1. Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that write grievousness [which] they have prescribed;
The allusion is to the legalistic individuals who take advantage of the hard and dark times in order to have unlawful decisions made, and to have them written up like the Law.
2 To turn aside the needy from judgment, and to take away the right from the poor of my people, that widows may be their prey, and [that] they may rob the fatherless!
Their intent is to turn aside the judgment, and to take away the righteousness of the Law. These practices were aimed at the poor, and at the widows and orphans who have no man to defend them.
3 And what will ye do in the day of visitation, and in the desolation [which] shall come from far? to whom will ye flee for help? and where will ye leave your glory?
What will these unrighteous leaders do in the day of visitation - at the time when the invader comes and inflicts punishment and devastation upon the Land? Who will help them then? Who will speak to their praise, then? The questions are rhetorical...
4 Without me they shall bow down under the prisoners, and they shall fall under the slain. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand [is] stretched out still.
Being godless, these men will be the first to succumb to the lot appointed to all prisoners and slain... This being done, God is still angry, and still extends His hand for punishment.
5. O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation.
The LORD's anger and indignation has been placed in the hand of the Assyrian (kings). He will wield the rod and staff against the peoples.
6 I will send him against an hypocritical nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.
"To take the spoil, and to take the prey." Here is a direct reference to Isaiah's son, Maher-shalal-hash-baz, and to the fulfillment of the prophecy shortly (about three years) after the time of his birth.
7 Howbeit he meaneth not so, neither doth his heart think so; but [it is] in his heart to destroy and cut off nations not a few.
God's purpose with Israel is not what the Assyrian wants to do, but the Assyrian - being of an aggressive, war-like nation - has the right heart for the job!
8 For he saith, [Are] not my princes altogether kings?
The Assyrian boasts about his princes - they are the stuff of kings!
9 [Is] not Calno as Carchemish? [is] not Hamath as Arpad? [is] not Samaria as Damascus?
And the cities of Samaria? Are they not as defeatable as the cities of Syria?
10 As my hand hath found the kingdoms of the idols, and whose graven images did excel them of Jerusalem and of Samaria; 11 Shall I not, as I have done unto Samaria and her idols, so do to Jerusalem and her idols?
The domain of the idols - Syria - was found to be more excellent than Samaria! Consequently the king thinks that the defeat of Jerusalem and her idols will be even easier than the defeat of Samaria was.
12 Wherefore it shall come to pass, [that] when the Lord hath performed his whole work upon mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the stout heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his high looks.
This verse looks to "the day" when the Lord has totally finished his purpose or undertaking upon mount Zion and Jerusalem...
If the reader has been paying attention to the names of the Assyrian king, the reader will perceive that regardless who the person is who holds the position, it is the person who holds the title at the end who receives the punishment to be meted out by the LORD.
So, after the current king of Assyria has finished taking captive all the peoples who are appointed to go into captivity, the LORD will punish the fruit of him and all his high-looking glory. The next two verses describe the high-mindedness of the house of the Assyrian kings:
13 For he saith, By the strength of my hand I have done [it], and by my wisdom; for I am prudent: and I have removed the bounds of the people, and have robbed their treasures, and I have put down the inhabitants like a valiant [man]: 14 And my hand hath found as a nest the riches of the people: and as one gathereth eggs [that are] left, have I gathered all the earth; and there was none that moved the wing, or opened the mouth, or peeped.
These things were in his heart to do. As Jeremiah says "The heart is deceitful above all and desperately wicked; who can know it?"
15 Shall the axe boast itself against him that heweth therewith? [or] shall the saw magnify itself against him that shaketh it? as if the rod should shake [itself] against them that lift it up, [or] as if the staff should lift up [itself, as if it were] no wood.
Whereas God was merely using the Assyrian as His tool - as an axe, a saw, a rod, a staff.
16 Therefore shall the Lord, the Lord of hosts, send among his fat ones leanness; and under his glory he shall kindle a burning like the burning of a fire.
The Lord, his master, as the Lord of hosts, as the Master of the Assyrian's armies, will reduce the Assyrian's fat to lean, and will make the Assyrian's praise to dissolve as fat is burned in a fire.
17 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;
The fire which shall reduce the Assyrian at the last shall be the light of Israel. What shall ignite the fire? A flame, set by the Lord's Holy One.
From this verse there comes many allusions in the New Testament concerning the work before the Lord at his Second Coming, (see Luke 3:16-17 and 12:49; with 23:29-32) and also about how the flame and the fire, now in store with the powers of the heavens, are founded in the righteousness of the Father and the Son.
18 And shall consume the glory of his forest, and of his fruitful field, both soul and body: and they shall be as when a standardbearer fainteth.
The verse yet speaks of the future working of the light of Israel; ...the Holy One who is its flame.
19 And the rest of the trees of his forest shall be few, that a child may write them.
In that day, the remainder of the trees of his forest [of Immanuel's land, 7:14 and 8:8] will be so small in number that even a youngster will be able to count the number and write it down! Assyria will have few people remaining after its punishment.
20 And it shall come to pass in that day, [that] the remnant of Israel, and such as are escaped of the house of Jacob, shall no more again stay upon him that smote them; but shall stay upon the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, in truth.
In that same day the people who remain of Israel, and those delivered from the house of Jacob -- who have escaped the judgment of the LORD -- will no more rely upon Assyrian help. In "that day" the people will lean upon the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, in truth, and no longer err from His way.
21 The remnant shall return, [even] the remnant of Jacob, unto the mighty God.
The remnant of the Jews - the natural sons of Jacob - will turn back to the mighty God. The mighty God is one of the titles named in Isaiah 9:6, which refer to Israel's Messiah, the son of David, the son of God.
22 For though thy people Israel be as the sand of the sea, [yet] a remnant of them shall return: the consumption decreed shall overflow with righteousness.
The apostle Paul quotes from this context in Romans 9:27-28, where he tells the Jews at Rome, "For He is concluding the matter and cutting it short in righteousness; because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth." For assurance that a remnant will survive, he quotes Isaiah 1:9, "Except the LORD of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, [and] we should have been like unto Gomorrah."
"The consumption decreed shall overflow with righteousness." Both chapters nine and ten of Romans explains the righteousness of God in the matter of the judgment to come on account of the LORD's wrath against all the disobedient. The failure of Israel to rightly inherit the Land will not prevent the LORD from failing to fulfill His Word as determined toward the fathers...
23 For the Lord GOD of hosts shall make a consumption, even determined, in the midst of all the land.
The Lord GOD of hosts Himself will do the finish which is determined. Divine intervention is thus assured to occur when this "day" of the end arrives for fulfillment. The prophecy of Daniel speaks to the point of thisfinish.
24 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD of hosts, O my people that dwellest in Zion, be not afraid of the Assyrian: he shall smite thee with a rod, and shall lift up his staff against thee, after the manner of Egypt.
The residents of Zion - the priests - will be beaten and taken captive, as in Egypt, but they are cautioned to be not afraid of the Assyrian.
25 For yet a very little while, and the indignation shall cease, and mine anger in their destruction.
"Yet a very little while" is a phrase which often occurs in the context of "last days" prophecies. Here it is relevant to the indignity suffered by the captives, and to the anger of the LORD, Who will soon destroy the Assyrian "in a little while."
26 And the LORD of hosts shall stir up a scourge for him according to the slaughter of Midian at the rock of Oreb: and [as] his rod [was] upon the sea, so shall he lift it up after the manner of Egypt.
The nature of the Divine intervention in the slaughter of Midian at the rock of Oreb is fully rehearsed in Psalm 83 and related texts. And, as Moses' arms were supported by his aides, during the children of Israel's escape through the Red Sea, so the LORD will provide His divine Helper to Israel then.
27 And it shall come to pass in that day, [that] his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing.
Lest the reader should not comprehend the import of the prior verse, this verse plainly tells the fact:
An anointing only occurs when either a ruler - a king or a priest - is designated by the LORD. It is unlikely that Israel's yoke would be destroyed simply because of the oil, still this too may be inferred from the word.
The passage of the Assyrian as he approaches toward Jerusalem and Mount Zion is described in the concluding verses of this chapter of the prophecy.
28 He is come to Aiath, he is passed to Migron; at Michmash he hath laid up his carriages: 29 They are gone over the passage: they have taken up their lodging at Geba; Ramah is afraid; Gibeah of Saul is fled. 30 Lift up thy voice, O daughter of Gallim: cause it to be heard unto Laish, O poor Anathoth. 31 Madmenah is removed; the inhabitants of Gebim gather themselves to flee. 32 As yet shall he remain at Nob that day: he shall shake his hand [against] the mount of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem.
When the Assyrian does these things, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, rises up to intervene for His hill.
33 Behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, shall lop the bough with terror: and the high ones of stature [shall be] hewn down, and the haughty shall be humbled.
The high and haughty ones will then be cut down and humiliated.
34 And he shall cut down the thickets of the forest with iron, and Lebanon shall fall by a mighty one.
The Lord, the LORD of hosts, will cut down all his high and haughty ones. The thickets of the forest - the Assyrian kings - who compare themself to the cedars of Lebanon will be felled by One of true nobility.