A Comparative Study

O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation. I will send him against an hypocritical nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets (Isaiah 10:5-6)

Skip verses 7-11 (or, dear reader, refer to them to fill in the blanks I leave here)

Wherefore it shall come to pass, that when the Lord hath performed his whole work upon mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the stout of heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his high looks. For he saith, by the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom; for I am prudent, and have robbed their treasures, and I have put down the inhabitants like a valiant man ... (Isaiah 10:12-13)

Skip or read on your own, verse 14

Shall the axe boast itself against him that heweth therewith? or shall the saw magnify itself against him that shaketh it? as if the rod should shake itself against them that lift it up, or as if the staff should lift up itself, as if it were no wood (Isaiah 10:15)

We are painting a picture, dear one, of God's: 

• anger
• indignation
• acknowledging of hypocritical nations
• wrath
• righteous judgment
• punitive actions
• condemning of the rebellious and disobedient  
• duly rewarding arrogance 
• retrieving a remnant from ruin (this part of the picture is still in our dark room, processing)

In the bottom quarter of the painting we are envisioning, God arms the enemy to punish His wayward people, using the Assyrian as "the rod of mine anger, and the staff of mine indignation" as spoken in verses 5-6 above.

Think now about our own rebellion, yours and mine. 

• Do we say we love God, and act like the heathens that proudly profess their independence, while thumbing their noses at Him, and His out of date commandments?
• Who are our modern day Assyrians?
• How is God using the enemy today, as His rod of anger, and staff of indignation?

This next portion of our painting takes up the bottom middle section; our painting has four parts. 

What may once have belonged to us, is the spoil of the murderous thief, dear one. We feel the hot breath of the predator as he draws near, raising his weaponized arm to strike us as his prey. God has given charge to the enemy, using them to display His wrath. Once God is through with punishing His people for their hypocritical and abominably offensive ways, He will then, deal with the "stout of heart" ... with their "high looks". 

Perhaps you are wondering what Christians have done to put us in this perilous position with the Almighty; the very same situation the Israelites lived way back when, as written about in the Bible:

1. They engage in syncretism: the amalgamation or attempted amalgamation of different religions, cultures, or schools of thought

2. Many have taken to the satanic belief that abortion is acceptable

3. They trust not God as their Great Physician

4. They lean on their own understanding, and that of their neighbours

5. They live for the world, and what it has to offer

6. They live in fear

7, 8, 9, 10 ... etcetera 

This list is not meant to be exhaustive, only suggestive. I am confident you can itemize your own sinful activities, and those you observe in others that call themselves Christ followers. We must be diligent, taking heed to having been put on notice. The Israelites did what most people do, they strove for their own independence, and ducked out from under the protective umbrella, or arm, of the living God. They went against Him by going along with the world, and we too, find ourselves in the same seductive scenario. 

Next, and third from the top of this image, let us take a look at the fate of the Assyrian king and his like minded people. God will:

• punish the fruit of the stout of heart of the king of Assyria

Why, you ask? 

1. They were arrogant and insolent

2. They were sinful

3. They were boastful, believing that in their strength, wisdom, and prudence, they robbed treasures, put down inhabitants, and did all this, as valiant men

It isn't at all difficult to summon the sinful grins on Assyrian faces ... we see them all the time now, on modern men, that appear to believe they are free to frolic, thieve, bewitch, beleaguer, and kill. They are kings of their own sand castle making, and God will give to them according to their works. 

When we compare men of yesteryear to the murderous men of today, we can see that in their veins runs an inherited cruelty that is counter to Christ's compassion for His created beings. God is long suffering, but does not tolerate wickedness. His desire to redeem is evident to those that trust in Him, but is counted as worthless to the ignoble. 

In Isaiah 10:15, we get a glimpse of the ridiculousness of manmade items being personified, and believing that they are in charge of the people that wield them for a purpose. 

• Can an axe actually believe he is able to chop, without being sharpened, raised, and dropped on a target? 
• Can a saw make himself a grand object, believing he is the one moving back and forth, without any assistance? 
• Does a staff forget that he is merely a piece of wood that lies dead on the ground, if no one cares to lift him up?

Does a man, an Assyrian, really believe that it is by his own strength, wisdom, prudence, that he is able to pilfer, punish, and persecute, his fellow human beings, without being armed by the living God, for HIS PURPOSES? Is the Assyrian certain of his valour and vigour? What will, pray tell, happen to the proud, the arrogant, the noble-in-their-own eyes? Dear reader, what do YOU think will happen to our modern day Assyrians?

We are axes, saws, or dead pieces of wood. We are what we are, where we are, because of God: and He will do with us what He wills, including teaching us Who is in charge. 

For the last portion of our painting, we set our sights on the heavens. God has a redemptive plan for a remnant, those that withstand the temptations we all encounter as humans living in a wicked world. We drop down to Isaiah 10:20 to put the last brush stokes in place. I highly encourage you read Isaiah in its fullness, to capture the essence of this imagery:

And it shall come to pass in that day, that the remnant of Israel, and such as are escaped the house of Jacob, shall no more again stay upon him that smote them; but shall stay upon the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, in truth (Isaiah 10:20)

The book of Isaiah is about Jesus Christ, as is the entire Bible. It serves us well to look at our ancestors, our bits of sand brothers and sisters that came before us. The Bible is a human history book that does not lie about our character flaws, and how we can overcome them by being made new, into wonderful walking talking replicas of the living God. 

While the Assyrians appear to be conquering as they collude, one with another, we can trust that Christ won our way home, on the cross of Calvary.