x. 5-34. _O Assyrian, the rod of Mine anger, &c._
The Assyrian. I. _His commission_--subordinate, a mere rod in God's
hands--defined. II. _His pride_--he boasts of his schemes--his
achievements--his strength and wisdom--of what he will do against
God. III. _His rebuke_--just--keen--humiliating. IV. _His
punishment_--irresistible--sudden--signal--effected by Divine power.
I. The mightiest nations are but instruments of the Divine will.
II. Are employed to execute wrath upon the guilty. III. God appoints
their special work. IV. Defines its limits. V. Controls their
ambitious purposes. VI. Rewards them accordingly.--_J. Lyth, D.D.:
Homiletical Treasury,_ p. 16.
We know what the Assyrians were in the history of the world. They do
not stand alone; they belong to a class of men who have appeared
again and again, and are numerously represented in the world
to-day--men of enormous force, of abounding energy, of vast ambition,
of unscrupulous determination. Such men as Ghengis-Khan,
Nebuchadnezzar, Alexander the Great, Cæsar, and Napoleon, are their
conspicuous representatives, but their representatives only. They are
to be found elsewhere than on thrones and at the head of armies. They
have been represented in the Church by ambitious and unscrupulous
popes, cardinals, and bishops not a few. They are represented among
our nobles by domineering landlords; in commerce by great
capitalists, who brook no competition, but will crush a rival at any
cost. This chapter concerns men who live in England to-day, and it
has for us more than an historic interest.
+I. The ambition of powerful men.+ Having power, they naturally and
lawfully wish to use it. The astonishing and lamentable thing is the
manner in which they delight to use it. God intends all the power
that He gives to be used for the same purposes as He uses His
own--for the upholding of weakness, the relief of the needy, the
dispensing of blessing. But almost always those to whom God intrusts
much power use it for self-aggrandisement. Their delight is to crush
others (vers. 13, 14; H. E. I. 243; P. D. 244). Instead of doing
their best to resemble God, they do their utmost to resemble the
devil. What a pitiable mistake! How much the ambitious man thus
loses! What a horrible perversion of the means of blessing!
+II. The godlessness of powerful men.+ 1. Mistaking the use to which
their strength should be put, they also forget its source. They are
so besotted as to think that it is _theirs,_ something which they
have originated; as if the jets of a fountain should boast of the
water that leaps up through them, forgetful of the reservoir whence
it comes (1 Cor. iv. 7). We see how foolish this is; let us not
forget how common it is; let us be on our guard against an error so
common and so absurd (Deut. viii. 10-18; Dan. iv. 29-31. P. D. 2861).
2. Their godlessness appears, too, in their imagination that there is
no limit to their power (vers. 8-11; chap xxxvii. 24). In their
projects there is no dependence on Divine guidance and support, no
submission to the Divine will (Jas. iv. 13-15).
+III. The real position of powerful men.+ They imagine that they are
autocrats: they really are merely instruments in the hand of God. God
will be served by us, voluntarily or involuntarily. He knows how,
without impairing the freedom of the will, to use powerful men for
the accomplishment of His purposes; in much the same way as the
miller deals with the stream that rushes past his mill--he does not
try to destroy it, or to stop it, he merely turns it in among his
wheels, and then unconsciously it uses its mighty force in doing his
work (vers. 5, 6; P. D., 2899). So it was with Pharaoh: though
resolved not to serve Jehovah (Exod. v. 2), he did serve Him most
effectively (Exod. ix. 16). So, though we may not be able in all
cases to trace it, we may be sure it is with all wicked men (Ps.
lxxvi. 10). God absolutely controls the vast universe over which He
rules: if we will not serve Him as sons, we must do it as slaves or
as tools.
+IV. The end of men who forget the source of their power, and use it
in a godless spirit.+ They are but rods in God's hand, and when He
has accomplished by them what He intended to do, He breaks them, and
casts them aside. In their folly they imagine that they can never be
broken (Ps. x. 6); yet how easy it is for Him utterly to destroy
them! Far-stretching and mighty they seem as a forest, yet how easily
is a forest destroyed by fire (vers. 16-19). God's judgments are as
axes, by which even the monarchs of the forest are brought low (vers.
33, 34). By Isaiah we are reminded of three historic instances in
which all this has been verified: the Egyptians (vers. 24, 26); the
Midianites (ver. 26); the Assyrians (vers. 17, 18, 32-34;
xxxvii. 36). If we needed any proof that God and His government of
the world are still the same, surely we have it in the history of
Napoleon I. Let the mighty nations of the earth lay these lessons to
heart (P. D., 2787). Let all who are disposed to vaunt their wealth
or power be mindful of them: the ruler or the merchant-prince of
to-day may be a beggar tomorrow (1 Sam. ii. 3, 4, 7-10; H. E. I.,
4404, 4976; P. D., 149, 1617).