Read Isaiah 10:5-34.

Introduction⤒🔗

What does it mean to be “secularized”?

It means being absorbed in this present world and being focused solely on this present earthly existence, rather than on Christ and the kingdom of God.

It means to be self-centered and man-centered rather than Christ-centered, pursuing the goals of personal happiness, material prosperity, and self-gratifying pleasure as the supreme objectives of life.

It means adopting the philosophy that man can create his own standard of law and re-define morality, in defiance of and in direct contradiction to the divine standards of God.

When the Old Testament people of God became secularized, the LORD employed very severe measures against them. If we allow ourselves to become secularized, we may expect the LORD to employ similar measures against us. As we come to the tenth chapter of Isaiah, let us soberly consider the subject, What Secularized Christians May Expect from the LORD.

The LORD May Employ the Godless against Us←⤒🔗

In verses 8-11 we are given insight into the mind of this great military power of Assyria that was now advancing against Judah. We hear him say, “Are not all of my commanders kings?” (vs. 8) Here is godless arrogance and great confidence in his own might. What the prophet Habakkuk would testify of the Babylonians was equally true of the Assyrians: “[his] might is his god” (Hab. 1:11b).

The Assyrian proudly asks, “Has not the fate of Calno been the same as Arpad, and that of Samaria the same as Damascus?” (vs. 9) As evidence of his military might, he lists his victories over Israel (represented by their capital, Samaria) and Syria (represented by its capital, Damascus). The Assyrian sees himself as invisible, having up to this point destroyed all opposition to his advance and having suffered no setback.

He now proceeds to blaspheme the LORD of hosts, foolishly equating Him with the idols of the nations:

As my hand seized the kingdoms of the idols, kingdoms whose sacred images excelled those of Jerusalem and Samaria, ¹¹shall I not do to Jerusalem and her idols the same as I have done to Samaria and her idols? vs. 10-11

In verses 13-14, the LORD reveals to us still more of the Assyrian’s heart: “he has said, ‘By the strength of my hand I have done this, and by my wisdom, because I have understanding.’” The Assyrian attributes his victories to his own strength and wisdom; he continues to revel in his power: “I have removed the boundaries of the nations and have plundered their treasures. With the strength of a bull I have brought down those who sit on thrones.” Here we see the Assyrian gloating over his triumphs, overruling what God has ordained. According to Acts 17:26, it was God who set the boundaries of the nations: “From one man he made every nation of men, so that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the boundaries of their habitation.” But the Assyrian boasts that he has removed those boundaries. The Assyrians were the first empire to engage in the deportation and re-colonizing of their conquered peoples on a massive scale.

The Assyrian goes on to declare, “As a man reaches into a nest, so my hand reached for the wealth of the nations; as a man gathers abandoned eggs, so have I gathered up all the countries. There was none who flapped a wing or opened its beak or [even] chirped!” (vs. 14) He has overawed himself by the swiftness and ease of his conquests. He describes himself as a man stealing eggs from an unattended bird’s nest; indeed, with the exception of Egypt, Tyre, and Arabia, the Assyrians had conquered the whole of the Middle East.

Verses 28-32 describe the irresistible advance of this arrogant and godless military power as it marches through the land of Judah and is approaching the very gates of Jerusalem:

He approaches Aiath, he has passed through Migron; he stores his supplies at Micmash. ²⁹They have gone through the mountain pass, and they say, 'We will camp overnight at Geba.' Ramah trembles. Gibeah of Saul has fled. ³⁰Cry out, O daughter of Gallim! Be on guard, O Laishah! O poor Anathoth! ³¹Madmenah is in flight! The people of Gebim flee for safety! ³²This very day he will reach Nob: he will shake his fist at the mountains of the daughter of Zion, at the hill of Jerusalem.

But take careful note of verses 5-6, “O Assyrian, the rod of my anger, in whose hand is the club of my indignation! ⁶I will send him against a godless nation. I will commission him against a people who incite my wrath, to seize the spoil and snatch the prey, and to trample them down like mud in the streets.” Note: The Hebrew word, חָלףֵ , may be translated “godless,” or, “profane,” which is the more archaic expression for what we would now identify as “secular.”

The LORD identifies the Assyrian as “the rod of my anger” sent against a “godless [secular] nation.” The LORD declares, “I will commission him against a people who incite my wrath, to seize the spoil and snatch the prey.” This great and ruthless foreign power is an instrument in God’s hands, being used to chastise and judge those people who had been called to be God’s people but who had allowed themselves to become secularized.

The LORD brings everything back into proper perspective by asking several rhetorical questions: “Should the axe raise itself above the one who swings it, or should the saw magnify itself above the one who uses it?—as if a rod were to wield the one who lifts it up, or if a staff were to pick up the one who is not made of wood!” (vs. 15) The Assyrian’s boasting is as ridiculous as the scene of an axe boasting against the lumberjack who uses the axe, or a wooden staff picking up the man who holds that staff. Although in his pride and arrogance he does not realize it, the Assyrian is merely an instrument in the hand of the LORD. In his godless pride the Assyrian has foolishly turned everything upside down in self-delusion.

The LORD now goes on to reveal what He shall do to the Assyrian because of his ungodly pride and arrogance:

Therefore, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, will send a devastating disease upon his sturdy warriors; under his pomp a fire will be kindled like a blazing flame. ¹⁷The Light of Israel will become a fire, and their Holy One will be aflame; in a single day it will burn and consume his thorns and briers. ¹⁸He will consume the splendor of his forest and his fertile fields—both body and soul; it will be like when a sick man wastes away. ¹⁹The remaining trees of his forest will be so few that [even] a child could count them. Isa. 10:16-19

Because of his arrogance and self-delusion, the LORD will cause the Assyrian’s army, which was the best in the world of that day, to be wasted away like men consumed by disease (vs. 16a). He will set the Assyrian ablaze like a great bonfire; the LORD Himself (“the Light of Israel”) will be “the match” that ignites the Assyrian into a blazing fire (vs. 17). The consumption of this great military power is now compared to the consumption of an entire forest and fruitful field by a raging forest fire (vs. 18). Finally, the once mighty and proud Assyrian is compared to a burned-out forest that has so few trees left standing that even a young child is able to count them (vs. 19).

Isaiah 37:36-37 records the fulfillment of this prophesy. When the mighty Assyrian army besieged the city of Jerusalem, “the angel of the LORD went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand men in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning, there were all the dead bodies! ³⁷So Sennacherib, king of Assyria, broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there.”

But returning to the main point before us, we must be careful to understand that when His Old Testament people became secularized, the LORD resorted to severe measures against them. He even went so far as to employ a ruthless and godless enemy against them: “O Assyrian, the rod of my anger, in whose hand is the club of my indignation! ⁶I will send him against a godless nation...to seize the spoil and snatch the prey, and to trample them down like mud in the streets” (vs. 5-6).

If we allow ourselves to become secularized, (as individual Christians and as the church of Jesus Christ), we may expect the LORD to resort to severe measures against us, even employing the ruthless and the godless against us. Consider the comment of an old Russian Christian when the Communists took control of his country: “This has happened to us because we have forgotten God.”

The LORD’s Purpose Is to Reform and Restore Us←⤒🔗

Verse twenty speaks about the day when all these things shall befall the people of God. (Note: This prophecy was written prior to the actual invasion of Judah by the Assyrian armies.)

In foretelling what is about to befall the nation of Judah, the LORD also foretells the effect these severe measures shall have upon His people:

On that day the remnant of Israel, the survivors of the house of Jacob, will no longer rely upon the one who struck them down; rather, they will truly rely upon the LORD, the Holy One of Israel. ²¹Only a remnant will return; —yes, the remnant of Jacob [will return] to the Mighty God.Isa. 10:20-21

Judah’s present sense of self-reliance and reliance upon men, (they “will no longer rely upon the one who struck them down”), is a reference to Ahaz and the leaders of Judah who initially called upon Assyria for deliverance from Syria and Israel. But, as a result of the LORD’s severe disciplinary measures enacted against His people, that reliance upon man will be replaced by a genuine reliance upon the LORD their God. These people shall prove to truly be the people of God by returning to the LORD their God, the One from whom they had departed (vs. 21).

While verses 20-21 contain the promise that “a remnant” shall return unto the LORD, verses 22-23 emphasize that it will only be a remnant. The LORD has determined to visit the nation with His righteous judgment; even if the nation were a vast, innumerable host, as numerous as the sand of the sea, that would not deter nor prevent the LORD from accomplishing His judgment against it. In consequence of that devastating visitation, it is only “a remnant” who prove themselves to be the true people of God.

This is the point we must be careful to take to heart: When His Old Testament people became secularized, the LORD resorted to severe measures against them, but He did so with the gracious intention of reforming and restoring His people to Himself. Those who truly were His people, which proved to be only a remnant of the nation, demonstrated their relationship with the LORD by responding to His chastening and returning to Him.

If we allow ourselves to become secularized, we may expect the LORD to resort to severe measures against us, but we must understand that the purpose of those measures is to reform and restore us to Himself. In this regard, note the testimony of the Psalmist: “Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I obey your word... ⁷⁵I know, O LORD, that your laws are righteous, and that in faithfulness you have afflicted me” (Psl. 119:67,75).

The LORD May Need to Resort to Severe Measures Before He Can Comfort Us←⤒🔗

Verse twenty-four begins with the word “Therefore.” Because of the beneficial effect His severe measures will have upon His people, causing them to return to Him (vs. 20-21), the LORD is now able to address the following words of comfort to them.

The LORD reassures His people of their status with Him, tenderly addressing them as, “O My people.” Anticipating the response of repentance His people will make to the divine chastisement inflicted upon them, the LORD exhorts them to “not be afraid of the Assyrian, even though he may beat you with a rod and lift up a club against you” (vs. 24). When the LORD finds it necessary to resort to severe measures, and when those measures have had the beneficial effect of turning His people back to the LORD their God, then there is the need for comfort and assurance, and the LORD ministers such to His repentant children.

In verses 25-27 the LORD gives the following assurance to His people:

...in a very brief time my indignation against you will be completed, and then my anger will be focused on his destruction. ²⁶The LORD of hosts will lash him with a whip, like the time when he struck down Midian at the rock of Oreb. [The LORD of hosts] will raise his staff over the sea, he will lift it up the way he did in Egypt. ²⁷On that day his burden will be lifted from your shoulders and his yoke will be lifted from your neck—the yoke will be broken because you will have become so fat!

In due time, the LORD would bring His judgment upon the Assyrian empire. He did so by causing Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians to conquer them. The LORD will cause His people to be delivered from the Assyrian oppression: “his burden will be lifted from your shoulders and his yoke will be lifted from your neck.” The LORD will cause His people to once again experience His abundant blessing: “the yoke will be broken because you have become so fat!” The fatness that results from the LORD’s blessing shall cause the yoke to burst from off the neck of His people.

This is the point we must be careful to appreciate: When His Old Testament people became secularized, the LORD resorted to severe measures against them; and it was only after those measures had their desired effect upon the people—turning their hearts and lives back to the LORD their God—that the LORD could minister His comfort, assurance and promise of blessing.

If we allow ourselves to become secularized, we may expect the LORD to resort to severe measures against us; and it will be only when we turn back to Him in repentance that we will find Him ministering His divine comfort, assurance and blessing to us.

Conclusion←⤒🔗

To what degree have our lives become secularized?

If we find that we have allowed ourselves to become secularized, and if we do not take the necessary steps to correct the situation, (once again giving the LORD the pre-eminence in our lives, returning to a Christ-centered outlook and life), we may expect the LORD to employ severe measures against us.

If He should find it necessary to do so, may we recognize His good and gracious intention; namely, to reform us and restore us to Himself. Consider Hebrews 12:5b-6a, “May we not forget the word of encouragement that addresses us as sons: My son, do not disregard the LORD’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, ⁶because the Lord disciplines those whom he loves.”

Discussion Questions←⤒🔗

1. How is the covenant nation described in Isaiah 10:6? What is the characteristic of a “godless” (i.e. secularized) nation? See Isa. 5:21. in contrast to Prov. 3:5-6. What is the result when a nation has become secularized? See Isa. 5:20. How do Christian people become secularized? Note the caution given in Proverbs 3:5-6,

I will send [the Assyrian] against a godless nation. I will commission him against a people who incite my wrath, to seize the spoil and snatch the prey, and to trample them down like mud in the streets. Isa. 10:6

Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight! Isa. 5:21

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and do not depend upon your own understanding; ⁶in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will direct your paths. Prov. 3:5-6

Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil, who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness, who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! Isa. 5:20

To call “evil good and good evil” is to invert and pervert the most basic and fundamental moral values.

2. How does the LORD describe the Assyrian Empire? See Isa. 10:5. How does the Assyrian describe himself? See Isa. 10:13. The LORD disciplines the covenant people when they had become secularized by employing an instrument that was the epitome of a secularized nation—have you ever embraced a sinful desire only to have the LORD use that very desire as a means of chastisement? Note Num. 11:18-20,

O Assyrian, the rod of my anger, in whose hand is the club of my indignation!Isa. 10:5

...he has said, ‘By the strength of my hand I have done this, and by my wisdom, because I have understanding. I have removed the boundaries of the nations and have plundered their treasures. With the strength of a bull I have brought down those who sit on thrones.’ Isa. 10:13

In response to the people’s craving for meat, the LORD announced:

...tomorrow...you shall eat meat, for you have wept in the hearing of the LORD, saying, “Who will give us meat to eat?”...Therefore the LORD will give you meat, and you shall eat. ¹⁹You shall eat, not one day, nor ten days, nor twenty days, ²⁰but for a whole month, until it comes out of your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you... Num. 11:18-20

3. How does the LORD respond to the Assyrian’s boast (cf. Isa. 10:13), and what action will He take against him? See Isa. 10:16. When will the LORD do so? See Isa. 10:12. Even as He inflicts severe chastisement upon His covenant people, the LORD assures them that He is in control—do you take comfort in the LORD’s sovereign control over all things; will you yield to His disciplinary measures when they are needed in your life? Note Heb. 12:11,

Therefore, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, will send a devastating disease upon his sturdy warriors; under his pomp afire will be kindled like a blazing flame. Isa. 10:16

...when the Lord has finished all his work against Mount Zion and Jerusalem, he will declare, 'I will punish the king of Assyria for what his stout heart [has expressed] and for the pomp of his haughtiness...' Isa. 10:12

Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but grievous; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. Heb. 12:11

4. When the LORD’s severe disciplinary measures have served their purpose, what will be the result? See Isa. 10:20. Whom had the covenant nation relied upon in their hour of crisis? Note 2 Kgs. 16:7. How did Ahaz describe his relationship to the Assyrian king? But now, what will characterize the covenant people? See Isa. 10:20b. Does this transformation from self-centered/man-centered to God-centered characterize your life?

On that day the remnant of Israel, the survivors of the house of Jacob, will no longer rely upon the one who struck them down; rather, they will truly rely upon the LORD, the Holy One of Israel. Isa. 10:20

So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria, saying, 'I am your servant and your son. Come up and save me from the hand of the king of Syria and from the hand of the king of Israel... 2 Kgs. 16:7

5. In Isaiah’s day, what proportion of the covenant nation responded positively to the LORD’s severe disciplinary measures, and was restored by them? See Isa. 10:21. What does this imply about the rest of the nation? What are the characteristics of true conversion unto Christ? See Acts 20:21. Is this true of you? Can there ever be true saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ without repentance of sin? What did Christ come to do? See Matt. 1:21,

Only a remnant will return—yes, the remnant of Jacob—to the Mighty God... Isa. 10:21

The Apostle Paul testifies:

I kept back nothing that was helpful, but proclaimed it to you...²¹testifying to Jews, and also to Greeks, repentance towards God and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ. Acts 20:20-21

...you shall call his name 'Jesus,' for he shall save his people from their sins. Matt. 1:21