Curious what everyone thinks of this chapter of Isaiah
God's sovereign will vs man's depraved will.
Isaiah 10
[SUP]5 [/SUP]
Ah, Assyria, the rod of my anger;
the staff in their hands is my fury!
[SUP]6 [/SUP]
Against a godless nation I send him,
and against the people of my wrath I command him,
to take spoil and seize plunder,
and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.
[SUP]7 [/SUP]
But he does not so intend,
and his heart does not so think;
but it is in his heart to destroy,
and to cut off nations not a few;
[SUP]8 [/SUP]for he says:
“Are not my commanders all kings?
[SUP]9 [/SUP]Is not Calno like Carchemish?
Is not Hamath like Arpad?
Is not Samaria like Damascus?
[SUP]10 [/SUP]As my hand has reached to the kingdoms of the idols,
whose carved images were greater than those of Jerusalem and Samaria,
[SUP]11 [/SUP]shall I not do to Jerusalem and her idols
as I have done to Samaria and her images?”
And THEN, God turns around and judges the king for his actions.
[SUP]12 [/SUP]When the Lord has finished all his work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem,
he[SUP][a][/SUP] will punish the speech of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria and the boastful look in his eyes. [SUP]13 [/SUP]For he says:
“By the strength of my hand I have done it,
and by my wisdom, for I have understanding;
I remove the boundaries of peoples,
and plunder their treasures;
like a bull I bring down those who sit on thrones.
[SUP]14 [/SUP]My hand has found like a nest
the wealth of the peoples;
and as one gathers eggs that have been forsaken,
so I have gathered all the earth;
and there was none that moved a wing
or opened the mouth or chirped.”
[SUP]15 [/SUP]
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!
[SUP]16 [/SUP]Therefore the Lord God of hosts
will send wasting sickness among his stout warriors,
and under his glory a burning will be kindled,
like the burning of fire.
[SUP]17 [/SUP]The light of Israel will become a fire,
and his Holy One a flame,
and it will burn and devour
his thorns and briers in one day.
[SUP]18 [/SUP]The glory of his forest and of his fruitful land
the Lord will destroy, both soul and body,
and it will be as when a sick man wastes away.
[SUP]19 [/SUP]The remnant of the trees of his forest will be so few
that a child can write them down.
