January 16 - Isaiah 10:5-34

10:5 Assyria is the rod of God's anger but that doesn't mean Assyria won't be judged. God uses Assyria to bring judgment upon the Israelites. But, who's the worse sinner? Assyria or Israel? The answer seems to be obvious but Israel has a covenant relationship with God and they really should've known better. Assyria - well - they don't know about God's laws and His covenant but they are also in due time subject to judgment as well and this is what this chapter is talking about. Whether you know God or don't know, all of God's creation is subject to His judgment...

10:15 Another major point is that as much as Israel thinks that Assyria is the power to be feared, ultimately God is behind all of this. And who should be feared more than Assyria? You got it, God.
God likens the Assyrians to an ax. But is the ax more powerful than the person who swings the ax? Yup. That's what God is saying. The Assyrians are just an ax or a saw or a rod... God is more powerful.

10:16 This is where God turns things around for His people. When the Israelites repent and turn towards God - Assyria will be destroyed. And in 701 BC there was a battle where 185,000 Assyrian soldiers were killed in one day.

10:20 REMNANT And so a remnant will remain (redundant, huh?). And this group will not be like the Israel that was before. They won't trust in Assyria or any other powers around them but on "the LORD, the Holy One of Israel." The truth is even though Israel was as many as the sand by the sea - the remant will be small.

10:24 Don't be afraid. God will protect us.

Okay, so there's a lot going on here...
1. God is bigger than Assyria. God is bigger than the boogeyman... God is just bigger than anything you can ever imagine.
2. Sometimes things don't make sense - like why does God punish His people before punishing those that don't even believe in Him. Going back to point #1, God will take care of all of that so don't worry about everyone else, just take care of yourself because you'll drive yourself crazy making sure everyone else gets punished for their sins.
3. This idea of the remnant. Sometimes lots of bad things happen and only a small group is left. When I was in youth group, one year all 3 of our youth and college pastors along with 20 teachers left our church. Our youth group was about 100 kids and basically after the pastors and teachers all left, there were about 10 students that stayed behind. Some were very angry and bitter and eventually they left. And one thing that I do remember from this time (I was 15) was that God was teaching me a lot about depending on Him and not people. Community is important but if that's all you're depending on - your faith or your religion is really more about the people than it is about God. I needed to have a relationship with God because when the storms come (and they will surely come) - you need to know that no matter what, the most important person is still here and that is our security.

Will you remain? Will you be a part of the remnant that truly relies "on the LORD, the Holy One of Israel"? [10:20]

If so, make that choice to spend time with Him today. Make the decision to have a deep, genuine relationship with God.