Site Contents by Subject	Home Research Revelation Reconciliation	Publications	Site Map Contents in Alphabetical Order	This Site	Contribute

Contents:
Summaries of Individual Chapters
Chapters with Brit-Am Commentary
Feature Articles:
The Stages of Exile
Khazars, Turks, and Israel
The Malbim and Survivors from the Lost Ten Tribes in the Future

Summaries of Individual Chapters:
Contents:
Chapter 6: Isaiah had a vision in which he saw the angels worshipping the Almighty in which he was chosen as a messenger to the people (6:1-9). It was destined that the people would hear but deny or fail to comprehend until it will be to late and the whole land shall be desolate (6:11). Only a tenth will remain and they too will undergo severe tribulation (6:13).
 
Chapter 7: In the time of Isaiah Rezin the King of Aram ("Syria") and Pekah the son of Remaliah the King of the northern entity of "Israel" (the Ten Tribes) attempted to conquer Jerusalem the capital of Judah but they could not (7:1). Isaiah was told to take a message to King Ahaz of Judah and tell him to be strengthened (7:4). The plans of his enemies would not succeed (7:5-7). Ephraim (Samaria) was destined to be exiled completely at the end of a prophesied sixty-five years. Rashi says that the expression "WITHIN SIXTY-FIVE YEARS EPHRAIM WILL BE BROKEN TO PIECES SO THAT IT WILL NO LONGER BE A PEOPLE" (7:8) was a well-known quotation from Amos that Ahaz should have been aware of and that the already-predicted 65 year waiting period would soon be up (7:8-9). Ahaz King of Judah was requested to ask for a sign from heaven to affirm the reassurance from heaven that Isaiah had imparted (7:10-11). He refused and was rebuked (7:11-12). The sign given is that a young woman (a wife of King Ahaz?) who was already pregnant would bear a son named "Emanuel"(7:14). Shortly after the child is weaned the combined Land (?) of "Israel" and "Aram" will be deserted (7:16). The disaster would be occasioned by the King of Assyria and the calamity will be as great as when the Northern Ten Tribes split away from Judah and formed their own kingdom (7:17). The area will be cleaned out of inhabitants like a razor passing over a head of hair and the rest of the body (7:20). There will be desolation in the Northern Kingdom (7:22-25). How this ties up with the 65 year scenario noted above is not clear. Pekah is listed as ruling over Israel in the tears 737-735 BCE. The Exile of the northern kingdom occurred in stages and is conventionally considered to have been completed with the fall of the city of Samaria in 722 BCE.

Chapter 8: Isaiah was told to take a writing tablet and write words before witnesses indicating the speed of the coming events involving the fall of Ephraim (8:1). He also begat (by his wife who was a prophetess in her own right) a child to whom he bestowed the same indicative expression he had written. The events were to take place before the child learned to say "Daddy" or "Mummy" (8:4). The attack of Assyria would be like an overflowing flood that would also involve a good portion of Judah (8:8). Even so, despite the antagonism of foreign nations God will be with Judah (8:10). We are warned against belief in "Conspiracy" Theories (8:12). We must fear God only (8:13). He is "The Great Conspirer in the Sky". He judges both Houses of Israel (8:14). God dwells on Mount Zion (8:18). Do not go to spiritualists, witch doctors, and the like for they are involved with death whereas our God is the God of Life (8:19). They who put their faith in entities other than God will be disappointed and will end up cursing the other entities (8:21).
 
Chapter 9: There will be no gloom for Israel at the Time of Redemption. In Former Times (do not look for strict time sequences in Prophecy) they were exiled beginning with the Lands of Zebulon and Naphtali, after that even more severely by Way of the Sea, Across the Jordan, the Highlands of the Nations (9:11). In their place of Darkness and Exile the Ten Tribes suddenly achieved freedom (9:2). They multiplied greatly and threw off the yoke of their oppressor and one of their offshoots became the Nation of Khazars (9:3-4).

Israel will be mighty warriors (9:5) under a Great Leader who will from Childhood be destined to lead with Divine Inspiration (9:6). His rule of justice and righteousness will last forever. He will sit on the Throne of David (9:7).

Isaiah returns to speak of the coming disaster upon Samaria: This is the way of Prophecy, a constant flitting back and forth between time and events with the past merging into the future and the future suddenly describing the past. Ephraim will attribute his disaster to natural causes that can be rectified (9:9-10). This attitude causes God to set still more adversaries against them, Aram (Syrians) in the east and Philistines in the West (9:12). They remained obstinate so God will cut them off in one day (9:14). Their leaders and false prophets have mislead them (9:15-16). They are all bad including those who themselves are victimized and vulnerable and will be burnt up (9:17-18).
Manasseh is against Ephraim, Ephraim is against Manasseh, and they both gang up together against Judah and this is not the end of it (9:21).

Chapter 10: Authorities make evil decrees and "experts" write books and articles to justify them (10:1-2). The experts will not be there to help you in time of trouble when you have to crouch down amongst the corpses and pretend to be dead in order to save your life (10:3-4).

Assyria is a tool of punishment employed by the Almighty (10:5). Assyria will be sent against Israel who are described as a "godless" nation (10:6). It is the nature of Assyria to destroy other nations even though the Assyrians themselves may not be consciously aware of it (10:7). Assyria considers Samaria (the Ten Tribes) with its idols to be no different from other pagan nations that it has destroyed (10:9-11) and will think to treat Jerusalem in the same way (10:11). Assyria attributes its success to its own merits and for such arrogance will be punished with sickness and burning fire out of Israel (10:12-19). In that time instead of masochistically looking to Assyria, their tormentor, for help, the Remnant of Israel and the Survivors of the House of Jacob will genuinely turn to God (10:20-21). Israel will have been as numerous as the sands of the sea but only a remnant will survive the decreed destruction (10:22). The People of God are called upon not to fear Assyria who is doomed to destruction and his yoke of oppression will be broken (10:24-26).

Isaiah then begins to describe the passage of the Assyrian host through the countryside of Judah, from Rimmon, to Aiath, through Migron, Michmash, etc., until reaching Jerusalem (10:26-32). Assyria cuts down the cedars of Lebanon to prepare his siege against Jerusalem (10:34). We pointed out that the name "Lebanon" is cognate with "Albion" which is another name for Britain.

Chapters with Brit-Am Commentary:
Isaiah 6 to 10
 
Chapter 6
[Isaiah 6:1] IN THE YEAR THAT KING UZZIAH DIED I SAW THE LORD SITTING UPON A THRONE, HIGH AND LIFTED UP; AND HIS TRAIN FILLED THE TEMPLE.
"THAT KING UZZIAH DIED": Some say "died" literally, others that it refers to the time when he was smitten with leprosy.

[Isaiah 6:2] ABOVE HIM STOOD THE SERAPHIM; EACH HAD SIX WINGS: WITH TWO HE COVERED HIS FACE, AND WITH TWO HE COVERED HIS FEET, AND WITH TWO HE FLEW.
"SERAPHIM" are angels. There are different grades of angel.

[Isaiah 6:3] AND ONE CALLED TO ANOTHER AND SAID: "HOLY, HOLY, HOLY IS THE LORD OF HOSTS; THE WHOLE EARTH IS FULL OF HIS GLORY."  
 "HOLY, HOLY, HOLY IS THE LORD OF HOSTS; THE WHOLE EARTH IS FULL OF HIS GLORY."   This phrase is part of the Main ("Standing") Prayer said three times a day by religious Jews. This prayer contains a request for the return of the Lost Ten Tribes as well as for a return of the exiles from Judah. It also contains 12 (out of 19) blessings that according to Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav relate to characteristics of the 12 tribes of Israel.  These characteristics supplement and confirm those used by us in identifying Israelite Tribes in our book, "The Tribes".
An article on these blessings should appear soon.
We believe that the Lost Ten Tribes migrated to Western Europe and their descendants are to be found there as well as in North America, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. 
We came to the conclusion that specific tribes tended to congregate in different countries.  This was expressed in the National characteristics of those countries,  Biblical prophecies, and  the names of Tribal groups that were found in the said nations. These names correspond with those of Israelite clans as enumerated in Genesis 46, Numbers 26, the Book of Chronicles, and elsewhere.          

[Isaiah 6:4] AND THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE THRESHOLDS SHOOK AT THE VOICE OF HIM WHO CALLED, AND THE HOUSE WAS FILLED WITH SMOKE.                     

[Isaiah 6:5] AND I SAID: "WOE IS ME! FOR I AM LOST; FOR I AM A MAN OF UNCLEAN LIPS, AND I DWELL IN THE MIDST OF A PEOPLE OF UNCLEAN LIPS; FOR MY EYES HAVE SEEN THE KING, THE LORD OF HOSTS!"                     

[Isaiah 6:6] THEN FLEW ONE OF THE SERAPHIM TO ME, HAVING IN HIS HAND A BURNING COAL WHICH HE HAD TAKEN WITH TONGS FROM THE ALTAR.                     

[Isaiah 6:7] AND HE TOUCHED MY MOUTH, AND SAID: "BEHOLD, THIS HAS TOUCHED YOUR LIPS; YOUR GUILT IS TAKEN AWAY, AND YOUR SIN FORGIVEN."
"YOUR SIN FORGIVEN" God can decide whether our sins will be forgiven or not.

[Isaiah 6:8] AND I HEARD THE VOICE OF THE LORD SAYING, "WHOM SHALL I SEND, AND WHO WILL GO FOR US?" THEN I SAID, "HERE AM I! SEND ME." 

[Isaiah 6:9] AND HE SAID, "GO, AND SAY TO THIS PEOPLE: `HEAR AND HEAR, BUT DO NOT UNDERSTAND; SEE AND SEE, BUT DO NOT PERCEIVE.

[Isaiah 6:10] MAKE THE HEART OF THIS PEOPLE FAT, AND THEIR EARS HEAVY, AND SHUT THEIR EYES; LEST THEY SEE WITH THEIR EYES, AND HEAR WITH THEIR EARS, AND UNDERSTAND WITH THEIR HEARTS, AND TURN AND BE HEALED."  

[Isaiah 6:11] THEN I SAID, "HOW LONG, O LORD?" AND HE SAID: "UNTIL CITIES LIE WASTE WITHOUT INHABITANT, AND HOUSES WITHOUT MEN, AND THE LAND IS UTTERLY DESOLATE, 

[Isaiah 6:12] AND THE LORD REMOVES MEN FAR AWAY, AND THE FORSAKEN PLACES ARE MANY IN THE MIDST OF THE LAND.  
Apparently referring to exile of the Ten Tribes who were in the northern State of Israel centered on Samaria and separate from the southern state of Judah.  The present-day Jews are descended mainly from the former inhabitants of  "Judah".
Most of the inhabitants of the northern ten-tribed kingdom of "Israel" disappeared and lost recollection of their identity. These are the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel.                

[Isaiah 6:13] AND THOUGH A TENTH REMAIN IN IT, IT WILL BE BURNED AGAIN, LIKE A TEREBINTH OR AN OAK, WHOSE STUMP REMAINS STANDING WHEN IT IS FELLED. THE HOLY SEED IS ITS STUMP.    
THOUGH A TENTH REMAIN IN IT: After the exile of the Ten Tribes and many from Judah  by the Assyrians probably only a tenth or less of the original population remained. These were in the southern section of Israel, in Judah, and these too were destined to be exiled shortly afterward by the Babylonians.

Chapter 7
[Isaiah 7:1] IN THE DAYS OF AHAZ THE SON OF JOTHAM, SON OF UZZIAH, KING OF JUDAH, REZIN THE KING OF SYRIA AND PEKAH THE SON OF REMALIAH THE KING OF ISRAEL CAME UP TO JERUSALEM TO WAGE WAR AGAINST IT, BUT THEY COULD NOT CONQUER IT.                     
In Hebrew "Syria" is Aram. The region of Aram usually corresponded with that of present-day Syria though it could also extent further north or eastward. The people of Aram included Edomite Tribes.  Aram had also  conquered large areas that had been formerly populated by Israelites. The mother of Machir the first born son of Menasseh was Maaacah and she was from Aram (1-Chronicles 7;14).
Edom had a small kingdom in the southeast but most descendants of Esau (forefather of Edom) were in the north. The present-day descendants of the peoples of  "Aram" are to be found mainly in Europe especially Germany.  The name Armenia is related to Aram. The Bavarians of Germany  had a strong tradition that they came from Armenia.  
We therefore have here the ancestors of the Lost Ten Tribes (Anglo-Saxons etc) allied with the ancestors of some of the Germans against the Jews of Judah.             

"REZIN THE KING OF SYRIA": In Biblical Hebrew the word translated as "Syria" is Aram. Rezin was the last king of Aram. Ahaz persuaded  Tiglathpileser of Assyria to attack Aram whch he did, killing King Rezin and exilng the people of Aram to a country named Kir (2-Kings 16;8-9) which is said to have been in the Caucasus region.

 "THE KING OF ISRAEL" here means the king of the Ten Northern Tribes of "Israel" as distinct by the southern kingdom of "Judah".

PEKAH king of Israel was the 2nd last king of ten-tribed Israel. Pekah had rebelled against the previous king Pekahiah (2-Kings 15;25) and killed him. The names Pekah and Pekahiah are similar in sound and in meaning. This often happens in the Bible and in history. When I was a child I once read a short article (on the back-cover of a comic book whose title I have forgotten) about the significance of names in history. One of the examples I remember was that of Eisenhower and Stalin. Eisenhower was the President of the USA and the antagonist of Stalin who ruled the USSR. "Eisenhower" means "steel-cutter" and "Stalin" means "steel"!

"BUT THEY COULD NOT CONQUER IT": The Commentary "Daath Mikra points out that Jerusalem had been strengthened by Uzziah the grandfather of king Ahaz of Judah. Uzziah had strengthened the walls, built towers, war machines, catapults, "engines invented by cunning men", and  supplies of war-equipment. (1-Chronicles 26; 9-15). Even today the present-day State of Israel (populated largely by the remnant of "Judah") is amongst the leaders in war industry. In the field of technological advancement it has been claimed that there are three leading regions in the world today: The West Coast of the USA, the East Coast of the USA, the State of Israel.

[Isaiah 7:2] WHEN THE HOUSE OF DAVID WAS TOLD, "SYRIA IS IN LEAGUE WITH EPHRAIM," HIS HEART AND THE HEART OF HIS PEOPLE SHOOK AS THE TREES OF THE FOREST SHAKE BEFORE THE WIND.   


[Isaiah 7:3] AND THE LORD SAID TO ISAIAH, "GO FORTH TO MEET AHAZ, YOU AND SHEAR-JASHUB YOUR SON, AT THE END OF THE CONDUIT OF THE UPPER POOL ON THE HIGHWAY TO THE FULLER'S FIELD,

[Isaiah 7:4] AND SAY TO HIM, `TAKE HEED, BE QUIET, DO NOT FEAR, AND DO NOT LET YOUR HEART BE FAINT BECAUSE OF THESE TWO SMOLDERING STUMPS OF FIREBRANDS, AT THE FIERCE ANGER OF REZIN AND SYRIA AND THE SON OF REMALIAH.                     

[Isaiah 7:5] BECAUSE SYRIA, WITH EPHRAIM AND THE SON OF REMALIAH, HAS DEVISED EVIL AGAINST YOU, SAYING,                     

[Isaiah 7:6] "LET US GO UP AGAINST JUDAH AND TERRIFY IT, AND LET US CONQUER IT FOR OURSELVES, AND SET UP THE SON OF TABE-EL AS KING IN THE MIDST OF IT,"                     
The Malbim says TABE-EL was a nobleman of Ephraimite origin whom they wished to make king over Judah. Today the USA attempts (usually with success) to appoint its favorites as the heads of government in the State of Israel. The US sense of taste appears (in polite language) to be somewhat lacking on occasion.

[Isaiah 7:7] THUS SAYS THE LORD GOD: IT SHALL NOT STAND, AND IT SHALL NOT COME TO PASS.                     

[Isaiah 7:8] FOR THE HEAD OF SYRIA IS DAMASCUS, AND THE HEAD OF DAMASCUS IS REZIN. (WITHIN SIXTY-FIVE YEARS EPHRAIM WILL BE BROKEN TO PIECES SO THAT IT WILL NO LONGER BE A PEOPLE.)                     
According to tradition this was referring to a Prophecy by Amos (cf. Amos 7;17: "Israel shall surely go into captivity") who had made such a prophecy ca. sixty-plus years ago.

[Isaiah 7:9] AND THE HEAD OF EPHRAIM IS SAMARIA, AND THE HEAD OF SAMARIA IS THE SON OF REMALIAH. IF YOU WILL NOT BELIEVE, SURELY YOU SHALL NOT BE ESTABLISHED?                     

[Isaiah 7:10] AGAIN THE LORD SPOKE TO AHAZ,                     

[Isaiah 7:11] "ASK A SIGN OF THE LORD YOUR GOD; LET IT BE DEEP AS SHEOL OR HIGH AS HEAVEN."                     

[Isaiah 7:12] BUT AHAZ SAID, "I WILL NOT ASK, AND I WILL NOT PUT THE LORD TO THE TEST."                     

[Isaiah 7:13] AND HE SAID, "HEAR THEN, O HOUSE OF DAVID! IS IT TOO LITTLE FOR YOU TO WEARY MEN, THAT YOU WEARY MY GOD ALSO?"                     

[Isaiah 7:14] THEREFORE THE LORD HIMSELF WILL GIVE YOU A SIGN. BEHOLD, A YOUNG WOMAN SHALL CONCEIVE AND BEAR A SON, AND SHALL CALL HIS NAME IMMANU-EL.                     

[Isaiah 7:15] HE SHALL EAT CURDS AND HONEY WHEN HE KNOWS HOW TO REFUSE THE EVIL AND CHOOSE THE GOOD.                     

[Isaiah 7:16] FOR BEFORE THE CHILD KNOWS HOW TO REFUSE THE EVIL AND CHOOSE THE GOOD, THE LAND BEFORE WHOSE TWO KINGS YOU ARE IN DREAD WILL BE DESERTED.                     
Before the child is weaned or shortly after the Northern Kingdom will be abandoned.

[Isaiah 7:17] THE LORD WILL BRING UPON YOU AND UPON YOUR PEOPLE AND UPON YOUR FATHER'S HOUSE SUCH DAYS AS HAVE NOT COME SINCE THE DAY THAT EPHRAIM DEPARTED FROM JUDAH-- THE KING OF ASSYRIA."                     
"SINCE THE DAY THAT EPHRAIM DEPARTED FROM JUDAH" : When Ephraim split off from Judah it appears that a terrible calamity had taken place on the physical level that paralleled the spiritual and psychological shock we have never ever really recovered from.
Even now the psychic frameword of both Judah and Ephraim is impaired due to the split between the two halves of Israel.

[Isaiah 7:18] IN THAT DAY THE LORD WILL WHISTLE FOR THE FLY WHICH IS AT THE SOURCES OF THE STREAMS OF EGYPT, AND FOR THE BEE WHICH IS IN THE LAND OF ASSYRIA.                     
EGYPT was also involved in the exile of the northern tribes. Several  verses refer to this, the Radak (Kimchi) discusses it but details are lacking. Irish legends also imply that Israelite exiles from Egypt moved via North Africa and Spain to Britain and Ireland.

[Isaiah 7:19] AND THEY WILL ALL COME AND SETTLE IN THE STEEP RAVINES, AND IN THE CLEFTS OF THE ROCKS, AND ON ALL THE THORNBUSHES, AND ON ALL THE PASTURES.

ISA 7:20] IN THAT DAY THE LORD WILL SHAVE WITH A RAZOR WHICH IS HIRED BEYOND THE RIVER-- WITH THE KING OF ASSYRIA-- THE HEAD AND THE HAIR OF THE FEET, AND IT WILL SWEEP AWAY THE BEARD ALSO.                     

[Isaiah 7:21] IN THAT DAY A MAN WILL KEEP ALIVE A YOUNG COW AND TWO SHEEP;                     

[Isaiah 7:22] AND BECAUSE OF THE ABUNDANCE OF MILK WHICH THEY GIVE, HE WILL EAT CURDS; FOR EVERY ONE THAT IS LEFT IN THE LAND WILL EAT CURDS AND HONEY.                     
The land will be given up for a place of grazing where previously it had been intensively and productively cultivated.

[Isaiah 7:23] IN THAT DAY EVERY PLACE WHERE THERE USED TO BE A THOUSAND VINES, WORTH A THOUSAND SHEKELS OF SILVER, WILL BECOME BRIERS AND THORNS.                     

[Isaiah 7:24] WITH BOW AND ARROWS MEN WILL COME THERE, FOR ALL THE LAND WILL BE BRIERS AND THORNS;                     

[Isaiah 7:25] AND AS FOR ALL THE HILLS WHICH USED TO BE HOED WITH A HOE, YOU WILL NOT COME THERE FOR FEAR OF BRIERS AND THORNS; BUT THEY WILL BECOME A PLACE WHERE CATTLE ARE LET LOOSE AND WHERE SHEEP TREAD.

Chapter 8
[Isaiah 8:1] THEN THE LORD SAID TO ME, "TAKE A LARGE TABLET AND WRITE UPON IT IN COMMON CHARACTERS, `BELONGING TO MAHER-SHALAL-HASH-BAZ."                     
MAHER-( = quickly, hasten) SHALAL- (booty, loot) HASH-BAZ means the same as MAHER-SHALAL

[Isaiah 8:2] AND I GOT RELIABLE WITNESSES, URIAH THE PRIEST AND ZECHARIAH THE SON OF JEBERECHIAH, TO ATTEST FOR ME.                     

[Isaiah 8:3] AND I WENT TO THE PROPHETESS, AND SHE CONCEIVED AND BORE A SON. THEN THE LORD SAID TO ME, "CALL HIS NAME MAHER-SHALAL-HASH-BAZ;                     
His wife apparently was a prophetess.

[Isaiah 8:4] FOR BEFORE THE CHILD KNOWS HOW TO CRY `MY FATHER' OR `MY MOTHER,' THE WEALTH OF DAMASCUS AND THE SPOIL OF SAMARIA WILL BE CARRIED AWAY BEFORE THE KING OF ASSYRIA."
This was the beginning of the end for the Ten Tribes. 

[Isaiah 8:5] THE LORD SPOKE TO ME AGAIN:                     

[Isaiah 8:6] "BECAUSE THIS PEOPLE HAVE REFUSED THE WATERS OF SHILOAH THAT FLOW GENTLY, AND MELT IN FEAR BEFORE REZIN AND THE SON OF REMALIAH;                     
There were people in Judah who wanted to join with northern "Israel" and see the Jewish state of Judah disappear. God did not want this. In the same way there are people in the present State of Israel who would like the Jewish character of its citizens to disappear and be replaced with a secular Western type of outlook.

[Isaiah 8:7] THEREFORE, BEHOLD, THE LORD IS BRINGING UP AGAINST THEM THE WATERS OF THE RIVER, MIGHTY AND MANY, THE KING OF ASSYRIA AND ALL HIS GLORY; AND IT WILL RISE OVER ALL ITS CHANNELS AND GO OVER ALL ITS BANKS;                     

[Isaiah 8:8] AND IT WILL SWEEP ON INTO JUDAH, IT WILL OVERFLOW AND PASS ON, REACHING EVEN TO THE NECK; AND ITS OUTSPREAD WINGS WILL FILL THE BREADTH OF YOUR LAND, O IMMANU-EL.                     
The Assyrians took into captivity all of the Northern Kingdom as well as a good portion of the people of Judah. The Lost Ten Tribes also therefore included many from Judah in the same way as "Judah" included refugees and a small minority that remained from the northern kingdom.

[Isaiah 8:9] BE BROKEN, YOU PEOPLES, AND BE DISMAYED; GIVE EAR, ALL YOU FAR COUNTRIES; GIRD YOURSELVES AND BE DISMAYED; GIRD YOURSELVES AND BE DISMAYED.                     

[Isaiah 8:10] TAKE COUNSEL TOGETHER, BUT IT WILL COME TO NOUGHT; SPEAK A WORD, BUT IT WILL NOT STAND, FOR GOD IS WITH US.                     

[Isaiah 8:11] FOR THE LORD SPOKE THUS TO ME WITH HIS STRONG HAND UPON ME, AND WARNED ME NOT TO WALK IN THE WAY OF THIS PEOPLE, SAYING:                     

[Isaiah 8:12] "DO NOT CALL CONSPIRACY ALL THAT THIS PEOPLE CALL CONSPIRACY, AND DO NOT FEAR WHAT THEY FEAR, NOR BE IN DREAD.                     
A large proportion of people today believe in "Conspiracy" theories of some sort or other. To some degree there may be something in these but very often the underlying ideaology of those who propagate such theories is highly questionable and negative in intention.

[Isaiah 8:13] BUT THE LORD OF HOSTS, HIM YOU SHALL REGARD AS HOLY; LET HIM BE YOUR FEAR, AND LET HIM BE YOUR DREAD.                     
I can say that we should all pray more, learn Torah and the Bible, improve ourselves, help others, do repentance, etc. Then you can reply, "You go first" and I might be stuck. Nevertheless if we all decide to make an effort in the right direction some good should come out of it and sometimes even a little good can go a long way.

[Isaiah 8:14] AND HE WILL BECOME A SANCTUARY, AND A STONE OF OFFENSE, AND A ROCK OF STUMBLING TO BOTH HOUSES OF ISRAEL, A TRAP AND A SNARE TO THE INHABITANTS OF JERUSALEM.                     
BOTH HOUSES OF ISRAEL: Judah and "Israel" have to improve themselves. Sometimes the two houses are referred to as entirely separate entities and at other times as sharing a common destiny for good or bad. At a higher level in some sense they are united.

[Isaiah 8:15] AND MANY SHALL STUMBLE THEREON; THEY SHALL FALL AND BE BROKEN; THEY SHALL BE SNARED AND TAKEN.                     

[Isaiah 8:16] BIND UP THE TESTIMONY, SEAL THE TEACHING AMONG MY DISCIPLES.                     

[Isaiah 8:17] I WILL WAIT FOR THE LORD, WHO IS HIDING HIS FACE FROM THE HOUSE OF JACOB, AND I WILL HOPE IN HIM.                     
"WHO IS HIDING HIS FACE": Everyone is human. We are all liable to despair. Giving up is often a major cause of sinning. You begin to think there isno longer any point in waiting for what you want to come to you legitimately. If you do not take it now you may not have it ever. This is a mistake. Often when we slip up in this way we soon realise that what we took was not really worth it and if we had have waited we would have benefited. We should daily strive to strengthen our belief in God and in the fact that the Almighty watches over us and wants our benefit and the benefit of our families and peoples.

[Isaiah 8:18] BEHOLD, I AND THE CHILDREN WHOM THE LORD HAS GIVEN ME ARE SIGNS AND PORTENTS IN ISRAEL FROM THE LORD OF HOSTS, WHO DWELLS ON MOUNT ZION.                     
"SIGNS AND PORTENTS": God speaks to us every day. We have to learn to listen.

[Isaiah 8:19] AND WHEN THEY SAY TO YOU, "CONSULT THE MEDIUMS AND THE WIZARDS WHO CHIRP AND MUTTER," SHOULD NOT A PEOPLE CONSULT THEIR GOD? SHOULD THEY CONSULT THE DEAD ON BEHALF OF THE LIVING?                     
According to the Commentary "Daath Mikra" (based on sources) this message was delivered both to the exiled northern Tribes and to Judah. The head of the Tribe of Reuben (Prince Beeri) who was exiled with members of his tribe is believed to have had had the gift of prophecy. The message was an injunction not to adopt pagan beliefs and not to seek contact with the dead.

[Isaiah 8:20] TO THE TEACHING AND TO THE TESTIMONY! SURELY FOR THIS WORD WHICH THEY SPEAK THERE IS NO DAWN.                     

[Isaiah 8:21] THEY WILL PASS THROUGH THE LAND, GREATLY DISTRESSED AND HUNGRY; AND WHEN THEY ARE HUNGRY, THEY WILL BE ENRAGED AND WILL CURSE THEIR KING AND THEIR GOD, AND TURN THEIR FACES UPWARD;                     
They will worship false gods and when these do not deliver the "goods" but disaster strikes they will curse those gods.

[Isaiah 8:22] AND THEY WILL LOOK TO THE EARTH, BUT BEHOLD, DISTRESS AND DARKNESS, THE GLOOM OF ANGUISH; AND THEY WILL BE THRUST INTO THICK DARKNESS.
Suffering causes people to be tested. Suffering should be avoided. God does not want us to suffer needlessly. You should not inflict suffering on yourself. You should look after your health and that of your family and only do things that are positive in intention. Depression is dangerous. At the same time you should know that Aristotle (quoted by Maimonides with approval in this case) said that all great men had a tendency towards depression. The trick is to channel energies constructively. To build and not destroy and overcome resentments that are often not really justified. Try not to see offences especially where none was intended. The Bible helps. God speaks to you through HIS Book.

Chapter 9

The Stages of Exile

Stages of Exile. Duration: 19 minutes

The Ten Tribes were exiled from the Land of Israel in Stages. The Tribes east of the Jordan were taken, then those in the north of the Galilee, then those in Samaria. Most were taken overland by foot or in wagons but a portion were transported in ships across the sea. SCROLL DOWN!

[Isaiah 9:1] BUT THERE WILL BE NO GLOOM FOR HER THAT WAS IN ANGUISH. IN THE FORMER TIME HE BROUGHT INTO CONTEMPT THE LAND OF ZEBULUN AND THE LAND OF NAPHTALI, BUT IN THE LATTER TIME HE WILL MAKE GLORIOUS THE WAY OF THE SEA, THE LAND BEYOND THE JORDAN, GALILEE OF THE NATIONS.                     
This verse is referring to the Exile of the northern Tribes of "Israel" who lost their identity and became known as "The Lost Ten Tribes of Israel".

The above translation is that of the King James Version. It fits the Hebrew but this verse in the Hebrew was also understood by Jewish Commentators to say something like the following:

"For the oppression will not be lightened; It will be more burdensome than the relatively light (easier) exile that the Land of Zebulon and the Land of Naphtali experienced. The last exile was [or WILL BE] more burdensome [IT WAS] by way of the sea, across the Jordan, the highlands of the nations.

We may not exactly understand this verse and so too the Commentators appear to all disagree with each other concerning the details. It is however agreed that the verse involves a comparison of the different stages of exile and comes to teach us something about them. 

The Exile of the northern tribes to different parts of the Assyrian Empire was in stages and included for a portion of the Israelite transportation by Sea. This is explained in the article below:

The Stages of Exile

[Adapted from "The Tribes" , from "Lost Israelite Identity", and from "Ephraim"].
Contents:

The Exile in Stages Predicted
Video Clip: The Stages of Exile.
What led to the Exile?
Pul and Tiglathpileser
Later Assyrian Exiles and Samaria
ALL of the Northern Tribes were Exiled!
Most of the Exiles Were Taken Overland!
Places of Exile
Transportation of the Exiles by Sea
A Portion of Judah also Exiled by the Assyrians
Deliverance! THE LOST TEN TRIBES IN THEIR PLACES OF EXILE ARE MIRACULOUSLY ENABLED TO THROW OFF THE ASSYRIAN YOKE!
The Lost Ten Tribes in Exile are spoken of in Midrashic and Talmudic Sources
The Lost Ten Tribes,Darkness and "Hidden" Concealment
The Wandering Bull Calf
The Aspect of Darkness Continued into North America

The Exile in Stages Predicted
Isaiah 9:1 speaks of Stages of Exile with one stage being easier than that experienced by the dwellers in  the lands of Zebulon and Naphtali,
another by Way of the Sea , and still another overland to the  Galillee or Plains of the Gentiles.             
This verse is referring to the Exile of the northern Tribes of "Israel" who lost their identity and became known as "The Lost Ten Tribes of Israel".
We know from  other sources that the Exile of the northern tribes to different parts of the Assyrian Empire was in stages. As background we will impart part of what we understand concerning these stages of exile.

What led to the Exile?
     The original Twelve Tribes of Israel had split into two kingdoms. Two tribes comprising "Judah" were in the south, and the ten tribes of "Israel" were in the north. The Ten Northern Tribes were entirely taken away by the Assyrians to places in northern Mesopotamia, to the Caucasus area and to eastern Iran.

 All of the Tribes of Israel had been accustomed to ascend three times a year to Jerusalem and there to offer sacrifice in the Temple. After the secession King Jeroboam of northern Israel feared that continued religious attachment to Jerusalem would eventually lead to the people demanding political re unification with the south:

    "Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold your deities, O Israel, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt.
    "And he set the one in Beth-el, and the other put he in Dan (1-Kings 12:28-29).

    King Jeroboam had introduced new religious practices as a result of which it was prophesied in his time:
  "For The LORD shall smite Israel, as a reed is shaken in the water, and he shall root up Israel out of this good land, which he gave to their fathers, and shall scatter them beyond the river, because they have made their sacred poles, provoking The LORD.
    "And he shall give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam who did sin, and who made Israel to sin. (1-Kings 14;15-16).  
    As soon as the Tribes of Israel split in two there occurred an immediate decline in their position. The Tribe of Menasseh had two halves, one half in lands west of the Jordan River, and the other half in the area east of it. This second half was dominated by the clans of Machir and his son Gilead.
    Altogether, there were two and a half tribes east of the Jordan River. These were Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe of Menasseh. In addition segments of some of the other tribes were also to be found in this region. At that time there were forests in the land, and there was more greenery, more precipitation, the climate was colder and water was more plentiful. The country east of the Jordan was highly productive agriculturally and provided plentiful pasture and mineral deposits.
    The Hebrews' enjoyment of their patrimony was to be curtailed due to war with Assyria. The lands of Israel were to be conquered and all of the people exiled. The Tribes east of the Jordan were among the first to be taken away.   

Pul and Tiglathpileser                                
    "And the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul king of Assyria and the spirit of Tiglath pileser king of Assyria, and he carried them away, even the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and the half tribe of Menasseh , and brought them unto Halah, and Habor, and Hara, and to the river Gozan, unto this day" (1-Chronicles  5:25-26).
    The above Biblical passage may be understood (in the Hebrew) to infer that PUL king of Assyria and Tiglathpileser king of Assyria were one and the same person and modern researchers (in the light of additional evidence) so understand the case to be. Nevertheless, other evidence indicates that Pul and Tiglathpileser were separate individuals and the verse is also understandable in that way.
    "PUL" may well have been another name for Tiglathpileser as well as that of another monarch who preceded him which monarch ALSO had been responsible for an earlier exile of Israelites. The implications for the present study are that the tribes east of the Jordan may have been exiled in two stages with some time between them and that the exile and re-settlement may have began much earlier than commonly supposed.
    "In the days of Pekah king of Israel, Tiglath-Pileser came and took Ijon, Abel Beth Maachah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, Gilead, and Galilee all the land of Nephtali; and he carried them captive to Assyria" (2-Kings 15:29). How many Israelites were exiled has been debated but the fact is that they all went, the northern Israelite Kingdom along with its inhabitant  disappeared from the Israelite area.
    The exile of all Israel from the northern Galilee is recorded in an inscription of Tiglathpileser who boasts of exiling all of "Bit Khumria" except for a small remnant which he left around the city of Samaria which city was then the capital and had been built by King Omri. "Bit Khumria" was the name which the Assyrians gave to northern Israel presumably in remembrance of King Omri ("Khumri" in Assyrian) whose son Achab had once fought and defeated the Assyrian forces. Previously the area of Israel and Syria had been referred to in Akkadian inscriptions as "The Land of Amurru". It is shown elsewhere  that the exiled Israelites became identifiable with part of the Cimmerians whose monarch was described by the Assyrians as "King of Amurru" which in the context implied "King of Israel".

Later Assyrian Exiles and Samaria
    The Assyrian ruler Tiglathpileser (745-727) was followed by Shalmaneser (727-722) and he by Sargon (722-705) and then came Senacherib ( 705-681). All of these kings participated in the exile and resettlement of Israelites. After the eastern Tribes and the northern ones had all been exiled, there remained only a rump state centered around the city of Samaria in the south and these too were to be exiled.
 "Then the  king of Assyria came up throughout all the land, and went up to Samaria, and besieged it three years.
     "In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away into Assyria, and placed them in Halah, and in Habor, by the city of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes" (2-Kings 17:7-8).                     

      "And the king of Assyria did carry away Israel, unto Assyria, and put them in Halah, and in Habor by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.
     "Because they obeyed not the voice of The LORD their God, but transgressed his covenant, and all that Moses the servant of The LORD commanded, and would not hear them, nor do them" (2-Kings 18:11- 12).

    An Assyrian inscription recalls the taking of Samaria and the exile of its inhabitants. This inscription says that the king of Assyria took to himself more than 27,000 people and the rest he removed to Assyria. The inscription may be understood to mean NOT (as is commonly claimed) that Sargon took only 27,000 plus people from Samaria into captivity BUT rather that Sargon took ca. 27,000 people for his own (military) purposes and the remainder of the people he settled in Assyria.

"I counted as spoil [2)7,280 people..and the rest of them I resettled in Assyria".
  On the basis of this inscription it is sometimes claimed (even in Encyclopedias!!) that not many more than 27,000 were ever actually exiled!!! This claim belies the facts: The inscription applies only to remnants of city of Samaria after a siege of several years whereas other Assyrian inscriptions mention the exile of all Israelite inhabitants from other areas of the country. The inscription itself appears most readily understandable as saying that the 27,000 plus were taken by the king for his own personal or military needs and all of the remainder were packed off maybe even without bothering to count them
             
 The inscription is also rendered as;

     "I took as booty 27,290 people who lived there. I formed a unit of 50 chariotry from them .."

 Another version says 200 chariotry instead of 50, and adds, "and I settled the rest in Assyria." 
S.Dalley  renders the Nimrud prism account of Sargon thusly:
"The Samarians who had [conspired] against the king [ my predecessor] not to endure servitude nor to bring tribute,  became angry and did battle. With the  army of the great gods my lords I fought against them. I counted as spoil [x+]7,280 people  including [their] chariotry  and the gods their help.  I formed a unit of 200 chariots from them  as part of my royal army, and I resettled the rest of them in Assyria. I repopulated Samaria more than before, and put into it people from the countries which I had conquered".

    Other renditions of this inscription (such as that of H.Tadmor) similarly show that it is possible to read the inscription as saying that Sargon took for his own purposes more than 27,000 captives and the rest of them (i.e. all those that remained apart from the 27,000) he transported to Assyria.
 
ALL of the Northern Tribes were Exiled!
       The people of Samaria were besieged and exiled after all the rest of their brethren had already been taken away en masse.
    Following the exile of Samaria, the Bible says that, "there was none left but the tribe of Judah only" (2-Kings 17:18). The Talmud and Midrashim also speak of the Lost Ten Tribes having all been exiled. One late Midrash suggests that one in eight remained but the exact meaning of this source is uncertain. Here and there, there do exist hints that a small percentage of the northern tribes remained and became assimilated amongst the Jews of Judah. Archaeologists have discovered a neighborhood in Jerusalem which apparently was settled by refugees from northern Israel. These newcomers show the strong influence of Egyptian and foreign culture and for a while appear to have practiced cremation  which is forbidden by Jewish Law. Also Levites and other religious refugees had began to drift southward long before the Assyrian invasion. Nevertheless, SINCE NOTHING REALLY SIGNIFICANT REMAINED OF THEM THE OVERWHELMING MAJORITY MUST HAVE GONE INTO EXILE AS THE BIBLE SAYS THEY DID!!
    Archaeological excavations also prove the completeness of deportation. For the period after the Assyrian conquest of Israel there is a gap in archaeological finds everywhere with accompanying traces of burning and destruction. For some time afterwards there is no real new settlement and when organized habitation does begin it is small and impoverished, at least at first and nowhere can it be ascribed to the previous Israelite dwellers.

Most of the Exiles Were Taken Overland!
The Bible says that,
"The King of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away into Assyria, and placed them in Hala, and in Habor, and in the cities of the Medes" (2-Kings 17:6). The Bible also mentions "Hara" (1-Chronicles 5; 26) in eastern Iran as a place of exile. The Talmud and archaeological findings enable the identification of these places of re-settlement. Shortly after the exile and re-settlement every one of the said places became a center for a group of peoples who then appeared for the first time. They are known to history as the Cimmerians, Scythians, and Guti or Goths. It has been shown that these entities were (at least in part) the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel!
    The Northern Ten Tribes of Israel had been conquered and exiled by the Assyrians. They were taken at first to several areas which are designated, by Biblical and Talmudical sources, as Halah, Habor, the River Gozan, Cities of the Medes, Hara, the Snowy Mountains, Caspii, Mountains of Darkness, Har-Mannae, Sambation, Afrikey, and so on. The said names often prove to be alternative appellations for the same or adjacent locations.
    The exile of the northern Israelites by the Assyrians is described in the Book of Kings that speaks of the capture of Samaria and exile of Israel. "Samaria" was the name of the northern Israelite capital and is sometimes used as an eponym for the Northern Kingdom.

    "The King of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away into Assyria, and placed them in Hala, and in Habor, by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes" (2-Kings 17:6).

Places of Exile
    The exile took place in several stages and before the exile of "Samaria" (Menasseh, Ephraim, and Zebulon), the Tribes to the north (Dan, Asher, Issachar, and Naphtali) had been taken away by the Assyrian monarch who "carried them captive to Assyria" (2-Kings 15:29). Likewise, the tribes east of the Jordan (Reuben, Gad, and half Menasseh) had been carried "unto Halah, and Habor, and Hara, and to the river Gozan" (1-Chronicles 5:26).
    The place of exile nominated as "Assyria" refers to the province by that name which encompassed most of Mesopotamia and extended into the Zagros Mountains in the east, while in the west it reached unto the shores of the Black Sea. Halah, Habor, the River Gozan, and many of the cities of the Medes were within the confines of "Assyria" or close to its fringes. "Hara" was much further to the east in the region straddling the borders of present day Iran and Afghanistan. "Hara" encompassed places named Aria, Ariana, and Arachosia, by the Greeks. "Hara" was called "Haraiva" and "Hare" by the Persians, and known under its correct name "Hara" to the Medes, just as it is still called "Hara" by the locals today. It is crossed by the Hari Rud or "River of Hara" and contains the city of Harat.
    The Assyrians ruled the Hara area and all of the surrounding region and settled a portion of the Israelite tribes there in, specifically part of those tribes from east of the Jordan: Reuben, Gad, and half Menasseh, since only concerning their exile is the name "Hara" mentioned:

    "The God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul king of Assyria, and the spirit of Tiglath-pilneser of Assyria, and he carried them away, even the Reubeni, and the Gadi, and the half tribe of Menasseh, and brought them unto Hala, and Habor, and HARA, and to the river of Gozan unto this day" (1-Chronicles 5:26).

    Assyrian control of the Hara area is proven by inscribed claims of Assyrian monarchs to have received tribute from Magan and Meluhha which nations (in neo-Assyrian nomenclature) were either by the Indus delta or to the east of it. Hara adjoined Bactria and Roman and other accounts related that the Assyrian Semiramis (wife or widow of "Pul") had conquered Bactria to the north of Hara as well as parts of India to its east. The Assyrians sent frequent expeditions to Mount "Bikni" meaning the "Mount of Lapis Lazuli" and most (if not all) the lapis lazuli of Assyria came from  Badakhshan to the northeast of "Hara". According to Greek and Iranian sources the Assyrians had planted colonies in the region of Kabul and Gandhara to the east of Hara. Indian scripts also recall the "Asurya" with their god "Asura" (meaning the Assyrians with their deity "Ashur") who had colonies in Hara and Sakastan. Assyrian cultural influences in this area and cultural influences from this area on Assyria confirm the Assyrian presence in this region. 

Transportation of the Exiles by Sea
In addition to a series of Exiles overland to border areas of the Assyrian Empire a Transportation over the Sea was also involved. Both these forms of Exile were mentioned by the Prophet Amos as we have understood it:

    "Hear, this word, ye kine of Bashan, that are in the mountain of Samaria, which oppress the poor, which crush the needy, who say to their husbands, Bring, and let us drink.
    "...he will take you away in big ships and your posterity in fishing boats.
    "Each woman will be carried straight out through the breaches and cast out beyond the mountains of Mannae"(Amos 4:1-3).
The above rendition is a little different from the King James Version.
Amos (4:3) refers to the "kine of Bashan" "in the mountain of Samaria" (Amos 4:1) who shall be cast, according to the KJ "into the palace" . This expression "into the palace" has been translated from the Hebrew "Harmona" which may also be translated as saying "To the Mountain of Mannae" and so it is understood in the Talmudically-approved Aramaic version of Yehonathan. Mannae was in the general area of Armenia to which Jewish and local sources say the Israelites were taken. See also Encyclopedia Judaica, "Armenia", "Georgia", "Caucasus".
Likewise the Hebrew words "Tsinot" translated in the KJ as "hooks" we have rendered as "big ships" and "sirot dugah" translated as "fish-hooks" we have more correctly translated as "fishing-boats".
The Expulsion of the Exiles was described as taking place through "TsINOT [i.e."large boats" in Hebrew] and  your remnant in SIROT DUGAH [i.e. "Fishing boats" in Hebrew] And your breached remnant will be taken away one woman for each other and they shall be cast out into the mountain of Mannae" (Amos 4;1 3).            
    The verse in the Hebrew may therefore be understood as saying that one part of the exiles would be taken away in large and small sailing vessels and another part would be exiled to Mannae in which area the previous section showed exiled Israelite "Cimmerians" and Scythians to have indeed appeared.     

    The Prophet Isaiah foresaw that in the Last Days,

    "The LORD shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, that shall be left from Ashur, and from Mitsrayim, from Patros, and from Cush, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the Isles of the Sea" (Isaiah 11:11).

    The said places were those to which the Ten Tribed Exiled Hebrews were taken immediately after their exile or which they somehow gravitated towards shortly afterwards and from there move on.. They are not in every case those places which they are now found in and from which they will directly return. In other words those who were in the above places in the Last Days will return from wherever they will be at the time. At all events, "Isles of the Sea" referred here primarily to the Isles of Britain as explained elsewhere. Getting to the "Isles of the Sea", implies travel by boat.
    Another verse in the Book of Isaiah associated with the Ten Tribes' exile says,

    "At the first the lighter affliction was visited upon the land of Zebulon and the land of Nephtali and (BUT) the latter one was made heavier by way of the sea, beyond Jordan, in Galilee of the nations" (Isaiah  9:10).

    The expressions "Isles of the Sea", "Way of the Sea", "large boats", "fishing-boats", in connection with the exile of Northern Israel is consistent with transportation by sea which was logistically possible at that time and had been effected in other cases by Phoenician seafarers. Israelites seem to have always participated in Phoenician seafaring ventures.
    Additional verses prove that the exiled Israelites were destined to be found in the "Isles of the Sea" which were associated with "Tarshish" in the Atlantic Ocean. Other passages show that from Phoenician Tyre settlement was to be made in Tarshish. Both the Israelites and Phoenicians had had a long standing connection with Tarshish. 
    The extent of ancient international connections is demonstrated by the Prophet Ezekiel's (ch.27) description of Phoenician Tyre and its maritime extension. This has implications  concerning the fate of the Israelites after their exile since a portion of them were taken overseas by Phoenician agency.

    The Prophet Hosea spoke of Ephraim together with Phoenician Tyre as if their fates were entwined, and as if part of Ephraim was settled in Tyre, and both suffered from the Assyrian conquest:
      "Ephraim, as I saw Tyre, is planted in a pleasant place: but Ephraim shall bring forth his children to the murderer " (Hosea 9:13).
    "Ephraim is smitten, their root is dried up...
    "My God will cast them away, because they did not hearken unto him: and they shall be wanderers among the nations  (Hosea 9:16 17).
    In Amos (ch.1.), it is prophesied that the Philistines (Ashkelon, Ashdod, Gaza, Ekron) and Phoenicians (Tyre) will be punished for betraying an entire exile into the hand of Edom who accompanied Assyria. Both the Philistines and Phoenicians were sea-farers. Tyre is upbraided for not remembering the Covenant of brotherhood which once existed between itself and Israel..
 The Philistines are to be identified with Minoan Civilization based on Crete. Minoan remains and evidence of Minoan shipping activity have been found in Northwest Europe.

Tyre on the other hand was the major city of the Phoenicians:
    "...For three transgressions of Tyre ...I will not turn away the punishment thereof: because they delivered up the whole captivity to Edom, and remembered not the covenant of brothers" (Amos 1:9).

The deliverance to EDOM is connected to the transference by sea of a portion of the exiles to the west.

    A Midrash names Daphne of Antiochea (on the north Syrian coast) as one of the three places to which the Ten Tribes were exiled. Slouchz believed that those exiled to "Daphne of Antiochea" represented Israelites of Phoenician culture who disappeared and whose fate was connected with their Phoenician connections.

A Portion of Judah also Exiled by the Assyrians  
    In addition to the exile of the northern Israelites, Sennacherib boasted of having conquered cities in Judah and deported more than 200,000 people. This event is spoken of in Midrashim and other sources of Jewish tradition even though it is merely hinted at in the Bible:
      "Now in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah did Sennacherib king of Assyria come up against all the fenced cities of Judah and took them" (2-Kings 18:13). 
These "fenced cities" of Judah according to the Midrashim and Assyrian inscriptions accounted for a great number of people though one Midrashic sources says that those who were taken away belonged mainly to the Tribe of Simeon which though situated in the south was to be counted as part of the Northern ten Tribes and to go into Exile alongside them.                               
    The Prophet Isaiah had predicted that after all the Assyrian Exilations of northern Israel and Judah were completed only one in ten of the original population would remain and these apparently would be those in Judah who would later endure an additional exile of their own:
    "If there yet remain a tenth in it, it also shall be consumed" (Isaiah 6:13).
    The Jews who remained in Judah were destined to be exiled to Babylon and from there to return under the leadership of Ezra and Nehemiah. The Jews of Judah who had been exiled to Babylon did however retain consciousness of their national identity whereas the others ultimately did not. Those Jews who had been taken into exile previously by Sennacherib remained unheard of. They assumedly joined their brothers from the Ten Tribes and became assimilated with them. Nachmanides speaks of these Exiles of Judah and emphasizes that they were to be subsumed as part of the Lost Ten Tribes. The tribal expression of Judah in the Biblical sense was to be be effected through those of Judah and Benjamin whom remained.

Deliverance! THE LOST TEN TRIBES IN THEIR PLACES OF EXILE ARE MIRACULOUSLY ENABLED TO THROW OFF THE ASSYRIAN YOKE!
Sennacherib after taking all the fenced cities of Judah besieged Jerusalem but his army was miraculously destroyed by an angel of the Almighty.
Consequently not only was Jerusalem saved but according to a Rabbinical Source at least part of the Lost ten tribes in their places of exile were enabled to throw off the Assyrian yoke.
 [Isaiah 9:2] THE PEOPLE WHO WALKED IN DARKNESS HAVE SEEN A GREAT LIGHT; THOSE WHO DWELT IN A LAND OF DEEP DARKNESS, ON THEM HAS LIGHT SHINED.
"THE PEOPLE WHO WALKED IN DARKNESS":  One commentary [see MeAm Loaz] says this refers to the Lost Ten Tribes (LTTs) . This source says that after the Assyrian King Sennacherib besieged Jerusalem and had his army destroyed by a miracle the Lost Ten Tribes who already in exile were released from bondage. This explanation could explain a lot of things but what it is based upon is uncertain.
At all events the Lost Ten Tribes being in darkness is also reported in Isaiah 49:9 and most of chapter 49 is dedicated to them.

The Lost Ten Tribes in Exile are spoken of in Midrashic and Talmudic Sources:

      "That thou mayest say to the prisoners, Go forth; to them  that are in darkness,  Shew yourselves. They shall feed in the ways, and their pastures shall be in all high places" (Isaiah 49:9).

   The Midrash (Numbers Rabah 1;6, Eichah Rabah 2;9, Jerusalemi Sanhedrin ch.17, L.6,29) on these verses, comments:

    ~Rabbi Berachiah and Rabbi Chelbo in the name of Rabbi Shmuel bar Nachman said: To three places was Israel exiled, one to beyond the Sambation River, one to Daphneh of Antiochia, and one to where  the Clouds came down and covered them; in the same way that they [i.e.the northern Israelites west of the Jordan River] were exiled to three places, so too were the Tribes [east of the Jordan River] of Reuben, Gad, and half Menasseh, exiled to three places. When they shall return so too will Reuben, Gad, and half Menasseh return with them. How do we know all this"
    ~` From the verse, "Say to the prisoners go forth" (Isaiah 49:9):
   
     These are those  exiled beyond the Sambation River.

    "To them that are in darkness, shew yourselves" (Isaiah 49:9): These are those whom the cloud descended upon and covered.

    "They shall feed in the ways, and in all high places their pastures" (Isaiah 49:9): These are those who were exiled to Daphne of Antiochea.~'

   Now from those places to which the Lost Ten Tribes were exiled there emerged the Cimmerians, Scythians, and Gothic ethnic groups. There is much evidence that these peoples were either mainly Israelite or that at least Israelites were a significant element amongst them and that the bulk of Israelite exiles were to be found in their midst. 

The Lost Ten Tribes, Darkness and "Hidden" Concealment
     Like the  third part of exiled Israelites in the Midrash, so too, were the Cimmerians in Classical Literature to be associated with Clouds, Mountains, or simply regions,  of Darkness. A word root " comer" (reminiscent of "Cimmerian") in both Hebrew and Latin connates  "darkness"! At one stage a  portion of the Cimmerians were to be found in the Crimean Peninsula. At that  time the climate was much wetter in the Crimean region than it is now and the area was apparently always cloudy. In Latin Literature there existed  a phrase "Af tenebrae Cimmeriae" meaning "Cimmerian Darkness" and applied to the Crimea.  Later the Cimbrians who were a branch of the Cimmerians and often directly identified with them were to be found in Scandinavia and this area is also linked with darkness due to the length of its nights in the winter.
     The bulk of the Cimmerians via the Balkans entered Europe and moved westward. They are identified in general with the Celts. The name "Celt" has been interpreted as:
    "meaning hidden the word  which gives us the Irish form `ceilt', i.e. concealment or secret, and the word which gives us the English word kilt"18.

    The Scottii who from Scythia reached Ireland and from there went to Scotland were counted as Celts and their name ("Scotoi") in Greek was understandable as meaning obscure or hidden. In Britain and Brittany (Gaul) lived a people called Ostrynimians by the Carthaginains and Phoenicians and this name also is said to means hidden from the Hebrew root "sater". The god Saturn who allegedly reigned in the British Isles too has a name derivable in Hebrew from the same root ("sater") and connoting the "hidden god".  Saturn in Greek-Phoneician Mythology was taken to represent the god ["god" in their eyes, "God" in ours] of Israel or to personify the exiled of Israel, thus the exiled of Israel (i.e. "Saturn") ruled in the British Isles.
    Amongst the Celts, the Cimmerians are specially linked with the Galatians n and with the Cimbri of Scandinavia and the Cymry of Britain.
     The Orphic Argonautica (supposed ca.500 BCE) placed the Cimmerians far away in the north somewhere in the British Isles:
                
    "Cimmerii who were hidden from the sun rising by the mountains of Ripaeus in Britain near the vicinity of Hades..."           
      "....far away in the north on the way to the Iernian [Ireland"] islands... ".

  Homer (in the "Odyssey" 11;19) mentioned,
    "The deep sea of Oceanos [i.e.The Atlantic Ocean] which is the World's boundary. There is the city of the Cimmerian people. Night is forever spread over these unhappy mortals".

It is generally agreed that both these above passages are placing Cimmerians in Britain and it was be noticed that both use expressions implying darkness or hiddenness.

     Plutarch seems to have identified the Cimmerians with the Cimbri of Scandinavia and the North sea coast as did other Roman writers.

 Plutarch says of these Cimmerian descendants:

    "Part of them still inhabit  the remotest regions upon the outer Ocean. These... live in a dark  and woody region hardly penetrable  by the sunbeams...their days and nights being equally continuous, they divide their year into one of Each..(Plutarch: "Caius Marius").

       A.W.Whatmore also noted the linkage in Classical works of the Cimmerians with the Dark in the Caucasus, in Crimea, in Britain, and in Scandinavia.
        Denmark was settled at one stage by the Cimbri descendants of the Cimmerians and then later by the Danes from the Israelite Tribe of Dan.
    This overlapping of Cimbri with the Danes of Dan is interesting. A Midrash commented on the Tribal Order of Marching forward in the Wilderness when the ancient Israelites had escaped from Egypt yet still had not been allowed to enter the Promised Land. The Midrash infers that this positioning was indicative of future developments. The Position of Dan, says the Midrash (Numbers Rabah 2), "was in the north, whence darkness comes".

The Wandering Bull Calf
      The Cimmerians also gave rise to the Cimbri The Cimbri, claimed Plutarch, in their migrations  carried a metal bull with them. The Cimbri in Scandinavia are known to have had a bull cult of Mediterranean origin. The Israelites in the Wilderness were punished for making a golden bull calf (Hebrew: "aegel") which they intended to go before them in their wanderings (Exodus 32:1-4). Excavations in the area of northern Israel have unearthed metallic statuettes of bulls which are dated to the period of Israelite occupation prior to their exile. King Jeroboam  from the Tribe of Ephraim  was the first king of northern Israel after it broke away from the south. He set up a bull calf cult  with golden statues and cultic centres at Dan and in Beth el (2 Kings 12|:28-29). These golden statues, according to one source, were later smashed. They may have been exchanged for metallic ones. Sargon, the Assyrian king after defeating northern Israel  said, "I counted the gods  on whom they trusted as spoil". The statue at Beth el (Beth aven)  was captured by the Assyrians and "carried unto Assyria" (Hosea 10;6). The Cimbri practice of carrying a metallic bull with them may have been a carryover from their north Israelite paganism.
        The Cimbri were later to be found throughout Scandinavia especially in Denmark Jutland which Procopius ("Gothic Wars 2.1.7) referred to as "Brittania" whereas the isle of Britain (home of the British Cymry) he called "Brittia". Part of the Cimbri reached Holland in their wanderings and there too  the presence of a tribe of "Bretons" was reported (Pliny N.H.4;17)30. Isaiah (ch.49) placed the Lost Israelites in "Isles of the Sea" and said they would establish a "Brit Am" i.e. A People's Covenant or Commonwealth.

The Aspect of Darkness Continued into North America
       Whatmore ("Insulae Britannicae", 1913) showed that in Classical Literature the Islands of Britain were considered the edge of the world, the last section of Scythia, and associated with Cimmerian darkness.  The same characteristics were ascribed to Scandinavia and then later Scandinavian writers said the same things about North America wherein Viking Scandinavians attempted to settle!
      Leif Ericson in the 1100s c.e. visited the coasts of North America and an effort at colonisation was made. A Chronicle of the event gave the names Helluland, Markland, and Vinland to the countries visited. Whatmore equated "Markland" with North America31. After  drawing parallels between the Danish Norwegian word "merke" and the Russian "mrak", he said that the name "Markland" (given to North America) signified  DARKNESS.
    The Scandinavian Chronicler was continuing the Classical tradition  and Whatmore concludes that "Markland" (i.e. the name given to North America),
    "is quite as likely an echo of the dark Kimmerian world".                            
      It follows that in Biblical and Rabbinical tradition the Lost Ten Tribes  or at least a portion of them were associated with Darkness, Clouds, and Concealment in general. Both linguistically and conceptually these same attributes were attached to the Cimmerians and to those who emerged from them. Proofs from other fields confirm that these same entities were descended largely from Israel.

[Isaiah 9:2] THE PEOPLE WHO WALKED IN DARKNESS HAVE SEEN A GREAT LIGHT; THOSE WHO DWELT IN A LAND OF DEEP DARKNESS, ON THEM HAS LIGHT SHINED. "THE PEOPLE WHO WALKED IN DARKNESS": One commentary says this refers to the Lost Ten Tribes (LTTs) [see MeAm Loaz]. This source says that after the Assyrian King Sennacherib besieged Jerusalem and had his army destroyed by a miracle the Lost Ten tribes who already in exile were released from bondage. This explanation could explain a lot of things but what it is based upon is uncertain.

[Isaiah 9:3] THOU HAST MULTIPLIED THE NATION, THOU HAST INCREASED ITS JOY; THEY REJOICE BEFORE THEE AS WITH JOY AT THE HARVEST, AS MEN REJOICE WHEN THEY DIVIDE THE SPOIL.                     


[Isaiah 9:4] FOR THE YOKE OF HIS BURDEN, AND THE STAFF FOR HIS SHOULDER, THE ROD OF HIS OPPRESSOR, THOU HAST BROKEN AS ON THE DAY OF MIDIAN. 
This is referring to Gideon of the Tribe of Menasseh who defeated the Midianites (Judges  chapters 6,7,8).   Gideon later had to contend with the men of Ephraim (Judges8;1) who were jealous of his leadership. Gideon came from the clan of Abiezer within Gilead within Menasseh.  Abiezer is the same as Je-ezer (Numbers 26;30). In Hebrew "Je-ezer" is Ai-y-azar and Abiezer is Avi-y-azar so they are actually closer than they appear in English translation.  Ai-y-azar was pronouncable as Ai-y-(g)azar. This links them with the Agathyrsi or Agazari (Acatziri) who became known as the Khazars. The Khazars had a tradition that they were descended from the Tribes of Menasseh and Simeon. Their Israelite ancestry was recognized by most Jewish authorities in their tribe. They converted to Judaism and for a period ruled over southern Russia. They beat back Arab invaders and together with the Frank Charles Martel in the west saved Europe from Muslim domination. 

Khazars, Turks, and Israel

The Khazars and the Agathyrsi
Gideon from the Clan of Abiezer of the sub-section of Gilead within Menasseh defeated the Midianites and saved all Israel from extreme oppression,
as related in the books of Judges (chs. 6,7,8).
Isaiah 9:4 recalls the history of Gideon. The Clan of Abiezer was also known as Je-ezer (Numbers 26;30). This name "Je-ezer" in the Northern Hebrew dialect gave rise to the appellation  Agathyrsi which was one of the names given to the Khazars or a portion of them.
 

Were the Khazars Turkish?
Some people claim that the Khazars were Turks and that the Turks are Edomites and therefore so were the Khazars. They then say that the Jews are mainly descended from Khazars and therefore the Jews are Edomites. This may sound ridiculous but there are those who sincerely believe in it. Not all those who hold these views are necessarily anti-Jewish. Some appear to be sincerely mislead.

As for the Turks being Edomites I never saw anything really convincing and do not believe it. There may have been Edomite elements amongst Turkish peoples but I doubt if they were numerically significant.
As for the Khazars having been Turks I looked up the sources and all it means is that the Khazars may have spoken a Turkish dialect as did some white "Nordic" peoples, some "Turkish" peoples and some "Mongolians".
It is not even certain however what language the Khazars really  did speak since all we have are a few "Runes" that appear like a Central Asian Turkish-related dialect and MAY belong to the Khazars. At one stage the Turks did rule for a period over the Khazars and they did dominate the region of Southern Russia. So some influence was to be expected.
 This does not say much and even this is uncertain. Some of the Khazars  are believed to have spoken a Finnish-type language. Avraham Polak ("Kuzaria", Hebrew) believed their original tongue was a Gothic dialect.  We think they originally spoke Hebrew. The Khazars were actually reported of in southern Russia long before the Turks were ever heard of.

Why are the Khazars Considered Turkish?
[Very Summarised] Claims:
Some Jewish sources say they were.
A letter from King Joseph of Khazaria relates them to Togarmah.
They are believed to have spoken Turkish and had Turkish customs.
Their ruling house is claimed to have been of Turkish origin and to have ruled over Turks.

Brit-Am Replies:

Why Should the Khazars NOT be Considered Turkish?
Most contemporary Jewish sources relate the Khazars to Israel. Sources that relate them to Togarmah are mainly later ones and less reliable. Those who knew them at first hand considered them Israelite.
The letter from King Joseph is in several versions. It has been doctored. The segment relating them to Togarmah appears from its style to be an interpolation.
Both the Khazars themselves and Jewish authorities considered them to be of Israelite descent.
There is little evidence of Turkish input. All that there was can easily be explained by cultural contact.
The same ruling house that may have ruled over the Khazars and Turks also seems to have possibly ruled over part of the Huns, the Goths, and the Parthians. The deeper we go into these matters the more remote the possibility of Turkish connections become.

As for most Jews being descended from the Khazars this too does not fit in with the known facts.
If we thought it were so we would admit it since it does not matter (from our point of view) much anyway.

For More Brit-Am Information on the Khazars go to:
http://www.britam.org/KhazarIndex.html

[Isaiah 9:5] FOR EVERY BOOT OF THE TRAMPING WARRIOR IN BATTLE TUMULT AND EVERY GARMENT ROLLED IN BLOOD WILL BE BURNED AS FUEL FOR THE FIRE.                     

[Isaiah 9:6] FOR TO US A CHILD IS BORN, TO US A SON IS GIVEN; AND THE GOVERNMENT WILL BE UPON HIS SHOULDER, AND HIS NAME WILL BE CALLED "WONDERFUL COUNSELOR, MIGHTY GOD, EVERLASTING FATHER, PRINCE OF PEACE."   
This was in the immediate sense speaking about Hezekiah. The child was already in existence. He would be a king and return the people to the worship of God. At that time in the Middle East a monarch upon ascending the throne would change his name. The new name or names would be intended to express what style and aims his rulership would hopefully attain to. This prophecy was also pertinent to a degree to the rule of the future Messiah.

[Isaiah 9:7] OF THE INCREASE OF HIS GOVERNMENT AND OF PEACE THERE WILL BE NO END, UPON THE THRONE  OF DAVID, AND OVER HIS KINGDOM, TO ESTABLISH IT, AND TO UPHOLD IT WITH JUSTICE AND WITH RIGHTEOUSNESS FROM THIS TIME FORTH AND FOR EVERMORE. THE ZEAL OF THE LORD OF HOSTS WILL DO THIS.                   
This perhaps pertains more to the future. 

[Isaiah 9:8] THE LORD HAS SENT A WORD AGAINST JACOB, AND IT WILL LIGHT UPON ISRAEL;

[Isaiah 9:9] AND ALL THE PEOPLE WILL KNOW, EPHRAIM AND THE INHABITANTS OF SAMARIA, WHO SAY IN PRIDE AND IN ARROGANCE OF HEART:                     
"EPHRAIM" was a general name for all the northern Ten Tribes.
 AND THE INHABITANTS OF SAMARIA: "Samaria" was the capital of the Northern Kingdom or one of the capitals. Technically it was in the territory of Menasseh (though some say Issachar"). At all events "Samaria" is also used as a general term for all the Northen Kingdom.

[Isaiah 9:10] "THE BRICKS HAVE FALLEN, BUT WE WILL BUILD WITH DRESSED STONES; THE SYCAMORES HAVE  BEEN CUT DOWN, BUT WE WILL PUT CEDARS IN THEIR PLACE."                     
They thought the disasters coming upon them were of natural cause and not sent by God. They consoled themselves that if a building fell down they would build a better one. They did not take the message sent to them to heart.

[Isaiah 9:11] SO THE LORD RAISES ADVERSARIES AGAINST THEM, AND STIRS UP THEIR ENEMIES.                    
Because they did not take to heart relatively "minor" warning their trouble were multiplied and enemies came against them.

[Isaiah 9:12] THE SYRIANS ON THE EAST AND THE PHILISTINES ON THE WEST DEVOUR ISRAEL WITH OPEN MOUTH. FOR ALL THIS HIS ANGER IS NOT TURNED AWAY AND HIS HAND IS STRETCHED OUT STILL.                     
THE SYRIANS [in Hebrew "Aram"]ON THE EAST: These were allies of Israel against Judah. Even so they were oppressing Israelites  and contributing to the corruption and approaching destruction of northern Israel.  They were openly against her but Israel did not want to see. Nowadays the Palestinians openly attack modern Israel and say they want to kill all the Jews. Many refuse to see this. Similarly nations that the USA backs at the expense of the Jewish State of Israel and of Britain are against her.

AND THE PHILISTINES The Palestinians are named after the Latin way of pronouncing "Philisitia".
Historically it now appears that many of the original Philistines may have settled in what is now Austria.
ON THE WEST DEVOUR ISRAEL WITH OPEN MOUTH

[Isaiah 9:13] THE PEOPLE DID NOT TURN TO HIM WHO SMOTE THEM, NOR SEEK THE LORD OF HOSTS.                     

[Isaiah 9:14] SO THE LORD CUT OFF FROM ISRAEL HEAD AND TAIL, PALM BRANCH AND REED IN ONE DAY--                     

[Isaiah 9:15] THE ELDER AND HONORED MAN IS THE HEAD, AND THE PROPHET WHO TEACHES LIES IS THE TAIL;                     

[Isaiah 9:16] FOR THOSE WHO LEAD THIS PEOPLE LEAD THEM ASTRAY, AND THOSE WHO ARE LED BY THEM ARE SWALLOWED UP.                     
Our leaders are often worse than us. It should be the opposite.

[Isaiah 9:17] THEREFORE THE LORD DOES NOT REJOICE OVER THEIR YOUNG MEN, AND HAS NO COMPASSION ON THEIR FATHERLESS AND WIDOWS; FOR EVERY ONE IS GODLESS AND AN EVILDOER, AND EVERY MOUTH SPEAKS FOLLY. FOR ALL THIS HIS ANGER IS NOT TURNED AWAY AND HIS HAND IS STRETCHED OUT STILL.                     

[Isaiah 9:18] FOR WICKEDNESS BURNS LIKE A FIRE, IT CONSUMES BRIERS AND THORNS; IT KINDLES THE THICKETS OF THE FOREST, AND THEY ROLL UPWARD IN A COLUMN OF SMOKE.                     

[Isaiah 9:19] THROUGH THE WRATH OF THE LORD OF HOSTS THE LAND IS BURNED, AND THE PEOPLE ARE LIKE FUEL FOR THE FIRE; NO MAN SPARES HIS BROTHER.                     
When things are difficult and people get desperate and loyalty is not valued natural ties are disregarded.

[Isaiah 9:20] THEY SNATCH ON THE RIGHT, BUT ARE STILL HUNGRY, AND THEY DEVOUR ON THE LEFT, BUT ARE NOT SATISFIED; EACH DEVOURS HIS NEIGHBOR'S FLESH,   
We eat each other up and hurt ourselves.                 

[Isaiah 9:21] MANASSEH EPHRAIM, AND EPHRAIM MANASSEH, AND TOGETHER THEY ARE AGAINST JUDAH. FOR ALL THIS HIS ANGER IS NOT TURNED AWAY AND HIS HAND IS STRETCHED OUT STILL.
MANASSEH EPHRAIM, AND EPHRAIM MANASSEH, AND TOGETHER THEY ARE AGAINST JUDAH: This is on one hand a parable using familiar names for how people act (or will act) on an individual level. On the other hand it says that Menasseh (USA) and Ephraim (Britain & Co) or the Menasseh section of the USA versus the Ephraim section. In the American Civil War the Confederates were almost de facto allies of Britain against the North. Was this Menasseh versus Ephraim?
AND TOGETHER THEY ARE AGAINST JUDAH: Increased anti-semitism? Negative policies towards the State of Israel?

Chapter 10
[Isaiah 10:1] WOE TO THOSE WHO DECREE INIQUITOUS DECREES, AND THE WRITERS WHO KEEP WRITING OPPRESSION,                     
"THE WRITERS": Journalists, media people, etc. Yesterday I was browsing through some popular books on psychology and sociology etc. One can get a lot of insights and useful information from these type of works BUT if one takes them too seriously a person is liable to end up with a perverted and untrue view of life and of the people around themself.

[Isaiah 10:2] TO TURN ASIDE THE NEEDY FROM JUSTICE AND TO ROB THE POOR OF MY PEOPLE OF THEIR RIGHT, THAT WIDOWS MAY BE THEIR SPOIL, AND THAT THEY MAY MAKE THE FATHERLESS THEIR PREY!                     
"WIDOWS MAY BE THEIR SPOIL": Sometimes the policies of governmental agencies and other authorities ends up in effectively emasculating the male. The women are the ones who suffer most as a consequence.

[Isaiah 10:3] WHAT WILL YOU DO ON THE DAY OF PUNISHMENT, IN THE STORM WHICH WILL COME FROM AFAR? TO WHOM WILL YOU FLEE FOR HELP, AND WHERE WILL YOU LEAVE YOUR WEALTH?
You can only do so much no matter who you are. The bottom line is that sooner or later we all have to give a personal accounting for our actions before God.

[Isaiah 10:4] NOTHING REMAINS BUT TO CROUCH AMONG THE PRISONERS OR FALL AMONG THE SLAIN. FOR ALL THIS HIS ANGER IS NOT TURNED AWAY AND HIS HAND IS STRETCHED OUT STILL.                     
Faced with a merciless enemy the choices are: To pretend to be dead or to have been taken prisoner in order that you not be slaughtered or tortured or both. Assyrian illustrations reveal a sadistic pleasure in inf;icting pain upon the captives, mutilating and raping and killing with torture. Paine reveals that Hilter considered the gaschambers too easy a death for the Jews. Towards the end the nazis would leave lime in the railway cattletrucks into which Jews were crowded and leave them there for a few days and then take out the bodies. They began to no longer bother even driving them to the gas chambers. People who criticise the Allies for not bombing the gas chambers underestimate the determination of the nazis who would not have been stopped or even slowed down by such action. Even so there wasa lot the Allies could have done and did not do.  There did exist strong Jew-hating elements amongst the Allies and this should not be denied.  On the other hand it should not be denied that at some level the Allies were fighting to free the world from Nazi tyranny and in the eyes of the public this included freeing the world from Nazi persecution of the Jews. The determination of Britain to fight was what won the war. The historian A.J.P. Taylor says that the Nazi persecution of the Jews before the war was the major factor in strengthening British public opinion against Germany. In other words despite everything that can be said Protection of the Jews was a factor in the determination of the British populace to fight Hitler.

 [Isaiah 10:5] AH, ASSYRIA, THE ROD OF MY ANGER, THE STAFF OF MY FURY!
Assyria is a means of punishment.

[Isaiah 10:6] AGAINST A GODLESS NATION I SEND HIM, AND AGAINST THE PEOPLE OF MY WRATH I COMMAND HIM, TO TAKE SPOIL AND SEIZE PLUNDER, AND TO TREAD THEM DOWN LIKE THE MIRE OF THE STREETS.                     
"A GODLESS NATION" this is Israel. If we deny God then He will not be there for us when we need Him.

[Isaiah 10:7] BUT HE DOES NOT SO INTEND, AND HIS MIND DOES NOT SO THINK; BUT IT IS IN HIS MIND TO DESTROY, AND TO CUT OFF NATIONS NOT A FEW;            
"NOT SO INTEND": Assyria is not aware of his own evil impulse and of the obvious destructive results of his actions.

[Isaiah 10:8] FOR HE SAYS: "ARE NOT MY COMMANDERS ALL KINGS?

[Isaiah 10:9] IS NOT CALNO LIKE CARCHEMISH? IS NOT HAMATH LIKE ARPAD? IS NOT SAMARIA LIKE DAMASCUS?  

[Isaiah 10:10] AS MY HAND HAS REACHED TO THE KINGDOMS OF THE IDOLS WHOSE GRAVEN IMAGES WERE GREATER THAN THOSE OF JERUSALEM AND SAMARIA,
Both Judah (Jerusalem) and the Ten Tribes (Samaria) committed idolatry.
Alternately both worshipped the True God to a degree but the King of Assyria did not distinguish between the God of Israel and other gods.

[Isaiah 10:11] SHALL I NOT DO TO JERUSALEM AND HER IDOLS AS I HAVE DONE TO SAMARIA AND HER IMAGES?                    
"SAMARIA AND HER IMAGES": The golden bull calf and other idols.  Even when they went into exile the Israelite Cimbrians carried a metal statue of a bull around with them in their wanderings.

[Isaiah 10:12] WHEN THE LORD HAS FINISHED ALL HIS WORK ON MOUNT ZION AND ON JERUSALEM HE WILL  PUNISH THE ARROGANT BOASTING OF THE KING OF ASSYRIA AND HIS HAUGHTY PRIDE.                     

[Isaiah 10:13] FOR HE SAYS: "BY THE STRENGTH OF MY HAND I HAVE DONE IT, AND BY MY WISDOM, FOR I HAVE UNDERSTANDING; I HAVE REMOVED THE BOUNDARIES OF PEOPLES, AND HAVE PLUNDERED THEIR TREASURES; LIKE A BULL I HAVE BROUGHT DOWN THOSE WHO SAT ON THRONES.                     

[Isaiah 10:14] MY HAND HAS FOUND LIKE A NEST THE WEALTH OF THE PEOPLES; AND AS MEN GATHER EGGS THAT HAVE BEEN FORSAKEN SO I HAVE GATHERED ALL THE EARTH; AND THERE WAS NONE THAT MOVED A WING, OR OPENED THE MOUTH, OR CHIRPED."                     

[Isaiah 10:15] SHALL THE AXE VAUNT ITSELF OVER HIM WHO HEWS WITH IT, OR THE SAW MAGNIFY ITSELF AGAINST  HIM WHO WIELDS IT" AS IF A ROD SHOULD WIELD HIM WHO LIFTS IT, OR AS IF A STAFF SHOULD LIFT HIM WHO IS NOT WOOD!                     
The King of Assyria was only a tool in the hand of the Almighty but he did not acknowledge it.

[Isaiah 10:16] THEREFORE THE LORD, THE LORD OF HOSTS, WILL SEND WASTING SICKNESS AMONG HIS STOUT WARRIORS, AND UNDER HIS GLORY A BURNING WILL BE KINDLED, LIKE THE BURNING OF FIRE.                     

[Isaiah 10:17] THE LIGHT OF ISRAEL WILL BECOME A FIRE, AND HIS HOLY ONE A FLAME; AND IT WILL BURN AND DEVOUR HIS THORNS AND BRIERS IN ONE DAY. 
In the future the Light of Israel will go out like a flame from the Eternal Throne (Yalkut Shimeoni Isaiah 893).

[Isaiah 10:19] THE REMNANT OF THE TREES OF HIS FOREST WILL BE SO FEW THAT A CHILD CAN WRITE THEM DOWN.                   

[Isaiah 10:20] IN THAT DAY THE REMNANT OF ISRAEL AND THE SURVIVORS OF THE HOUSE OF JACOB WILL NO MORE LEAN UPON HIM THAT SMOTE THEM, BUT WILL LEAN UPON THE LORD, THE HOLY ONE OF ISRAEL, IN TRUTH.
"NO MORE LEAN UPON HIM THAT SMOTE THEM": People often have a masochistic pull to revere and tolerate those who oppress them. Notice how some leftwing Israelis sympathize with Arabs or how the Movies in the USA glorify Mafia men and other criminals who spend their lives doing evil and exploiting the weak and vulnerable.

"THE REMNANT OF ISRAEL AND THE SURVIVORS OF THE HOUSE OF JACOB": They will be one people.

[Isaiah 10:21] A REMNANT WILL RETURN, THE REMNANT OF JACOB, TO THE MIGHTY GOD.    
They shall return to the True one God of Israel.   
These are Blessings for the End Times that will remain for Israel (Zohar, Toldot 146;2).        

[Isaiah 10:22] FOR THOUGH YOUR PEOPLE ISRAEL BE AS THE SAND OF THE SEA, ONLY A REMNANT OF THEM WILL RETURN. DESTRUCTION IS DECREED, OVERFLOWING WITH RIGHTEOUSNESS.                   
"BE AS THE SAND OF THE SEA": They will be exceedingly numerous towards the end times.
DESTRUCTION- a great calamity may take place. Only a few may survive. Our survival or the survival of our descendants independent on our deeds and intentions. We should endeavor to improve ourselves and influence for good those we can.

The Radak (1160-1235 CE) says it is referring to King Hezekiah who reigned over Judah when what was left of the Ten Tribes were exiled by Assyria. The Assyrians under Senncherib then besieged Jerusalem but God sent an angel that smote the Assyrians slaying 185,000 of them and causing the rest to retreat (2-Kings 19:35). The Remnant who will return, says Radak, are the Tribes of Judah who will return to the true path i.e. they will repent and be saved. On the other hand destruction came upon the Ten Tribes.

Targum Yehonatan (ca. 100 CE): If your people Israel will be as numerous as the sand of the sea, the remnant who did not sin and those who repented of their sins will have awesome deeds done for them. They will be enabled to overcome and will be spoken of as virtuous.

[Isaiah 10:23] FOR THE LORD, THE LORD OF HOSTS, WILL MAKE A FULL END, AS DECREED, IN THE MIDST OF ALL THE EARTH.                   

[Isaiah 10:24] THEREFORE THUS SAYS THE LORD, THE LORD OF HOSTS: "O MY PEOPLE, WHO DWELL IN ZION, BE NOT AFRAID OF THE ASSYRIANS WHEN THEY SMITE WITH THE ROD AND LIFT UP THEIR STAFF AGAINST YOU AS THE EGYPTIANS DID.
Some identify the Assyrians with Germany. Craig White has written well on this.  There was a tradition that the Assyrians settled in West Germany.  Assyrians or Assyrian agents also settled in Bavaria and Austria.
The Sages said that this Prophecy against Assyria was in part fulfilled when the Almighty smote the Assyrian Host of Sancherib in the time of King Hezekiah.

[Isaiah 10:25] FOR IN A VERY LITTLE WHILE MY INDIGNATION WILL COME TO AN END, AND MY ANGER WILL BE   DIRECTED TO THEIR DESTRUCTION.
In Ancient Times it was the Scythian-Israelites who finally brought about the destruction of the Assyrian Empire. This was after the Assyrians had destroyed the Northern Kingdom and exiled all its inhabitants.

The Malbim and Survivors from the Lost Ten Tribes in the Future   There is a principle that even Prophecies that we fulfilled close to the time of their announcement very often have an additional application for the End Times. The verses Isaiah 10:20-23 were explained above as mainly being applicable to shortly after the time of Isaiah himself though having additional application to the future. Below we have quoted from the Commentary of the Malbim (1809-1879, Poland, Eastern Europe) who applies these verses entirely to the future and to the destiny of the House of Ephraim and the Lost Ten Tribes. [Isaiah 10:20] IN THAT DAY THE REMNANT OF ISRAEL AND THE SURVIVORS OF THE HOUSE OF JACOB WILL NO MORE LEAN UPON HIM THAT SMOTE THEM, BUT WILL LEAN UPON THE LORD, THE HOLY ONE OF ISRAEL, IN TRUTH. They will no more seek assistance from Assyria or any other nation. It was not enough that they  did not help them but they even stroke them...BUT WILL LEAN UPON THE LORD. The Almighty will be their supporter since they will rely on Him IN TRUTH and not in falsehood. This is despite the fact that at present, the house of Jacob, meaning the House of Ephraim and the Ten Tribes are idol worshippers, even so: [Isaiah 10:21] A REMNANT WILL RETURN. Those who remain from them who are survivors from death by the sword will return to the Almighty [i.e. repent]. Do not think that this means that only a portion of those who remain will return but rather all  THE REMNANT OF JACOB, all of them will return to TO THE MIGHTY GOD.  They will see the might of the Almighty and his Strength [Hebrew: Ezuzo].   [Isaiah 10:22] FOR THOUGH YOUR PEOPLE ISRAEL BE AS THE SAND OF THE SEA, ONLY A REMNANT OF THEM WILL RETURN. DESTRUCTION IS DECREED: This means ISRAEL YOUR PEOPLE who at present and multitudinous AS THE SAND OF THE SEA may after the Exile by Assyria have left ONLY A REMNANT OF THEM, meaning that the remnant who will remain and return out of this great nation will be only [relatively] few in number. Even so, their virtues will increase so much that their RIGHTEOUSNESS and the Uprighteousness of their deeds  will overflow [i.e. overwhelm] the utter DESTRUCTION that may otherwise have been DECREED and decided upon against them.   The Almighty will have mercy on his people.  [Isaiah 10:23] FOR THE LORD, THE LORD OF HOSTS, WILL MAKE A FULL END. This means that even though the Almighty had decreed utter destruction, and the decree was decisive and final so that it must come about even so the Almighty will put Other People in their place [to be destroyed] instead of them. The heathens, blasphemers against the Almighty will be completely extirpated AS DECREED from THE MIDST OF ALL THE EARTH.   [Brit-Am Note: The word we have translated above as "blasphemers" in Hebrew is "MeNatsi" from the root "NATS" pronounced similarly to Nazi and indicates the Nazi-like inclinations of the heathen nations against Judah and Israel.] The People of God will be saved and mercy will be shown unto them.

[Isaiah 10:26] AND THE LORD OF HOSTS WILL WIELD AGAINST THEM A SCOURGE, AS WHEN HE SMOTE MIDIAN AT THE ROCK OF OREB; AND HIS ROD WILL BE OVER THE SEA, AND HE WILL LIFT IT AS HE DID IN EGYPT.                     

[Isaiah 10:27] AND IN THAT DAY HIS BURDEN WILL DEPART FROM YOUR SHOULDER, AND HIS YOKE WILL BE DESTROYED FROM YOUR NECK." HE HAS GONE UP FROM RIMMON,                     

[Isaiah 10:28] HE HAS COME TO AIATH; HE HAS PASSED THROUGH MIGRON, AT MICHMASH HE STORES HIS BAGGAGE;                     

[Isaiah 10:29] THEY HAVE CROSSED OVER THE PASS, AT GEBA THEY LODGE FOR THE NIGHT; RAMAH TREMBLES, GIBE-AH OF SAUL HAS FLED.                     

[Isaiah 10:30] CRY ALOUD, O DAUGHTER OF GALLIM! HEARKEN, O LAISHAH! ANSWER HER, O ANATHOTH!                     

[Isaiah 10:31] MADMENAH IS IN FLIGHT, THE INHABITANTS OF GEBIM FLEE FOR SAFETY.                     

[Isaiah 10:32] THIS VERY DAY HE WILL HALT AT NOB, HE WILL SHAKE HIS FIST AT THE MOUNT OF THE DAUGHTER OF ZION, THE HILL OF JERUSALEM.                     

[Isaiah 10:33] BEHOLD, THE LORD, THE LORD OF HOSTS WILL LOP THE BOUGHS WITH TERRIFYING POWER; THE GREAT IN HEIGHT WILL BE HEWN DOWN, AND THE LOFTY WILL BE BROUGHT LOW.                     

[Isaiah 10:34] HE WILL CUT DOWN THE THICKETS OF THE FOREST WITH AN AXE, AND LEBANON WITH ITS MAJESTIC TREES WILL FALL.                     
Albion is a name for Britain. It is derived from the name Lebanon.

 

Isaiah chs. 1 to 5

Isaiah chs. 11 to 15

See also:
Biblical Proofs
http://www.britam.org/Proof/ProofsIntro.html
Main Page