God reigns over all and nothing happens with His knowing or His plan. The Children of Israel have been unfaithful to God and despite many warnings through the Prophets, now God will punish them with the nation of Assyria. Yet God controls how far Assyria may go, and when Assyria goes too far, God brings them down. God is His grace, saves a Remnant of His People, through whom the Messiah, Jesus Christ, will come. Ever faithful to His Promise to send a Savior through the family of David, God's patience and abiding love always trumps His destruction, for God punishes only to turn us around so that He might have mercy on us.
v. 1 - The "Woe" of God to Israel to expose their sin and call them to repentance.
v. 5 - 11 God's tool, the nation of Assyria, to punish Israel
v. 12 - 19 God warns Assyria that they have taken this too far (God controls the punishment) and God will show that He is more powerful that the Assyrian's and they too must answer to God.
v. 20 - 34 There will come a Day, God's Day, to give the faithful in Israel hope that God has not abandoned them. One Day, God will abandon His Only Son, Jesus, on the cross, for our sake, so that we will be forgiven and never be abandoned.
v. 20 - Israel should lean on noone, except God!
v. 24 - God's "Do not fear" regarding their enemies, because God is more powerful!
