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Topic: The Fall Of The Arrogant
[DCLM Daily Manna 19 March 2020 Daily Devotional by Pastor William Folorunso Kumuyi]
Text: Isaiah 10:1-19
1 Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that write grievousness which they have prescribed;
2 To turn aside the needy from judgment, and to take away the right from the poor of my people, that widows may be their prey, and that they may rob the fatherless!
3 And what will ye do in the day of visitation, and in the desolation which shall come from far? to whom will ye flee for help? and where will ye leave your glory?
4 Without me they shall bow down under the prisoners, and they shall fall under the slain. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.
5 O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation.
6 I will send him against an hypocritical nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.
7 Howbeit he meaneth not so, neither doth his heart think so; but it is in his heart to destroy and cut off nations not a few.
8 For he saith, Are not my princes altogether kings?
9 Is not Calno as Carchemish? is not Hamath as Arpad? is not Samaria as Damascus?
10 As my hand hath found the kingdoms of the idols, and whose graven images did excel them of Jerusalem and of Samaria;
11 Shall I not, as I have done unto Samaria and her idols, so do to Jerusalem and her idols?
12 Wherefore it shall come to pass, that when the Lord hath performed his whole work upon mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the stout heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his high looks.
13 For he saith, By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom; for I am prudent: and I have removed the bounds of the people, and have robbed their treasures, and I have put down the inhabitants like a valiant man:
14 And my hand hath found as a nest the riches of the people: and as one gathereth eggs that are left, have I gathered all the earth; and there was none that moved the wing, or opened the mouth, or peeped.
15 Shall the axe boast itself against him that heweth therewith? or shall the saw magnify itself against him that shaketh it? as if the rod should shake itself against them that lift it up, or as if the staff should lift up itself, as if it were no wood.
16 Therefore shall the Lord, the Lord of hosts, send among his fat ones leanness; and under his glory he shall kindle a burning like the burning of a fire.
17 And the light of Israel shall be for a fire, and his Holy One for a flame: and it shall burn and devour his thorns and his briers in one day;
18 And shall consume the glory of his forest, and of his fruitful field, both soul and body: and they shall be as when a standardbearer fainteth.
19 And the rest of the trees of his forest shall be few, that a child may write them.
KEY VERSE: “And what will ye do in the day of visitation, and in the desolation which shall come from far? to whom will ye flee for help? and where will ye leave your glory?” – (Isaiah 10:3)
MESSAGE:
Arrogant and godless man is infirm and helpless in the face of the fury of the elements such as when there is a severe earthquake or a devastating hurricane that comes with massive flooding. Trees are uprooted, buildings are brought down and entire heavily-populated settlements are swept away. We look small and present a pitiable sight when these disasters visit us.
If man can scarcely survive the onslaught of nature, how will he stand the greater fury of the Almighty? That was the message the Lord had for the people of Judah, Israel and Assyria in the days of Isaiah the prophet when they had all gone astray. The kings and governments made laws that alienated the weak of the society from their right to the good things of the land. They also worshipped idols to whom they ascribed their successes, prompting the Lord to ask derisively: “Shall the axe boast itself against him that heweth therewith?”
God declared a two-prong war against two nations. He would use Assyria as “the rod of (His) anger” to judge Samaria for forsaking the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and going after idols which had left the children of Israel vulnerable in the hands of its enemies. But the Lord said He would follow that up with a punitive action on Assyria which arrogantly assumed that its prowess was responsible for its successful military campaign in Israel.
Today all that is left of the great Assyrian Empire are stone relics, a testimony to the fulfilment of God’s promise to “punish the… stout heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his high looks”. God’s action on Assyria’s pride was because the land refused to acknowledge Him as the Source of its power. Divine judgment led to its extinction. It symbolically foreshadows the external judgment that awaits unrepentant sinners who trust in themselves.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: Extinction follows rejection of God.
THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Numbers 35-36
