GOD IS… SOVEREIGN
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Opening Prayer
Lord Jesus, may the joy I find in you be evident to everyone I encounter today.
Read ISAIAH 10:5–27
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
God’s Judgment on Assyria
5 “Woe to the Assyrian, the rod of my anger,
in whose hand is the club of my wrath!
6 I send him against a godless nation,
I dispatch him against a people who anger me,
to seize loot and snatch plunder,
and to trample them down like mud in the streets.
7 But this is not what he intends,
this is not what he has in mind;
his purpose is to destroy,
to put an end to many nations.
8 ‘Are not my commanders all kings?’ he says.
9 ‘Has not Kalno fared like Carchemish?
Is not Hamath like Arpad,
and Samaria like Damascus?
10 As my hand seized the kingdoms of the idols,
kingdoms whose images excelled those of Jerusalem and Samaria—
11 shall I not deal with Jerusalem and her images
as I dealt with Samaria and her idols?’”
12 When the Lord has finished all his work against Mount Zion and Jerusalem, he will say, “I will punish the king of Assyria for the willful pride of his heart and the haughty look in his eyes. 13 For he says:
“‘By the strength of my hand I have done this,
and by my wisdom, because I have understanding.
I removed the boundaries of nations,
I plundered their treasures;
like a mighty one I subdued their kings.
14 As one reaches into a nest,
so my hand reached for the wealth of the nations;
as people gather abandoned eggs,
so I gathered all the countries;
not one flapped a wing,
or opened its mouth to chirp.’”
15 Does the ax raise itself above the person who swings it,
or the saw boast against the one who uses it?
As if a rod were to wield the person who lifts it up,
or a club brandish the one who is not wood!
16 Therefore, the Lord, the Lord Almighty,
will send a wasting disease upon his sturdy warriors;
under his pomp a fire will be kindled
like a blazing flame.
17 The Light of Israel will become a fire,
their Holy One a flame;
in a single day it will burn and consume
his thorns and his briers.
18 The splendor of his forests and fertile fields
it will completely destroy,
as when a sick person wastes away.
19 And the remaining trees of his forests will be so few
that a child could write them down.
The Remnant of Israel
20 In that day the remnant of Israel,
the survivors of Jacob,
will no longer rely on him
who struck them down
but will truly rely on the Lord,
the Holy One of Israel.
21 A remnant will return, a remnant of Jacob
will return to the Mighty God.
22 Though your people be like the sand by the sea, Israel,
only a remnant will return.
Destruction has been decreed,
overwhelming and righteous.
23 The Lord, the Lord Almighty, will carry out
the destruction decreed upon the whole land.
24 Therefore this is what the Lord, the Lord Almighty, says:
“My people who live in Zion,
do not be afraid of the Assyrians,
who beat you with a rod
and lift up a club against you, as Egypt did.
25 Very soon my anger against you will end
and my wrath will be directed to their destruction.”
26 The Lord Almighty will lash them with a whip,
as when he struck down Midian at the rock of Oreb;
and he will raise his staff over the waters,
as he did in Egypt.
27 In that day their burden will be lifted from your shoulders,
their yoke from your neck;
the yoke will be broken
because you have grown so fat.
Reflect
What’s the longest time you’ve had to wait for something you longed for? Perhaps you’re still waiting? I suspect patience and self-control are two of the hardest of the Spirit’s fruits to grow. If needed, ask for God’s help!On Saturday, we thought about the destructive power of wildfire. Fire can destroy, but it also refines. Here we see the outcome of the signs in chapters 7 and 8, with a devastating link to God’s original promise to Abraham. Read Genesis 12:1–3, then re-read Isaiah 10:21, 22.
This is an example of God’s judgment and mercy revealed in the same moment. Isaiah insists the ‘overwhelming’ destruction decreed by God (v. 22) is righteous (i.e., deserved, proportionate, demonstrating God’s perfect justice) and serves its original purpose (to warn the people and call them back to God). Some—the ‘remnant’—will heed God’s warnings and turn back to him in repentance and holiness (vv. 20, 21); refined and purified by the fire of God’s judgment, they will know his mercy.
Have you been through the Refiner’s fire? It probably hurt, but how did you feel afterward? What was the end result? Whether you are going through it or in the middle of it, in his sovereignty, God can and does use even awful situations to form his people in holiness.
Apply
Passages like this give us a glimpse of God’s mercy and judgment working together, but ultimately, it’s on the cross that God finally resolves the tension.
Closing prayer
Holy and loving God, thank you for your mercy that offered your Son as my substitute and satisfied your wrath when he atoned for my sin. Thank you that faith in him has reconciled me to you and made it possible for me to live a life pleasing to you.
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