Woe to, Assyria, the rod of my anger;
Isaiah 10:5-7 (ESV)
the staff in their hands is my fury!
Against a godless nation I send him,
and against the people of my wrath I command him,
to take spoil and seize plunder,
and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.
But he does not so intend,
and his heart does not so think;
but it is in his heart to destroy,
and to cut off nations not a few;
Isaiah 10:5-19 is an interesting, although challenging, passage about the nation of Assyria and God’s use of them. The Assyrian Empire was the dominant power in Mesopotamia at the time. And they were actively expanding the size of their empire via conquest.
In this passage, God describes Assyria as a tool he was using to punish a godless nation. The reference to a godless nation here is directed at Judah and Israel, the nations of God’s people who had turned their backs on him. The time for their punishment had come, and first Assyria and then Babylon would be the nations God would use to accomplish it.
But Assyria had its own agenda. They were bent on conquest and domination. And they, in turn, were going to face the wrath of God because of all the destruction they had caused.
Using Even the Godless
But is that not what God had sent them to do? That question, at least to me, is what makes this passage both interesting and challenging. It reveals that God actively uses nations, even godless nations, to accomplish his purpose. In this case, it was to punish his own godless people. However, even as he uses them, he also holds them responsible for their actions.
What is not answered here is the extent of God’s involvement in Assyria’s rise to power. Was God directly behind their rise? Or did he just use them? The same question might be asked about the Pharaoh of the Exodus (Rom. 9:17): Did God make him what he was? Or did he use what he already was to accomplish his purpose?
I personally believe that God uses what we are, whether as individuals or nations, without predestinating us to be that. We bear full responsibility for our actions. However, the sovereign God can use even the godless, who have their own agenda, to fulfill His purpose in creation.
I do not claim to know just what God is doing amid all the turmoil and conflict in the world today. Or how he is accomplishing it. But it is comforting to know that he is sovereign God. And that he is actively using, even the evil in the world, to accomplish his eternal purpose.
