In his sermon titled 'The Remnant Preserved,' Peter Allison explores Isaiah chapter 10, emphasizing God's use of Assyria as an instrument of judgment against Israel. The sermon highlights God's sovereign plan to purify and preserve a remnant of Israel amid His wrath. It explains how the remnant will no longer rely on their oppressors but will trust in Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. The speaker outlines seven key outcomes of God's work in Zion and Jerusalem, including the remnant's repentance and the removal of apostates. The sermon also discusses how God delivers the remnant from fear and affliction, using historical examples like the defeat of the Midianites and the Egyptians to illustrate God's power and faithfulness. Through afflictions, God teaches His people to depend solely on Him, breaking their reliance on false hopes. The removal of affliction is likened to the pouring out of the Holy Spirit, symbolized by anointing oil, signifying God's grace and enabling the remnant's repentance. Ultimately, the sermon reassures believers of God's righteous and just purposes in judgment and His promise to preserve His chosen people.

Our scripture reading is Isaiah chapter 10. We continue this morning the account of God's, the rod of God's wrath under God's wrath, or God's wrath upon the rod of His wrath. But Isaiah chapter 10 beginning at verse 20. Hear God's word. And it shall come to pass in that day that the remnant of Israel and such as have escaped the house of Jacob will never again depend on him who defeated them, but will depend on the Lord the Holy One of Israel in truth.

The remnant will return to the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God. For though your people, O Israel, be as the sand of the sea, a remnant of them will return. The destruction decreed shall overflow with righteousness, for the Lord God of hosts will make a determined end in the midst of all the land. Therefore, thus says the Lord God of hosts, O my people who dwell in Zion, do not be afraid of the Assyrian. He shall strike you with the rod and lift up his staff against you in the manner of Egypt.

For yet a very little while and the indignation will cease, as will my anger in their destruction. The Lord and the Lord of Hosts will stir up a scourge for him like the slaughter of Midian at the Rock of Orib. As his rod was in the sea, so will he lift it up in the manner of Egypt. It shall come to pass in that day that this burden will be taken away from your shoulder and his yoke from your neck, and the yoke will be destroyed because of the anointing oil. He has come to Ayat, he has passed Migran.

At Miqmash he has attended to his equipment. They have gone along the ridge, they have taken up lodging at Giba. Rama is afraid. Gibi of Saul has fled. Lift up your voice, O daughter of Galim, cause it to be heard as far as Laish.

O poor Anathoth, Madmenah has fled and the inhabitants of Gabim seek refuge. And yet he will remain at Nob that day. He will shake his fist at the mound of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem. Behold, the Lord of hosts will lop off the bough with terror, and those of high statue will be hewn down, and the hottie will be humbled. He will cut down the thickets of the forest with iron, and Lebanon will fall by the mighty one.

The entirety of God's Word is truth, and every one of His righteous judgments endures forever. Almighty Father in heaven, sanctify us by your truth this morning. Your word is truth. Your word endures forever. It never passes away.

Not one word ever falls to the ground unfulfilled. And we ask that that word may come to us this morning in the power of your spirit we ask this through you for we know that apart from your spirit we the natural man cannot understand your word And I ask that you would sanctify my lips, the lips of a vessel, a sinful vessel of clay, that they might be ordained to this task. In Jesus name, amen. Well, have you ever watched the performance of a speed painter or performance painter or maybe seen a video of one? A speed painter is a live performance artist who paints a picture or a portrait on a large canvas in front of a live audience in just a couple minutes, maybe five to ten minutes or less.

And the performance is usually set to music with some showmanship thrown in around. But what makes the performance dramatic, in addition to the speed with which it is done, is that those watching this painting appear on the canvas can't tell what's being painted. It looks like the paint is just being randomly thrown on the canvas like some three-year-old had an accident with a cans of paint. But then at the end with a couple of strokes or simply the inversion of the picture 180 degrees, so now you're looking at it what was upside down. And instantly, what appeared to be this chaotic hodgepodge of random colors thrown on the canvas, all of a sudden becomes this portrait that you instantly recognize of something.

It's as this work of art. Well, this is analogous to what the Lord does with Assyria on the canvas of Israel. Assyria is this instrument of rod, instead of a paintbrush, is an instrument in God's hand with which he wields on the canvas of his wayward people Israel. You see, Assyria is blind to the big picture. They don't think they are being used by God to accomplish His purposes.

And Neither does Israel really understand what God is working in them. Remember Habakkuk wondering, God, what are You doing? What's going on? How can You do this? It isn't until the end, until the Lord shows to them the good work, the redemptive work that He is accomplishing through this judgment.

God says in verse 12 that we looked at last week that when the Lord has performed all of His work on Mount Zion and Jerusalem, when His work is done, when He's accomplished His purposes on these people, then He will say, I will punish the fruit of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria and the glory of his haughty looks. See, this passage that we're looking at this morning reveals the fruit of the work that God did on Mount Zion in Jerusalem. It's as it were that final reveal where we can see the full picture and purpose that the Lord was accomplishing all the time as He's dealing with Israel. And there are seven results, seven fruits of that work that are given in this land. And when the Lord is finished with those seven things, then he deals with Assyria.

And that's also given in our passage this morning. Those two things, the work that the Lord is doing on the canvas of Israel, and when he's done using Assyria, what the Lord does with them. So verses 20 through 27 speak of the fruit of God's work among Zion and Jerusalem. And first one there is that The remnant no longer relies on the very one who abused them. And it shall come to pass in that day that the remnant of Israel and such as have escaped of the house of Jacob will never again depend upon him who defeated or literally who struck them, their abuser as it were.

The work that God does on the heart of Israel in this surviving remnant of Jacob is that they stop leaning they stop depending on the very one who was striking them and when people don't fear the Lord or trust in him this is exactly what they do They will return to the very same person who continues to abuse them. This is what drug addicts do. They return to the very substance that is destroying their life. They just return to it again and again. And the reasons obviously are complex, but at the root of the complexity of biology and physiology and emotions lies a deceived heart.

The heart is deceived resulting in the fear of man displacing the fear of the Lord. And it results in an ignorance of the laws and the promises of God, or an inability to trust in them, to know them. And so God's work upon His people in this judgment is to teach them His statutes and His commandments, to instruct them in the truth, and to break through that deception, enabling them to see the true picture of themselves. And he does this through chastening, through trials and through afflictions. And so by this gracious work of trials, of afflictions, of chastening, they are enabled to break free of this destructive cycle so that they no longer trust in the very one that is smiting them, abusing them.

Paul had to point this out to the Corinthian church. He told them in 2 Corinthians 11, But I fear lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he who comes Preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached or if you receive a different spirit, which You have not received or a different gospel, which you have not accepted You may well put up with it. They're going to put up, accept, receive this false gospel that Paul has not preached to them. Now relying on the one who abuses us is far more prevalent than we might realize.

What do we trust in to get us through difficult times? Our money? Our experience? Where do we go for help? Who or what do we trust in to heal us?

Whose voice is loudest in shaping our thinking and in forming the decisions that we make. What fears are really moving us? So the honest answer to all those questions will reveal who we are really depending upon. The honest answer, not the answer of a deceived heart. So the second work that God does is that the remnant depends on Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel.

And so instead of trusting upon depending on the one who strikes them, God says, but they will instead depend upon Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. Now this is, of course, closely related to the first work, but it's distinct. It's to bring the remnant to trust in the Lord for their protection and for their needs. Because it does no good to realize the futility of trusting in one false hope only to turn to another false hope. And you see that's all too common as well.

You recognize this is a false hope. This is the one who is striking me. Let me go over to this false hope." And you jump from, as we say, the frying pan into the fire. And that other false hope then turns out to bite us as well. So through this chasing rod of the Assyrians, the Lord not only breaks the deception of the heart and shows the remnant these false hopes in which they have been trusting, but He also graciously then brings them to depend on him to trust in him and Nothing else not another false.

Hope This dependence on the Lord is a dependence notice it's in truth They will depend upon the Holy One of Israel in truth. Israel had professed to depend on the Lord, but they were actually trusting in Syria or Egypt. You know, it's one thing to say that you're doing something, but in Israel's case, they were deceiving themselves. They were thinking, they were saying, we're trusting in the Lord, but then they were turning to other nations to help them. They were turning to Assyria to help them.

They say, yes, we're trusting in the Lord. And then they would turn away to somebody else for help. True, depending on the Lord in truth, doesn't mean though that we don't use means. It's not passivity. We use means, but we depend upon the Lord for their success.

And how do you tell the difference? Well, You tell the difference when the means might be unavailable or removed. Is there despair or is there a resting in the Lord's providence? Using means without depending on the Lord for success is atheism. But professing to depend on the Lord while neglecting the means is presumption.

Using means and not trusting in the Lord is atheism. It's not having God as our God, but not using means, neglecting means is presumption, and that amounts to testing God, which God says we're not to do. We're not to test the Lord, we're not to presume upon Him. So we need both. True depending on the Lord is to be as diligent and earnest in using means as if they could accomplish the outcome we're seeking for.

And yet, to be as detached from them in our hopes, as if we were using no means at all and just leaning on the Lord alone and depending on Him alone for the desired blessing. You see, it's a matter of the heart. It is using means, as earnest in using means, as diligent in using means, as if they could accomplish the outcome that we're looking for. But at the same time, as detached from them in our hopes, our hopes are not on them. And we're as detached from those means, and our hopes are as detached from those means as if we weren't using any means.

That's a dependence, that's a godly, right dependence on the Lord. And this is what God accomplishes in Israel through this affliction. Repentance, then, is the third fruit, which the Lord accomplishes through this chasing rod of Assyria. The remnant turns to the mighty God, El Gabor, the mighty God. And this turning is through the work of the Messiah.

Remember, the mighty God is one of the names that's given to the Messiah in the previous chapter in Isaiah 9, 6. The Messiah will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace. And so turning to the Lord is the work of the Lord himself. This remnant, who is this remnant? This remnant is the elect, God's people, the ones he has chosen from before the foundation of the world.

And it is through this affliction that the remnant turned to the Lord, to the mighty God. Turning to the Lord means that we acknowledge Him. We acknowledge that we are wholly unable to turn to Him in our own strength. And that His work of enabling us to turn to Him is a gift, a stunning grace. It's something we didn't earn.

It's something that we don't deserve. It's the work of God. And it's truly an amazing work that the Lord does. Because it's one thing to extend mercy to someone and to rescue them from bondage and give them a future and a hope. That's one thing and that's a kindness, that's mercy.

But when they have played the harlot and squandered that inheritance with riotous and profligate living, to receive that same grace again after repeated failings and wandering away and giving their heart to another, to hear that same voice that bids us to return and be healed. Now that's the marvelous grace of an infinitely loving God that really should deeply move us. It should. All that God does here in these works, These seven works that are spelled out in these verses could really be comprehended under this turning to the Lord, under repentance. You could think of them as all parts of repentance.

In Hebrew, the remnant shall return is Sha'ar-yeh-shuv, shir-jaz-ah. Remember that name? That was the name of Isaiah's son in Isaiah 7 when Isaiah is commanded to take his son, Sheer Jazab, and go meet Ahaz. The name of his son was, The remnant will return. Shir Jazab, the son of Isaiah, was the seal of the promise.

Everywhere Shir Jazab went, he proclaimed, The remnant shall return. Every time somebody greeted him, Shalom, Shir Jazab, they were proclaiming God's prominence. The remnant will return. Every time people saw him, every time people thought of him, they would bring God's promise to mind. The remnant will return.

He was the seal that God gave to Israel. The fourth work that is accomplished through God's chastening is the removal of apostates from the land. This is the other side of the coin, so to speak, of the return of the remnant, is God removes the apostate. This is the purifying purpose of God's judgments. There in verse 22.

For though your people, O Israel, be as the sand of the sea, a remnant of them will return. The destruction to creature overflow with righteousness, for the Lord God of hosts will make a determined end in the midst of all the land. See, the masses would be destroyed so that the remnant might be preserved. This is what God did in Sodom and Gomorrah. He preserved a remnant, Lot and his daughters.

Isaiah 6, we read about the remnant, but yet a tenth would be in it, and will return and be for consuming just a tenth a small fraction of the whole of the masses as the stump whose as the oak whose stump remains when it is cut down so the holy seed shall be the stump this is the remnant that is returned after the removal of the masses. God has predetermined and decreed the destruction of the whole mass of apostate Israel, people that have become hardened against Him. And He decreed, He has determined that only a small remnant of these people will be saved. And we know that what God has decreed will certainly come to pass. It may seem like it's never going to happen.

It may seem like it's taking forever. And we may wonder, Lord, how long? How long? But it definitely, absolutely, certainly will happen. We just need to remember that a thousand years with the Lord is as a day and a day is a thousand years.

In other words, God is not a creature of time. He doesn't count time like we do. And just because there's a long delay, like the people in Noah's day, just because there's a hundred year delay between the announcement of the judgment and the bringing it doesn't mean that it's not happening. To decree something is to order it to take place. You know, we can, kings can make decrees, but it doesn't necessarily mean that it happens.

But when God decrees something. Then it happens just because he said it. When he decrees something in his decrees were issued from before the foundation of the world. There is not one word of his that will ever fall to the ground unfulfilled. The larger catechism defines decrees in this way that God's decrees are the wise, free, and holy acts of his counsel whereby From all eternity he has for his own glory unchangeably For ordained whatsoever comes to pass in time especially concerning angels and men Unchangeably from before the foundation of the world, from all eternity decreed, foreordained what would come to pass.

So, Whatever takes place now in time took place before the foundation of the world. Before anything was created, God decreed for all these things to take place. Nothing happens in all the world except what God has decreed. There's absolutely no possibility of anything happening outside of what God has decreed. So when God is determined, as Isaiah says, when God is determined that apostate Israel will be totally destroyed and only a small remnant saved, there's absolutely no possibility of anything other than that ever taking place.

Now, of course, this does not mean that we don't pray because prayer does change things. It doesn't change what God has ordained to happen but it does change what would have happened if we hadn't prayed because God uses God works through the prayers of his people to accomplish his unchangeable purposes that he has foreordained from before the foundation of the world so prayer plays a very important part in what God does. Now, the fifth work of God's judgment is delivering the remnant from fear. God says you have no reason to fear the Assyrian who is striking your land with his rod and lifting up his staff against you the way Egypt did. You have no more reason to fear Assyria and what it's threatening to do to you, then you had reason to fear to Egypt.

God's saying, I can do to Assyria the same thing I did with Egypt. And there are a couple of reasons that Isaiah gives why they should not fear Assyria. And the first is that Assyria can do nothing against them but what God has appointed and determined. They are told here in advance what God will do to Assyria so that it should not come as a surprise to them. He will smite them by His divine will, But it will only be to correct them, not with a sword to wound and to kill them.

He shall shake the rod, God says, at you after the manner of Egypt, as the Egyptians took up their staff against, their sword against the Israelites at the Red Sea. When they said, we will overtake them, but they weren't able to reach them. They never could harm them. Jesus says we shouldn't be frightened at those enemies that can do nothing more than destroy the body anyways. He also gives the example of Midian as well.

He also says that, Secondly, that the storm would blow over a little while and the indignation will cease. It's going to be a short time. And when that short time is up, then they will be disarmed, and they won't be able to do any further hurt. God's anger is against His people. Psalm 30 says, it's but for a moment.

And when that ceases and is turned away, then we don't need to fear the fury of any man, for it's powerless. It's powerless against us. The third thing that Isaiah tells them is that the enemy that's threatening them, God will deal with himself. So God's anger would cease in a short time, and then he will deal with their enemies. God has brought affliction on them, but he's going to now be a terror against their enemies.

And he gives them a couple of examples, a couple historical examples, Because when we think about historical examples, then that brings us, gives us a little hope for our present situation, because we realize we're not going through something brand new, that people before us have been in the exact same situation and God has delivered them and that he get the two examples that he gives them are Gideon's defeat of the Midianites, remember by the 300 men. It says, the Lord of hosts will stir up a scourge for him like the slaughter of Midian at the rock of Orop. We read about that just recently in Judges 7, how God raised up Gideon, 300 men, destroyed the Midianites. And then at the end of that, you remember, all the men of Ephraim gathered together and they seized the watering places and they captured the two kings, the two princes of Midian, Orab and Zeb, and they killed them at the wine press of Zeb. And they pursued Midian and they brought the heads of Orab and Zeb to Gideon on the other side of the Jordan.

And so Isaiah is calling them to remember, look, remember when the Midianites came against you and they they filled the whole valley before you as as numerous as the sand or the ants and God delivered you with just 300 men and you end up having their heads. End up having their heads. He also mentions the Egyptian when his rod was on the Egyptians at the Red Sea. And you remember the Israelites were completely helpless. They had no army.

They had no weapons. And they're completely surrounded with an impassable ocean in front of them, the mountains on either side of them, and the only path of escape is this narrow wadi, and the Egyptian army is coming down that and God delivered them and they saw the bodies of these Egyptian soldiers washing up on the shores of the Red Sea. That's the rod That's what Isaiah is referring to when he talks about the rod. His rod was on the sea and so he will lift it up in the manner of Egypt. This is what happened to Sennacherib.

And we'll look at that in a minute. They're going to, sixly, they're going to witness the destruction of their oppressors. And Isaiah is specifically speaking here about this, as we'll see in the next section he's speaking about Sinakrab's invasion of Israel in the time of Hezekiah and you remember what happened this massive army had surrounded Jerusalem and Rabshaka the representative surrounded Jerusalem. And Rabbi Shaka, the representative of the King Sennacherib, is speaking his blasphemous words into Jerusalem, Seeking to break their spirit, to destroy their confidence. And what ends up happening?

The entire Syrian army, 185, 000 soldiers, are killed in one night by a God's angel. And the king went back in humility, ignominy. And a few years later, he's assassinated by his own sons in the temple of his god, Zidal. And that is going to be talked about in the next section, but the last thing that we see in God's work of affliction, the last fruit, is the removal of that affliction. After the affliction is the removal of the elect from that affliction.

And this removal of the affliction is through repentance. And you notice it says it is through the anointing oil. It shall come to pass in that day that this burden will be taken away from your shoulder and his yoke from your neck and the yoke will be destroyed because of the anointing oil. Anointing oil points to the work of the Holy Spirit. Aaron was anointed with oil at his ordination in Leviticus 8.

Moses poured some of the anointing oil on Aaron's head and anointed him to consecrate him. This was a picture of the Holy Spirit coming upon him and giving him the gifts of his office. It's giving him the power, the ability to accomplish the work of his office. That's what's signified by the laying on of hands at ordinations is the giving of the Holy Spirit. In 1 Samuel 16 when Samuel was sent to anoint David King after God showed him who was King.

Verse 13 says Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed David. He poured it on David in the midst of his brothers and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward. The anointing of oil symbolizing the pouring out of the Holy Spirit. This anointing oil in the Old Testament for the priest was a very holy oil. Psalm 89 says, I have found my servant David with my holy oil.

I have anointed him. This oil was holy that was to be used in the temple for the anointing of the priests and consecrating of the temple as a holy oil. And anyone who made any oil like it was to be put to death because that was a blasphemy to take a holy oil and use it in a way that God hadn't commanded. This holiness then is to be set apart to the Lord. And that's what's signified in anointing.

It means they weren't this priest when they were set apart to the Lord by this anointing they were not to defile themselves with common things even the things of ordinary everyday life in Leviticus 21 he who is a high priest among his brethren on whose head the anointing oil has been poured, and who is consecrated, set apart, to wear these garments shall not uncover his head, nor tear his clothes, nor shall he go near any dead body, nor even defile himself for his father or mother, nor shall he go out of the sanctuary, nor profane the sanctuary of God, for the consecration of the anointing oil of God is upon him. I am the Lord. I am Jehovah. And when God killed Aaron's sons, Nadab and Abihu, for offering profane fire, God told Aaron in Leviticus 10, you shall not go out of the door of the tabernacle of meeting. He wasn't to mourn lest you die.

Why? Because the anointing oil of the Lord is upon you. Baptism involves a pouring or sprinkling of water which points to the cleansing or the washing from the pollution of sin in the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit. And the work of the Holy Spirit in enabling this elect, this remnant, to turn back to the Lord in repentance is signified by the anointing, or pouring out of the Holy Spirit. Proverbs 1, 23, turn at my rebuke, and I will surely pour out my Spirit upon you and will make my words known to you.

That turning is by the power of the Holy Spirit. And Zechariah 12 says, in that day, the Lord will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem. The one who is feeble shall be like David, and the house of David shall be like God, like the angel of the Lord before them. And it will be in that day that I will seek to destroy the nations that come against Israel the removal of these Afflicting them and I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem The spirit of grace and supplication the Holy Spirit there of the Spirit of grace and supplication will be poured out on them when they turn to the Lord. And they will look on me whom they pierced.

Yes, they will mourn for him as one who mourns for his son. This is the grief and mourning of sin. And not only that, Romans 5 says, but we glory in tribulation knowing that the tribulation produces perseverance and perseverance character and character hope. Now hope does not disappoint because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who has given to us. So this is what Isaiah is saying, is that this turning, this removal of deflection in their repentance is through The pouring out of the Holy Spirit the anointing of oil the anointing oil okay, so the We then come to verses 28 and to the end of the chapter where the route of conquest of the Syrian army becomes their road to destruction.

So verses 28, they talk about a progression. He is the king of Assyria. This king Sennacherib has come to Ayat. That's the city of Ai, where, remember, Israel was initially defeated because of their sin at Jericho, but then Joshua, through God's direction and giving him tactical guidance in the battle, they defeat and destroy Ai and burn it. And So this, if you look on your map on the back of the outline, I've underlined the cities there that are mentioned here.

And these cities that are listed here, there's Ai, Megron, Micmash, Rama, Gibeah, Gallim, Laish, Anathoth, Medmena, and Gabim, and Nob, and then Jerusalem. Those cities are all in a row, starting in the north and going to the south. And this is the road that northern conquests took as they came from the north and would march on Jerusalem, the capital city. And so, Ai there is up the farthest north, just south of Bethel. Then there's Migran, which is a little bit farther south than there.

It's not on your map. People aren't exactly sure where it is. Then there's Miqmash. This is a city in the inheritance of Benjamin. It's about seven miles from the north of Jerusalem Okay, and just keep that in mind seven miles think of seven miles think of an army hundreds of thousands of soldiers You know in Willis and they're marching south They'd be at at Micmash, and then there's Rama that's a city another city in the inheritance of Benjamin.

And it's about seven miles north of, sorry, Rama, it's about five miles north of Jerusalem. So they're getting closer. And then there's Gibeah. That's the city we read about, that wicked city that later on is going to be destroyed by Israel for that sin that we read about. It's a city in the territory of Benjamin, it's the capital city under King Saul, Gibeah, and he's going to come to Gibeah.

And then it says Gallim and that means piles And it's a village near Anathoth, again, in the tribal territory of Benjamin. And then the next city is Lesha, meaning a lioness. And this, again, this is the next city on this route that is followed by armies coming from the north as they're coming in conquest on Jerusalem. And then there is Men-menah, which is just below that. And then there is Ge-beem, which means a water ditch.

And it's, I don't know exactly where it is, but it's probably just north of Mount Olives. So this is getting very close to Jerusalem. Anathoth is about three miles northeast of Jerusalem. And that was the home of Jeremiah, the prophet, came from Anathoth. And then it's, so this, Isaiah is describing here this army the Syrian army this terrible army that's marching on Jerusalem and who wouldn't be afraid to have an army of that size marching that close to them.

We've never known that. We've never known a couple hundred thousand enemy soldiers marching that close to our homes. But you can imagine the natural fear that people would have. And God says, He will shake His fist at the mount of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem. And that's exactly what Sennacherib did.

And I'll just read to you from 2 Kings this story just to illustrate what Isaiah is referring to. He's shaking his fist at God and at Jerusalem. The king of Assyria in 2 Kings 18, verse 17, sent Tartan and the Rabshaka from Lachish with a great army against Jerusalem to King Hezekiah. They went up and came to Jerusalem and when they had come up they stood on this highway to the Fuller's Field and they called to the king and to Eliakim and to all the officials of the court and they said, you go tell Hezekiah, thus says this great king of Assyria, what confidence is this in which you trust? You speak of having plans and power of war, but they are mere words.

And in whom do you trust to rebel against me? Now look you're trusting on this staff of the in this broken reed Egypt on which if a man leans it will go into his hand and pierce it and that's that's who Pharaoh king of his Egypt is to all who trust in him. But if you say to me, we trust in the Lord our God, is it not he whose high places and altars Hezekiah has taken away and said to Judah and Jerusalem, you shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem. Now therefore I urge you give a pledge to my master and I will give you two thousand horses." If you can put riders on them. How are you going to repeal one of the least of my master's servants and put your trust in Egypt for chariots and horses.

Have I now come up without the Lord against this place to destroy it? The Lord has said to me, Go up against this land and destroy it." See, Those were the mockings that he spoke to Jerusalem. He's shaking his fist, Isaiah's shaking his fist at this city and saying I'm going to destroy it. But behold, what's the answer of the Lord? The Lord of Hosts will lop off the bough with terror.

Those of high stature will be hewn down. The Hati will be humbled. They will cut down the thickets of the forest with iron. And Lebanon will fall by the mighty one. This mighty army that was the terror of the world at that time got utterly destroyed in a moment.

185, 000 soldiers were killed. The Hati were humbled. Sinakharib went back, humiliated, to Nineveh, where he was later, a few years later, assassinated. A mighty forest is removed in an instant. Now, if you've done any logging work, you know that That is hard work.

It's some of the hardest work, some of the heaviest equipment to try and clear land of logs. It's slow. It takes time. And it takes very heavy equipment. And God's saying He's going to come in and as it were wipe out this forest in just a moment.

That's the power of God. And so this is God's promise to His people that He will cause a remnant to return And he will remove this affliction. He will destroy the rod of his anger in his anger for their own sins. And so this is a comfort to us that God does preserve a remnant and that his purposes in judgment, his purposes in affliction is to purify his church and to preserve that remnant. And whatever afflictions and trials that he has for us in this land.

Remember, he preserves his people. He preserves the elect. And it is a good and righteous purpose that he accomplishes in his judgments, in his trials, and in his afflictions. And it is a purification of the land. Let's pray.

Heavenly Father we thank you that you are good that even in your wrath you remember mercy and that all that you do is not random, capricious and arbitrary, but good and holy and just. For you are the righteous God, you are the judge of all the earth, and you certainly and surely do right. Help us Lord to believe your word, to trust in your promises, to fear you and not the threats of men or their power. For we know that all of their power is given to them by you. And they have not one ounce, one ability to lift even a little finger apart from your purpose that you have determined.

And so grant us boldness to not be afraid, to not be afraid of change, to not be afraid of threats, to not be afraid of power, but to fear your power, to fear your name, to believe your word, and to hope in it. In Jesus' name we ask, Amen. Thank you.