This passage of scripture is
about God's sovereign manipulation of a king to do his bidding. And it is about the sovereignty
of God as a concept in a doctrine of scripture. The concept of the sovereignty
of God is so vast It's so all-inclusive that mortal men, even those who
have been given faith through saving grace, cannot really begin
to grasp the sovereignty of God. The believer knows the fact of
it. He knows the fact of it. The believer is thankful in his
heart for it. But the tendency for all men
as well as believers to carp against every inconvenience or
to complain about every unpleasant circumstance reveals something
about them, that our understanding of this concept of the sovereignty
of God is minimal and our faith is fraught with unbelief concerning
it. One of the things that we know,
though it will take a lifetime and an eternity to fully grasp,
is that all things work together for good to them that love God,
to them who are called according to His purpose. Though the gospel
reveals this fact over and over again, it is experience that
becomes our teacher, especially as we are faced with the severe
trials and temptations that attend the life of the believer. It
is almost always after the fact. that we were able to see the
hand of God in our experiences. While we're going through them,
we don't see much of anything except our own pain. There's
an old song that was put out decades ago that became a very
popular song. I doubt if it'd do very well
on the church today, but it was a little diddy called, he's got
the whole world in his hands. You all remember that song. And
the little diddy was a truism. Psalm 24 says, The earth is the
Lord's, and all the fullness thereof, and all they that dwell
therein. He's got the whole world in His
hands. But the truth of that little
song is much greater. The truth of the Scripture is
much greater than that song. All things, this is how it is,
all things, all people, all elements, are not only in his hands, but
each one serves a particular appointed purpose. A particular
appointed purpose. And each speck of dust will follow
its intended course to its designated location and end. Now men may
come up with many reasonable arguments, and they are reasonable.
In the flesh they are very reasonable arguments about the sovereignty
of God. They argue against this truth
because it does not fit the logic of the human mind. And let me
say this right now, it does not fit the logic of the human mind. It will never fit in our natural
understanding. It will never fit that. And even
in our spiritual understanding, we are limited to one thing and
that is what God says about it Himself. because we can't get
what He thinks. One of the chief logical arguments
is that if God is absolutely sovereign, then how can man be
held responsible for his actions? That's the argument men come
up with. And it is a reasonable, logical argument. It is reasonable. If God is indeed sovereign, how
can man be held responsible for his actions. When Paul was putting
forth this principle in Romans chapter 9, that was what the
question was that came up. In Romans chapter 9 and verse
19, after he had said he loved Jacob and hated Esau before they
were born, that he raised up Pharaoh to put him down, that
he would have mercy on him whom he would and whom he would he
would harden, and it was not him that willeth, nor him that
runneth, but of God showeth mercy, then a man would ask this question. Paul said, Thou wilt say in verse
19, Then unto me, Why does he yet find fault? If he does all
this, if he controls all things, how possibly can he then find
fault with me if he made me the way I am? That's a logical question,
isn't it? It's a logical question. For
who hath resisted his will? If he is sovereign, he does his
will. And no man can resist it, how can he hold us accountable?
And the answer is simply, you have no right to ask. Nay, but,
O man, who art thou that replies against God? You have no say
in the matter, because God is sovereign. Shall the thing form
to say him that formed it? Why hast thou made me thus? The fact is that God is sovereign. And here's the fact. God is sovereign. Absolutely, without question.
God controls men. And they are yet responsible
for what they do. You say, well, that doesn't make
sense. To you, it doesn't make sense. And that's the thing we
have to deal with. That's the thing we have to deal
with. Though logically those two things
cannot be reconciled. To try to apply human logic to
the ways of God, as one man said, you'd sooner empty the Atlantic
Ocean with a teaspoon than you would begin to understand God.
Here's the thing, human logic, and this is the trouble I have
with so many theologians today. They try to explain things with
human logic and it cannot be explained. They simply cannot
be explained. If you have figured out your
God, your God is you. This is that simple. If you have
figured out your God, your God is you. Human logic cannot rise
above itself and thus any effort, and I mean any effort to explain
God must be reduced to anthropological, anthropomorphic terms. God's
thoughts and His ways are so much higher than our thoughts
and ways that that great gulf can never be spanned by human
logic. And to try is to fail. It's that simple. God-given faith
rests entirely on the Word of God. And though carnal questions
arise, it is only the Word of God that puts down these doting
inquiries. Revelation settles the matter
always. And in this passage in Isaiah,
chapter 10, we see God sovereignly using a pagan king to punish
Israel and to chastise his elect. And then holding that king responsible
for his attitude and his actions. God controlling his every move.
His mind, his thoughts, his words, and then holding him responsible
for his mind and his thoughts and his words. The Lord lays
this out in no uncertain terms. The language is imminently understandable
and in no wise shrouded in obfuscated terminology. This is to be believed
and this is where the difference lies between faith and those
who don't have it. This is to believe, be believed,
this is to be bowed to, but it can never be logically deciphered. Spurgeon said this, the place
where we truly are in awe and worship God is the place where
we realize we have no idea about who He is and how He does. God is a mystery. By faith we
believe Him, but we don't understand Him. We don't understand him. What we understand in reality
is only what he's told us. And the secret things belong
to God. That which is revealed belongs
to us and our children. We might do the whole works of
this book. Beginning in this text in verses
5 and 6, they declare that the king of Assyrians and his army
are a tool in the hand of God to chastise his people. He is
described as the rod of God's anger and the staff or the weapon
in their hand is employed by God's indignation. O Assyrian,
the rod of mine anger and the staff in their hand is mine indignation. I will send him against an hypocritical
nation and against the people of my
wrath will I give him charge to take the spoil and to take
the prey and to tread them down like mire in the street." Just
as the Jews and the Gentiles and Pontius Pilate were all gathered
together and inherited the King of the Jews and the word gathered
there means herded or manipulated or moved or prodded, however
you want to say it. This happened in their minds. As they viewed
this man from Nazareth walking among them, declaring himself
to be God, as he did miracles and then he opened his mouth
and got himself in trouble, their minds began with a plan. We must
get rid of him. We shall not have this man reign
over us. And in their minds, they want to crucify him. They
want to crucify the Lord of glory. So this king Just so, in the
same way this king is an instrument in the hands of God. For Scripture
clearly says that against thy holy child Jesus, both Pontius
Pilate and Herod, the Jews and the Gentiles, were gathered together
for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel had before ordained
to be done. They were acting on their own
will. what they wanted to do. They were acting out of the desires
of their heart where they were precisely and exactly and by
the numbers fulfilling Scripture. This king here was given a charge.
Our God said, I've given you a charge. I looked up that word,
it means a command. He was given a command. A command
to take spoil. A command to prey upon Israel. A command to tread them down
like mire in the streets. People were as useless as mud
as far as God was concerned, fit only to be squished under
the feet of this king. And here is an amazing thing.
Verse 7, this guy didn't know any of it was going on. This
king was commanded of God. This king was controlled by God.
This king was moved by God. And he didn't even know it. For
it says in verse 7, Howbeit he meaneth it not so. Neither does
his heart think so. He doesn't know God has commanded
him. His heart doesn't think that, but it is in his heart
to destroy and cut off nations. He's just doing what he wants
to do. But he doesn't know that he's under the command of Almighty
God. God had commanded him, but he
knew nothing about it. that, and rather thought it was
his own idea, and was truly the desire of his own heart. He was
acting according to the hatred of his own heart, and the pride
of his own boodom, yet he was unwittingly, precisely, obeying
God's command. Didn't mean that to him, it said.
Didn't mean what he thought. But that's exactly what was going
on. This was this little despot's purpose. for existence, and he
thought himself to be the master of his universe, the ruler of
his domain. Look at verses 7 through 11.
Howbeit he meaneth not so, neither doth his heart think so, but
it is in his heart to destroy and cut off the nations. For
he saith, Are not my princes altogether kings? We're all kings. Is not Calamus as Chartemus? Is not Hamath as Arpad? Is not Samaria as Damascus? Here's
what he says, As my hand hath found the kingdom of idols, and
whose graven image did excel them of Jerusalem and of Samaria,
shall I not, as I have done to Samaria and her idols, so do
to Jerusalem and her idols? This is what he's saying. This
was his mind. Why was he doing this? Well,
he hated God. He hated Israel. And he wanted
to destroy it. But overriding all of that, moving
and motivating all of that, using that anger and wrath and hatred,
God commanded him to do these things. And he obeyed precisely. Precisely. The command had been
put in his heart and in his mind. He had no idea. Yet he fully
and completely obeyed it. He wanted to ruin Israel. And he fulfilled his little ordained
season, which would in the end bring Israel to the feet of the
Lord, crying for mercy and receiving it. He didn't know any of that
was going on. God said to Peter, Satan has
desired thee, that he might sift thee like wheat. And God let
him sift it. But he said, I prayed for you.
Your faith ain't going to fail you. Your faith ain't going to
fail you. When you look at these things,
you see God solemnly operating in man, operating according to
His own will and yet doing exactly what God had ordained for Him
to do. Try to explain that to someone. It's a waste of time.
We ourselves say, how can these things be? There is no explanation.
Say that God is sovereign. He's sovereign. And we, by searching,
cannot find Him out. We cannot find him out. And here's
another amazing thing. God, though they had commanded
and brought all this to pass by his sovereign will, held a
serious king responsible and accountable for his actions.
Look at verse 12. Wherefore, it shall come to pass
that when the Lord hath performed his whole work upon Zion and
upon Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the stout heart
of the king of Assyria and the glory of his high looks." God commanded him. He didn't
even know it, but he obeyed. Then God held him accountable
for his actions. No logic there. No human logic
can figure this out. None whatsoever. It's clear that this is the will
of God and His purpose, and with a true and a wonderful end. He
said to His people in another place, I know my thoughts toward
you, they are good and not evil, to bring you to an expected end.
Those who crucified the Lord thought that they were ending
the career of the man of Nazareth, but they were but instruments
to fulfill prophecy and bring about the salvation of the souls
of the elect. That was their job, they just
didn't know it. Job understood that Satan was but God's ape,
and though he was used to harm, Job took away all that he had
and smote his body with swords. The old suffering saint said,
pity me, for the hand of the Lord had touched me. He knew
where it came from. He knew there were no accidents,
and nothing had ever occurred to God. Then in verses 13 and
14, the Lord reveals why he holds this king responsible for his
actions. The Lord said, for he saith this king, by the strength
of my own 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 treasuries. And I put down the inhabitants
like a Valiant man. I'm a brave man a courageous
man My hand is found as a nest the riches of the people is like
their riches They thought were hidden and I walk up to it like
walking up to a bird nest and stealing robin eggs And as one
that gathers eggs, but are left have I gathered all the earth?
Sound like he's kind of has a God complex, don't it? And there
was none that moved the wings or even open their mouth to peep.
When I come in, nobody says anything. They better not say anything,
because I am who I am. For he saith, Scripture says,
out of the abundance of the heart, man speaketh. And like the proverbial
woodpecker that was pecking away as lightning struck the tree
he was pecking on, he flew back and said, look what I did. This
guy's saying the same thing. Like Nebuchadnezzar, who stood
over Babylon and gloried in himself, oh, great Babylon that I have
made. He gloried for the greatness
of that place, and while the brag hung upon his lips, he was
turned into a beast and went out and ate grass among the cattle.
So it is with this king. He's nothing but a marionette
in the puppet theater of the majesty on high. He boasts of
his greatness and his potency while his strings are pulled
for the glory of God and the good of his people. All that
exists in this universe and upon the planet exists to acknowledge
God as sovereign. The grandeur of nature leaves
men without excuse and accountable for their sin because they refuse
to acknowledge God. Reprobation is a result of refusing
to acknowledge God. And this refusal is always manifest
in acknowledging self instead of God. Instead of God. Is God sovereign? than he is
to be acknowledged in everything. Scripture says, Let everything
that hath breath praise the Lord. Verse 15 reveals the utter foolishness
and emptiness of vanity of human pride. God looks at this king
and says, Shall the axe boast itself against him that heweth
with it? Or shall the saw magnify itself
against he that shaketh it, as if the rod should shake itself
against them that lift it up? or if the staff should lift up
itself as if it were no wood? This speaks of this pride, of
these prideful statements that this man has just made. Shall
the axe boast itself against the one who hews the tree? What's
he saying? O King, proud, valiant, boastful,
King, you're an axe. That's all you are. You're an
axe. And you're in the hands of the
great woodchopper. He who slices things off at the
root, the Lord God Almighty, the power of the Lord controls
you. And that's how Israel shall be
hewn down by my power. Men are likened to inanimate
objects throughout scripture, inert and useless, lest they
are taken in hand by the power and skill of the master, had
not the pot of the power over the clay. In verses 16 through
19, our Lord asserts that God will punish this king. The king
that he has charged and commanded and controlled and employed to
fulfill his purpose. This used king will suffer for
his hatred for God and for his people. He will be put down for
his pride and he will be stripped of the glory that he has accounted
as a result of his presumed greatness. And all while these elements,
these traits of his, these personality traits, these traits of his character
were employed by God as a woodman employs an axe and a carpenter
employs a saw. He's God's tool. He's God's tool. Verse 17, verse 16 says, Therefore
shall 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. And the light of Israel, that
is God Almighty, shall be for a fire. Our God is a consuming
fire. And His Holy One for a flame,
Christ, is that light of the world. And it shall burn and
devour His thorns and His briars in one day. and shall consume
the glory of his forest, and of his fruitful field, both soul
and body. And they shall be as when a standard-bearer
fainteth, and the rest of the trees what's left of him shall
be a few, so few that an infant can count on his fingers." This is the God of the Bible. High, holy, indescribable, unsearchable,
known only by what He reveals of Himself. That's all you know
about God. One man said this is a very logical
book, just not to us. Do not try to explain God's sovereignty. Bow and believe and acknowledge
that God is God and has done things after the counsel of His
own will. The question, I suppose, to ask
yourself is this, am I glad that it's this way? Are you? Father, bless us through
our understanding of prayer and Christ's name.