Isaiah 10: 24 – 34

There are bully-boy nations. There are mighty men and women in the world, and they can frighten you with their threats, and their ability to make them good. The Assyrians were the world superpower in Isaiah’s day, strutting arrogantly on the stage of world history. They had muscle; they had clout, as well as volume. They kicked up a storm. But mighty as they were, they were going to find themselves in the ring with ”the LORD Almighty” (24, 26 and 33), with an inevitable outcome. No man comes out of a fight with God with a smile on his face. It was true that God was going to use the Assyrians to punish His sinful people. He had made that clear. But the Assyrians would get away with nothing. They too would be judged. Just as God delivered Israel at the rock of Oreb” (Judges 7:25) and at the Red Sea, so He was going to rescue Judah from Assyria. There would be a limit placed on their success (32). They would get close enough to Jerusalem to be able to shake a ”fist” at the city (32), but they would not succeed in conquering it. Really they were raising their fist at the Lord Himself. (All the places Isaiah lists in 28-32 were within 15 kilometres of Jerusalem.) Then they too would be brought down in judgment. Though they could be likened to the mighty cedars of Lebanon, they would feel the divine axe cutting the ground from under them (33, 34; see 2 Kings 19:32-36).

Can you hear ”the LORD Almighty’’ speaking to you today and saying ”do not be afraid of…” (24)? Whoever and whatever it is may look and feel scary. But seeing your ‘Goliath’ in the light of God will bring the perspective you need. There isn’t anyone so big and mighty that God can’t fell him/her/it! If you came to today’s reading feeling discouraged, then you can take encouragement from it.  ”The destruction of Sennacherib is anticipated as resembling the overthrow of Midian by Gideon, and of Egypt in the Red Sea. Then the burden and yoke would be destroyed, so far as Jerusalem was concerned, in answer to the anointed priests who had pleaded for her deliverance. But how much more will the prayer of our anointed Savior bring help to us! ”F.B. Meyer: Devotional Commentary, p.298.

‘’Isaiah – and indeed the whole Old Testament – is showing us that God is the Sovereign King over every nation. Evil nations and their evil leaders, though they prosper for a time, will eventually be destroyed. These words of Isaiah apply just as much to nations today as they did to the nations of Isaiah’s day. Furthermore, those who claim to be God’s people, but who turn from Him will also be judged. Isaiah’s words of judgment against Judah in these opening chapters are also words of warning to the church today. Have we also, like Judah of old, ceased to serve God with all our heart and soul? Have we also begun to love the world and to worship its idols? (1 John 2:15-17; 5:21). This book of Isaiah, together with the entire Bible, is as vital today as when it was written.’’ Tom Hale: The Applied Old Testament Commentary, p.1009.

Prayer: Thank you for your truth contained in every part of the Bible. Thank you for what I have seen today. These are ‘’the very words of God ‘’ (Romans 3:2).