Does an axe raise itself above the one who swings it? Does a saw boast over him who saws with it? It would be like a rod waving the one who lifts it, or a staff lifting him who is not wood! Does an axe raise itself above the one who swings it?This phrase emphasizes the absurdity of a tool claiming superiority over its user. In the context of Isaiah 10, God is addressing the arrogance of Assyria, which He used as an instrument of judgment against Israel. The axe symbolizes Assyria, and the one who swings it represents God. This imagery underscores the sovereignty of God over nations and leaders, reminding us of similar themes in Jeremiah 51:20-23, where Babylon is described as God's war club. Theologically, it highlights human pride and the folly of assuming autonomy from God, echoing the message of Proverbs 21:1, where the king's heart is in the hand of the Lord. Does a saw boast over him who saws with it?
The saw, like the axe, is a tool that cannot function independently. This rhetorical question further illustrates the foolishness of Assyria's pride. Historically, Assyria was a dominant military power, often boasting of its conquests. However, this passage reminds us that their success was permitted by God for His purposes. The imagery of the saw connects to the broader biblical theme of God using nations as instruments of His will, as seen in Habakkuk 1:5-11, where God raises the Chaldeans for judgment. It also serves as a warning against self-reliance and arrogance, aligning with James 4:6, which states that God opposes the proud. It would be like a rod waving the one who lifts it,
The rod is another metaphor for Assyria, emphasizing the absurdity of an instrument acting independently of its wielder. In biblical times, a rod was often a symbol of authority and discipline, as seen in Exodus 4:2-4 with Moses' staff. This phrase suggests the reversal of roles, highlighting the ridiculousness of a tool attempting to control its master. It reflects the broader biblical narrative of God's control over history and His use of nations to accomplish His purposes, as seen in Daniel 4:35, where God's sovereignty over the kingdoms of men is affirmed. or a staff lifting him who is not wood!
The staff, like the rod, is a symbol of support and guidance. This phrase underscores the impossibility of an inanimate object exerting power over a living being. It serves as a final rebuke to Assyria's arrogance, reminding them of their role as mere instruments in God's hands. The reference to "him who is not wood" highlights the distinction between the Creator and His creation, echoing themes from Psalm 115:3-8, where idols are contrasted with the living God. This imagery also points to the ultimate authority of God, who alone is worthy of glory and honor, as seen in Revelation 4:11. Persons / Places / Events 1. IsaiahA major prophet in the Old Testament, Isaiah is the author of the book that bears his name. He prophesied during the reigns of several kings of Judah and is known for his messages of judgment and hope. 2. AssyriaA powerful empire during Isaiah's time, Assyria was used by God as an instrument of judgment against Israel and Judah. However, Assyria's pride and arrogance led to its own downfall. 3. GodThe sovereign Lord who uses nations and people as instruments to fulfill His divine purposes. In this context, God is the one who wields the "ax" or "saw," symbolizing His control over Assyria. 4. Judah and IsraelThe divided kingdoms of God's chosen people. They faced judgment due to their disobedience and idolatry, with Assyria being one of the instruments of that judgment. 5. King of AssyriaThe ruler of the Assyrian Empire, who is depicted as arrogant and boastful, failing to recognize that he is merely an instrument in God's hands. Teaching Points God's SovereigntyRecognize that God is in control of all events and rulers. No matter how powerful a nation or leader may seem, they are ultimately under God's authority. Humility Before GodJust as the ax cannot boast over the one who wields it, we must remain humble, acknowledging that our abilities and successes are granted by God. Instrument of God's PurposeUnderstand that God can use anyone or anything to accomplish His purposes. We should seek to be willing instruments in His hands, aligning our actions with His will. Warning Against PrideThe passage serves as a warning against pride and self-reliance. We must guard against the arrogance that leads us to forget our dependence on God. Trust in God's PlanEven when circumstances seem dire, trust that God is working through them for His greater purpose. Our role is to remain faithful and obedient. Bible Study Questions 1. How does Isaiah 10:15 illustrate the concept of God's sovereignty over nations and leaders? 2. In what ways can we apply the lesson of humility from this verse to our personal lives and leadership roles? 3. How does the imagery of the ax and saw in Isaiah 10:15 help us understand our relationship with God as His instruments? 4. What are some modern examples of nations or leaders who might be seen as "axes" or "saws" in God's hands, and how should this influence our prayers for them? 5. How can we ensure that we remain humble and dependent on God, avoiding the pride that led to Assyria's downfall? Connections to Other Scriptures Romans 9:20-21This passage discusses God's sovereignty over creation, likening God to a potter who has the right to shape the clay as He wills. It connects to Isaiah 10:15 by emphasizing God's control over nations and individuals. Proverbs 21:1This verse highlights that the heart of a king is in the hand of the Lord, and He directs it wherever He pleases. It reinforces the idea that God is the ultimate authority over rulers and nations. Daniel 4:34-35King Nebuchadnezzar's acknowledgment of God's sovereignty after his period of humbling parallels the message in Isaiah 10:15 about God's control over earthly powers. People Anathoth, Assyrians, Egyptians, Isaiah, Jacob, Laish, Oreb, SaulPlaces Aiath, Anathoth, Arpad, Assyria, Calno, Carchemish, Damascus, Egypt, Gallim, Geba, Gibeah, Hamath, Jerusalem, Laishah, Lebanon, Madmenah, Michmash, Midian, Migron, Mount Zion, Nob, Ramah, Samaria, ZionTopics Ax, Axe, Blade, Boast, Brag, Brandish, Chops, Club, Cutting, Exalt, Full, Glorify, Heweth, Hewing, Hews, High-sounding, Itself, Lift, Lifting, Lifts, Magnify, Move, Moveth, Power, Pride, Raise, Rod, Saws, Shake, Shaketh, Shaking, Someone, Staff, Stick, Swings, Therewith, Uses, Using, Vaunt, Waving, Wield, Wieldeth, Wielding, Wields, WoodDictionary of Bible Themes Isaiah 10:15 1355 providence
4552 wood
5583 tools
8820 self-confidence Isaiah 10:12-15 5776 achievement Isaiah 10:12-19 5606 warfare, nature of Isaiah 10:15-16 5960 success Library Light or Fire?
'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.'--ISAIAH x. 17. With grand poetry the prophet pictures the Assyrian power as a forest consumed like thistles and briers by the fire of God. The text suggests solemn truths about the divine Nature and its manifestations. I. The Essential Character of God. Light and Holiness are substantially parallel. Light symbolises purity, but also knowledge and joy. Holiness …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy ScriptureNob. Bahurim.
That Nob was placed in the land of Benjamin, not far from Jerusalem, whence Jerusalem also might be seen,--the words of the Chaldee paraphrast, upon Isaiah 10:32, do argue. For so he speaks; "Sennacherib came and stood in Nob, a city of the priests, before the walls of Jerusalem; and said to his army, 'Is not this the city of Jerusalem, against which I have raised my whole army, and have subdued all the provinces of it? Is it not small and weak in comparison of all the fortifications of the Gentiles, …
John Lightfoot—From the Talmud and Hebraica Covenanting Predicted in Prophecy.
The fact of Covenanting, under the Old Testament dispensations, being approved of God, gives a proof that it was proper then, which is accompanied by the voice of prophecy, affording evidence that even in periods then future it should no less be proper. The argument for the service that is afforded by prophecy is peculiar, and, though corresponding with evidence from other sources, is independent. Because that God willed to make known truth through his servants the prophets, we should receive it …
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of Covenanting If Then the Prophets Prophesied that the Son of God was to Appear Upon The...
If then the prophets prophesied that the Son of God was to appear upon the earth, and prophesied also where on the earth and how and in what manner He should make known His appearance, and all these prophecies the Lord took upon Himself; our faith in Him was well-founded, and the tradition of the preaching (is) true: that is to say, the testimony of the apostles, who being sent forth by the Lord preached in all the world the Son of God, who came to suffer, and endured to the destruction of death …
Irenæus—The Demonstration of the Apostolic Preaching His Holy Covenant
"To remember His Holy Covenant; to grant unto us that we, being delivered out of the hands of our enemies, should serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him, all our days."-LUKE i. 68-75. WHEN Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, he spoke of God's visiting and redeeming His people, as a remembering of His Holy Covenant. He speaks of what the blessings of that Covenant would be, not in words that had been used before, but in what is manifestly a Divine revelation …
Andrew Murray—The Two Covenants The Instrumentality of the Wicked Employed by God, While He Continues Free from Every Taint.
1. The carnal mind the source of the objections which are raised against the Providence of God. A primary objection, making a distinction between the permission and the will of God, refuted. Angels and men, good and bad, do nought but what has been decreed by God. This proved by examples. 2. All hidden movements directed to their end by the unseen but righteous instigation of God. Examples, with answers to objections. 3. These objections originate in a spirit of pride and blasphemy. Objection, that …
John Calvin—The Institutes of the Christian Religion King of Kings and Lord of Lords
And He hath on His vesture and on His thigh a name written, K ING OF K INGS AND L ORD OF L ORDS T he description of the administration and glory of the Redeemer's Kingdom, in defiance of all opposition, concludes the second part of Messiah Oratorio. Three different passages from the book of Revelation are selected to form a grand chorus, of which Handel's title in this verse is the close --a title which has been sometimes vainly usurped by proud worms of this earth. Eastern monarchs, in particular, …
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 2 Humility is the Root of Charity, and Meekness the Fruit of Both. ...
Humility is the root of charity, and meekness the fruit of both. There is no solid and pure ground of love to others, except the rubbish of self-love be first cast out of the soul; and when that superfluity of naughtiness is cast out, then charity hath a solid and deep foundation: "The end of the command is charity out of a pure heart," 1 Tim. i. 5. It is only such a purified heart, cleansed from that poison and contagion of pride and self-estimation, that can send out such a sweet and wholesome …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning Purposes of God.
In discussing this subject I shall endeavor to show, I. What I understand by the purposes of God. Purposes, in this discussion, I shall use as synonymous with design, intention. The purposes of God must be ultimate and proximate. That is, God has and must have an ultimate end. He must purpose to accomplish something by his works and providence, which he regards as a good in itself, or as valuable to himself, and to being in general. This I call his ultimate end. That God has such an end or purpose, …
Charles Grandison Finney—Systematic Theology A Discourse of the House and Forest of Lebanon
OF THE HOUSE OF THE FOREST OF LEBANON. ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. That part of Palestine in which the celebrated mountains of Lebanon are situated, is the border country adjoining Syria, having Sidon for its seaport, and Land, nearly adjoining the city of Damascus, on the north. This metropolitan city of Syria, and capital of the kingdom of Damascus, was strongly fortified; and during the border conflicts it served as a cover to the Assyrian army. Bunyan, with great reason, supposes that, to keep …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3 Of Antichrist, and his Ruin: and of the Slaying the Witnesses.
BY JOHN BUNYAN PREFATORY REMARKS BY THE EDITOR This important treatise was prepared for the press, and left by the author, at his decease, to the care of his surviving friend for publication. It first appeared in a collection of his works in folio, 1692; and although a subject of universal interest; most admirably elucidated; no edition has been published in a separate form. Antichrist has agitated the Christian world from the earliest ages; and his craft has been to mislead the thoughtless, by …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3 The Providence of God
Q-11: WHAT ARE GOD'S WORKS OF PROVIDENCE? A: God's works of providence are the acts of his most holy, wise, and powerful government of his creatures, and of their actions. Of the work of God's providence Christ says, My Father worketh hitherto and I work.' John 5:17. God has rested from the works of creation, he does not create any new species of things. He rested from all his works;' Gen 2:2; and therefore it must needs be meant of his works of providence: My Father worketh and I work.' His kingdom …
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity Concerning Christian Liberty
CHRISTIAN faith has appeared to many an easy thing; nay, not a few even reckon it among the social virtues, as it were; and this they do, because they have not made proof of it experimentally, and have never tasted of what efficacy it is. For it is not possible for any man to write well about it, or to understand well what is rightly written, who has not at some time tasted of its spirit, under the pressure of tribulation. While he who has tasted of it, even to a very small extent, can never write, …
Martin Luther—First Principles of the Reformation And for Your Fearlessness against them Hold this Sure Sign -- Whenever There Is...
43. And for your fearlessness against them hold this sure sign--whenever there is any apparition, be not prostrate with fear, but whatsoever it be, first boldly ask, Who art thou? And from whence comest thou? And if it should be a vision of holy ones they will assure you, and change your fear into joy. But if the vision should be from the devil, immediately it becomes feeble, beholding your firm purpose of mind. For merely to ask, Who art thou [1083] ? and whence comest thou? is a proof of coolness. …
Athanasius—Select Works and Letters or Athanasius Isaiah
CHAPTERS I-XXXIX Isaiah is the most regal of the prophets. His words and thoughts are those of a man whose eyes had seen the King, vi. 5. The times in which he lived were big with political problems, which he met as a statesman who saw the large meaning of events, and as a prophet who read a divine purpose in history. Unlike his younger contemporary Micah, he was, in all probability, an aristocrat; and during his long ministry (740-701 B.C., possibly, but not probably later) he bore testimony, as …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament Links Isaiah 10:15 NIVIsaiah 10:15 NLTIsaiah 10:15 ESVIsaiah 10:15 NASBIsaiah 10:15 KJV
Isaiah 10:15 Commentaries
Bible Hub |
