Behold, the Lord GOD of Hosts will lop off the branches with terrifying power. The tall trees will be cut down, the lofty ones will be felled. BeholdThe Hebrew word for "behold" is "הִנֵּה" (hinneh), which serves as a call to attention, urging the reader or listener to focus on the significant message that follows. In the context of Isaiah, it is a divine alert, emphasizing the certainty and importance of God's forthcoming action. This word sets the stage for a dramatic revelation, inviting us to witness the power and justice of God. the Lord GOD of Hosts
This phrase combines two powerful titles for God: "Adonai" (Lord) and "YHWH" (GOD), along with "Tzevaot" (of Hosts). "Adonai" signifies God's sovereign authority, while "YHWH" is His covenant name, representing His eternal and unchanging nature. "Tzevaot" refers to the heavenly armies, underscoring God's supreme command over all celestial and earthly forces. This title reassures believers of God's omnipotence and His ability to execute His will. will lop off the branches
The imagery of lopping off branches suggests a pruning or cutting away, which in the Hebrew context often symbolizes judgment or removal of what is unfruitful or proud. This action by God is not arbitrary but purposeful, aimed at purifying and restoring righteousness. It reflects God's role as a just judge who removes the arrogant and those who oppose His will. with terrifying power
The Hebrew word for "terrifying" is "בְּעָרִיץ" (be'aritz), conveying a sense of awe-inspiring might and authority. This phrase highlights the overwhelming and undeniable strength of God's actions. It serves as a reminder of the fear of the Lord, which is the beginning of wisdom, and calls believers to reverence and humility before His majestic power. The tall trees
In biblical symbolism, "tall trees" often represent powerful leaders or nations. Their height signifies pride and self-exaltation. By targeting these "tall trees," God demonstrates His opposition to human arrogance and His commitment to humbling those who elevate themselves above His authority. This serves as a warning against pride and a call to seek humility. will be cut down
The act of cutting down signifies a decisive and complete removal. In the historical context, this can be seen as God's judgment against Assyria, a nation that had exalted itself and oppressed others. Spiritually, it serves as a metaphor for God's ability to bring low the proud and to dismantle structures of sin and rebellion. and the lofty will be felled
The "lofty" refers to those who are high and mighty in their own eyes, often associated with arrogance and self-reliance. To be "felled" means to be brought down or humbled. This phrase reinforces the theme of divine justice, where God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. It is a call to recognize our dependence on God and to submit to His sovereign will. Persons / Places / Events 1. The Lord, the LORD of HostsThis title emphasizes God's supreme authority and power over all heavenly armies. It underscores His ability to execute judgment and bring about His will. 2. The Tall TreesSymbolically represents the proud and powerful leaders or nations that exalt themselves against God. In the context of Isaiah, it often refers to Assyria and its king. 3. The LoftyRefers to those who are arrogant and self-exalted, whether individuals or nations, who will be brought low by God's judgment. 4. JudgmentThe event of divine intervention where God exercises His justice, particularly against the prideful and oppressive. 5. AssyriaThe dominant empire during Isaiah's time, known for its military might and arrogance, often seen as an instrument of God's judgment but also subject to His ultimate authority. Teaching Points God's Sovereignty Over NationsGod is in control of all nations and their leaders. No matter how powerful they may seem, they are subject to His authority and judgment. The Danger of PridePride leads to downfall. Just as the tall trees are cut down, those who exalt themselves will be humbled by God. The Certainty of Divine JusticeGod's judgment is sure and will come with power. We can trust that He will right the wrongs and bring justice in His perfect timing. Humility Before GodIn light of God's power and judgment, we are called to live humbly, recognizing our dependence on Him and submitting to His will. Hope in God's RighteousnessWhile judgment is severe, it is also a reminder of God's righteousness and His commitment to uphold justice and truth. Bible Study Questions 1. How does understanding God's sovereignty over nations affect your view of current world events? 2. In what ways can pride manifest in our personal lives, and how can we guard against it? 3. How does the imagery of trees being cut down help you understand the nature of God's judgment? 4. What are some practical steps you can take to cultivate humility in your daily walk with God? 5. How can the assurance of God's ultimate justice provide comfort and hope in times of personal or societal injustice? Connections to Other Scriptures Isaiah 2:12-13This passage also speaks of the Lord's day of reckoning against the proud and lofty, using similar imagery of trees and heights being brought low. Ezekiel 31:10-14Describes the fall of a great tree, symbolizing a powerful nation, due to its pride, drawing a parallel to the imagery in Isaiah 10:33. James 4:6Highlights the principle that God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble, reinforcing the theme of divine opposition to arrogance. People Anathoth, Assyrians, Egyptians, Isaiah, Jacob, Laish, Oreb, SaulPlaces Aiath, Anathoth, Arpad, Assyria, Calno, Carchemish, Damascus, Egypt, Gallim, Geba, Gibeah, Hamath, Jerusalem, Laishah, Lebanon, Madmenah, Michmash, Midian, Migron, Mount Zion, Nob, Ramah, Samaria, ZionTopics Abased, Armies, Behold, Bough, Boughs, Branch, Branches, Crash, Cut, Cutting, Falling, Felled, Haughty, Height, Hewn, Hosts, Humbled, Laid, Lofty, Lop, Lopping, Low, Noise, Ones, Power, Stature, Strong, Tall, Terrible, Terrifying, Terror, Trees, ViolenceDictionary of Bible Themes Isaiah 10:33-34 4448 forests
5571 surgery Library Light or Fire?
'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.'--ISAIAH x. 17. With grand poetry the prophet pictures the Assyrian power as a forest consumed like thistles and briers by the fire of God. The text suggests solemn truths about the divine Nature and its manifestations. I. The Essential Character of God. Light and Holiness are substantially parallel. Light symbolises purity, but also knowledge and joy. Holiness …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy ScriptureNob. Bahurim.
That Nob was placed in the land of Benjamin, not far from Jerusalem, whence Jerusalem also might be seen,--the words of the Chaldee paraphrast, upon Isaiah 10:32, do argue. For so he speaks; "Sennacherib came and stood in Nob, a city of the priests, before the walls of Jerusalem; and said to his army, 'Is not this the city of Jerusalem, against which I have raised my whole army, and have subdued all the provinces of it? Is it not small and weak in comparison of all the fortifications of the Gentiles, …
John Lightfoot—From the Talmud and Hebraica Covenanting Predicted in Prophecy.
The fact of Covenanting, under the Old Testament dispensations, being approved of God, gives a proof that it was proper then, which is accompanied by the voice of prophecy, affording evidence that even in periods then future it should no less be proper. The argument for the service that is afforded by prophecy is peculiar, and, though corresponding with evidence from other sources, is independent. Because that God willed to make known truth through his servants the prophets, we should receive it …
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of Covenanting If Then the Prophets Prophesied that the Son of God was to Appear Upon The...
If then the prophets prophesied that the Son of God was to appear upon the earth, and prophesied also where on the earth and how and in what manner He should make known His appearance, and all these prophecies the Lord took upon Himself; our faith in Him was well-founded, and the tradition of the preaching (is) true: that is to say, the testimony of the apostles, who being sent forth by the Lord preached in all the world the Son of God, who came to suffer, and endured to the destruction of death …
Irenæus—The Demonstration of the Apostolic Preaching His Holy Covenant
"To remember His Holy Covenant; to grant unto us that we, being delivered out of the hands of our enemies, should serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him, all our days."-LUKE i. 68-75. WHEN Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, he spoke of God's visiting and redeeming His people, as a remembering of His Holy Covenant. He speaks of what the blessings of that Covenant would be, not in words that had been used before, but in what is manifestly a Divine revelation …
Andrew Murray—The Two Covenants The Instrumentality of the Wicked Employed by God, While He Continues Free from Every Taint.
1. The carnal mind the source of the objections which are raised against the Providence of God. A primary objection, making a distinction between the permission and the will of God, refuted. Angels and men, good and bad, do nought but what has been decreed by God. This proved by examples. 2. All hidden movements directed to their end by the unseen but righteous instigation of God. Examples, with answers to objections. 3. These objections originate in a spirit of pride and blasphemy. Objection, that …
John Calvin—The Institutes of the Christian Religion King of Kings and Lord of Lords
And He hath on His vesture and on His thigh a name written, K ING OF K INGS AND L ORD OF L ORDS T he description of the administration and glory of the Redeemer's Kingdom, in defiance of all opposition, concludes the second part of Messiah Oratorio. Three different passages from the book of Revelation are selected to form a grand chorus, of which Handel's title in this verse is the close --a title which has been sometimes vainly usurped by proud worms of this earth. Eastern monarchs, in particular, …
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 2 Humility is the Root of Charity, and Meekness the Fruit of Both. ...
Humility is the root of charity, and meekness the fruit of both. There is no solid and pure ground of love to others, except the rubbish of self-love be first cast out of the soul; and when that superfluity of naughtiness is cast out, then charity hath a solid and deep foundation: "The end of the command is charity out of a pure heart," 1 Tim. i. 5. It is only such a purified heart, cleansed from that poison and contagion of pride and self-estimation, that can send out such a sweet and wholesome …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning Purposes of God.
In discussing this subject I shall endeavor to show, I. What I understand by the purposes of God. Purposes, in this discussion, I shall use as synonymous with design, intention. The purposes of God must be ultimate and proximate. That is, God has and must have an ultimate end. He must purpose to accomplish something by his works and providence, which he regards as a good in itself, or as valuable to himself, and to being in general. This I call his ultimate end. That God has such an end or purpose, …
Charles Grandison Finney—Systematic Theology A Discourse of the House and Forest of Lebanon
OF THE HOUSE OF THE FOREST OF LEBANON. ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. That part of Palestine in which the celebrated mountains of Lebanon are situated, is the border country adjoining Syria, having Sidon for its seaport, and Land, nearly adjoining the city of Damascus, on the north. This metropolitan city of Syria, and capital of the kingdom of Damascus, was strongly fortified; and during the border conflicts it served as a cover to the Assyrian army. Bunyan, with great reason, supposes that, to keep …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3 Of Antichrist, and his Ruin: and of the Slaying the Witnesses.
BY JOHN BUNYAN PREFATORY REMARKS BY THE EDITOR This important treatise was prepared for the press, and left by the author, at his decease, to the care of his surviving friend for publication. It first appeared in a collection of his works in folio, 1692; and although a subject of universal interest; most admirably elucidated; no edition has been published in a separate form. Antichrist has agitated the Christian world from the earliest ages; and his craft has been to mislead the thoughtless, by …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3 The Providence of God
Q-11: WHAT ARE GOD'S WORKS OF PROVIDENCE? A: God's works of providence are the acts of his most holy, wise, and powerful government of his creatures, and of their actions. Of the work of God's providence Christ says, My Father worketh hitherto and I work.' John 5:17. God has rested from the works of creation, he does not create any new species of things. He rested from all his works;' Gen 2:2; and therefore it must needs be meant of his works of providence: My Father worketh and I work.' His kingdom …
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity Concerning Christian Liberty
CHRISTIAN faith has appeared to many an easy thing; nay, not a few even reckon it among the social virtues, as it were; and this they do, because they have not made proof of it experimentally, and have never tasted of what efficacy it is. For it is not possible for any man to write well about it, or to understand well what is rightly written, who has not at some time tasted of its spirit, under the pressure of tribulation. While he who has tasted of it, even to a very small extent, can never write, …
Martin Luther—First Principles of the Reformation And for Your Fearlessness against them Hold this Sure Sign -- Whenever There Is...
43. And for your fearlessness against them hold this sure sign--whenever there is any apparition, be not prostrate with fear, but whatsoever it be, first boldly ask, Who art thou? And from whence comest thou? And if it should be a vision of holy ones they will assure you, and change your fear into joy. But if the vision should be from the devil, immediately it becomes feeble, beholding your firm purpose of mind. For merely to ask, Who art thou [1083] ? and whence comest thou? is a proof of coolness. …
Athanasius—Select Works and Letters or Athanasius Isaiah
CHAPTERS I-XXXIX Isaiah is the most regal of the prophets. His words and thoughts are those of a man whose eyes had seen the King, vi. 5. The times in which he lived were big with political problems, which he met as a statesman who saw the large meaning of events, and as a prophet who read a divine purpose in history. Unlike his younger contemporary Micah, he was, in all probability, an aristocrat; and during his long ministry (740-701 B.C., possibly, but not probably later) he bore testimony, as …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament Links Isaiah 10:33 NIVIsaiah 10:33 NLTIsaiah 10:33 ESVIsaiah 10:33 NASBIsaiah 10:33 KJV
Isaiah 10:33 Commentaries
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