[:en]SCRIPTURE: ISAIAH 10
“Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees, to deprive the poor of their rights and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people, making widows their prey and robbing the fatherless” (Isaiah 10:1-2)
“Woe to the Assyrian, the rod of my anger, in whose hand is the club of my wrath! I send him against a godless nation, I dispatch him against a people who anger me, to seize loot and snatch plunder, and to trample them down like mud in the streets. But this is not what he intends, this is not what he has in mind; his purpose is to destroy, to put an end to many nations” (Isaiah 10:5-7)
“Therefore, the Lord, the Lord Almighty, will send a wasting disease upon his sturdy warriors; under the pomp a fire will be kindled like a blazing flame” (Isaiah 10:16)
“The Light of Israel will become a fire, their Holy One a flame; in a single day it will burn and consume his thorns and his briers” (Isaiah 10:17)
“A remnant will return, a remnant of Jacob will return to the Mighty God” (Isaiah 10:”21)
“See, the Lord, the Lord Almighty, will lop off the boughs with great power. The lofty trees will be felled, the tall ones will be brought low. He will cut down the forest thickets with an ax; Lebanon will fall before the Mighty One” (Isaiah 10:33-34)
The leaders of Israel made unjust laws and issued oppressive decrees to deprive the poor of their rights and withhold justice for the oppressed of His people. They preyed on widows and robbed the fatherless. So, God’s judgment fell on the nation (vs. 1-4)
God used Assyria to punish Israel. But Assyria was proud. It boasted of its power and conquests. So, God had to humble them and judge them for their evil deeds. The Lord Almighty sent a wasting disease upon its sturdy warriors. The army would vanish like tree in a forest fire (vs. 4-19).
There is hope for the remnant of Israel. God promised them that they would return to their land. The Assyrians will be brought low and cut down. They would fall before the mighty One. (vs. 20-34)
LESSONS:
- Do no be greedy for unjust gain.
- Do not deprive the poor of their rights.
- Do not withhold justice from the people
- Do not be haughty and proud
- Do not lost hope in God.
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