Read chapter in full: biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=Isaiah+010

Chapter 10 (ESV)

¹² When the Lord has finished all his work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, he will punish the speech of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria and the boastful look in his eyes. ¹³ For he says:

“By the strength of my hand I have done it,
and by my wisdom, for I have understanding;
I remove the boundaries of peoples,
and plunder their treasures;
like a bull I bring down those who sit on thrones.
¹⁴ My hand has found like a nest
the wealth of the peoples;
and as one gathers eggs that have been forsaken,
so I have gathered all the earth;
and there was none that moved a wing
or opened the mouth or chirped.”

¹⁵ Shall the axe boast over him who hews with it,
or the saw magnify itself against him who wields it?
As if a rod should wield him who lifts it,
or as if a staff should lift him who is not wood!
¹⁶ Therefore the Lord God of hosts
will send wasting sickness among his stout warriors,
and under his glory a burning will be kindled,
like the burning of fire.
¹⁷ The light of Israel will become a fire,
and his Holy One a flame,
and it will burn and devour
his thorns and briers in one day.
¹⁸ The glory of his forest and of his fruitful land
the Lord will destroy, both soul and body,
and it will be as when a sick man wastes away.
¹⁹ The remnant of the trees of his forest will be so few
that a child can write them down.

REFLECTION:

1. Use imagination to read this passage with the appropriate tone of voice and attitude of God and Assyrian King respectively.
2. Assyrian King’s problem is that he did not respect the limits or the intention of God and acted in arrogance, as though God were not the source of its might. In another word, he has taken the credit for what was really God’s work.  Therefore, Assyria is not being punished for having the power God gave, but for its pride and misuse of God-given power.
3. Have you ever taken the credit for what was really God’s work in which you were merely an instrument? How do you actually practice giving credit where credit is due?

PRAYER:

Stay with God for a little longer.  Continue to converse with God and listen to what He wants to tell you.  Then write down any thought and/or prayer in your spiritual journal.

HYMN:

Build This House – youtu.be/vcco3LFoIhM