The Axe Boasting Over the One Who Wields It

The LORD pronounced woe on those in Israel who ignored His Word and enacted evil statutes against Him. He rebuffed those who recorded unjust decisions in the courts, so as to take advantage of the poor and needy, like widows and orphans, so they could plunder them. Then God asked Israel, ‘Now what will you do in the Day of Punishment, and in the devastation which will come from afar? To whom will you flee for help? And where will you leave your wealth? Nothin remain but to crouch among the captives or fall among the slain.’

Israel had disobeyed God’s Law too long, so the promised calamity was coming. All that unjust gain would be lost as they were punished for their sins. The rich who took advantage of the poor would die or be taken captive right next to the poor they abused. And still for all of that, the hand of the LORD’s judgment was still outstretched and His anger was not turned away. 

The LORD then pronounced Woe on the tool He would use to rebuke and exile Israel - The Kingdom of Assyria. Assyria would be the rod of God’s anger against Israel. They would be the staff of His indignation, to pour out calamity on His people to draw them to repentance. He would send the godless nation of Assyria against His own godless people. Assyria would trample Israel down in the streets like mud, capture booty and seize plunder. Everything Israel has stolen would be taken from them. And yet Assyria would think that they were just doing what they wanted to do, to crush all of their enemies by their own strength.  Assyria would think Israel was just like all to the other nations they had conquered.

But Assyria would be wrong. After God had used them to punish His own people, Assyria would spurn the God of Israel, claiming they had conquered the One True God just as they had the gods of the other nations - Calno, Carchemish, Hamath, Arpad, Samaria, and Damascus. Assyria would look at Jerusalem, the Place God chose for His Name to Dwell and think that they could overthrow that city and the One True God. And that would be their downfall. God would allow Assyria to be used as the punishing rod to discipline Israel, Judah, and even Jerusalem, but they would not succeed in conquering the Holy City. 
After God allowed them to go as far as He would allow, the anger of the LORD would turn against Assyria and He would punish the king of Assyria for the pomp of his haughtiness. The pride of the King of Assyria would be his own downfall, because he would say to himself and all who would listen, ‘By the power of my own hand and by my wisdom I did this, for I have understanding; and I removed the boundaries of the peoples, and plundered their treasures, and like a mighty man I brought down their inhabitants, and my hand reached to the riches of the peoples like a nest, and as one gathers abandoned eggs, I gathered all to the earth, and there was not one that flapped its wings or opened its beak to chirp.’ 

Assyria would claim they rose to power on their own wisdom and strength, but they would not understand that it was God who allowed this to happen, to bring them to pour out calamity on Israel for its sins. And just as quickly a God allowed them to rise in power, God would remove them. The question God asks is important, ‘Is the axe to boast itself over the one who chops with it? Is the saw to exalt itself over the one who wields it?’ God is clearly stating that He is the One using Assyria for His own purposes, as the sovereign God over all Creation. Assyria would be that axe, saw, club, and rod to punish Israel for their sins. But Assyria was just the tool, not the One who used it. They themselves would be punished for their sins of Pride against God.

The LORD would send among the armies of Assyria a wasting disease to consume their stout warriors. A fire would burn among them like kindling. The Glory of God would be revealed in their midst. The light of Israel would become a fire and His Holy One a flame to burn and devour Assyria. God would use them against His people, then God would judge the nations. God would burn their strength to the ground like a forest fire, and there would be so few left that a young child would write down the remaining number of trees.

 This is the danger that all nations used by God to punish Israel face. They themselves would be punished and consumed. When God raises up a nation to deal with Israel, it is because God plans on judging that nation because of its own sins. Woe to the United States of America, perhaps we are the mystery Babylon of Revelation, who is consumed by the fury of God’s wrath before the return of Christ. It is best for any nation on earth to not get involved in, with, or around Israel. Let God sort His own rebellious people out, for swift judgment comes against those who He uses to judge His people.