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July 25 - Isaiah 10 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

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  Hello friends, it is Sean. Here it is Tuesday.
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  It is the 25th of July. And I'm so glad that you have
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  joined me as we take another step forward in this a chapter,
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  a day Bible reading podcast. God bless podcasts, right?
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  How great is this? You don't need to wait till the
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  right time on the radio to tune into your favorite bit.
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  You can just press play at the time that suits you.
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  And here I am in your ear, in your laptop, in your lounge
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  room, in the car, and we get to read another chapter of the
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  Bible together and continuing reading through Isaiah.
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  God has been pretty cranky with Judah because he knows what they
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  are doing and he knows what they are going to do.
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  And today God shares his crankiness with other nations.
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  Empire building was not a pretty process back then, which is why
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  God kept on saying to his people, I want you to be
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  different. And the Assyrians, oh, God's not
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  happy with the Assyrians. So today we hear God speak
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  against this enormous empire surging southward through Israel
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  toward Judah. So let's hear what God has to
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  say as we read together. Isaiah, chapter 10.
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  What sorrow awaits the unjust judges and those who issue
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  unfair laws? They deprive the poor of justice
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  and deny the rights of needy among my people.
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  They prey on widows and take advantage of orphans.
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  What will you do when I punish you?
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  When I send disaster upon you from a distant land?
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  To whom will you turn for help? Where will your treasures be
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  safe? You will stumble along as
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  prisoners or lie among the dead. But even then the Lord's anger
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  will not be satisfied. His fist is still poised to
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  strike. What sorrow awaits Assyria?
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  The rod of my anger? I use it as a club to express my
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  anger. I am sending Assyria against the
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  godless nation, against the people with whom I am angry.
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  Assyria will plunder them, trampling them like dirt beneath
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  its feet. But the king of Assyria will not
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  understand that he is my tool. His mind does not work that way.
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  His plan is simply to destroy, to cut down nation after nation,
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  he will say. Each of my Princess will soon be
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  a king. We destroyed Kalno just as we
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  did Kachemish Hammeth fell before us as our pad did.
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  And we destroyed Samaria just as we did Damascus.
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  Yes, we have finished off many a Kingdom whose gods were greater
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  than those in Jerusalem and Samaria.
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  So we will defeat Jerusalem and her gods, just as we destroyed
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  Samaria with hers. After the Lord has used the king
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  of Assyria to accomplish his purpose on Mount Zion and in
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  Jerusalem, he will turn against the king of Assyria and punish
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  him, for he is proud and arrogant, he boasts by my own
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  powerful arm. I have done this with my own
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  shrewd wisdom. I planned it.
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  I've broken down the defenses of nations and carried off their
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  treasures. I have knocked down their kings
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  like a bull. I have robbed their nests of
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  riches and gathered up kingdoms as a farmer gathers eggs.
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  No one can even flap a wing against me, or utter a peep of
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  protest. But can the axe boast greater
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  power than the person who uses it?
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  Is the saw gracer than the person who soars?
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  Can a rod strike unless a hand moves it?
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  Can a wooden cane walk by itself?
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  Therefore, the Lord, the Lord of Heaven's armies, will send a
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  plague among Assyria's proud troops, and a flaming fire will
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  consume its glory. The Lord, the light of Israel,
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  will be a fire. The Holy One will be a flame.
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  He will devour the thorns and briars with fire, burning up the
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  enemy in a single night. The Lord will consume A Syria's
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  glory like a fire consumes a forest in a fruitful land.
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  It will waste away like sick people in a plague.
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  Of all that glorious forest, only a few trees will survive,
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  so few that a child could count them in that day.
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  The remnant left in Israel. The survivors in the House of
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  Jacob will no longer depend on allies who seek to destroy them,
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  but they will faithfully trust the Lord, the Holy One of
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  Israel. A remnant will return.
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  Yes, the remnant of Jacob will return to the mighty God.
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  But though the people of Israel are as numerous as the sand of
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  the seashore, only a remnant of them will return.
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  The Lord has rightly decided to destroy his people.
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  Yes, the Lord, the Lord of Heaven's armies, has already
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  decided to destroy the entire land.
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  So this is what the Lord, the Lord of Heaven's army says.
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  All my people in Zion. Do not be afraid of the
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  Assyrians when they oppressed you with rod and club, as the
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  Egyptians did long ago. In a little while my anger
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  against you will end, and then my anger will rise up to destroy
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  them. The Lord of Heaven's armies will
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  lash them with his whip, as he did when Gideon triumphed over
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  the Midianites at the Rock of Orab, or when the Lord's staff
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  was raised to drown the Egyptian army in the sea.
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  In that day the Lord will end the bondage of his people.
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  He will break the yoke of slavery and lift it from their
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  shoulders. Look, the Assyrians are now at
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  Ayath. They are passing through Migron
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  and are storing their equipment at Mikmash.
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  They are crossing the pass and are camping at Gabba.
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  Fear strikes the town of Rama. All the people of Gibya, the
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  hometown of Seoul, are running for their lives.
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  Scream in terror. You people of Gallum, shout out
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  a warning. Talaysia all poor Anathov.
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  There go the people of Madmina, all fleeing.
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  The citizens of Gabin are trying to hide.
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  The enemy stops at Nob for the rest of the day.
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  He shakes his fist at beautiful Mount Zion, the mountain of
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  Jerusalem. But look, the Lord, the Lord of
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  Heaven's armies, will chop down the mighty tree of Assyria with
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  great power. He will cut down the proud.
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  That lofty tree will be brought down.
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  He will cut down the forest trees with an axe.
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  Lebanon will fall to the mighty. 10 God, you are not impressed by
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  earthly power. You are not impressed by those
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  who flex and strut, and feel more important than all the
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  others. You have a heart for the
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  downtrodden, for the oppressed, for those whose voice gets
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  drowned out in the dim. Lord, shape our outlook.
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  Give us your lens through which we too cannot be impressed by
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  those who strut with giant egos, but that we can see past that to
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  where the true need is, and that we can be attentive and kind and
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  generous where we need to thank you that you are a God of
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  justice and a God of hope and a God of redemption.
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  Thank you that you redeem us even when we don't deserve it,
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  and only do you redeem us. But you call us your children,
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  and then you invite us to partner in your work of growing
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  your Kingdom. We love you, and we're so
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  grateful for all that you've done for us and all that you
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  are. And we pray this in the name of
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  Jesus. Amen.