Verse 12: “And the Lord will make far the man, and there will be a great departure.”

Make far the man: An exile prophesied.

Departure: This exile was going to be characterized by the people departing, forsaking. They forsook the law and the Word of God (Isaiah 5:24) so they are going to also forsake and depart from the land of the Lord.

Verse 13: “A tenth will be in it, and will return and be for devouring, as a terebinth tree or as an oak, which at the time that it casts forth its leaves a stump remains. The holy seed shall be its stump.”

Note: This is a key verse in helping us to understand the end-time implications to this chapter.

A tenth: This tenth could mean that a tenth of Israel’s peoples remain in her (a remnant). However, the rabbis speak of this tenth as ten kings – from the time of Uzziah, 10 kings ruled in Judah until the Babylonian captivity took place (Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah,
Manasseh, Amon, Josiah, Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim and Zedekiah. Zedekiah was the last king of Israel. No other kings have reigned over Israel since this time. The next King of Israel is going to be Messiah).

Devouring: This is the word for being burnt up.

Casts forth its leaves: During the fall/autumn a tree drops its leaves and goes into a kind of hibernation. During this time, although the tree it still alive, it produces no fruit (there is no visible evidence of life in this tree). Like this tree, Israel was going to cast forth its leaves
(shed her glory and her beauty) and she was going to go into exile. It was going to appear as if Israel was no more, but it was just that Israel was going to go into a season of unfruitfulness.

Stump: This is a word that speaks of a position or a stand. It is a word that implies stability. Something causes this to remain, to stand. It is also a word that is related to a memoria stone or to a tombstone. It is a marker that causes one to remember and not to forget.
Holy seed: Most of the rabbis agree that the ‘holy seed’ is a reference to Messiah. ‘Holy’ is a word that refers to the purposes of God. Messiah reveals the purposes of God to us – He is the Promised Seed of Abraham – Galatians 3:16)

The holy seed shall be its stump: Messiah brings life. He is the ruler who is going to bring a remembrance of the covenantal purpose and the promises of God to Israel and to the world (to fill the world with blessing and, through blessing, to manifest His glory). He is going to
bring stability. Messiah is going to stand Israel in her position once more.