Isaiah
10 reminds me of my dad’s garage. When I was very little, my dad
built race cars and drove them on weekends. He did nearly all the
work himself, so there were tools everywhere. Many times, one of us
kids were called to “hold this”, or “step on that” while he
tinkered. He did not consult with us, or ask permission, he simply
needed someone to accomplish his task. It would have been ludicrous
for me to boast that I built the car, I was simply a tool in the
process. The chapter begins with a warning to lawmakers, “Woe
to those who make unjust laws…
oppressive decrees… and
withhold justice… from the oppressed“.
When the lawmakers are not subject to their legislation, they become
elite. Isaiah asks, “What will
you do on the day of reckoning?“.
Jesus said it this way, “Whatever
you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine,
you did for Me“. Next,
Isaiah addresses the egotistical. He begins with the Assyrians.
Remember God used this nation to invade and uproot the surrounding
nations and finally Israel. “Woe
to the Assyrian, the rod of my anger… I send him against a godless
nation… to seize loot and snatch plunder“.
Israel had turned from God and His commandments. The Lord asks,
“shall I not deal with
Jerusalem and her images as I dealt with Samaria and her idols?“.
But the king of Assyria believed his success was due to his own
greatness, “By the strength of
my hand I have done this, and by my wisdom“.
Friend, are you taking credit for the success God gives?
God
did not allow this self-worship to continue, “I
will punish the king of Assyria for the willful pride of his heart“.
God asks questions of all of us, “Does
the ax raise itself… or the saw boast… a rod… or a club“.
Are you so arrogant? Isaiah said, “Therefore
… a
fire will be kindled… The
Light of Israel will become a fire, their Holy One a flame… will
burn and consume
his thorns and his briers“.
Dad’s shop had a torch that he used to cut steel and to weld parts
together, but to me, it was just fire that could burn things. Are
you playing with the tools of God?
Isaiah
next looks ahead. He explains, “In
that day the remnant of
Israel… will no longer rely on him…
but will truly rely on the LORD,
the Holy One of Israel“. He
says, “A remnant will return.
Though your people be like the sand by the sea, Israel, only a
remnant will return“. Listen
closely, “The Lord… will
carry out the destruction“.
Isaiah is saying, “do not be
afraid of the Assyrians, who beat you with a rod… Very soon My
anger against you will end and My wrath will be directed to their
destruction“. God did destroy
the Army of the Assyrians in a very personal way (See 2 Kings 19).
Isaiah adds that, “In that day
their burden will be lifted from your shoulders“.
After that, the enemy “will
shake their fist… at the hill of Jerusalem“.
Today, that old garage is a one bedroom apartment where my mother
lives. My brother bought the family home and made a place for mom.
Some of dad’s old tools were used in the construction. God desires
to build His church through you, “For
we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works,
which God prepared in advance for us to do“.
Will you be a useful tool in His hand?