In my last post, we learned about The Woes of Ashur ~ Part 2 in Yesha’yahu 10:5-11. In this post, we continue to learn more about The Woes of Ashur in Yesha’yahu 10:12-19.

The Woes of Ashur Continue

¹² Therefore when Adonai has done everything, He intends to do to Mount Tziyon and Yerushalayim, “I will punish the king of Ashur for the boasting that comes from his proud heart and from reveling in his arrogant looks.

God will overrule Ashur’s imperialistic intentions. Indeed, He will use their godless motivation to accomplish His own goal of punishing His idolatrous people. Nonetheless, the king of Ashur and his nation will not get off scot-free.

¹³ For he says, “‘With my own strong arm I have done this, and with my wisdom because I’m so clever! I erased the boundaries between peoples; I plundered their stores for the future; as a mighty man, I subjugated the inhabitants. 14 My hand found the riches of the peoples like a nest; and as one gathers abandoned eggs, I gathered the whole earth! Not one wing fluttered, not one beak opened or let out a chirp!’”

The arrogant claims put in the mouth of the Ashur’s king by Yesha’yahu is not at all exaggerated. This boastful quotation from the king reflects the type of bombastic language used in contemporary Assyrian royal inscriptions. The image of the king stealing eggs from an abandoned nest emphasizes his cruelty in taking advantage of weaker nations. Indeed, no one can put up a substantial challenge to his growing power.

For those of us who want to be used by the Lord, we need to realize we are nothing more than instruments in His hand. The Lord doesn’t need us. He can use rocks in our place (see Luke 19:40). He gives us the privilege of being used in His service. Therefore, when the Lord uses us, please understand it is not because of our great personality, the immensity of our faith, or the power of our prayer. Instead, He uses us solely because of His grace.

¹⁵ Should the axe glorify itself over the one who chops with it? Should the saw magnify itself over the one who moves it? It’s as if a stick could wave the hand that raises it up, or as if a wooden staff could lift [a person, who is] not made of wood.

The king’s boasts are ill-founded. From his perspective, he was a mighty warrior and a great leader of armies. From a heavenly perspective, he was a mere tool used by God to accomplish His purposes. The use of rhetorical questions directed to the king has the function of scolding and embarrassing him in his pretension. Each issue has the implied answer, “Of course not.”

¹⁶ Therefore the Lord, Adonai-Tzva’ot, will send leanness to his well-fed ones; and in place of his glory, a fire will be kindled that will burn and burn. 17 The light of Isra’el will become a fire and His Holy One a flame, burning and devouring his thorns and briars in a single day. 18 The glory of his forest and of his fertile land he will consume body and soul, like an invalid wasting away. 19 So few forest trees will remain that a child could list them. ~ Yesha’yahu 10:12-19 (CJB)

Though the Ashur’s king fashioned himself as the light of all his people, Adonai, the Light of Israel, was going to outshine him. The kings boasted of their destructions of fields and orchards, and of their incineration of cities – now they will suffer a similar fate. The armies that were the power and pride of these kings were to be decimated the walls of Yerushalayim in 701 BCE. The complete overthrow of Ashur was not accomplished until about eighty-five years later as the Medes and Babylonians conquered Ashur and Nineveh.

When this prophecy was fulfilled in 2 Kings 18, the general of the Assyrian army yelled to the people of Yerushalayim who sat terrified on the walls, “Has any god of any nation ever saved his land from the power of the king of Ashur?” ~ 2 Kings 18:33 (CJB). Hearing these threats, Hezekiah poured out His heart to the Lord. The Lord responded, “For I will defend this city and save it, both for my own sake and for my servant David’s sake.” ~ 2 Kings 19:34 (CJB)

In my next post, we conclude Yesha’yahu 10 by learning about The Remnant of Isra’el in Yesha’yahu 10:20-34.

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