Ep. 155. Isaiah 10 | Shall the Axe Boast

EPISODE 155

SHALL THE AXE BOAST: ISAIAH 10

God calls both the nation of Assyria and later the nation of Babylon his "servants." In each case, God uses them to bring judgment against his rebellious people. First, Assyria came against Israel, and then Babylon against Judah. In each case, God then destroyed the nation he raised up to discipline his wayward people. 

Isaiah chapter 10 recounts the pride of the King of Assyria, who, having gotten victory over the nation of Israel, later turned his attention to the country of Judah and the city of Jerusalem. This was, however, beyond the scope of the work God had assigned to Assyria. 

In verse six, we see that God is the one who sent Assyria against Israel, but in the following eight verses, we see that the Assyrian King has exalted himself in his estimation and has come to think too highly of himself. That leads us to one of my favorite verses in the Scripture, "Shall the axe boast 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." 

God makes it abundantly clear that Assyria was just a tool in the hand of the creator. Because of the Assyrian pride, God sent a wasting disease among the army and killed 185,000 men in a night. That loss was enough to bring the Assyrian empire down from its heights of glory. Indeed, the axe, saw, rod, and staff are not greater than the one who wields them. 

Isaiah will pose a similar thought to the sinful people of Israel in later chapters when he asks, "Shall the thing formed say to the one who formed it, 'he has no understanding.'" But we will get there in time. 

ADDITIONAL READING: Isaiah 36-38; Romans 9:27