Bible In One Year Day 196 (Isaiah 9 - 10, Tobit 10 - 12 , Proverbs 10:9-12)

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Day 196: Destruction of Israel

Agape Bible Study 
Isaiah 9 - 10 

Isaiah 9:1-6 (8:23-9:7) ~ The Promise of Deliverance and Restoration

This vision is so vivid that Isaiah speaks of these events as having already happened. The tribal territories of Zebulun and Naphtali were located north and west of the Sea of Galilee. The "Way of the Sea" was the great trade route that began in Egypt, passed along the coast of the Mediterranean northward with several roads crisscrossing the Galilee, and extending into Mesopotamia and Asia Minor. The well-traveled trade routes brought Gentile influence as well as goods into the region

The major themes of Isaiah's book are repeated again where the justice of God's judgment is followed by the promise of mercy and restoration. The judgment that befell the tribal lands of Zebulun and Naphtali in the region of the Galilee was the invasion of the Assyrians and the exile of the people into Assyrians lands to the east: In the days of Pekah king of Israel, Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria came and captured Ijon, Abel-beth-Maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, Gilead and Galilee "the whole territory of Naphtali and deported the population to Assyria (2 Kng 15:29).

The towns mentioned (all belonging to the tribe of Naphtali) were taken in Tiglath-Pileser III's advance in his campaign against Philistia in in 734 BC. Gilead (east side of the Jordan River) and the Galilee were conquered in the campaign of 733-732 BC, and the inhabitants of the entire region were exiled into Assyrians lands to the east; it was the first major Israelite deportation and Gentile peoples were brought in to settle the region making the Galilee, as Isaiah says, a territory of the goyim, the Gentile nations. Isaiah foretells that this humiliation will be followed by a glorious future in a "Day of Yahweh." To the region of the Galilee that experienced the darkness of exile and repopulation by Gentile foreigner armies, the prophet promises deliverance and the "light" of restoration. This "light" will come from the "dominion" of the peaceful reign of a royal son of the House of David, the "God-with-us/Immanuel" of 7:14.

Question: How many adjectives are used to describe the "name" of this future Davidic deliverer as a "light" to the people?
Answer:

1. Wonder-Counsellor
2. Mighty-God
3. Eternal-Father
4. Prince-of-Peace

Each of the names/titles refer to the child's divine nature. The first name/title indicates the divine nature of his wisdom. The same Hebrew word for "wonder" (pele') appears in Judges 13:18 when the Angel of the Lord appeared to Manoah and his wife and announced Samson's birth, using this word for the couple to recognize the divine will in their son's birth. The word pele' and other derivations often designate God's mighty works.

Isaiah 9:7-10:34 ~ The Coming Judgment in the Fall of the Northern Kingdom

As the voice of Yahweh, Isaiah recounts a series of divine judgments that will begin take place against the Northern Kingdom of Israel in 9:7-10:4 (in some translations these verses are numbered 9:8-10:4). In these judgments, he is describing God's continuing anger with Israel's people because of their pride and arrogance. He has sent His prophets to call His people to repentance, but they ignored the prophets' warnings. Each section is divided by the key statement that occurs four times: "Yet for all this, his anger is not spent. No, his hand is still raised!" (see 9:11/12, 16/17, 20/21; 10:4). The people of the whole of Israel (Jacob) had failed to repent, so as an example God's judgment will fall first upon the Northern Kingdom with whom His judgment will be taken to the next level. It is a concept of increasing degrees of punishments in the attempt to call a people to repentance that was introduced in the covenant judgment sanctions in Leviticus 26:14-39 and Deuteronomy 28:15-68 where Moses described the awful progression of the consequences that would befall the covenant people if they were unwilling to repent and return to their covenant obligations and their faithful relationship with Yahweh. 

Question: Why did God warn that He would use degrees of punishment?
Answer: The reason for judgments was always as a means to lead to repentance and restoration. Therefore, in the different levels of judgment, God gave the people opportunities to turn back to Him, to repent, and to be restored to His divine favor.

Judgments in Isaiah 9:7/8-10:4

1. Judgment of Israel through other nations (9:7/8-11/12)
2. Judgment against Israel's leaders (9:12/13-16/17)
3. Judgment by famine and natural disasters (9:17/18-20/21)
4. Judgment against the unjust who oppress the humble (10:1-4)

This section answers the theological question posed by God's assurance to King Ahaz of Judah in 7:4-9 and 8:4 that the alliance of Israel and Damascus will not be a threat. That question is: "how exactly will God insure that the Northern Kingdom's (Ephraim's) plans against Judah come to nothing?" The answer is that it will not be because of the intervention of Assyria but because of the intervention of God in bringing about the following events.

Isaiah 9:7-11 ~ Judgment by other Nations

God has sent his "word" to all the children of Israel (the descendants of Jacob) in both nations, and now the first of the judgments will fall upon the Northern Kingdom (Ephraim) and their capital city of Samaria. The "word" in verse 7/8 is not just an element of speech in Hebrew as it is in English. God's word brings about that which is spoken by Him (see Gen 1:3). When God has made a pronouncement, in a real sense, that event comes to pass (Ps 107:20; 147:15, 18, 19; Is 55:10; Heb 4:12; 6:5). Jesus is the "Living Word" who brings to fulfillment the will of God in creation and in salvation history (Jn 1:1-5).

God sent the prophets Amos and Hosea to the Northern Kingdom and Micah, like Isaiah, prophesied to both the Northern and Southern kingdoms. Their missions were to warn the people and their kings to repent before they were then overtaking by God's judgments.

Question: Despite the warnings of God's prophets and the evidence of those warnings that they have experienced through natural and political events, what do the people of the Northern Kingdom in their pride and arrogance claim?
Answer: They claim that the warnings of God's prophets are not relevant. They boast in their arrogance that they will not only rebuild but they will rebuild better than before using the finer materials of dressed stone instead of bricks and costly cedar instead of the more common sycamores.

The Archangel Raphael Leaving Tobias' Family (Rembrandt)

Isaiah 9:12-16 ~ Judgment against Israel's Leaders

Question: In response to Israel's continued rejection of Yahweh, what is the next judgment that God sends, using the metaphors of the tall palm leaf and the lowly reed?
Answer: He will cut off the "top" (the leaders) and the "tail" (the false prophets) of Israelite society who mislead the people.

Sadly the whole of the Northern Kingdom's society is corrupt and godless, from the leaders to the lowly widows and orphans. They all reject God's outstretched hand with promised blessings; therefore, God's outstretched hand will still be raised in judgment.

Isffcc; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; margin-left: 0.25in; margin-right: 0.25in;">God has removed His restraining hand of grace, and wickedness has burst forth unchecked, devouring like a fire everything it touches. In the Bible, "fire" is both a symbol of judgment and purification (verse 18).
Question: In verse 17 the condition of the people in the Northern Kingdom recalls what earlier period of intense wickedness that required God's judgment to set society aright again? See Gen 6:5.
Answer: It recalls the period of wickedness prior to the Flood judgment.

Isaiah 10:1-4 ~ Judgment against the Unjust who oppress the Humble

The final indictment against human pride is in depriving the helpless of their rights in order to oppress them. Later the prophet Malachi, speaking as the voice of God, will write this condemnation: I am coming to put you on trial and I shall be a ready witness against sorcerers, adulterers, perjurers, and against those who oppress the wage-earner, the widow and the orphan, and who rob the foreigner of his rights and do not respect me, says Yahweh Sabaoth (Mal 3:5).

Isaiah 10:5-11 ~ Assyria the Unconscious Instrument of God's Judgment

At this point Isaiah's discourse changes. The focus is no longer the Northern Kingdom of Israel but Assyria, the instrument of divine judgment "the "rod of my anger, the club in their hands is my fury!" It is "woe" for Assyrians because they did not recognize their part in God's divine plan. Instead, they glorified themselves and boasted of their greatness as they delivered destruction and plundered other kingdoms and their cities. 

Isaiah 10:12-19 ~ Assyria's Future Judgment

Assyria has a part in God's divine plan or punish His covenant people for abandoning Him, however, when God's plan using Assyria is completed, He will deal with Assyrian's pride (10:12, 16-19). Once again Isaiah interprets the words and thoughts of the Assyrian king in verses 13-14, which is answered by Isaiah in verse 15.

Question: What is the meaning of Isaiah's rhetorical question in 10:15?
Answer: Assyria has not accomplished all the things she boasts about. Assyria was only the weapon God used; she was the "axe" in God's hands and the "spear" or "club" He raised in battle.

Question: When God has finished His work for the present with His unfaithful people, what will happen to the Assyrians and why? Hint: the "light of Israel" is a reference to Yahweh. See verses 16-19.
Answer: God will bring judgment against the Assyrians who, in their pride and arrogance, think they have accomplished the defeat of neighboring nations all on their own.

• All the treasures they took will disappear like burning thorn bushes in a single day (verse 17).
• He will burn down their forests and crops; so few trees will be left that a child will be able to count the few trees that are left (verses 18a, 19b).
• He will bring destruction to the arrogant Assyrian population (verse 19b).

Assyria came against the Northern Kingdom as God's instrument of justice, but because Assyria did not bow to the same natural moral laws that God has infused in the spirit of all humanity, she also faced judgment (10:5-34).

 In c. 627 BC, the Neo-Assyrian Empire began to fall apart due to a series of civil wars. In 616 BC, Assyria was attacked by an alliance of its former vassals: the Babylonians, Chaldeans, Medes, Persians, Scythians and Cimmerians. After a siege and bitter house-to house fighting, Nineveh was sacked in 612 BC and the city was razed to the ground. Most of the citizens of the city were either massacred or deported. Many unburied skeletons were found by the archaeologists at the site. The Assyrian empire finally came to an end by 605 BC with the Medes and Babylonians dividing its vassal states between them.⁽¹⁾

Isaiah 10:20-23 ~ The Little Remnant will Return

The theology of the "faithful remnant" is dear to Isaiah and he returns to it time after time. God will use the Assyrians to bring judgment on Israel, but He will protect Israel from complete destruction and He will preserve a remnant "of the House of Jacob.""Jacob" is, of course, a reference to Jacob son of Isaac who God renamed "Israel" (Gen 32:28; 35:10), the physical "father" of the "children of Israel". 

Isaiah now turns to giving assurance again to the citizens of Judah that they have nothing to fear from Assyria.
Question: Who is Oreb and what is Oreb's Rock? See Judg 6:1-6; 7:5; 8:3 and Ps 83:11.
Answer: Oreb was a prince/chieftain of Midian who was one of the leaders of a Midianite army that invaded and pillaged Israel for seven years in the era of the Judges (Judg 6:1-6). He was slain by Gideon's soldiers on Oreb's Rock, a site on the east side of the Jordan River in Midianite territory.

In verse 26 Yahweh reminds the people of Judah of how He delivered them from the Midianite invaders and then reminds them of His protection when He parted the Red Sea for the Israelites to escape from the advancing Egyptian army (Ex 14:16). The nation of Judah will be threatened by the Assyrians, but Yahweh will protect them and will destroy the Assyrians, laying aside the Assyrian's "yoke" of oppression.

Isaiah 10:28-34 ~ The Invasion

Isaiah describes the Assyrian invasion against Judah and Jerusalem in verses 28-32. All will appear lost for Judah as the Assyrians march through the territory of Benjamin, conquering all the Benjaminite cities in their path: Aiath, Migron, Michmash, Geba, Gibeah (the city of King Saul), Bath-Gallim, Laish, Anathoth, Madmenah, Gebim and finally Nob, a city just a few miles east of Jerusalem.

In verse 33 Isaiah compares Yahweh's destruction of the Assyrian army with the clearing of a forest. First He will remove their leaders, "the ones standing highest". It is Yahweh who will defend Jerusalem and will cut down the Assyrians. This prophecy is fulfilled in the days of Ahaz's son, good King Hezekiah (Is chapters 36-37).

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A Daily Defense 
DAY 196 The Book of Tobit and History

CHALLENGE: “The book of Tobit contains numerous implausibilities—for example, a woman being married seven times yet each husband dropping dead on the wedding night, how Tobit is presented as the uncle of the legendary figure of Ahiqar, and the phenomenally long life spans of Tobit and his son.”

DEFENSE: The alleged errors are clues to the audience telling them what kind of book they are reading.

Like Judith (see Day 181), Tobit is a literary work that functions as an extended parable rather than a historical account, and various aspects of the text signal the audience that this is the case.

For example, the Pontifical Biblical Commission notes: “The death of the seven husbands of the same woman before the consummation of the marriage ([Tob.] 3:8–17) is a fact so unlikely that, this, by itself, suggests that the narrative is a literary fiction. . . . We have here, then, a popular religious fable with a didactic and edifying purpose which, by its nature, places it in the sphere of the wisdom tradition” (The Inspiration and Truth of Sacred Scripture 109).

Similarly, in the book’s first chapter, the text describes Tobit as the uncle of Ahiqar (Tob. 1:21), a legendary Middle-Eastern sage. Ahiqar then helps Tobit (Tob. 1:22, 2:10), and he attends Tobias’s wedding (Tob. 11:18). This is the ancient equivalent of a modern book whose first chapter establishes that the main character is the uncle of a legendary figure like Paul Bunyan, who then goes on to appear in the story.

Thus when the text says that Tobit lived to be 112 (Tob. 14:1) and Tobias to be 117 (Tob. 14:14 —and some manuscripts list higher ages—in a world where most adults died at half of those figures, it is another clue to the literary nature of the text.

This does not mean that Tobit cannot contain a historical nucleus that has been elaborated in literary style, but its primary character is literary rather than historical, as different aspects of the text make clear.

In view of considerations like these, John Paul II concluded: “The Books of Tobit, Judith, and Esther, although dealing with the history of the Chosen People, have the character of allegorical and moral narrative rather than history properly so called” (General Audience, May 8, 1985).

Jimmy Akin, A Daily Defense: 365 Days (Plus One) to Becoming a Better Apologist