Isaiah 10 (HCSB)
1 Woe to those enacting crooked statutes and writing oppressive laws 2 to keep the poor from getting a fair trial and to deprive the afflicted among my people of justice, so that widows can be their spoil and they can plunder the fatherless. 3 What will you do on the day of punishment when devastation comes from far away? Who will you run to for help? Where will you leave your wealth? 4 There will be nothing to do except crouch among the prisoners or fall among the slain. In all this, His anger is not removed, and His hand is still raised to strike.
Assyria, the Instrument of Wrath
5 Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger—the staff in their hands is My wrath. 6 I will send him against a godless nation; I will command him to go against a people destined for My rage, to take spoils, to plunder, and to trample them down like clay in the streets. 7 But this is not what he intends; this is not what he plans. It is his intent to destroy and to cut off many nations. 8 For he says, “Aren’t all my commanders kings? 9 Isn’t Calno like Carchemish? Isn’t Hamath like Arpad? Isn’t Samaria like Damascus? 10 As my hand seized the idolatrous kingdoms, whose idols exceeded those of Jerusalem and Samaria, 11 and as I did to Samaria and its idols will I not also do to Jerusalem and its idols?”
Judgment on Assyria
12 But when the Lord finishes all His work against Mount Zion and Jerusalem, He will say, “I will punish the king of Assyria for his arrogant acts and the proud look in his eyes.” 13 For he said:
I have done this by my own strength and wisdom, for I am clever. I abolished the borders of nations and plundered their treasures; like a mighty warrior, I subjugated the inhabitants. 14 My hand has reached out, as if into a nest, to seize the wealth of the nations. Like one gathering abandoned eggs, I gathered the whole earth. No wing fluttered; no beak opened or chirped.
15 Does an ax exalt itself above the one who chops with it? Does a saw magnify itself above the one who saws with it? It would be like a staff waving the one who lifts it! It would be like a rod lifting a man who isn’t wood! 16 Therefore the Lord God of Hosts will inflict an emaciating disease on the well-fed of Assyria, and He will kindle a burning fire under its glory. 17 Israel’s Light will become a fire, and its Holy One, a flame. In one day it will burn up Assyria’s thorns and thistles. 18 He will completely destroy the glory of its forests and orchards as a sickness consumes a person. 19 The remaining trees of its forest will be so few in number that a child could count them.
The Remnant Will Return
20 On that day the remnant of Israel and the survivors of the house of Jacob will no longer depend on the one who struck them, but they will faithfully depend on the Lord, the Holy One of Israel.
21 The remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the Mighty God. 22 Israel, even if your people were as numerous as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will return. Destruction has been decreed; justice overflows. 23 For throughout the land the Lord God of Hosts is carrying out a destruction that was decreed.
24 Therefore, the Lord God of Hosts says this: “My people who dwell in Zion, do not fear Assyria, though he strikes you with a rod and raises his staff over you as the Egyptians did. 25 In just a little while My wrath will be spent and My anger will turn to their destruction.” 26 And the Lord of Hosts will brandish a whip against him as He did when He struck Midian at the rock of Oreb; and He will raise His staff over the sea as He did in Egypt.
God Will Judge Assyria
27 On that day his burden will fall from your shoulders, and his yoke from your neck. The yoke will be broken because of fatness. 28 Assyria has come to Aiath and has gone through Migron, storing his equipment at Michmash. 29 They crossed over at the ford, saying, “We will spend the night at Geba.” The people of Ramah are trembling; those at Gibeah of Saul have fled. 30 Cry aloud, daughter of Gallim! Listen, Laishah! Anathoth is miserable. 31 Madmenah has fled. The inhabitants of Gebim have sought refuge. 32 Today he will stand at Nob, shaking his fist at the mountain of Daughter Zion, the hill of Jerusalem. 33 Look, the Lord God of Hosts will chop off the branches with terrifying power, and the tall trees will be cut down, the high trees felled. 34 He is clearing the thickets of the forest with an ax, and Lebanon with its majesty will fall.
PERSONAL JOURNAL:
SIN (verses 12-13): Father, please forgive me for often being so arrogant and prideful in the abilities You have blessed me with that I neglect to praise You in those moments and instead praise myself. Help me to always remember that anything I am able to accomplish is because of Your blessing on me, so that I may remember to praise You always.
PROMISE (verse 12): Although you used Assyria as Your tool to punish those that went against You and left their faith, You turned around and also punished Assyria for not praising and glorifying You through it all. This is a promise to me because it is a reminder that You will use us as tools for Your will and Your glory, but we must remember that we are being used for Your will and Your blessings through it all. If we keep ourselves as the center and focus of that, then You promise that Your wrath will turn to us in time.
ATTITUDE (verses 12-13): I feel like You are shouting at me with these two verses, Lord. Help me to change my selfish, arrogant, and prideful attitude. Remind me that all the talents and gifts I have are not my own; rather they are blessings from You that I should remember to always praise You for and not take advantage of. Please be my compass, Father.
COMMAND (verses 24-25): You give Your people the command to not fear those that oppress them. Although the oppression in the moment is God's will to serve as a lesson and punishment, that same wrath will eventually be turned back towards the oppressors in Your timing. You command us to endure for Your glory, Father.
EXAMPLE (verses 1-2): God, You give us such a powerful and saddening example of when Your people turn from You, stirring up Your wrath. Help me to understand and feel convicted in those moments that I am turning from You, my Father, so that I may quickly find my way back to Your will. Guide me and be my Spiritual compass so that I may never be the reason for Your wrath like Your people were in these verses.
*DAILY NOTE: I have so much work to do in my faith journey when it comes to my consistency and pleasing You, Father. Help me to always keep You as the focus of everything whether I'm going through good times or bad, so that You are glorified in all things and not myself, not the world, and not our own sinful fleshly desires, Father. Thank you for this lesson and example, so that I understand what it truly means to glorify You in ALL things, Father.
*GENERAL NOTE: I always "sandwich" my quiet time with God in prayer and do it in a location that I will not have any distractions so that I can be focused on my quiet time with God. Do not worry about how short or long your journal entries are for that day's quiet time. Just focus on the actual quiet time and relational conversation with God through the Holy Spirit and His Word. The journaling is an enhancement to your quiet time conversation with God, but also to allow you to reflect on things later as you can look back on your journal entries later when you do the chapters again in the future to see how you have grown. See the FAQ for more detail on how I do my quiet time.
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