Tools

Good morning!

Grab your Bibles and let's continue to explore Isaiah 10 and 11.

The remaining verses of Isaiah 10 (verses 6-34) concern how God is going to use the violent nation of Assyria to bring His people back to their senses, back to Himself.  History bears out that this did indeed occur over about a 20-year period, back in 740 BC.  (For those of you familiar with the Babylonian captivity of Daniel, this Assyrian incursion was about 200 years prior to that.)  You can find this prophecy of Isaiah fulfilled by reading 1 Chronicles 5:26:

"And the Elohim of Israel stirred up a spirit of Pul, king of Assyria and the spirit of Tiglathpileser, king of Assyria, and he carried them away, even the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh, and brought them unto Halah, and Habor, and Hara and to the river Gozan, unto this day."

Then, about 20 years later, another Assyrian king came and took another wave of deportees from that same northern kingdom of Israel and conquered the capitol city of Samaria.  (By this time, The Land, had been split into Israel, the northern kingdom, and Judah, the Southern kingdom.  This corrective judgment of God was on the Northern kingdom of Israel). See 2 Kings 17:3-6.

There are two other key points in chapter 10.  The first concerns arrogance.

In verses 13-14, the Assyrian king is bragging about his marvelous accomplishments.  In vs. 11, he bragged that now that he had conquered Samaria, Jerusalem (in Judah, the Southern kingdom) was next.

But, in verse 15, God emphasizes that Assyria was merely a tool in His hand, for accomplishing His purposes. And, because Assyria went too far, pushing its own violent agenda of stamping out as many nations as it could (vs. 7), God decreed that Assyria would be thoroughly destroyed.  This was accomplished by the Babylonians, over about a 12-year period, from about 617 B.C. to 605 B.C.  The Assyrians had ruled for hundreds of years in that area, but of course, God brought them down.  The prophet Nahum, in chapter 1, foretold the destruction of that once-great capitol, Nineveh.  That city has never been rebuilt, as Nahum prophesied would be the case.

The other key point is a scriptural refutation of the liberal view that "guns kill".  I find that to be such a tiresome argument.  The problem is a sin problem in the heart of men and women, not the tool itself.  Look at what God says in Isaiah 10:15 - - 

"Does an ax take over from the one who swings it?

Does a saw act more important than the sawyer?

As if a shovel did its shoveling by using a ditch digger!

As if a hammer used the carpenter to pound nails!"

Here, God is referring specifically to Himself, and His use of Assyria as His "tool".  However, the principle is the same.  Weapons don't kill; people do.  If we want to fix the problem of violence in this country and elsewhere, we need to deal with the sin in the hearts of people, as this is the cause.

At the end of chapter 10, God promises that the Assyrians will not totally destroy His people, but that a remnant will remain.  The Message version calls them "the ragtag survivors of Jacob".  According to 2 Chronicles 30, we find this fulfilled.  Not all the people of the Northern tribes were exiled.  Some remained, and were invited by righteous King Hezekiah (the ruler of the Southern kingdom at that time) to celebrate Passover in Jerusalem.  And, many of them went.  It was a time of joyful celebration!

Now, moving on - - - curiously, in chapter 11 - - - God gives Isaiah a prophecy about Jesus' millennial reign on the earth.  Right after the prophecy about Israel's trouble, God tells His people that one day, Messiah, The Branch (referred to as "a green Shoot from Jesse's stump" and "Jesse's Root" in The Message version) will set up His kingdom.  Here, we find that famous passage about the lion lying down with the lamb.  Isaiah 11:6-9.  In that day, God will gather for the final time, His chosen people from all corners of the earth.  In verse 16, God says He will make a highway to be there, for His people to return to the Promised Land one final time.  And, He alludes to how this will be similar to how He led them out of Egypt centuries, thousands of years, earlier.  

It seems to us linear, time-bound humans that God has "divine ADD", because in the Scriptures He does not present things in a sequential fashion.  But, we have to remember that there is no "time" with Him, as we know it.  He sees it all at once, spread out like a wide, open plain; and, this is how He reveals Himself to His people.

Good morning, Lord!  It is such a pleasure to study Your Word.  Once again, thank you for speaking to Your prophets about the rise and fall of kingdoms, and then making it possible to read elsewhere in the Bible and in historical accounts about how every word You spoke was fulfilled.  You are an amazing God!  In Jesus' name, amen.