Isaiah 10:20-34--The Remnant of Israel Will Return

Isaiah 10:20-34
English Standard Version

The Remnant of Israel Will Return
20 In that day the remnant of Israel and the survivors of the house of Jacob will no more lean on him who struck them, but will lean on the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. 21 A remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God. 22 For though your people Israel be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will return. Destruction is decreed, overflowing with righteousness. 23 For the Lord God of hosts will make a full end, as decreed, in the midst of all the earth.

24 Therefore thus says the Lord God of hosts: “O my people, who dwell in Zion, be not afraid of the Assyrians when they strike with the rod and lift up their staff against you as the Egyptians did. 25 For in a very little while my fury will come to an end, and my anger will be directed to their destruction. 26 And the LORD of hosts will wield against them a whip, as when he struck Midian at the rock of Oreb. And his staff will be over the sea, and he will lift it as he did in Egypt. 27 And in that day his burden will depart from your shoulder, and his yoke from your neck; and the yoke will be broken because of the fat.”

28 He has come to Aiath;
he has passed through Migron;
    at Michmash he stores his baggage;
29 they have crossed over the pass;
    at Geba they lodge for the night;
Ramah trembles;
    Gibeah of Saul has fled.
30 Cry aloud, O daughter of Gallim!
    Give attention, O Laishah!
    O poor Anathoth!
31 Madmenah is in flight;
    the inhabitants of Gebim flee for safety.
32 This very day he will halt at Nob;
    he will shake his fist
    at the mount of the daughter of Zion,
    the hill of Jerusalem.

​33 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.
34 He will cut down the thickets of the forest with an axe,
    and Lebanon will fall by the Majestic One.

---

There will be a coming day when the northern kingdom of Israel (and the southern kingdom of Judah) will learn their lesson and will return to the Land.  They will learn to trust in the LORD for their help and salvation from their physical enemies, but they will still have trouble seeing their need for the even greater salvation that the Lord would provide for them.

The LORD promised to bring them back to the Land and save them from their captors in the same kind of miraculous way that he did when He brought them out of Egypt (with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm).  Their captivity is only temporary (Jeremiah would tell Judah for how long and why), There would be great destruction in the Land, and it would be obvious that this was the work of the Lord to judge His people. However, He would bring them back and cause them to take root and grow again.  What looked like a tree that had been cut down to the stump and burned with fire would come back to life and the promise of Messiah would be at the center of all of it.