They have crossed at the ford: "We will spend the night at Geba." Ramah trembles; Gibeah of Saul flees. They have crossed overThis phrase indicates a movement or transition, suggesting a significant change in position or status. In the context of Isaiah 10:29, it refers to the advancing Assyrian army. The Hebrew root for "crossed over" is "עָבַר" (avar), which often implies passing through or over a boundary. Historically, this crossing could symbolize the Assyrians' relentless advance into the heart of Israel, demonstrating their military prowess and the impending threat they posed. Spiritually, it can remind believers of the boundaries we face in life and the need for divine guidance and protection when adversaries seem to cross into our territories. the pass
This term refers to a narrow passage or route, often a strategic location in military terms. In ancient times, controlling a pass was crucial for defense and movement of troops. The Hebrew word "מַעֲבָר" (ma'abar) can denote a place of crossing or transition. Theologically, it can symbolize the narrow paths we must navigate in our spiritual journey, where vigilance and faith are required to overcome challenges. They have camped
Camping implies a temporary settlement, often for rest or preparation before further action. The Hebrew root "חָנָה" (chanah) suggests pitching a tent or encamping. This action by the Assyrians indicates a pause in their advance, possibly to strategize or regroup. For believers, it can serve as a metaphor for the times we must pause in our spiritual journey to seek God's guidance and prepare for future challenges. at Geba
Geba was a town in the territory of Benjamin, strategically located near Jerusalem. Its mention here highlights the proximity of the Assyrian threat to the heart of Judah. Archaeologically, Geba has been identified with modern-day Jeba, providing historical context to the narrative. Spiritually, it underscores the reality of threats that come close to home, urging believers to remain steadfast in faith. Ramah trembles
Ramah, another town in Benjamin, is depicted as trembling, indicating fear and anxiety among its inhabitants. The Hebrew root "רָעַשׁ" (ra'ash) conveys shaking or quaking, often used to describe an earthquake or intense fear. This imagery reflects the terror that the Assyrian invasion instilled in the people. For Christians, it serves as a reminder of the fear that can grip us in times of trial, and the importance of trusting in God's sovereignty. Gibeah of Saul
Gibeah was the hometown of King Saul, Israel's first king. Its mention evokes historical and royal significance, as well as the failure of Saul's reign. The Hebrew "גִּבְעָה" (Giv'ah) means "hill," and it was a place of both prominence and downfall. This reference can inspire believers to reflect on the lessons from Saul's life, emphasizing the need for obedience and humility before God. flees
The act of fleeing suggests a hasty retreat or escape, often driven by fear or danger. The Hebrew root "נָסַס" (nasas) implies fleeing or taking flight. This reaction from Gibeah of Saul highlights the panic and desperation in the face of the Assyrian threat. Spiritually, it can remind us of the times we are tempted to flee from challenges rather than face them with faith, encouraging us to seek refuge in God instead. Persons / Places / Events 1. The Assyrian ArmyThe context of Isaiah 10 involves the Assyrian army advancing through the land of Israel, causing fear and destruction. 2. GebaA town in the territory of Benjamin, significant as a military post and a place of strategic importance during the Assyrian invasion. 3. RamahAnother town in Benjamin, known for its historical and strategic significance. It is depicted as trembling in fear due to the approaching threat. 4. Gibeah of SaulThe hometown of King Saul, Israel's first king. Its mention highlights the historical and emotional significance of the Assyrian threat. 5. The FordA shallow place in a river where troops could cross, indicating the strategic movements of the Assyrian army. Teaching Points God's Sovereignty Over NationsDespite the fear and trembling caused by the Assyrian army, God remains sovereign over all nations and their movements. Believers can trust in His ultimate control over world events. The Reality of Fear and FaithThe trembling of Ramah and the fleeing of Gibeah illustrate the natural human response to fear. However, believers are called to respond with faith, trusting in God's protection and promises. Historical Significance and Spiritual LessonsThe mention of places like Gibeah of Saul serves as a reminder of Israel's history and the lessons learned from past leaders. Reflecting on history can strengthen our faith and guide our actions. Strategic Movements and Spiritual WarfareJust as the Assyrian army made strategic moves, Christians are called to be strategic in spiritual warfare, using prayer and Scripture as their weapons. The Importance of Community in Times of CrisisThe collective fear of towns like Ramah and Gibeah highlights the importance of community support and encouragement during times of crisis. Bible Study Questions 1. How does the historical context of the Assyrian invasion help us understand the fear experienced by the people of Ramah and Gibeah? 2. In what ways can we apply the lesson of God's sovereignty over nations to current global events? 3. How can we balance the natural human response to fear with the call to live by faith, as seen in the reactions of Ramah and Gibeah? 4. What lessons can we learn from the historical significance of places like Gibeah of Saul in our own spiritual journeys? 5. How can we, as a community of believers, support each other in times of crisis, drawing from the example of the towns mentioned in Isaiah 10:29? Connections to Other Scriptures 1 Samuel 11:4This passage mentions Gibeah of Saul, providing historical context and showing its significance as a place of refuge and leadership. Jeremiah 31:15Ramah is mentioned in a prophecy of lamentation, connecting the fear and trembling in Isaiah to future sorrow and exile. Isaiah 7:1-2The fear of the people of Judah when faced with military threats is a recurring theme, showing the consistent reliance on God amidst fear. 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 Across, Afraid, Camp, Crossed, Fear, Fled, Flees, Flight, Geba, Gibeah, Gib'e-ah, Gibeath-shaul, Lodge, Lodging, Mountain, Overnight, Pass, Passage, Rama, Ramah, Resting-place, Saul, Saying, Shaking, Terrified, Tonight, Trembled, Trembles, TremblethDictionary of Bible Themes Isaiah 10:28 5558 storing 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 10:29 NIVIsaiah 10:29 NLTIsaiah 10:29 ESVIsaiah 10:29 NASBIsaiah 10:29 KJV
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