Inspired by Isaiah 10, two friends wrestle with scripture over coffee, discussing God’s use of Assyria to judge Israel and the questions it raises about divine sovereignty, human responsibility, and accountability for the powerful.
The coffee shop is the kind of place where the same six regulars occupy the same six stools every morning. Two friends, Marcus and Jen, sit in a corner booth by the window, where the January sunlight streams across their table. A board behind the counter lists the day’s specials in handwriting, and the radiator clanks periodically against the back wall. It’s 10:30 on a Tuesday morning, the breakfast rush over, and the lunch crowd still an hour away.
“So I’ve been reading Isaiah 10,” Marcus said, stirring sugar into his coffee. “And I’m trying to figure out what to do with it.”
Jen looked up from her phone. “What’s in Isaiah 10?”
“It’s this whole thing about God using Assyria to punish Israel, and then punishing Assyria for being too proud about it. It’s weird.”
“Okay, so God used bad people to punish His own people?”
“Yeah. There’s this part at the beginning about Israel’s leaders making these corrupt laws, taking advantage of widows and poor people. And God’s like, ‘I’m sending judgment.’ And that judgment is Assyria, this brutal empire.”
Jen took a sip of her latte. “That feels harsh.”
“It does. But I guess if you read the rest of Isaiah, or really any of the prophets, Israel had been warned over and over. They had the law, they knew what God expected, and the leaders just kept exploiting people.” Marcus shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s not like God just woke up one day and decided to be cruel.”
“Still though. Using another nation to destroy them?”
“Yeah, but here’s the thing that got me. Assyria doesn’t even know they’re being used. They think they’re just conquering because they’re strong and smart. Their king’s bragging about all these cities he’s overtaken, talking about how he’s seized kingdoms like someone collecting shells on a beach.”
“Cocky.”
“Indeed. And then God says, ‘Should the ax brag that it’s stronger than the person swinging it?’ Like, you’re just a tool, dude. You’re not in charge here.”
Jen frowned. “So God’s going to punish them too?”
“He destroys them. Says He’s going to burn up their whole army, and there’ll be so few survivors a kid could count them.”
“That’s a lot of destruction all around.”
Marcus nodded slowly. “I guess that’s what I’m struggling with. Like, I get that actions have consequences. Israel’s leaders were corrupt, they ignored God, and they hurt people. Fine. But then using an evil empire to judge them, and then judging that empire… it’s interesting.”
“Do you think God’s just using people like chess pieces?”
“I don’t think so. I mean, Assyria chose to be brutal. They wanted to conquer. They were already doing that. God just… I don’t know, directed it? Let it happen? I’m not sure how to say it without making God sound either weak or mean.”
Jen was quiet for a moment. “What about the people who got caught in the middle? Like regular people in Israel who weren’t corrupt leaders.”
“There’s a remnant. God talks about this remnant that’s going to survive and actually trust Him instead of trusting in political alliances and stuff. But yeah, you’re right. A lot of innocent people probably suffered.”
“That happens now, too,” Jen said. “Like, when a country’s leaders mess up, regular people pay the price.”
“True. Maybe that’s just how it works when you’re part of a nation or a community. You can’t totally separate yourself from the consequences of what your leaders do.” Marcus rubbed his face. “I hate that, but it seems true.”
“So what’s the point then? Like, why is this in the Bible?”
Marcus looked at his coffee. “I think maybe it’s showing that God’s in control even when everything looks like chaos. Assyria thinks they’re running the show, but they’re not. And Israel thinks they can just do whatever and make alliances with whoever, but that’s not going to save them either.”
“But God still lets all this destruction happen.”
“Yeah. He does.” Marcus didn’t have an answer for that. “I guess the only other thing is that it keeps saying God’s anger will turn away from Israel and toward Assyria. Like, the judgment on Israel isn’t forever. There’s an end to it. And the people who actually trust God—that remnant—they’re going to be okay eventually.”
“Eventually doing a lot of work in that sentence.”
“I know.” Marcus laughed, but it was hollow. “I’m not going to sit here and pretend this chapter makes me feel warm and fuzzy. It doesn’t.”
“Does it make you think differently about anything?”
Marcus considered. “Maybe about pride? Like, Assyria really thought they were something. And they were powerful, but they had no idea they were just being used for something bigger. Makes me wonder how often I think I’m in control of stuff when I’m really not.”
“That’s kind of terrifying.”
“Little bit, yeah.”
Jen pushed her cup around on the table. “What about the part with the corrupt leaders at the beginning? The ones making bad laws?”
“What about it?”
“I don’t know. Feels relevant. People in power taking advantage of people who don’t have power. That’s still happening.”
“Definitely still happening.”
“So is God going to do something about it?”
Marcus didn’t answer right away. “I think He does. Maybe not always in the timeline we want. But this whole chapter is basically saying that nobody gets away with anything forever. Not Israel’s leaders, not Assyria. There’s accountability eventually.”
“Eventually again.”
“Yeah.” Marcus smiled slightly. “I’m learning to be less comfortable with timing. I want everything fixed now. God seems to work on a longer schedule.”
“Do you really believe that? That there’s accountability?”
“Most days. Today, after reading this, yeah. I mean, Assyria had no idea what was coming. They were at the height of their power, and God says He’s going to cut them down like trees. And He did. Historically, that happened. So I guess I believe it. I just don’t always understand the process.”
Jen nodded. “I think I’m okay with not understanding everything. I just don’t want to use ‘God’s in control’ as an excuse to not do anything about bad stuff.”
“Fair. I don’t think this chapter is saying to sit back and do nothing. The prophets were always calling for people to repent, to change, to live differently, to turn from their sinful habits. It’s not fatalism. It’s more like recognizing that your actions matter, but also that you’re not the final word on anything.”
“Heavy for a Tuesday morning.”
Marcus grinned. “Sorry. You asked.”
“I did.” Jen checked her phone. “I should get going. But hey, I’m actually going to read Isaiah 10 now.”
“All the best with that.”
“Thanks.” She stood up, grabbed her coat. “Let me know if you figure out any more of it.”
“I’ll probably just have more questions.”
“That’s fair too.”
Outside, a truck rumbled past, and someone pushed through the door, bringing a gust of cold air with them. Marcus stayed in the booth, turning his empty mug in slow circles on the table, staring at nothing in particular.
Created by Steve
God’s Word…
Holman Christian Standard Bible
Isaiah 10
Woe to those enacting crooked statutes
and writing oppressive laws
2 to keep the poor from getting a fair trial
and to deprive the afflicted among my people of justice,
so that widows can be their spoil
and they can plunder the fatherless.
3 What will you do on the day of punishment
when devastation comes from far away?
Who will you run to for help?
Where will you leave your wealth?
4 There will be nothing to do
except crouch among the prisoners
or fall among the slain.
In all this, His anger is not removed,
and His hand is still raised to strike.
Assyria, the Instrument of Wrath
5 Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger—
the staff in their hands is My wrath.
6 I will send him against a godless nation;
I will command him to go
against a people destined for My rage,
to take spoils, to plunder,
and to trample them down like clay in the streets.
7 But this is not what he intends;
this is not what he plans.
It is his intent to destroy
and to cut off many nations.
8 For he says,
“Aren’t all my commanders kings?
9 Isn’t Calno like Carchemish?
Isn’t Hamath like Arpad?
Isn’t Samaria like Damascus?[a]
10 As my hand seized the idolatrous kingdoms,
whose idols exceeded those of Jerusalem and Samaria,
11 and as I did to Samaria and its idols
will I not also do to Jerusalem and its idols?”
Judgment on Assyria
12 But when the Lord finishes all His work against Mount Zion and Jerusalem, He will say, “I[b] will punish the king of Assyria for his arrogant acts and the proud look in his eyes.” 13 For he said:
I have done this by my own strength
and wisdom, for I am clever.
I abolished the borders of nations
and plundered their treasures;
like a mighty warrior, I subjugated the inhabitants.[c]
14 My hand has reached out, as if into a nest,
to seize the wealth of the nations.
Like one gathering abandoned eggs,
I gathered the whole earth.
No wing fluttered;
no beak opened or chirped.
15 Does an ax exalt itself
above the one who chops with it?
Does a saw magnify itself
above the one who saws with it?
It would be like a staff waving the one who lifts[d] it!
It would be like a rod lifting a man who isn’t wood!
16 Therefore the Lord God of Hosts
will inflict an emaciating disease
on the well-fed of Assyria,
and He will kindle a burning fire
under its glory.
17 Israel’s Light will become a fire,
and its Holy One, a flame.
In one day it will burn up Assyria’s thorns and thistles.
18 He will completely destroy
the glory of its forests and orchards
as a sickness consumes a person.
19 The remaining trees of its forest
will be so few in number
that a child could count them.
The Remnant Will Return
20 On that day the remnant of Israel and the survivors of the house of Jacob will no longer depend on the one who struck them, but they will faithfully depend on the Lord, the Holy One of Israel.
21 The remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob,
to the Mighty God.
22 Israel, even if your people were as numerous
as the sand of the sea,
only a remnant of them will return.
Destruction has been decreed;
justice overflows.
23 For throughout the land
the Lord God of Hosts
is carrying out a destruction that was decreed.
24 Therefore, the Lord God of Hosts says this: “My people who dwell in Zion, do not fear Assyria, though he strikes you with a rod and raises his staff over you as the Egyptians did. 25 In just a little while My wrath will be spent and My anger will turn to their destruction.” 26 And the Lord of Hosts will brandish a whip against him as He did when He struck Midian at the rock of Oreb; and He will raise His staff over the sea as He did in Egypt.
God Will Judge Assyria
27 On that day
his burden will fall from your shoulders,
and his yoke from your neck.
The yoke will be broken because of fatness.[e]
28 Assyria has come to Aiath
and has gone through Migron,
storing his equipment at Michmash.
29 They crossed over at the ford, saying,
“We will spend the night at Geba.”
The people of Ramah are trembling;
those at Gibeah of Saul have fled.
30 Cry aloud, daughter of Gallim!
Listen, Laishah!
Anathoth is miserable.
31 Madmenah has fled.
The inhabitants of Gebim have sought refuge.
32 Today he will stand at Nob,
shaking his fist at the mountain of Daughter Zion,
the hill of Jerusalem.
33 Look, the Lord God of Hosts
will chop off the branches with terrifying power,
and the tall trees will be cut down,
the high trees felled.
34 He is clearing the thickets of the forest with an ax,
and Lebanon with its majesty will fall.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 10:9 Cities conquered by Assyria
- Isaiah 10:12 LXX reads Jerusalem, He
- Isaiah 10:13 Or I brought down their kings
- Isaiah 10:15 Some Hb mss, Syr, Vg read wave he who lifts
- Isaiah 10:27 Hb obscure