Conclusion of Haughtiness and Insolence Earn God's Wrath

The dissolving of this alliance begins when Assyria attacks Syria.  "The king of Assyria went up to Damascus [the capital of Syria] and captured it and led its people into exile at Kir, and Rezin he put to death."  (2 Kings 16:9)  Having lost his powerful ally, Pekah finds that his designs on Judah are thwarted.  In fact, shortly after Rezin's death, Pekah himself is assassinated by Hoshea, who thereafter usurps the throne of Samaria. -2 Kings 15:23-25, 30.

Syria, Israel's former ally, is now a vassal of Assyrian, the dominant power in the region.  Isaiah prophesies about how Jehovah will use this new political alignment:  "The enemies of that one [Israel] he [Jehovah] will goad on, Syria from the east and the Philistines from behind, and they will eat up Israel with open mouth. In view of all this his anger has not turned back,  but his hand is stretched out still." (Isaiah 9:11b, 12)  Yes, Syria is now Israel's enemy, and Israel must prepare for attack from Assyria and Syria.  The invasion succeeds. Assyria makes the usurper Hoshea his servant, exacting a hefty tribute.  ( a few decades earlier, Assyrian received a large sum from King Menahem of Israel)  How true the prophet Hoshea words:  "Strangers have eaten up his [Ephraim's ] power"! -Hoshea 7:9; 2 Kings 15:19, 20; 17:1-3.

Does not Isaiah also say that the Philistines will invade "from behind?" Yes. Prior to the days of magnetic compasses, the Hebrews indicated direction from the viewpoint of a person facing the sunrising. Thus, "the east" was the front , while the west, the coastal home of the Philistines, was "behind." The "Israel" mentioned  at Isaiah 9:12 may include Judah at this instance because  the Philistines invaded  Judah during the reign of Pekah's contemporary, Ahaz, capturing and occupying a number of Judean cities and strongholds. Like Ephraim to the north, Judah deserves the discipline from Jehovah,  for she too is riddled with apostasy. -2 Chronicles 28:1-4, 18, 10.

Next time: From 'Head to Tail'-A Nation of Rebels

From the Book Isaiah's Prophecy Light for all Mankind, 2000