Isaiah 9:21
21 Manasseh, [Manashsheh]
Ephraim; ['Ephrayim] and Ephraim, ['Ephrayim] Manasseh: [Manashsheh] and
they together [yachad] shall be against Judah. [Yahuwdah] For all this his anger ['aph] is not turned away, [shuwb] but his hand
[yad] is stretched out still. [natah] KJV-Interlinear
21 Manasseh
devours Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh, And together they are against Judah. In
spite of all this His anger does not turn away, And His hand is still stretched
out. NASB
Ephraim and Manasseh were
the two sons of Joseph. They are
brothers and related to each other more so than to the other tribes. Their territories shared a common boundary as
they were neighbors and they helped each other in times of trouble throughout
their history. They were the two
principle tribes of Samaria.
But as described in the
previous verse, their brotherly love will turn to brotherly strife, and their
help for each other will turn to treachery and hatred.
And at the same time they
will, even though they hate each other, unite against a common enemy, who is
Judah.
The northern nation of
Samaria was negative toward God and as such, their only reason for existence
was due to their common resentment and hatred of Judah. This began when the whole nation of Israel
split, shortly after Solomon.
Samaria continued in its
anti-God attitude and was therefore sent punishment in the form of the Assyrian
invasion under Tiglath Pileser. Only
some of the outlying lands were taken, leaving the two principle tribes of Ephraim
and Manasseh, untouched.
The nation continued in its
anti-Judah attitude and yet another invasion occurred from the combined attacks
of Syria and the Philistines. This is
mentioned in verse 11.
Samaria still continued
in its hatred of Judah and yet another judgment was sent in the form of internal
strife and anarchy, which we have just studied.
This led to the last and
final judgment against Samaria, where they were invaded by Shalmaneser and
Sargon. This resulted in the total
obliteration of the nation as its entire population was either killed or
enslaved and deported. Thus the end, the permanent end, of the northern nation
of Samaria occurred, and it ceased to be a nation.
Israel received warning after
warning and yet it disregarded God and the prophets that God sent.
And so this principle
applies to both nations as well as individuals.
Ignore God and you can expect punishments. Light ones at first and then
more and more with heavier and heavier consequences until God finally removes
you altogether.
But so long as you are
still here, then you have the opportunity to change. But that has to come from your own decision
to change and then actually do it, and then actually keep on that path of
change, lest you drift back into your spiritual faults and the judgments
resume.
All anti-God, anti-truth,
anti-Christ, anti-spiritual attitude, anti-Gods mandates attitudes are a form
of arrogance and evil pride. They have
no strength in themselves and their only accomplishment is in their being
crushed to oblivion.
All of your difficulties
in this life, assuming that you are an unbeliever, are designed for one thing
and one thing only. And that is to get
your eyes on Christ and to the point of faith for salvation.
Once you have believed,
then all of your difficulties in life are designed for one of two things.
First, if you are negative
toward Gods mandates and purpose, then they are to get you to repent and onto a
daily study path so that you can learn and grow up in your spiritual life.
And second, if you are on
track, then those difficulties are there to reinforce your spiritual growth, to
help you keep your eyes on Gods purpose and your inadequacy without Him, to
help you keep your arrogance in check and otherwise promote and propel your
advancement to spiritual maturity.
How do you know if your
difficulties are suffering for punishment or suffering for blessing?
Well, that depends on
your compliance or lack of it, with Gods design for the spiritual life.
God has laid out a
specific process for spiritual function.
Do you confess your sins
on a regular basis in order to get yourself into fellowship?
Do you pursue a daily
study under instruction?
Do you listen or read and
learn, and then ponder what you have learned?
Do you memorize verses,
in order to help your learning retention?
Do you pray on a regular
basis? Do you even know how to pray?
Do you apply the moral spiritual
principles of life to your own daily life?
Do you support Gods
teaching and spiritual process?
Or.
Are you selfish,
self-centered, greedy, know more than God knows, opinionated, prone to discord,
have a better plan for yourself, indifferent toward Gods rules and procedures, critical
of others rather than self, figure that you know enough already, are better
able to teach yourself, and so forth.
Self-examination is a
part of Gods process, and if you can do that objectively then you can know
where you stand in Gods plan and process.
If, however, you are subjective
and not open to the truth of yourself, then you will never arrive at the right
conclusion regarding yourself.
Gods hand is always
stretched out, executing some form of action.
Whether it is to help or to discipline, really depends on you.
