Corrupt Judges Meet Their Judge

Jehovah next focuses his judicial eye on Israel's corrupt judges and other officials.  These abuse their power by plundering the lowly and afflicted ones who come to them seeking justice.  Isaiah says:  "Woe to those who are exacting harmful regulations and those who, constantly writing, have written out sheer trouble, in  order  to push away the lowly ones from a legal case and to wrest away justice from the afflicted ones of my people,  for the widows  to become their spoil, and that they may plunder even the fatherless boys!" -Isaiah 10:1, 2.

Jehovah's law forbids all forms of injustice: "You people must not do injustice in the judgment.  You must not treat the lowly with partiality, and you must not prefer the person of a great one."  (Leviticus 19:15)  Disregarding that law, these officials draw up their own "harmful regulations" so as to legitimize what amounts to outright theft of the cruelest kind-taking the scanty possessions of widows and fatherless boys.  Israel's false gods are, of course, blind to this injustice, but Jehovah is not.  Through Isaiah, Jehovah now focuses his attention  on these wicked judges.

"What will you men do at the day of being given attention and at the ruin, when it comes from far away?  toward whom will you flee for assistance, and where will you leave your glory, except it be that one must bow down under the prisoners and that people keep falling under those who have been killed?"  (Isaiah 10:3, 4a)  The widows and the fatherless boys have no honest judges to whom to appeal.  How appropriate, then, that Jehovah now asks those corrupt  Israelite  judges whom they will turn to now that Jehovah is holding them to account.  Yes, they are about to lean that "it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." -Hebrews 10:31.

The "glory" of these wicked judges-the worldly prestige, honor, and power  that come with their wealthy and position-will be short-lived.  Some will become prisoners of war, 'bowing down,' or crouching, among other prisoners , while the rest will be slain, their corpses covered with the war dead.  Their "glory" also includes all the ill-gotten riches, which will be plundered by the enemy. 

Isaiah concludes this final strophe with a grim warning:  "In view of all this [all the woe that the nation has so far suffered] his anger has not turned back, but his hand is stretched out still."  (Isaiah 10:4b) Yes, Jehovah has more to say to Israel. Jehovah's outstretched hand will  not be drawn back until he delivers a final, devastating blow to the rebellious northern kingdom. 

Next time: Never Fall Prey to Falsehood and Self-Interest

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