Isaiah 10:5

 Isaiah 10:5 says, O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation.  God said Assyria was going to be the nation to defeat Israel.  We can interpret this as God empowering them God or as God removing His protection from Israel.  I believe it means the latter.  Though I may be wrong, I don’t see God as empowering those who don’t believe in Him at all so they can defeat those who are supposed to be His people.  I believe He expects us to serve Him out of love and not out of fear.    

Verse six adds, I will send him against an hypocritical nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.  God said that the destruction of Israel by Assyria was going to be a near complete destruction of the nation since His people were a hypocritical nation.  If we are hypocritical in our relationship to God, we cannot expect Him to protect us spiritually, much less physically.  We just have to look at the early disciples or even Jesus Himself to see that God does not always keep us from physical harm, but if we are a true believer in Christ, He will always keep us from spiritual harm.  I don’t believe that God empowered those who persecuted the early Christians, or even the saints of old, to be able to do so.   

Verse seven continues, Howbeit he meaneth not so, neither doth his heart think so; but it is in his heart to destroy and cut off nations not a few.  Isaiah said that the king of Assyria did not view himself as an instrument of God’s punishment of Israel, and did not acknowledge that only by God’s removing His protection from Israel was he able to defeat them.  He saw himself as more powerful than God and His people.  Many rulers in the world today take pride in their own strength, believing that there is no God Who is more powerful than them, and God may at times allow them to rule over His people, but if we as His people remain true to Him, we will never be defeated spiritually.   

Verse eight adds, For he saith, Are not my princes altogether kings?  The king of Assyria asked if his princes were not as powerful as those who had been kings themselves.  He was trusting in his power over other leaders to be more powerful than the king of Israel and his God.  People of other nations who serve other gods or claim there is no god at all have defeated God’s people at times and may believe they are able to today.  Even when God’s people have been defeated physically though, they have never been defeated spiritually and never will be.   

Verse nine adds, Is not Calno as Carchemish? is not Hamath as Arpad? is not Samaria as Damascus?  He then asked about specific cities that he had defeated.  He believed that he was able to defeat anyone as he had in the past.  Some nations have been successful at defeating others in the past, and they begin to believe that they are undefeatable, even by the power of God, since they often do not even acknowledge His existence.  Even if other nations may have defeated God’s people at times, they have never defeated God.   

Verse ten continues, As my hand hath found the kingdoms of the idols, and whose graven images did excel them of Jerusalem and of Samaria;  Here, he plainly states that he had defeated other countries and their gods and graven images had exceeded those of Jerusalem.  No matter how many countries who serve false gods any nation may defeat, no matter how many false gods they may have, they will never defeat God. As the Romans and the Jews thought when they crucified Jesus Christ, they may at times have physical success in defeating Christians, but they will never defeat them spiritually.  God will always keep His people spiritually safe, and this is all that really matters.   

Verse eleven concludes, Shall I not, as I have done unto Samaria and her idols, so do to Jerusalem and her idols? He then said that Judah and Jerusalem would be no different, whose idols wouldn’t protect them any more than any other nations idols had protected them.  He was accurate in this sense, but those who worshipped the true and living God would never be defeated forever.  It was because of their worship of false gods that the people of Jerusalem had lost the protection of God, and not because He was too weak to protect them.   

Isaiah 10:1

 Isaiah 10:1 says, Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that write grievousness which they have prescribed;  Isaiah pronounced woe on those who dealt unrighteously with those that they had power over, especially the people of both Judah and Isreal, or all of God’s people.  This was not woe from Isaiah that they were to face but woe from God.  Isaiah was just the messenger of God.  If those who profess to be God’s people are treating other people unrighteously, they are going to find themselves in woe when God judges their actions.  It doesn’t matter where in the world they may live.   

Verse two adds, To turn aside the needy from judgment, and to take away the right from the poor of my people, that widows may be their prey, and that they may rob the fatherless!  One of the things these rulers were doing was turning away those in need.  This included the widows and children without fathers to provide for them.  We often view those in need in the world, even in America, as unworthy of our support, especially if it is going to cost us financially.  God’s word has always told us that we are to help them and not turn them away.  

Verse three continues, And what will ye do in the day of visitation, and in the desolation which shall come from far? to whom will ye flee for help? and where will ye leave your glory?  Isaiah then asked them who they would turn to for help when the invading armies came against them.  Their power had always come from God and not from themselves, and if they had rejected Him and lost His protection, who was going to protect them?  As followers of Christ, our spiritual protection comes from God, and if we turn away from Him, we will be left defenseless in the world.  We will still be a part of His everlasting kingdom, but we will not be spiritually at peace and protected in this lifetime.   

Verse four concludes, Without me they shall bow down under the prisoners, and they shall fall under the slain. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.  Isaiah said there was a coming defeat, when those who were supposed to be God’s people and have His protection would be carried away captive or killed.  Just believing we are God’s people without a personal relationship with Jesus Christ will never save us from the coming punishment of God, no matter how rich and successful we might be in the world.   

Isaiah 9:16

Isaiah 9:16 says, For the leaders of this people cause them to err; and they that are led of them are destroyed.  Isaiah said that the leaders of the people of Isreal caused them to err in their relationship with God.  Those who were supposed to be closest to God had turned to other gods and set a bad example for those following them.  We have some people today who profess to be religious leaders who set a bad example for those whom they are supposed to lead to a closer relationship with God, but even though it makes it harder for those who are under their leadership, that is still never going to be an excuse for not following God.  Ultimately, we are each responsible for our own relationship with Jesus Christ and we will never be excused if we don’t accept Him as our Savior and Lord because of what someone else may have taught.   

Verse seventeen adds, Therefore the Lord shall have no joy in their young men, neither shall have mercy on their fatherless and widows: for every one is an hypocrite and an evildoer, and every mouth speaketh folly. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.  It is stated clearly here that not just the leaders, but everyone was a hypocrite in their relationship with God.  For this reason, God's anger with their actions was not turned away.  We can never expect God’s blessings or protection if we are hypocritical in our relationship with Him.  No matter what our words may say, if our lives reflect anything other than what Jesus Christ teaches us, we are being hypocritical, and God will always be upset with our actions.   

Verse eighteen continues, For wickedness burneth as the fire: it shall devour the briers and thorns, and shall kindle in the thickets of the forest, and they shall mount up like the lifting up of smoke.  Isaiah said wickedness was like a wildfire, burning up everything around it.  If we let a little sin into our life and do not repent and confess, it will tend to spread, and before long we may have a wildfire of sin in our lives.   

Verse nineteen states, Through the wrath of the Lord of hosts is the land darkened, and the people shall be as the fuel of the fire: no man shall spare his brother.  Because sin was burning like a wildfire through the people of Israel, God’s will had been darkened.  Sin is always going to blind us to the will of God as long as we allow it to exist.   

Verse twenty adds, And he shall snatch on the right hand, and be hungry; and he shall eat on the left hand, and they shall not be satisfied: they shall eat every man the flesh of his own arm:  Isaiah said that instead of living in a land flowing with milk and honey that God had given them, the people would be so hungry that they would eat their own arm.  When we turn away from the will of God, especially as Christians, we are always going to be starving spiritually.   

Verse twenty-one continues, Manasseh, Ephraim; and Ephraim, Manasseh: and they together shall be against Judah. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.  The people of Israel, the tribes that had already turned away from God, would be united in a war against Judah.  As followers of Christ, no matter how far others who say they are also may stray away from God’s will, even if they attempt to discredit or destroy us, we must remain faithful to God’s will if we want His protection and blessing in this lifetime.  As Christians, even though we are forever saved by God’s power, we can still allow ourselves to lose a lot of the blessings of God by allowing false gods to some between us and Him, and a false god is anything we put more faith in than we put in Jesus Christ and His example and word.