No matter how you slice it, being a "tool" is derogatory and a current part of modern colloquialism. Personally, I get a kick out of following new, modern, terse statements that our youth use daily to add color to their descriptions of each other. However, in Isaiah 10, God used a very similar metaphor 2500 years ago. I guess the Scripture is correct when it says, "there is nothing new under the sun."
Most of this chapter is dedicated to the judgement and destruction of Assyria. Ancient Assyria had the current country of Iraq pretty much in the center of it, stretching to Egypt in the West to the Persian Gulf in the East. It stretched North and South from very close to the Black Sea to the southern tip of Egypt. Basically it was huge, swallowing modern day Israel along the Mediterranean.
God observed his people being abused by the Assyrians every day for years, and the beginning of Chapter 10 is where God says through His prophet Isaiah: "Woe unto those who enact unjust laws and oppressive decrees, depriving the poor of honest justice, making helpless widows and orphans a primary target." God has used Assyria to punish Israel once again for their faithlessness, because they had once again traded in the Almighty for power and wealth. Sound familiar? How many times a month in 2012 do we commit the same senseless sin?
Isaiah further says that the anger of God is going to allow Assyria some additional time to plunder Israel while exposing us to what God was really thinking:
- Don't these Assyrians know that I am using them to bring Israel back to himself?
- Why don't they understand the they might be the hammer, or the saw, but El Shaddai holds all the "tools" in His and wields the true power behind them?
- So Assyria, in fact, was not the sharpest tool in the box, but with the support of God, they accomplish His will, and then arrogantly boast of their strength.
- This upsets our God, but not as much as there continued influence on the Jewish people. The Israelites continue to worship other gods and graven images...
The message here is simply, how many times does it take the Jews and the Gentiles (Assyrians), before they will accept the one true God as their maker, their master and ultimately their salvation? So now hit the fast forward button to 2012. "How many times, all you Jews and Gentiles in the modern world, will I have to chastise you in an effort to teach you genuine loyalty, fealty, and adoration. Down through the centuries before Christ and after Christ, we continue to disappoint our God collectively and individually. Thankfully, at the end of verse one, God says, "Even after all of this, including my wrath, my hand remains stretched out."
You see God's wrath or anger is always RATIONAL with a distinct purpose in mind. We may not understand, but "righteous
indignation" has a time and purpose in our lives. The problem is that when we get angry, irrationality pushes its way to the top, often before the next breathe. God is following a very rational plan for all people of this globe. We are the ones that invalidate that plan at every turn. God's wrath is delicately balanced with His grace. The line between them is perilously thin, and yet we ignore him, disgrace him and yes, even disgust him with the dark side of our lives. We literally disrespect our Creator, almost every day, and yet his hand remains stretched out to the all of his people, no matter your family heritage, geographic location, or current belief system. This offer was made global, long before we coined the word for modern usage. Return to the one true God with a humble heart, and then assist in making His message "viral."
God Bless,
TDD
No comments:
Post a Comment
Hearing from you is certainly not a requirement. Consideration of what is researched and written is all I ask of anyone who stumbles upon my writings. I believe that my God will take it from there. With His help I try to separate fact from fiction, sense from nonsense, and ultimately clarity from chaos.