10:12 God’s Tool God stands above the strategies of the nations, using Assyria (an idolatrous nation) to punish his people for their continued abuse of the poor and weak (10:1-3). Assyria intended only evil, but God used wickedness to destroy wickedness, eventually destroying the destroyer of his people. God’s justice prevails, though we may not always understand how that will happen while we are in the midst of suffering.
10:20 The Remnant The purpose of all this suffering was to bring a remnant of Israel back to a purified trust in God alone. One of the most frustrating things about suffering is its apparent meaninglessness. In the midst of national destruction, Israel could not see that depending on fickle allies would only lead to further suffering—but God spoke through Isaiah to reveal his higher purposes.