Isaiah 10

Just in case you didn’t pay special attention to the first part of this chapter, let’s review it right off the bat: “‘Woe to the Assyrian, the rod of my anger, in whose hand is the club of my wrath! I send him against a godless nation, I dispatch him against a people who anger me, to seize loot and snatch plunder, and to trample them down like mud in the streets. But this is not what he intends, this is not what he has in mind; his purpose is to destroy, to put an end to many nations.’ When the Lord has finished all his work against Mount Zion and Jerusalem, he will say, ‘I will punish the king of Assyria for the willful pride of his heart and the haughty look in his eyes. For he says: “By the strength of my hand I have done this, and by my wisdom, because I have understanding. I removed the boundaries of nations, I plundered their treasures; like a mighty one I subdued their kings.”‘” (vs 5-7, 12-13)

Don’t you just get the idea from this little monologue that God is “large and in charge”? He claims that He is using Assyria to carry out His discipline on Israel because of their pride and that when He has completed that task, He will carry out some discipline on Assyria for their pride, for thinking that they defeated Israel because of their superior military strength.

I thought there were a few interesting things to note about this passage:

The Assyrians were used as a rod of discipline by God. God calls the Assyrians the “rod of my anger” and the “club of my wrath.” The rod and club (or staff, as it is translated in the KJV) were tools used by shepherds to guide and correct their sheep. So, when God says He is “punishing” Israel in “anger,” it means that He is going to use what the Assyrians are planning for evil as a means of disciplining Israel. He will turn what the Assyrians do into something redemptive for His people.
God is not out to destroy us! The clue to understanding that God is trying to discipline, not destroy, Israel is in verse 7: “But this is not what he intends, this is not what he has in mind; his purpose is to destroy, to put an end to many nations.” I don’t know about you, but before I got to that verse, it sounded like God’s purpose was to destroy, as He said He would send the Assyrians to loot, plunder, and trample them down like mud in the streets. That sounds like destruction! But God reveals that what may sound like or look like destruction to us may really be redemptive discipline.
God dissolves pride. I think pride is the ugliest thing in the world to God. Because no matter where it is found, no matter the situation, it is always isolating. It puts up a wall between us and other people and, most importantly, between us and God. The Israelites were so proud, they thought they didn’t need God at all. The Assyrians were so proud, they thought they defeated Israel (and Israel’s God) because they were stronger.

Whenever God meets pride, pride loses. This is not to say that some people don’t hold stubbornly to their pride, but after an encounter with Almighty God, they are no longer saddled with the delusion of pride. When God turned His disciplining hand on Assyria, they were quickly disabused of the notion that they were strong and mighty and powerful.

Most of us deal with pride in some form, so be thankful that God hates it so much that He is willing to confront it in your life over and over again. He doesn’t want pride to isolate you from Him or anyone else. Thus, whenever He encounters it, He will work to dissolve it. This is not for destruction, but discipline; not for your harm, but for your best good. If you are mired in the delusion of pride, you won’t be there long!