines behind, and they will devour Israel with open mouth… So it always is. An unfaithful people seek the world's alliance against those who carry God's testimony, but they soon prove that the friendship of the world is not only enmity against God, but destruction to themselves.
Worse follows: not enemies outside only, but collapse inside.
The next view of their judgement (vv. 13-17) is not so much punishment from outside. Because they made light of His chastening, Jehovah gives Israel up to complete moral collapse within… The ruin falls in one day on every class, from the highest to the lowest in Israel, "palm-branch and rush": leaders and led alike plunged into one common destruction.
One writer sees the same hardness in every age, and reads the passage as pointing forward too:
Hard times seldom soften or improve the heart of a proud rebel against God. Still more rarely do we find a whole nation, or any large part of it, truly humbled by defeat… The same is written later of Israel, beaten by that same enemy, and there we surely have a prophecy of the still sharper tribulation of the last days [Isaiah 9:8-13].
The same instinct shows up in anyone who tries to rebuild what sin knocked down. One writer points to Jericho:
In the same way men often try to rebuild what their sins have brought crashing down (Isaiah 9:9-10). But all the cleverness of man could not lift the curse that lay on Jericho. The setting of the city was pleasant, yet the people living there had to admit "the water is bad, and the ground barren" (2 Kings 2:19). God is the great restorer; oh, that men could understand it!
The same warning fits our own plans:
"Who shall despise the day of small things?" was the prophet's encouraging word in the days of the rebuilding of Jerusalem… Those days of small things were just God's opportunity for doing great things. But let us, beloved, beware of attempting to do great things in a day of small things. It would be pretty much like the language of those Ephraimites and Samaritans in the days of Isaiah the prophet.
- Word sent. The song of judgment broken off after Isaiah 5 resumes here. The word lands on Ephraim and Samaria — the northern kingdom and its capital.
- Word resisted. Chastening came, but it never touched their pride. They did not turn to the One striking them, and so strengthened themselves in their own power.
- Word answered. Pride turned loss into a chance for a grander display. God's answer was enemies in front and behind, then leaders and led collapsing together in one day.
- Word repeated. Rebuilding what your own sin knocked down never lifts the curse; "they may build, but I will throw down."
- Word for us. A small day is God's opportunity, not our cue for hewn stone and cedar — He is the restorer, not us.
The bricks are fallen down, but we will build with hewn stones; the sycamore trees are cut down, but we will replace them with cedars.
The words in this verse are not a prayer after disaster but a boast. Bricks and sycamore wood were the cheap materials. Dressed stone and cedar were the costly ones. God had struck the northern kingdom, and its people answer by promising themselves a grander building than before.
Isaiah names the speakers in the line before: Ephraim and Samaria, the ten tribes. They treat God's blow as a chance for an upgrade.
So far the ten rebellious tribes are the object of judgement, and above all their pride of heart. They despise the Lord's rebuke and trust in their own powers. This is their foolish hope and empty boasting: they turn the damage done to them into a chance for greater strength and display than ever.
God had already struck them. But the blow left their self-confidence untouched, so the discipline went on.
God has chastised His people, but this has not yet dealt with their pride: they trust in themselves (v. 8-12). The anger of Jehovah is not yet turned away. His hand is stretched out still, because the people do not turn to Him who strikes them, and have not recognised His hand. Until they see this, they keep resisting and strengthening themselves in their own power.
There is a repentance that stops just short. It admits the trouble came from sin, then tries a little self-improvement instead of going to God Himself.
Sometimes the heart admits that the chastening has come because of known evil, and then it only wants to reform itself a little. But the hand of God remains stretched out still. There is no return to Him who strikes; there is only an effort to appease God with a certain amount of hypocrisy. The conscience has not come into direct contact with God.
The plan sounds impressive. God has His own word about builders like this.
Ephraim and the people of Samaria speak in pride and in strength of heart. Of such God says in Malachi, "They may build, but I will throw down."
Men still speak this way when they look at fresh ruins.
God had chastised the ten tribes with much destruction. But in their pride they declared that it gave them the chance to rebuild on a much improved scale. They spoke then just as men speak today when they look at the destruction caused by the recent war. The Lord warned them that their ally, Rezin of Syria, would be overthrown, a sign of the overthrow coming on themselves.
The same instinct appears when people set out to rebuild the church.
Trying to rebuild the church is as hopeless as trying to build the tower of Babel, and must end in the same confusion. Men may say, "The bricks have fallen, but we will build with dressed stones." It is all vanity.
A day of small things is not the time to try something big. Isaiah met that ambition in his own day.
Those days of small things were just God's opportunity for doing great things. But let us, dear friends, beware of trying to do great things in a day of small things. That would be much like the words of the people of Ephraim and Samaria in the days of Isaiah the prophet. In their pride and stubbornness of heart they said, "The bricks have fallen, but we will build with dressed stones" (Isa. 9:9-10).
Jericho makes the point in stone. Men rebuilt the city, but the curse on it stayed.
In the same way men are often seeking to rebuild what has crashed as the fruit of their sins (Isa. 9:9-10). But all the wit of man could not lift the curse that lay upon Jericho. The situation of the city was pleasant; but the residents had to confess "the water is bad, and the land is unfruitful" (2 Kings 2:19). God is the great restorer; oh, that men could understand it!
- The boast. Bricks and sycamore fall; the answer is stone and cedar. They treat the damage as a chance for greater strength and display than before.
- The blindness. The blow was God's. They never recognised His hand or turned to the One who struck them, so His hand stayed stretched out.
- The counterfeit. A little self-reform after admitting sin leaves the conscience out of touch with God.
- The verdict. "They may build, but I will throw down." Human skill could not lift the curse on Jericho, and it cannot rebuild what God has pulled down.
- The cure. Do not try great things in a day of small things. Turn to the great Restorer, because small days are God's opportunity for great things.
And Jehovah will set up the adversaries of Rezin against him, and arm his enemies,
God Himself stirs up the armies that will tear Israel apart. Why would He arm a nation's enemies against it, and why is the ally Israel chose no shelter at all?
The message lands on the ten tribes of the north. They had already felt a blow, and their answer was to boast about a grander rebuild:
Verses 8-12 renew the announcement of God's displeasure. It began with the sin of Jerusalem and Judah, as was fitting; now it passes to Ephraim and Samaria. It is clear that so far the ten rebellious tribes are the object of judgement. The chief thing is their pride of heart, despising Jehovah's rebuke and trusting in their own powers. This is their fond hope and empty boasting: they turn the breach made in them into an occasion of greater strength and display than ever.
Rezin of Syria was Israel's ally, not its enemy. One writer sets their proud boast beside what God announced:
The ten tribes had been punished with much destruction, but in their pride they declared that it gave them the chance to rebuild on a much better scale. The Lord warned them that their ally, Rezin of Syria, would be overthrown — a sign of the overthrow coming on themselves.
The same writer who traced their pride draws the lasting lesson out of that broken alliance:
So it always is. The unfaithful people seek the world's alliance against those who hold God's testimony. Before long they prove that the friendship of the world is not only enmity against God but destruction to themselves.
Israel faced enemies on both sides. Both were tools in a hand larger than their own, and not the last tool God would use:
God used the Syrians and the Philistines to "devour Israel with open mouth." He allowed tribal warfare between Ephraim and Manasseh, and also conflict between the ten tribes and the house of David (Isa. 9:12, 21). But the Assyrian was the chief instrument of God for the chastening of both the houses of Israel. In chapter 10 God says, "Ah, Assyria, the rod of my anger… I send him… I command him… to tread them down like the mire of the streets" (Isa. 10:5-6). The proud Assyrian does not realise that he is God's instrument, and thinks he is accomplishing his own will.
The verse says Jehovah stirs the enemies up. Israel counted the armies and never counted the One behind them:
As to Israel, we read in Isaiah 9:13 that "the people did not turn to him who struck them." The Syrians and Philistines attacked them front and back. Their condition was bad enough under the blows of these opponents. But another hand was against them: unseen, unacknowledged, disowned, yet striking them all the same. To that striking hand they refused to turn. Things had to take their course.
Another writer says that response is the usual one, not the exception:
Rarely indeed is the heart of a proud rebel against God softened, or improved, by hardship. Still less often is a nation, or any large part of a community, truly humbled by setbacks.
Verse 11 is one stage in a series, and the series has an end that Israel's enemies do not decide:
In Isaiah 9:8 the Spirit, having given the great leading facts about Messiah, Immanuel, returns to the general history of Israel… The different phases of chastening or of distress are in verses 8-12, 13-17, 18-21, and Isaiah 10:1-4. The Assyrian then reappears as the true rod of Jehovah. When God has accomplished all that He determined about Zion, He will break the rod He has used. Then the remnant will seek Jehovah and will lean on Him… Jehovah's indignation, and His anger against Israel, which until now had never been turned away, will end when He destroys this rod that made itself great against the Lord who used it… It is a prophecy of the destruction of the Assyrian in the last days, when the indignation against Israel will cease.
One writer reads this section as reaching beyond Israel's own day, and begins from how rarely trouble alone changes anyone:
Rarely indeed is the heart of a proud rebel against God softened, or improved, by hardship. Still less often is a nation, or any large part of a community, truly humbled by setbacks… And again at a later day it is written, especially of Israel when suffering defeat at the hands of the same enemy, where we have no doubt a prophecy of the still sharper tribulation of the last days…
- Pride — Israel treated the earlier blow as a chance to build bigger, not as a rebuke. This judgment answers their trust in their own powers.
- Alliance — Israel leaned on Rezin against God's testimony, so God overthrew that partner first. The world's friendship destroys those who use it.
- Instruments — Syrians in front, Philistines behind, then the Assyrian. Each thinks it acts for itself, and each is a rod in God's hand.
- Blindness — another hand struck behind the armies, unseen and disowned. Israel would not turn to it, so things took their course.
- End — God breaks the rod once He has finished with Zion. Then the remnant stops leaning on allies and leans on Jehovah.
the Syrians on the east, and the Philistines on the west; and they shall devour Israel with open mouth. For all this his anger is not turned away, and his hand is stretched out still.
This verse names the enemies God stirs up on both sides of Israel, and it ends with a refrain that sounds three more times. Why do the blows keep falling, and what would make God lower His hand?
The words that end this verse are not new. They first sounded in chapter 5. After a long interruption, the prophet takes up the same line again.
After six woes in Isaiah 5:8-24, Isaiah declares that Jehovah's hand is stretched out over them, so that the hills tremble and their dead bodies lie like rubbish in the streets. There that solemn refrain of warning begins (5:25): "For all this his anger has not turned away, and his hand is stretched out still." … Isaiah 6, already mentioned, breaks off the song for a moment, and so does Isaiah 7 — 9:7. Only at Isaiah 9:8 do we find the lament begun in Isaiah 5 taken up again.
Each repetition marks a fresh stroke, and the strokes do not stay level:
In Isaiah 5, woe was pronounced on them six times. Now we get the hand of God stretched out in wrath four times over — verses 12, 17, 21, and Isaiah 10:4. There seems to be an increase of severity as we go on.
The judgment falls on the ten tribes. Their sin is trust in their own strength after God has already struck them.
So far the judgement falls on the ten rebellious tribes, and above all on their pride of heart. They despise Jehovah's rebuke and trust their own powers. This is their fond hope and boastful arrogance: they turn the damage into an occasion for greater strength and display than ever. "The bricks have fallen, but we will build with dressed stones; the sycamores have been cut down, but we will put cedars in their place."
That reaction is not confined to the ancient world:
The ten tribes had been chastised with much destruction, but in their pride they declared that it gave them the opportunity to rebuild on a much improved scale. They spoke then just as men are speaking today as they view the destruction brought by the recent war.
Syria in front and Philistia behind are not random raiders. They are tools in a hand, and they are not the last tool God will pick up.
God used the Syrians and the Philistines to "devour Israel with open mouth." He allowed tribal warfare between Ephraim and Manasseh, and conflict between the ten tribes and the house of David (Isaiah 9:12, 21). But the Assyrian was God's chief instrument for the chastening of both houses of Israel.
There is a bitter irony in who does the devouring:
Then came God's repayment. Had Syria's king, Rezin, joined them in an unholy alliance against Judah? Now Jehovah would set Rezin's own adversaries against him, and the Syrians in front and the Philistines behind would devour Israel with open mouth. So it always is. An unfaithful people seek the world's help against those who hold God's testimony, but before long they prove that the friendship of the world is not only enmity against God but destruction to themselves.
Why does the anger not turn away? The blow lands, but the one struck never looks up at who struck him.
God has chastised His people, but this has not yet dealt with their pride: they still trust in themselves (v. 8-12). The anger of Jehovah is not yet turned away, and His hand is stretched out still. The people do not turn to Him who strikes them, and they have not recognised His hand. Until they see this, there is resistance, and self grows stronger in its own power.
There is a way of half-admitting the fault that still leaves God out:
Sometimes the heart admits that the chastening has come because of known evil. Then it would just reform itself a little. But the hand of God stays stretched out still, because there is no return to Him who strikes. There is only an effort to appease God with a certain amount of hypocrisy. The conscience has never come into direct contact with God.
The refrain does have an end point. It comes when God breaks the rod He has been using.
Until now the indignation of Jehovah, and His anger against Israel, had never been turned away. It will come to an end when God destroys this rod that boasted against the Lord who used it. Sennacherib was a picture of this. But it is a prophecy of the destruction of the Assyrian in the last days, when the indignation against Israel will cease.
- Refrain — The closing words come back from Isaiah 5:25. They sound four times in all (9:12, 17, 21; 10:4), and the severity grows at each return.
- Pride — The ten tribes met God's blows with plans for a grander rebuild in dressed stone and cedar. They trusted their own strength instead of hearing His rebuke.
- Rod — Syrians in front and Philistines behind were God's chosen instruments, and the friendship of the world became destruction. The Assyrian would be the chief instrument against both houses of Israel.
- Refusal — The hand stays raised because no one turns to the One who strikes. Admitting the fault and reforming a little still leaves the conscience out of direct contact with God.
- Release — The indignation ends only when God breaks the rod that boasted against Him. Sennacherib was the picture; the Assyrian of the last days is the fulfilment.
But the people turneth not unto him that smiteth them, and they do not seek Jehovah of hosts.
Israel had just been overrun front and back. This verse gives God's verdict on how the nation took it: the blows landed, but nobody asked whose hand was behind them.
Israel could see the armies. This verse points to a hand they could not see.
They were attacked front and back by the Syrians and the Philistines. Their condition was bad enough under those enemies. But another hand was against them — unseen, unacknowledged, disowned, yet striking them all the same. To that striking hand they refused to turn. Things had to take their course.
Their refusal was not a failure to understand. It came from what they thought of themselves.
So far the ten rebellious tribes are the ones being judged — above all for their pride of heart. They despise the LORD's rebuke and trust in their own powers. This is their fond hope and boastful arrogance. They turn the break made in them into a chance for greater strength and display than ever.
Isaiah does not say they failed to seek God in general. He names Him "the LORD of hosts" — the very title Scripture reaches for when His people are weakest.
We first find this title in 1 Samuel, in the days of the judges, when every man did what was right in his own eyes — much as today. Many of the prophets use this name, especially in days of weakness and failure. It is good to know that, despite man's failure, there is an all-sufficient God with unlimited resources at His disposal.
The judgement that follows this verse is different in kind from the invasions before it.
The next view of their judgement (verses 13-17) is not so much judicial repayment from outside. Because they slighted His chastening, the LORD gives Israel up to complete internal collapse. … The ruin falls in one day on every class in Israel, from the highest to the lowest. "Palm branch and reed" — all are plunged into common destruction, leaders and led.
Why does God strike His people at all? One writer names the aim — and the way we miss it.
God's ways in government with His people have one object: that they may take their condition to heart. This is why He uses His rod. Nothing shows the dullness of our hearts more clearly than this. We pass through trials, on our own or with others. Then we pay little or no attention to what God had in view, and flatter ourselves that all is well. Every stroke of God's rod should produce deep searching of heart. Where it does not, heavier chastening from His hand is sure to follow.
Israel's story does not end with this refusal. Assyria — the nation God used as His rod — comes back into view.
The Assyrian then reappears, as the true rod of the LORD. The prophecy announces this: when God has finished all He determined concerning Zion, He will break the rod He used. Then the remnant will seek the LORD and lean on Him. This is the final act in the great drama of God's dealings with Israel.
A whole nation may stay unmoved. That does not release the one person who sees what is happening.
The crowd may feel nothing and refuse to move. If so, the duty of the individual is all the greater. The man of God and of prayer must keep up the honourable place of intercession with God. Moses and Samuel did so long ago, and it brought deliverance to their nation.
- The blow. Behind the enemies they could see stood a hand they would not own — striking them all the same.
- The refusal. Pride despised the rebuke and trusted its own resources. Every loss became a reason to build grander.
- The One unsought. They ignored the title "the LORD of hosts." The prophets use it in days of weakness — an all-sufficient God with unlimited resources.
- The result. Slighted correction brings no fresh blow from outside. It brings inward collapse, sweeping away leaders and led in a single day.
- The turn. What this generation refused, a remnant will one day do: seek the LORD and lean on Him. Until then, one person who turns can still intercede for the many who will not.
And Jehovah will cut off from Israel head and tail, palm-branch and rush, in one day
God has already struck Israel, and the people shrugged the blows off; now the sentence falls on the whole nation at once. Two questions follow: why does the cutting off reach everyone, and what do "head," "tail," "palm branch" and "reed" stand for?
The verse opens with "so" — it is a consequence. One writer looks behind such chastening and shows why it keeps coming.
Three things are at work when God chastens His people: the instrument, the enemy's malice, and God's hidden intention. If one looks at the instrument, it is only to accuse, or to be discontented. But even behind the malice of Satan there is the goodness of God. Sometimes the heart admits that the chastening has come because of known evil, and then would just reform itself a little. But the hand of God stays stretched out still. There is no return to Him who strikes. There is only the effort to appease God with a certain amount of hypocrisy. The conscience has not been put in direct relation with God.
The four words are pairs of extremes, and the point of the pairing is that nothing in between escapes. One commentator sets out what kind of judgement this is.
This next view of their judgement is not so much punishment from outside. Because Israel ignored His chastening, the Lord gives the nation up to complete inner corruption… The ruin covers every class in one day, from the highest to the lowest of Israel — "palm branch and reed": all plunged into one common destruction, leaders and led. What a picture! It is far more dismal and hopeless when the righteous Lord shuts up His affections, and even His compassion. He is indignant at the widespread falsehood and wrong that hide under the highest claims to holiness.
The palm branch carries a settled meaning across Scripture, and one writer includes this verse in that pattern.
When the Lord entered Jerusalem as the King of Peace, His disciples carried palm branches before Him. It is the sign of the peaceful triumph of a reign that is about to begin… The palm trees of Elim are the symbol of peaceful protection in the wilderness. The palm branch in Isaiah 9:14 means protection and shelter.
One writer connects the tail here with the dragon's tail in a later vision, and draws out what the image means.
"And his tail draws the third of the stars of heaven" (verse 4). This seems to be his evil power at work in false teaching and prophesying. In Isaiah 9 we are told that "the prophet who teaches lies is the tail." The tail of the dragon does not stand for his earthly power. It stands for his influence, through false teaching, in misleading souls, and above all those who were in the place of rule and authority — "the stars of heaven."
Head and tail both go, but the guilt is not spread evenly. One writer states the principle.
All the people have their responsibility. But the chief weight falls according to a person's position. Wickedness in a man who holds an office of trust is worse than the same evil in someone under him. It rightly counts as more serious… Corruption or tyranny in a king is deeper guilt than wrongs here or there in any of his subjects.
Yet the followers are not innocent bystanders. One writer adds: "The leaders of course are the most solemnly responsible, but others are responsible for allowing themselves to be led" (Leslie M. Grant).
One writer draws a line from Israel's removal to how God deals with His own people now.
The consequence is (v. 14) His cutting from Israel head and tail, branch and root, leaders and led. So God takes away even a Christian from this world as a chastisement (1 Cor. 11).
- Cause. The cutting off follows refusal. They feel the chastening and half-admit the evil, but they never return to the God who strikes.
- Sweep. Head and tail, palm branch and reed, cover every class at once; the ruin is universal, in one day, leaders and led together.
- Shelter lost. The palm branch stands for protection and shelter — so its removal strips away the very cover the nation relied on.
- Poison. The tail is the prophet who teaches lies: not open force, but influence that misleads, reaching especially those in places of authority.
- Weight. The higher the trust, the heavier the guilt — heaviest on the guides, yet real for those who let themselves be led. God still chastens His own people today.
the ancient and honourable, he is the head; and the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail.
Here God explains the sentence He has just passed on Israel. He names the "head" and the "tail" He will cut off in a single day. The nation's most honoured man and its lying prophet fall together — so how do a people's honour and its lies end up sharing one fate?
The verse belongs to a paragraph (vv. 13–17) where the trouble is no longer an army at the border but rot inside the nation. One commentator sets out what God's sentence covers.
The next view of their judgment (vv. 13-17) is not so much judicial punishment from outside. Rather, because they ignored His chastening, the Lord gives Israel up to complete inner collapse... The ruin is universal. It comes in one day, on all classes, from the highest to the lowest of Israel — "palm branch and reed." Leaders and led are all plunged into one common destruction. What a picture! And it is far more hopeless when the righteous Lord, angry at the widespread lying and wrong that hides under the highest claims to holiness, shuts up His affections and even His compassion.
Two verses earlier, the people refused to turn back to the One who was striking them. This verse answers that refusal. One writer traces what happens in a heart that admits the trouble but never faces God.
Sometimes the heart admits that the chastening has come because of known evil, and then it would just reform itself a little. But the hand of God stays stretched out still. There is no return to the One who smites — only an effort to appease God with a certain amount of hypocrisy. The conscience has not been put into direct relation with God.
Why does God single out the lying prophet? Because his lies keep that refusal in place. The same writer shows what the false prophet's help does to the conscience.
When the people of God go wrong, the spirit of false prophecy is always there. It would make them believe that all goes well... The false prophet helps this along. He keeps the conscience from turning back to God, who would use chastening to bring the conscience into direct contact with Him. The spirit of falsehood would persuade them that they are very happy. Those who call them blessed are the misleaders. Those who are so called, and who believe them, are swallowed up (v. 16).
Later Scripture picks up the image. One commentator explains what a head does and what a tail does.
Here we have in his tail the emblem of his soul-destroying influence; in other words, his lies (Isa. 9:15). Satan is said to be a murderer and a liar. He murders the bodies and ruins the souls of men. His power is in his head; his evil influence, in false and damning teachings, is in his tail.
Another writer says where that influence does its damage.
The "tail" means the false prophet (Isa. 9:15). So what is pictured is a falling away from God among people who profess to be His. False teaching marks satanic power at all times, and it is far more successful than open violence.
Later prophecy uses Isaiah's definition. One writer, describing creatures whose power to hurt is in their tails, follows the thread forward.
Their sting is in their tails. That reminds us of Isaiah 9:15, where we read, "the prophet who teaches lies is the tail." This is another reference that turns our minds to the Antichrist.
Commentators differ on how far the picture reaches. Some point to the Antichrist, some to Satan's own lies, some to a falling away among people who profess to be God's. All trace the definition back to this verse.
- Refusal. The people would reform themselves a little and use "a certain amount of hypocrisy to appease God." They never brought the conscience into direct contact with Him, so the sentence fell.
- Removal. God cuts off "head and tail" in one day. The ruin is universal, reaching "from the highest to the lowest," leaders and led alike.
- Head. The honoured elder stands at the top. But high standing and "the highest claims to holiness" give no protection when God judges.
- Tail. The lying prophet's weapon is influence, not force. His "soul-destroying" lies persuade a failing people "that all goes well," and keep the conscience from turning back.
- End. The tail is the more dangerous half. False teaching is "far more successful than open violence," and the line Isaiah draws here runs on to the Antichrist.
For the guides of this people mislead [them]; and they that are guided by them are swallowed up.
Isaiah 9:16 sits inside a long section of the prophecy. God has already struck His people, and they have not turned back to Him. The verse puts the blame on the guides. But it also says the guided are swallowed up with them. So how far can a follower hide behind a leader?
The chapter breaks in two. The first half promises a Child born, with the government on His shoulder. Then the prophet turns back to Israel's story and traces its discipline in stages. Our verse sits in the second stage.
In Isaiah 9:8 the Spirit has given the great leading facts about the Messiah, Immanuel. He now takes up the general history of Israel again, and He does not bring the Messiah in again in any special way until near the end... The different phases of chastisement or of distress are in verses 8-12, 13-17, 18-21, and Isaiah 10:1-4. The Assyrian then reappears, as the one who is truly the rod of Jehovah.
Why does the striking go on? The people never look past the blow to the hand behind it.
God has chastised His people, but this has not yet dealt with their pride: they still trust in themselves (v. 8-12). The anger of Jehovah is not yet turned away, and His hand is stretched out still. This is because the people do not turn to Him who smites them, and have not discerned His hand. Until they see this, there is resistance and a strengthening of self in one's own power.
Earlier blows came from outside. This one comes from within. God gives the nation up to its own rot, and every class falls together.
The next view of their judgement (vv. 13-17) is not so much punishment sent from outside. Because they slighted His chastening, Jehovah gives Israel up to complete inner collapse... "And Jehovah will cut off from Israel head and tail, palm-branch and rush, in one day. The elder and honoured man is the head; and the prophet who teaches lies is the tail."
after The ruin is universal in one day on all classes, from the highest to the lowest of Israel, "palm-branch and rush": all plunged into common destruction, leaders and led.
Verse 15 calls the lying prophet the "tail." The same writer uses that image to show what false teaching really is, and who it aims at.
In Isaiah 9 we are told that "the prophet that teaches lies, he is the tail." The tail of the dragon does not stand for his power on earth. It stands for his influence through false teaching, by which he misleads souls — above all those who were in the place of rule and authority, "the stars of heaven."
How does a guide lead people astray? Not by open denial, but by telling people that all is well.
When the people of God go wrong, there is always the spirit of false prophecy which would make them believe that all goes well. Men in authority love it when people are not discouraged... The false prophet helps with this. He keeps the conscience from turning back to God, who would use chastening to bring the conscience into direct contact with Him. The spirit of falsehood would persuade them that they are very happy. Those who call them blessed are the misleaders. Those who are so called and believe them are swallowed up (v. 16).
There is a middle response that looks like turning back and is not. It admits the trouble, adjusts a little, and never lets the conscience meet God.
Sometimes the heart admits that the chastening has come because of known evil. Then it would just reform itself a little. But the hand of God remains stretched out still. There is no return to Him who smites, only the effort to appease God with a certain amount of hypocrisy. The conscience has not been put in direct relation with God.
The verse does not treat the misled as victims only; they are swallowed up. Writing on blind guides and the ditch, one commentator weighs both sides of that.
"Blind leaders of the blind" is a striking and appropriate description. They will fall into the ditch, and those who blindly follow them will do the same. This is warning enough not to follow such men. The leaders of course carry the gravest responsibility, but others are responsible for letting themselves be led.
The same pattern was named plainly in a later prophet, where the people's appetite is what keeps the false prophets in business: "the prophets prophesy falsehood, and the priests rule by their means; and my people love to have it so. But what will you do in the end of it?"
- Cause. God struck, and the people did not turn to Him who smites. That refusal, not bad luck, carries the nation into ruin.
- Comfort. Instead of turning back, they welcomed guides who said all goes well. Flattery is the tool that misled them.
- Counterfeit. A little self-reform and some hypocrisy will not stop God's outstretched hand. Only a conscience brought into direct contact with God will.
- Collapse. Head and tail, honoured elder and lying prophet, leaders and led, all go down together in one day.
- Culpability. The guides carry the heaviest guilt. Yet those who let themselves be guided are swallowed up too. No one can hide behind a leader.
Therefore the Lord will not rejoice in their young men, neither will he have mercy on their fatherless and on their widows; for every one is a hypocrite and an evildoer, and every mouth speaketh folly. For all this his anger is not turned away, and his hand is stretched out still.
Isaiah 9:17 belongs to a long section (9:8–10:4). There the prophet returns to a judgment he has already announced. He closes each stage with the same grim line about God's anger. The shock is not the punishment itself. It is who falls outside God's pity: the young, the orphan, the widow — the very people God protects.
This line about anger is not new here. It sounds again and again through these chapters, each time heavier.
At this point the prophet went back to condemning the people and their sins. He had paused that to tell of his vision of the Lord of Hosts and to give the prediction about Immanuel. We now learn how God stretched out His hand over them in anger and discipline. In Isaiah 5, woe was pronounced on them six times, and now we get the hand of God stretched out in wrath four times over — verses 12, 17, 21, and Isaiah 10:4. There seems to be an increase of severity as we go on.
The blow in this section is not an invading army. It is God giving a people up to rot in their own character after they ignored His correction. Even His tenderness closes.
The next view of their judgment (vv. 13-17) is not so much punishment coming from outside. Because they slighted His chastening, the Lord gives Israel up to complete internal collapse. The ruin falls in one day on every class, from the highest to the lowest of Israel: all plunged into common destruction, leaders and led. What a picture! And how much more dismal and hopeless it is when the righteous Lord shuts up His affections and even His compassion! He is angry at the widespread falsehood and wrong carried on under the highest claims to holiness. "Therefore the Lord does not rejoice over their young men, and has no compassion on their fatherless and widows." Youth and strength do not please Him. Orphanhood and widowhood can no longer touch His heart in a people so corrupt.
The verse gives the reason: everyone is godless. Older translations read "everyone is a hypocrite." One writer follows that charge from Isaiah into the Gospels.
This was God's word in the prophet's day; our Lord Jesus confirms the word, and applies the same word to the Jews in His day (Matt. 15:7-9). Hypocrisy was characteristic of them, and was dominant in the time of the prophet. "Everyone is a hypocrite" (Isa. 9:17). The people wanted to please Hezekiah, but they followed their own evil. A good example works on an evil nature in one of two ways. It makes persecutors, or, when the example is set by a man in authority, it very probably makes hypocrites.
Set the verse beside what God is toward these two groups.
He is high over all — the great, the mighty, the awesome. But He has a heart for the widow and the fatherless. They are helpless people, stripped of every earthly and natural support — the poor bereaved and broken-hearted widow, and the desolate orphan. God thinks of them and cares for them in a very special way; they have a claim on His loving heart and mighty hand. "Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation."
"Stretched out still" means not yet finished — not never finished. The judgment moves in stages, and it has a last one.
The different phases of chastisement or distress are in verses 8-12, 13-17, 18-21, and Isaiah 10:1-4. The Assyrian then reappears as the rod the Lord truly uses… Until now the Lord's indignation and His anger against Israel had never been turned away. They will come to an end when He destroys this rod, which magnified itself against the Lord who used it.
Even so, the promise of the child born in 9:6-7 was never meant to cancel this judgment. It gave the righteous something to stand on while it fell.
How clear it is that two classes in Judah are before the prophet's mind, the righteous and the wicked! The first receive the glorious promise. For the second, their troubles are great and will be greater, and the prophet's words ring the death-knell of their utter ruin: "For all this His anger has not turned away, and His hand is stretched out still." Even the great prophecy, the promise of a Son, could not turn away the Lord's anger, nor was it meant to. It was meant to give a sure word of prophecy where the righteous could rest their hope. It laid a foundation they could build on all through the time of judgment.
- Refrain — The same words close 9:12, 9:17, 9:21 and 10:4, with severity rising each time.
- Rot — They ignored God's correction, so the judgment is internal collapse. It sweeps leaders and led together in one day.
- Reversal — The Father of the fatherless and protector of widows here shuts up even His compassion. The reason: the whole people is godless.
- Reason — Hypocrisy: the charge Jesus later repeats from Isaiah against the Jews of His own day.
- Rest — The anger is not endless: it ends when God breaks the rod He used. Meanwhile the promised Son is solid ground for the righteous to build on.
For wickedness burneth as a fire it devoureth briars and thorns, and kindleth in the thickets of the forest, and they go rolling up like a pillar of smoke.
Isaiah 9 keeps returning to one line: God's anger is not turned away, and His hand is stretched out still. This verse names the fire behind that refrain — wickedness itself, burning through the nation.
One writer reads verses 18-20 as the fruit of the nation's own sins. He finds mercy even in the blow, then follows the story into the next chapter.
There are still divisions and miseries because of their iniquities (v. 18-20). But the people is not yet turned to God, and His hand is stretched out still (v. 21). God does not crush His people even when He smites. He leaves some consolation. Still, His people take up their pride again (chapter 10:1-4). At last God calls the great instrument of His anger (chapter 10:5). The Assyrian is the rod of His wrath.
after
The fire starts in briers and thorns, catches the thickets of the forest, and ends in a column of smoke. One writer traces how far this burning reaches — and where it stops.
This next view of their judgment is not so much punishment coming from outside. Because they slighted His chastening, the Lord gave Israel up to complete inner collapse… Then comes a vivid picture. Wickedness burns like fire. The Lord's wrath consumes the land. Brother attacks brother with reckless, unsparing violence… The nearest of the ten tribes would devour each other, and both would be against Judah. Still, this is God's earthly judgment. We must look elsewhere for the far more terrible eternal judgment. That judgment awaits those who will not repent and will not believe, at the resurrection of judgment.
Isaiah 9 and 10 return again and again to the same line about God's anger. One writer explains why that line has to repeat.
The prophet shows why God's indignation rose against His people: Israel worshipped idols, and their kings most of all. He sends a chastening upon them. But whatever that chastening did at first, the evil burst out again with fresh fury. Evil always does, unless it is put away. So that terrible word sounds out: "For all this His anger is not turned away, but His hand is stretched out still." His wrath burns again and again.
One writer later applied this line to churches in the region of Galatia. They turned away from God's grace at startling speed.
A little leaven leavens the whole lump; wickedness does burn as a fire, and spiritual corruption spreads like a contagious plague (Isa. 9:18; Haggai 2:13; 1 Cor. 15:33). We know nothing of where this sad, widespread desertion of God's grace began in these churches. But it seems to have spread with almost electric speed through the whole region of Galatia.
Earlier in the same chapter stands the promise of a child born, a son given. One writer reads the chapter as speaking to two kinds of people at once.
How clear it is that the prophet has two groups in Judah in mind: the righteous and the wicked! The righteous receive the glorious promise. The wicked face calamities that are great and will grow greater, and the prophet's words toll the death-knell of their utter ruin: "For all this His anger is not turned away, but His hand is stretched out still!" Even the great prophecy, the promise of a Son, could not turn away the Lord's anger. It was never meant to. It was meant to give a sure word of prophecy where the righteous might rest their hope, and to lay a foundation the righteous could build on all through the time of judgment.
- Fire refused. God had already struck the nation, and they did not turn to Him. These miseries grow out of their own sins, yet even in smiting He leaves some consolation.
- Fire self-fed. Wickedness itself does the burning. Brother turns on brother, tribe on tribe, and the Lord's wrath consumes the land.
- Fire re-lit. Chastening alone does not put evil out. It breaks out again with fresh fury, so the refrain about God's outstretched hand keeps returning.
- Fire spread. The same principle works among Christians. Like leaven in dough or a spreading plague, corruption moves fast — it swept the Galatian churches.
- Fire outlasted. This is earthly judgment, not the final one. Inside it stands the promise of the Son — ground the righteous can build on while judgment lasts.
Through the wrath of Jehovah of hosts is the land burned up, and the people is as fuel for fire a man spareth not his brother;
Chapter 9:19 belongs to a long complaint that runs in stages, each closing with the same refrain about God's outstretched hand. One writer maps the whole movement and shows where it finally stops.
In Isaiah 9:8 the Spirit has already given the great leading facts about Messiah, Immanuel. From there He takes up the general history of Israel again, giving the Messiah no special place until near the end. This prophecy closes with Isaiah 12. It mentions the pride of Ephraim, yet it looks at Jacob or Israel as a whole. The different phases of chastisement or distress are in verses 8-12, 13-17, 18-21, and Isaiah 10:1-4. The Assyrian then reappears as the rod of the Lord. When God has accomplished all He had determined about Zion, He will break the rod He has used. Then the remnant will seek the Lord and lean on Him.
This burning anger has a name in the prophets, and a cause, and a stated end point.
The prophet shows that the idolatry of Israel, and especially of their kings, roused God's indignation against His people. He sends chastening on them. But whatever the first effects of the chastening might be, the evil broke out again with fresh fury, as evil always does unless it is put away. So that terrible word sounds out: "For all this His anger has not turned away, and His hand is stretched out still." His wrath burns again and again. Then in Isaiah 10:25 we find the Lord saying that His indignation will come to an end.
The stage just before this verse shows how a nation reaches the point of not sparing its own.
The next view of their judgment (vv. 13-17) is not so much judicial retribution from outside. Because Israel slighted His chastening, the Lord gives them up to complete internal collapse... The ruin is universal. In one day it falls on all classes in Israel, from the highest to the lowest — "palm-branch and rush". Leaders and led are plunged together into common destruction. What a picture! The righteous Lord is indignant at the widespread falsehood and wrong under the highest pretensions to holiness. So He shuts up both His affections and even His compassion. How much more dismal and hopeless that is!
Verse 19 says the wrath scorches the land and the people become the fuel. One writer reads this as God's judgment on earth, and then points past it.
Then follows a most vivid picture. Wickedness burns like fire, the Lord's wrath consumes the land, and brother turns on brother with reckless, unsparing violence... The closest of the ten tribes would devour each other, and both would turn on Judah. Even so, this is the earthly judgment of God.
Another writer draws the same three strands together in a sentence: the strife between the tribes, the darkened land, and the anger that stays.
So further miseries would come on them, and strife between the tribes. The wrath of the Lord would darken the land and yet be like a fire, with the people as fuel. And still His anger would remain.
The same chapter opened with the promise of a Son. That promise and this judgment stand together, aimed at two different groups.
How clear it is that two classes in Judah are before the prophet's mind, the righteous and the wicked! The first receives the glorious promise. The troubles of the second are great and will grow greater, and the prophet's words are the death-knell of their utter ruin: "For all this His anger has not turned away, and His hand is stretched out still!" Even the great prophecy, the promise of a Son, could not turn away the Lord's anger, and was never meant to. It was meant to give a sure word of prophecy where the righteous might rest their hope. It laid a foundation on which the righteous could build all through the time of judgment.
- Refrain. Isaiah 9:19 sits in the third of four stages of chastisement (9:8-12, 13-17, 18-21, 10:1-4). Each stage closes with the same words about God's hand still stretched out.
- Roused. The wrath here is "the indignation": anger stirred by Israel's idolatry. It flares up again and again because the evil was never put away.
- Refused. Israel slighted the correction that came from outside. So God gave the nation up to collapse from inside, and leaders and led went down together.
- Reversed. The fire then feeds on the people themselves. Brother no longer spares brother, and the closest tribes devour each other before turning on Judah.
- Reserved. This is God's judgment on earth. A graver eternal judgment still awaits the unbelieving. Yet in the same chapter the promised Son stands as a foundation the righteous can build on all through the burning.
and he snatcheth on the right hand, and is hungry, and eateth on the left hand; and they are not satisfied. They eat every man the flesh of his own arm
Isaiah paints a nation tearing at itself. Blow after blow has fallen on Israel, nothing has changed their heart, and now the closest relatives become the fiercest enemies.
This is not an isolated threat but part of a measured series of strokes, each marked by the same closing line about God's outstretched hand.
At this point the prophet took up his charges against the people and their sins again. He had paused them to tell his vision of the Lord of Hosts and to give the prediction about Immanuel. We now learn how God stretched out His hand over them in anger and discipline. In Isaiah 5, woe was pronounced on them six times, and now we get the hand of God stretched out in wrath four times over — verses 12, 17, 21, and Isaiah 10:4. There seems to be an increase of severity as we go on.
The quarrel here is between brothers, and that is what makes it so bitter. An earlier feud between Ephraim and the Manassites draws out the principle.
Their taunting words about the Gileadites came true, word for word, about themselves. They became "fugitives of Ephraim among the Manassites," and sadly the Manassites do not spare them. The quarrels of brothers are the worst of all. The closer the ties that break, the more bitterness they stir up. As the saying goes, civil strife is the most uncivil thing there is.
The eating here is not appetite fed but appetite frustrated. Whichever way the man grabs, he stays empty.
Then comes a vivid picture. Wickedness burns like fire, the Lord's wrath consumes the land, and brother turns on brother with reckless, unsparing violence… The nearest of the ten tribes would devour each other, and both would devour Judah. Even so, this is the earthly judgement of God. To find the still more awful eternal judgement, we must look elsewhere. That judgement awaits the unrepentant and unbelieving in the resurrection of judgement.
One writer names three things at work in the chastening of God's people, and shows why this chastening changed nothing.
There are three things in the chastenings of God's people: first, the instrument; second, the enemy's malice; third, the hidden intention of God. If you look at the instrument, you only accuse, or grow discontented. But even behind the malice of Satan there is the goodness of God. Sometimes the heart admits that the chastening came because of known evil. Then it would just reform itself a little. But the hand of God stays stretched out. There is no return to the One who strikes them, only an effort to appease God with a certain amount of hypocrisy. The conscience has never come into direct contact with God.
He also describes what God's people look like when they are in a good state, and what God still leaves them when they are not.
When the people of God are in a good state, they have the glory of God at heart, and without it they cannot be satisfied. It is not enough for them that no evil is going on. That is enough for man, but not for the glory of God. There are still divisions and miseries because of their sins (vv. 18-20)… God does not crush His people even when He smites them. He leaves some comfort.
The same image of people eating each other turns up elsewhere in Scripture.
"Let the rest eat every one the flesh of another." This has happened in a literal way in some of Israel's ordeals under siege (2 Kings 6:26-29), and no doubt will happen in the tribulation. In a spiritual sense, bitter hatred between neighbours makes people bite and devour one another. Such things come from ignoring God.
L. M. Grant (Zechariah 11:9; the ESV reads "let those who are left devour the flesh of one another")
One writer adds that this judgment is not spent history.
The nation in unrepentance, and God's wrath against them, has had its past and present fulfilment. It is not yet exhausted. It looks forward to the coming day of wrath.
- Slighted. The chastening had already come, and still the people did not return to the One striking them.
- Devoured. The violence turns inward, brother against brother. Quarrels between relatives are the most bitter of all.
- Unsatisfied. Grabbing right and left leaves the man hungry still, and what he eats is his own flesh and blood.
- Stretched out. The outstretched hand returns four times over. Yet God does not crush His people. He leaves comfort.
- Ahead. This is earthly judgment, not the final one, and its language still points forward to a coming day of wrath.
Manasseh, Ephraim, and Ephraim, Manasseh; [and] they together are against Judah. For all this his anger is not turned away, and his hand is stretched out still.
This verse is the third of four blows against the northern kingdom of Israel. Manasseh and Ephraim were sons of the same father, yet here they turn on each other, then turn together on Judah. The verse ends with a line that has already sounded twice in the chapter, and it raises the hardest question here: what would it take for that outstretched hand to come down?
The line at the end of this verse is not new. It returns like a bell at fixed points, and one writer counts the strokes.
Here the prophet went back to condemning the people and their sins. He had paused that to tell of his vision of the Lord of Hosts and to give the prediction about Immanuel. We now learn how God stretched out His hand over them in anger and discipline. In Isaiah 5, He pronounced woe on them six times, and now we get the hand of God stretched out in wrath four times over — verses 12, 17, 21, and Isaiah 10:4. There seems to be an increase of severity as we proceed.
This blow does not come from an invading army. It comes from within the family, and then the two brothers join forces against Judah in the south.
The closest of the ten tribes would devour each other, and both would devour Judah. Even so, this is God's judgment on earth. A still more awful eternal judgment waits for the unrepentant and the unbelieving in the resurrection of judgment, and we must look elsewhere for it. The New Testament reveals it in full: God reveals His wrath from heaven against all the ungodliness and unrighteousness of people who hold down the truth by their unrighteousness (Rom. 1:18). The Lord showed the same thing in Mark 9:43-48, giving lasting force to words drawn from the earthly judgment of Isaiah 66:24.
The repeated line does not mean God's temper simply will not cool. It marks something unfinished in the people, and one writer names it.
Sometimes the heart admits that the discipline has come because of an evil it knows about. Then it would just reform itself a little. But the hand of God stays stretched out still, because there is no return to the One who strikes. Instead there is an effort to appease God with a certain amount of hypocrisy. The conscience has not come into direct contact with God.
A few verses earlier the same prophet promised a child, a Son, a government without end. That promise and this warning sit side by side because they speak to two different groups.
How clear it is that two classes in Judah are before the mind of the prophet, the righteous and the wicked! The righteous receive the glorious promise. The wicked receive words that ring the death-bell of their utter ruin, and their disasters are great and will be greater: "For all this his anger has not turned away, and his hand is stretched out still." Even the great prophecy, the promise of a Son, could not turn away the Lord's anger, and it was never meant to. It was meant to give a sure word where the righteous could rest their hope. It laid a foundation the righteous could build on all through the time of judgment.
The verse shows a people at war with itself. One writer ties that split to a rejected king, and says it heals only when they own that King.
Though Jerusalem was to be the head, yet they were to be no longer two but one in the land, and the Lord always owned them so. Zebulun and Naphtali saw a great light. The poor of the flock, "the lost sheep of the house of Israel," all met His care alike, scattered as they might be. But that unity depended on David their king, their one head. His rejection broke all this. He cut apart His other staff, "Bands," to break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel. They will surely not be one again until they own the King again. Until then, even if they are in their land, they will be a divided and weakened people.
The words repeat four times without relief, but they are not the end of the story. The same prophet names the moment the sentence ends.
The Assyrian then reappears, since he is the rod in the Lord's hand. The prophet announces that God will finish all He had decided about Zion, and will then break the rod He has used. Then the remnant will seek the Lord and will lean on Him... The Lord's indignation, and His anger against Israel, had never yet been turned away. It will come to an end when He destroys this rod that made itself great against the Lord who used it.
- Still — four times. The line sounds at 9:12, 9:17, 9:21 and 10:4, and the severity grows each time. Verse 21 is the third stroke, not the last.
- Still — because no one turned. The hand stays out where there is no return to the One who strikes. There is only a little self-reform and an effort to appease God with hypocrisy.
- Still — so they eat their own. The closest relatives devour each other, and both devour Judah. This is God's judgment on earth, and the New Testament reveals a far more awful eternal one.
- Still — while the King is refused. The broken brotherhood between Israel and Judah heals only when they own the King again. Until then they stay divided and weak.
- Still — but not forever. The anger that had never yet been turned away comes to an end. God finishes His work on Zion, breaks the rod He used, and the remnant leans on Him.