“Wherefore it shall come to pass, that when the Lord hath performed his whole work upon mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the stout heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his high looks.”
My Notes
What Does Isaiah 10:12 Mean?
God declares that Assyria's usefulness as his instrument does not protect Assyria from judgment: wherefore it shall come to pass, that when the Lord hath performed his whole work upon mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the stout heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his high looks.
When the Lord hath performed his whole work — God has a work (maaseh) to accomplish on Zion and Jerusalem. The work includes the discipline of his own people through the Assyrian invasion. Assyria is God's instrument — the rod of his anger (10:5). But being God's instrument does not make Assyria righteous. God uses Assyria to accomplish his purpose, then judges Assyria for the arrogance with which it served.
I will punish (paqad — to visit, to attend to, to call to account) the fruit (peri — the product, the outcome, what the heart produces) of the stout heart (godel levav — the greatness/arrogance of the heart) of the king of Assyria — God punishes what the heart produced. The stout heart — the swollen, self-inflated interior — generated the arrogance that characterized the Assyrian conquest. The fruit is the external expression of the internal condition: the policies, the cruelties, the boasting that flowed from a heart that took credit for what God accomplished through it.
And the glory of his high looks (tipheret rum einayim — the splendor of the loftiness of his eyes) — the high looks are the lifted eyes of the proud — the gaze that looks down on everyone, that sees itself as superior, that surveys conquered nations with self-congratulation. The glory the king attached to his own loftiness is what God will judge. The eyes that should have looked up to God instead looked down on the world.
The theological principle: God uses instruments that do not know they are instruments — and judges the instruments for the arrogance they display while being used. Assyria thought it was conquering by its own power (v.13: by the strength of my hand I have done it). God says: I used you. And your arrogance about what I accomplished through you is the very thing I will punish.
The principle applies universally: being used by God does not exempt you from accountability. The instrument that takes credit for the master's work faces the master's judgment for the credit-taking.
Reflection Questions
- 1.How does God using Assyria as his instrument while planning to judge Assyria's arrogance reveal the complexity of divine sovereignty?
- 2.What does the 'stout heart' and 'high looks' describe about the internal condition that God punishes — not just actions but attitudes?
- 3.How does taking credit for what God accomplished through you mirror the Assyrian king's error?
- 4.Where might you be an instrument of God who has begun to boast about the master's work — and what does this verse warn?
Devotional
When the Lord hath performed his whole work upon mount Zion and on Jerusalem. God has a plan for Jerusalem — and the plan includes discipline. The Assyrian invasion is part of the plan. God is using Assyria to accomplish his purposes on Zion. The Assyrian king does not know he is an instrument (v.7: howbeit he meaneth not so). He thinks he is conquering by his own power. He is being used.
I will punish the fruit of the stout heart of the king of Assyria. After the using: the punishing. God used Assyria — and now God punishes Assyria. Not for doing what God directed. For the arrogance with which it was done. The stout heart — the swollen, self-congratulating interior that said 'I did this by my own strength' (v.13). The fruit of that arrogance is what God judges: the policies, the cruelties, the boasting that the heart produced.
And the glory of his high looks. The lifted eyes. The gaze that surveys conquered nations and says: look what I accomplished. The glory the king attached to his own vision — his high looks — is the target of divine punishment. The eyes that should have trembled before the God who held the rod instead admired the rod's own achievements.
The principle is devastating: being used by God does not protect you from God. Assyria was God's rod. Assyria was also judged. The instrument that takes credit for the master's work faces the master's anger for the credit-taking. You were the tool. I was the hand. And the tool that boasts about what the hand accomplished is the tool that gets set aside — and punished.
Where are you taking credit for what God accomplished through you? Where is the stout heart claiming what the sovereign hand did? The instrument is useful. The arrogance of the instrument is punishable. God uses whom he chooses — and judges the pride that blooms in the used.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
For he saith, by the strength of my hand I have done it,.... Meaning either that by the power of his army, which was…
Wherefore ... - In this verse God, by the prophet, threatens punishment to the king of Assyria for his pride, and wicked…
The destruction of the kingdom of Israel by Shalmaneser king of Assyria was foretold in the foregoing chapter, and it…
The verse seems to interrupt what might well have been a single speech of the Assyrian King, by a threat of the doom…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture