“I will send him against an hypocritical nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.”
My Notes
What Does Isaiah 10:6 Mean?
God reveals a surprising truth about Assyria: the empire is his instrument. I will send him — God sends the pagan empire against Israel as a tool of discipline. The nation God calls hypocritical is his own people.
"Against an hypocritical nation" — Israel is the hypocritical nation. The people who carry God's name but do not live God's way. The harshest label is reserved for religious hypocrisy.
"Against the people of my wrath" — Israel has become the object of God's anger. Not because they are pagans. Because they are his people living as pagans. The closer the relationship, the deeper the offense.
"To take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down" — the invasion will be thorough. The discipline through Assyria is not gentle. It is devastating.
The irony: Assyria does not know it is being used. It thinks it is pursuing its own ambitions (v.7). God is directing the empire as his instrument while the empire remains unaware.
Reflection Questions
- 1.What does God calling his own people 'hypocritical' reveal about his view of religious pretense?
- 2.How does God using a pagan empire as his instrument expand your understanding of sovereignty?
- 3.What 'Assyria' in your life might actually be an instrument of divine correction?
- 4.How does the progression from prophets to invasion describe escalating discipline when gentler methods fail?
Devotional
I will send him against an hypocritical nation. The nation is Israel. God's own people. And the word God uses to describe them is hypocritical. Religious on the outside. Corrupt on the inside.
Against the people of my wrath. His people. His wrath. Both possessives belong to the same sentence. The people who are called by God's name have become the target of God's anger. Not outsiders. Insiders.
The instrument of discipline is Assyria — a brutal pagan empire that God is using like a tool in his hand. Assyria does not know it is serving God's purposes. It thinks it is conquering for its own glory. God is directing the conquest for his own discipline.
The lesson is uncomfortable: God can use anything — even hostile, ungodly forces — as instruments of correction when his people refuse to respond to gentler methods. The Assyrian army is God's backup plan after the prophets were ignored.
What instruments of correction might God be using in your life that you have not recognized? The circumstance that feels like attack might be the discipline of a Father whose gentler methods were ignored.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
I will send him against a hypocritical nation,.... The people of Israel, who might well be called so, since everyone of…
I will send him - Implying that he was entirely in the hand of God, and subject to his direction; and showing that God…
The destruction of the kingdom of Israel by Shalmaneser king of Assyria was foretold in the foregoing chapter, and it…
I will send him, &c. Rather: I send him against a profane nation (R.V.). See ch. Isa 9:17. In a general description of…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture