This entire book is centred on God as King. For instance, Isa 2 shows us the God who instructs people and Isa 9 speaks of King Jesus. The different characters we meet throughout Isaiah also show us different aspects of God’s kingdom. King Uzziah is afraid and that shows us that God is not fearful and provides us a firm foundation. Uzziah is also a king that passes away and in contrast, God is an eternal King that will not pass away! Isa 7-8 also shows us a fearful king Ahaz. In today’s study, we want to see what these verses show us about God who is our king.
(A) The Rod of Boasts: God declares His plans, and Assyria makes two boasts
John Oswald likens the kingdoms — Syria, Israel, and Judah — in Isaiah to three mice. Syria and Israel try to form an alliance against a big cat (Assyria) and try to rope in Judah. Judah refuses by trying to bribe the cat. In today’s passage, our attentions shifts to Assyria and what God has to say about this nation.
In last week’s study we read of 4 woes against the people of God and Isa 10:5 opens with 1 woe against Assyria. Assyria is described as the “rod” of God’s anger and as the bringer of God’s “staff”. Earlier in Isa 9:4, we read of God’s action (from the use of the word “you”) and there is a promise of God’s deliverance of His people from a burdensome oppressor. The rod and staff are used to refer to this oppressor. Thus, here in Isa 10, one of the oppressor is being spoken of too here!
Assyria is the one taking spoil and seizing plunder (Isa 10:6), a reference to the child mentioned in Isa 8:1-4 who was to be named Maher-shalal-hash-baz. The judgment represented by the sign of the child, in the form of the promised oppressor, is here and is bringing the promised judgment of God here. Assyria will be sent by God to attack, defeat and plunder these people, seen from verbs like “I send” and “I command” in Isa 10:6.
Assyria is sent against a ‘godless’ nation. They act as if they have no god, as we’ve read in last week’s study. We’ve read of how they consulted the occult (Isa 8:19), trampling the poor and the vulnerable – widows (no husband) and orphans (no father or mother) (Isa 10:2). His wrath means that God has a righteous response to human sin. He pours out His judgment on people who have turned away from Him to other gods. Judgment is not shown as God giving us over to sin but an active judgment of the manifestation of human sin.
Here we read of the total conquest and defeat that God will wage via Assyria (“to tread them down like the mire of the streets”). God is the one initiating and directing all things. God’s anger is the driving force that moves the rod and staff. God’s fury determines what Assyria will do. God through Isaiah confirms that He will send Assyria to attack, defeat and plunder His people. In so doing, Assyria is enacting and carrying out God’s will . At the same time, God promises woe to Assyria.
If we stop reading here tonight, we will learn that God has judged His people through Assyria. These first 2 verses reveal to us God’s plans and motives. His wrath – His righteous response to human sin – is poured out on His people who have turned away from Him to other gods. This is a reminder that judgment is not just God ‘giving us over to the consequences of our sin’. To give worship to someone or something that is not God invites His active judgment.
As we read on in Isa 10:7, we also see Assyria’s motives. Isaiah says it is in Assyria’s heart to destroy. Assyria wholeheartedly desires to destroy. It flows out of their innermost being. Assyria wanted widespread destruction. Assyria did not draw up battle plans in obedience to God and did not intend to be God's instrument. They are stirred up by their own plans and desires and only sought her own plans.
Thus, we see one event – the Assyrian invasion – from two perspectives. But, if God sent them, how can Assyria still be punished? Did Assyria have a choice? What is the causal link between God’s sovereign will and our moment-by-moment choices and actions?
The clear takeaway from Isa 10:7 is this —man is responsible. God proclaims woe to Assyria because of what already rests in Assyria’s heart. God cares about what is in our heart. The Bible is full of stories – praise the Lord – where the sinful plans of man unconsciously fulfil God’s good and righteous designs (e.g. Joseph and brothers, David and Bathsheba). But just because God is a good redeemer does not make the sinner’s motives any less evil.
But this passage also tells us that God is sovereign.
But having seen the state of Assyria’s heart, we may wonder: Why is Assyria so confident? What gives Assyria the assurance to make and form its plans of destruction and invasion?
Assyria makes a couple of boasts. Assyria’s first boast in Isa 10:8-11 has three parts. In Isa 10:8, Assyria says, “Are not my commanders all kings?”. Direct speech is used here and as readers, we are invited to think about whether this statement is true. What is at the heart of his boast? The king of Assyria is saying even his commanders are great enough to rival the kings of other nations. And as king of Assyria, he is therefore the king of kings, a title we reserve for God. He thinks he is above all other kings and there is no earthly reason for him to think otherwise!
The second part is presented as a series of questions — “Is not Calno like Carchemish? Is not Hamath like Arpad? Is not Samaria like Damascus? (Isa 10:9)” 6 cities are being mentioned. Calno and Carchemish are near each other, and so are Hamath and Arpad. Samaria too, is near to Damascus and south of the other cities mentioned.
These are the cities that have yielded to Assyria’s advance. Alec Motyer writes, "Six cities are named in pairs. In each pair the first is further south than the second and the king is reasoning: ‘I took that; I can take this’." Thus the logic of Assyria is that since he has conquered them one at a time, he should be able to conquer one more.
The third part speaks of idols (Isa 10:10-11). The king thinks that he has conquered gods, so can conquer other gods again. He is saying that the other idols he had conquered were greater than Judah’s and since he has conquered greater gods than Judah’s, conquering Judah’s will be easy. Here, he is making the link between the idols and the god behind the nation.
What is the reasoning behind these boasts of kings, cities and idols? The logic here in all 3 boasts is: if i’ve done 1, why not one more? This is not just the logic of one-by-one advancement but also dominance in every realm. The kings belong to him as his military commanders. The idols (gods of the nations) are under his rule and at his mercy. So whether political-military, or spiritual, Assyria sits above them all. Assyria’s dominance must endure. It only makes sense.
Notice also the repetition of the phrase “the strength of my hand” in this passage. This phrase is used thrice in the passage (Isa 10: 10,13,14), and is a challenge to the repetition (four times!) of the phrase “his hand is stretched out still” in Isa 9:8- 10:4. Right after reading about God’s stretched out hand, we read about Assyria’s reached-out hand. Could Assyria’s mighty hand – and it really was mighty – rival God’s mighty hand?
Assyria makes a second boast in Isa 10:13-14. There are 2 references to Assyria’s hand in these verses. In Isa 10:13, we see that Assyria removes boundaries (swallows up nations) and plunders treasure (c.f. Isa 10:6). Assyria gathers wealth (repeated idea) as easily as eggs from a nest. It appears that war and plunder was easy for Assyria. Fighting a war is usually bloody, dangerous and costly but it is like going shopping to Assyria — all they want they just pick and it’s settled.
This is the world through Assyria’s eyes. They are overwhelmingly powerful. Assyria is too strong, too smart, to be stopped by anyone on earth. No boundary applies to Assyria. No idol, image or human might, however concentrated, however organized, can resist Assyria – when Assyria decides to attack, your best defenses are like an empty nest. What is God’s response? Has Assyria slipped out of God’s commands? How can they be so violent?
(B) The Lord GOD of Hosts: there is still one king reigning over all, and it is not Assyria
Assyria is compared to 4 objects in Isa 10:15-16. Assyria is compared to a saw, an axe, a rod, and a staff. None of these objects have any agency because they didn’t do the job—it was the one who wielded them. These are tools only and are only effective in the hands of the one who used and wield them. It is silly for the axe and saw to boast and magnify themselves.
It seems ridiculous but it wasn’t that for Judah! Judah thought Assyria was their main problem. Assyria has been the dominant force for 200 years. The sort of force that made Ahaz and men shake like trees in the wind. 900-700 BC. There have been many such forces.
And here, God is saying that their real problem isn’t Assyria. God can easily take care of it. He is still in control! He is the one who wields and controls Assyria. Can we believe this?
When we are in the thick of chaos, it is hard to believe that whatever empire we see is under God’s control. Assyria’s influence was so big that Israel would have struggled to believe that God is in control. What cultural pressure do we feel it is impossible for Christians to resist? What about the systems in our world that are so big we cannot change them?
Assyria’s boasts echo today in evil systems and influence that are set against God and His good purposes for the world. These powers seem strong powerful and appear to have been around and can seem destined to continue. Assyria’s boasts echo today in the voice of Satan, the accuser, when he recounts our history of sin to us. Satan points out our sins and lure us to think that fighting back is useless.
How are we facing the present “Assyria” and giants of our times? Hear what God’s word says. He is able to set us free. These giants will not hold us longer that God allows.
God promises to deal with Assyria. Judgment will come in the form of sickness and fire. In Isa 10:16a, we read of a wasting sickness among the stout. This strikes directly at the challenge of Assyria: “by the strength of my hand I have done it” (Isa 10:13). When God sees the sickness, what will become of this strength?
This sickness will consume the glory of his forest and of his fruitful land (Isa 10:18). The fires will destroy the glory of Assyria’s forests and her fruitful land. If Assyria glories in military might that is where God will inflict judgment upon them. That larger the trees, the more fuel it will become for the fire. There is a destruction of both soul and body.
Where is the burning kindled? Under his glory (Isa 10:16b). God is destroying everything that Assyria took pride in. If Assyria takes pride in military might, God will target that. Their greatness serves as fuel for God’s glory.
In Isa 10:17, we read of how the “light of Israel” and his “Holy One” is the fire here. The light of Israel, the Holy One will become a fire and a flame. Judgment is personal. The destroyer of Isa 10:18 is YHWH, the covenantal God of Israel. His own hand sends the sickness that turns Assyria’s glory and strength to ashes. He is the true glory that chases away the false glory of Assyria. God Himself comes to judge.
At the end of the day, Assyria’s glorious army will be whittled down to so few soldiers that a child can write them down (Isa 10:19). Judah might think of Assyria as a raging wave, but in the eyes of God, it’s like a drop of water that God can easily wipe up. God calls it pride when we think that we can do what we want and follow our own destructive actions without consequence.
Paul picks up this idea in Romans 2. When we sin, we store up for ourselves wrath. The Lord will punish all human pride. This is a warning not just for Assyria, but for us.
God’s judgment is a deep assurance, and a kindness to us, given to us as a warning for us right now. First, it is an assurance when we look at earthly kingdoms and their abuse of power. Whether nations, corporations or individuals. This is a warning: to you who think that things will continue as they have.
This is also a kind warning for us to know that God punishes the proud. Not just the proud Assyria, but even the proud in our day. You who call yourselves Christians, who know the word of God, who pray in the name of Jesus, if you persist in pride and indulge the presence of sin instead of taking up arms against it: what will you say when judgment falls?
When will God execute His judgment? In Isa 10:12, we read of how He will punish Assyria after he is done judging Judah and Israel. He will punish the pride of Assyria — the pride, the haughty sneer, the boasts. None of that will go unpunished.
God will judge Assyria after he is done judging Israel and Judah. The comfort is that it is not Assyria’s hand that steers judgment but God’s. Judgment is hard and understanding that God is behind it doesn’t make the experience pleasant. But what if they realized that this fearsome army, this mighty oppressor, came from the hand of God? If His promise of judgment came true, God’s promise of restoration is possible! As they remember these prophecies and see His judgment unfold, God’s people who are faithful will see that judgment is not in their oppressors but in their Lord—the one who will restore them. Their future is not in the grip of their oppressor but is in the hand of God. He who sends them into exile can also rescue them. He who judges will also bring about restoration from a remnant. What they’re going though is hard, but His promises still remain and they can still have hope.
What is with the mention of briers and thorns? Assyria is ultimately aligned with the destroyer of Gen 3 and the curse. But even this old, haunting curse can and will be undone. And it can be done in just one day! The final judgment of Assyria as a symptom of the curse reminds us of not just the curse of Gen 3 but the promise: there will come a day when the curse of sin will meet its end.
Let tonight’s passage speak to your shaky heart. However big the empire. However vast the evil. However impossible resistance to your personal and besetting sin might seem. Place your trust in your Savior, who comes to you in swaddling cloth, in a manger. Let us trust in God to provide rescue from our mighty sin.
As we wrap up this study, this passage shows us the God who is all power and no peace. Yet, in Isa 9 we met the mighty God, the Prince of Peace. In Isa 10, we meet a self-proclaimed prince who is all power, no peace. It is a frightening portrait. The assurance is not that such powers will not arise – they are here in our time, and they are thriving and powerful. It’s not that they won’t harm us – they can and they do. But their time is limited.
Friends, don’t judge your obedience by the dent it makes in the evil visible around you. The LORD will return, and will return in power, and that means that no act of obedience, however futile-looking at the time, was ever wasted.