10:45 am - 09-19-16
Isaiah 10
"Ah, Assyria, the rod of my anger;
the staff in their hands is my fury!
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.
But he does not so intend,
and his heart does not so think;
but it is in his heart to destroy,
and to cut off nations not a few;
for he says:
'Are not my commanders all kings?'"
Isaiah 10:5-8
"When the Lord has finished all his work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, he will punish the speech of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria and the boastful look in his eyes. For he says:
'By the strength of my hand I have done it,
and by my wisdom, for I have understanding;
I remove the boundaries of peoples,
and plunder their treasures;
like a bull I bring down those who sit on thrones.'"
Isaiah 10:12-13
This is an interesting and insightful verse for me. It shows the tension that exists between God's sovereignty and man's free will. Even though God was going to use Nebuchadnezzar as the tool to bring his judgment to Israel for Israel's actions, it's not as if Nebuchadnezzar was doing it out of recognition of God's plan. Nebuchadnezzar was going to destroy Israel out of his own egotism. But it was still God in charge, ordering things, moving the chess pieces, if you will. And then later Assyria gets what's coming to them too.
"Shall the axe boast over him who hews with it,
or the saw magnify itself against him who wields it?" Isaiah 10:15
And God still keeps his promise to Israel, even in the midst of his judgment.
"The light of Israel will become a fire,
and his Holy One a flame,
and it will burn and devour
his thorns and briers one day." Isaiah 10:17
"In that day the remnant of Israel and the survivors of the house of Jacob will no more lean on him who struck them, but will lean on the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. A remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God." Isaiah 10:20-21
