OWR
2026-07-19 Sunday First

  • Introduction

    You often hear from different corners of Christianity that all of these disasters we face are because God’s mad at us.
    Hurricane Katrina was blamed on the gay community
    School shootings happen because we took prayer out of school
    You’re poor, sad, and lonely because you’ve done something in your life to deserve it
    And these are rightly criticized
    Ecclesiastes understands that we can’t tell God’s love or hate by the life we live
    Jesus doesn’t blame the blind man or his parents in John 9 for being born blind
    He also tells us that people who suffer from disaster are no better or worse than we are who avoid it in Luke 13
    Caution needs to be exercised in trying to find God’s intention in these disasters.
    But that can be taken too far as well. Some people find God’s wrath in everything. I wonder if we don’t see it enough. We can remove God from all the big events, and then we start removing him from from the smaller parts as well.
    And if God’s not involved in my life then he’s not responsible for the failures or successes in life - I am.
    I am the one who earns my promotion and paycheck
    I am the one who figures out how to raise my children
    I am the one who controls my destiny
    Or if we’re not so radically self determinate, it’s someone else or the mysterious hand of fate

    Four Portraits of Sin

    In Isaiah 9-10 God wants his people to see his hand in the coming events, and what life looks like when we try to take life into our own hands. Isaiah 9:8-10:4 are four portraits of Israel’s sin and God’s punishment. The fundamental problem that we’ll see is a complete denial of God’s involvement in their lives.
    He’s not going to help us fight against Assyria
    He can’t stop us from overthrowing Jerusalem
    We’re living life like it’s all up to us
    But four times in our passage we’ll hear a saying being repeated
    Isaiah 10:4 ESV
    4 … For all this his anger has not turned away, and his hand is stretched out still.
    God is going to confront the pride and arrogance of his people who have taken God’s hand out of the equation by saying…
    It’s my hand
    The hand of our leaders
    or the hand of Assyria
    … that moves the world.
    Israel isn’t facing destruction because they’re weak, but because they’ve abandoned God. Assyria isn’t mighty because of their armies, but because God is using the nation as his tool.
    The more we trust in and attribute success to mankind in general - the powerful, the rich, the politicians - the less we recognize God’s hand and give him the due glory and reverence in our lives.
    And he’s going to warn us of what happens when we take God’s hand out of the equation - God’s hand is going to come down in judgment.

    My Hand

    Isaiah 9:8–12 ESV
    8 The Lord has sent a word against Jacob, and it will fall on Israel; 9 and all the people will know, Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria, who say in pride and in arrogance of heart: 10 “The bricks have fallen, but we will build with dressed stones; the sycamores have been cut down, but we will put cedars in their place.” 11 But the Lord raises the adversaries of Rezin against him, and stirs up his enemies. 12 The Syrians on the east and the Philistines on the west devour Israel with open mouth. For all this his anger has not turned away, and his hand is stretched out still.
    God’s word is being sent against Israel and it is going to fall hard on them. We’re talking about the northern kingdom of Israel, not Judah, and God’s word crushed them when Assyria came and completely ended Israel as a nation, scattering them to exile.
    But as much as God talks about judgment and destruction, Israel doesn’t seem to bothered by it. God’s hand may tear down and uproot, but my hand will rebuild and replant. And not only that, we’ll come back bigger and better than ever. The bricks will come down and we’ll rebuild with stone. The sycamores will be cut down but we’ll plant the luxurious cedar.
    Do your worst God, we’ll bounce right back because our hand is stronger than what yours throws at us.
    But God’s wrath is more than a slap on the wrist. It’s an overwhelming force that will wipe Israel off the map entirely. He will raise up the Syrians, the Assyrians, and the Philistine and surround Israel and they will never be able to rebuild.

    Connect: The Sin of Pride

    We become just as arrogant in our lives. God can do whatever he wants, nothing is going to stop me from shaping my life the way I want it.
    He doesn’t direct my life
    He doesn’t influence my decisions
    We think our hand is stronger than his and has the final say in life.
    And it’s unfortunately such a prevalent and accepted way of thinking here in America.
    We love stories of the self-made man
    We love radical independence so we can claim that I did it all by myself
    We love having earned our way in life
    It’s not an American example but there was an interview of Victoria Beckham, David Beckham’s wife or maybe you know here better from the Spice Girls, was interviewed and talking about how she grew up lower class and had to fight and struggle to earn her place. And then her husband sticks his head into the room saying “Be honest!” and nags her until she admits she was driven to school in a Rolls Royce.
    We’d love to be a lottery winner but we respect the self-made millionaire a whole lot more
    And as much as we want God to freely bless us we feel really proud about what we did to deserve them
    God’s hand is stretched out against those who refuse to see his.

    Idolization of Leaders

    But there are other times when we’re not trusting in the power of our own hand, we’re trusting in somebody else’s.
    Isaiah 9:13–17 ESV
    13 The people did not turn to him who struck them, nor inquire of the Lord of hosts. 14 So the Lord cut off from Israel head and tail, palm branch and reed in one day— 15 the elder and honored man is the head, and the prophet who teaches lies is the tail; 16 for those who guide this people have been leading them astray, and those who are guided by them are swallowed up. 17 Therefore the Lord does not rejoice over their young men, and has no compassion on their fatherless and widows; for everyone is godless and an evildoer, and every mouth speaks folly. For all this his anger has not turned away, and his hand is stretched out still.
    God had struck Israel and disciplined them, but they didn’t turn to him. They realized their own hand was weak so they ran to who they thought was strong. They ran to the leaders, the prophets, the people who were in control.
    Even their prophets - those who were to be a mouthpiece for God - are subservient to their leaders. He describes the elders and honored men as the head and prophets are just the tail. They aren’t in charge of anything. They just take their order from the head. Let’s not listen to God, let’s listen to these guys and then we’ll pass it off as the word of God!
    And understand that God does not let the people use the excuse “But I was led astray” as a claim of innocence. They’re swallowed up. The orphan and the widow, those God is particularly concerned about because of how weak they are, they receive no compassion. They’re still guilty because they let themselves be led astray.
    Think about why Eve’s excuse of being deceived couldn’t hold up
    The serpent tried leading her astray “Did God really say these things?”
    And Eve called him out - “No, this is what the Lord said.”
    She knew what the word of God was but she chose to believe in the lies of the devil
    We are responsible for ourselves and have been given enough by God to see when we’re being led astray.

    Connect: So Don’t Be Led Astray

    Every politician wants you to believe that they’re your only hope.
    Too many influencers want you to think that they have all the answers.
    Too many bible teachers want you to believe they’re the only ones who know God.
    When disaster strikes, God wants us to inquire of him.
    He’s the one who knows how to fix your marriage
    He’s the one who can guide you through fear and anxiety
    He’s the only one who can save give you hope
    And we shouldn’t have to wait for disaster to strike before we go to him.
    Do you pray more when everything is going smooth in life without an concerns, or when you’re stressed beyond comprehension? Do we treat God as our daily guidance or just as the fire escape?
    We should go to God in prayer when things get to rough for us, but what does it say when we don’t feel the need to pray when it’s smooth sailing?
    I got it under control. Or at least somebody does.
    No need to ask God for anything because I don’t need him when everything is good.
    And we forget why anything is good in the first place.

    Wickedness Consumes Itself

    So here we have Isaiah telling us what happens when we trust in our hands or the hands of leaders, and the next two poems reiterate these themes, and show that not only is God against these attitudes but that they’re inherently self-destructive.
    We trust in our hand to build up and replant, but instead we only consume.
    Isaiah 9:18–21 ESV
    18 For wickedness burns like a fire; it consumes briers and thorns; it kindles the thickets of the forest, and they roll upward in a column of smoke. 19 Through the wrath of the Lord of hosts the land is scorched, and the people are like fuel for the fire; no one spares another. 20 They slice meat on the right, but are still hungry, and they devour on the left, but are not satisfied; each devours the flesh of his own arm, 21 Manasseh devours Ephraim, and Ephraim devours Manasseh; together they are against Judah. For all this his anger has not turned away, and his hand is stretched out still.
    When life is in our hands it all goes up in flames. And not just the things but the people. People are fuel for the fire. Everyone is slicing up and consuming each other. Manasseh and Ephraim, brothers, devouring each other.
    It sounds like Isaiah is talking about two things:
    The fires of wickedness
    And the fires of God’s wrath
    But it’s really the same thing. Wickedness is described as a self-destructive force. It burns and consumes. That self-destructive nature is an outworking of God’s wrath. God doesn’t always go out of his way to punish sin - he’s set the world up in a way that it punishes itself. Just like I can rebel against God’s law of gravity and jump off a roof, breaking my leg, I can also rebel against God’s righteousness and suffer very naturally and fitting consequences.
    When we reject the creators way of being in his creation, there’s going to be some discord.

    Connect: Sin Consumes

    Sin is always destructive - never productive. Every time we cave into it we’re just feeding a destructive fire until it gets bigger and bigger and overcomes everything in our lives. Isaiah says we feed the fires of sin with people.
    Sin is always against someone. We hear about victimless crimes. There is not victimless sin. Isaiah says we feed the fires of sin with people. God singles out the tribes of Manasseh and Ephraim.
    Sexual immorality and porn consumes your marriage, time, thoughts
    Greed consumes your sleep, relationships, joy
    Lies consume your peace
    Slander consumes your reliability and trust
    Sin never satisfies. They slice on the right and left but are still hungry, still not satisfied. It might be best to understand the arm as a euphemism for strength. Sin is a food that that never fills you up, it only takes away your strength as your starved of the true satisfaction God offers.
    Sin is slowly killing yourself.

    Poetic Justice

    The fourth section revisits the idea of trusting in someone else’s hand to guide us.
    Isaiah 10:1–4 ESV
    1 Woe to those who decree iniquitous decrees, and the writers who keep writing oppression, 2 to turn aside the needy from justice and to rob the poor of my people of their right, that widows may be their spoil, and that they may make the fatherless their prey! 3 What will you do on the day of punishment, in the ruin that will come from afar? To whom will you flee for help, and where will you leave your wealth? 4 Nothing remains but to crouch among the prisoners or fall among the slain. For all this his anger has not turned away, and his hand is stretched out still.
    Unfortunately we trust in leaders or influential people to take care of us but their hand only feeds themselves.
    Instead of serving the weak they wrote iniquitous decrees
    Instead of lending a helping hand they wrote oppression
    And all so they could have more
    So God promises poetic justice.
    They were no help to the needy and so will find no help for themselves
    They used their position to collect wealth and will have nowhere to leave it
    They who were tall and proud will have nothing to do but crouch in fear among the prisoners and the dead.

    Transition

    So four times God has threatened his people - my hand is still stretched out against you.
    And in Isaiah 10:5-19 we see what God’s hand looks like - Assyria.
    Isaiah 10:5–6 ESV
    5 Woe to Assyria, the rod of my anger; the staff in their hands is my fury! 6 Against a godless nation I send him, and against the people of my wrath I command him, to take spoil and seize plunder, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.
    But the same problem remains - refusing to see God’s hand in these events. As Israel was destroyed by Assyria, Judah would give glory to Assyria and praise their own wisdom for inviting Assyria onto the scene.
    And then Assyria itself would be guilty of the sins God has just condemned - they believe in the strength of their own hand and not God’s.
    So God wants them to understand that it’s still his hand that’s stretched out against Israel. Assyria is just the puppet.
    And just as Judah was destroyed for arrogance so will Assyria be.

    Assyria Judged

    But Assyria doesn’t think so
    Isaiah 10:7–14 ESV
    7 But he does not so intend, and his heart does not so think; but it is in his heart to destroy, and to cut off nations not a few; 8 for he says: “Are not my commanders all kings? 9 Is not Calno like Carchemish? Is not Hamath like Arpad? Is not Samaria like Damascus? 10 As my hand has reached to the kingdoms of the idols, whose carved images were greater than those of Jerusalem and Samaria, 11 shall I not do to Jerusalem and her idols as I have done to Samaria and her images?” 12 When the Lord has finished all his work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, he will punish the speech of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria and the boastful look in his eyes. 13 For he says: “By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom, for I have understanding; I remove the boundaries of peoples, and plunder their treasures; like a bull I bring down those who sit on thrones. 14 My hand has found like a nest the wealth of the peoples; and as one gathers eggs that have been forsaken, so I have gathered all the earth; and there was none that moved a wing or opened the mouth or chirped.”
    The king of Assyria views himself in terms fit only for God
    He is king of kings
    He’s destroyed cities and will destroy again
    He’s stronger than all the idols that these people trusted in
    So who’s to stop him from reaching into Jerusalem and taking Yahweh?
    Assyria believes his hand is mightier than anybody else’s
    He plunders
    He topples thrones
    He reaches in to gather the people and nobody can stop him
    Isaiah 10:15 ESV
    15 Shall the axe boast over him who hews with it, or the saw magnify itself against him who wields it? As if a rod should wield him who lifts it, or as if a staff should lift him who is not wood!
    We don’t give glory to the tools
    Painting with Picasso’s brush won’t make you paint like him
    We need to remember that we’re just the tools
    When we puff up with pride we are stealing glory from God
    My hand against his
    My salvation against his
    Despite all of this, God still saves
    Isaiah 10:16–19 ESV
    16 Therefore the Lord God of hosts will send wasting sickness among his stout warriors, and under his glory a burning will be kindled, like the burning of fire. 17 The light of Israel will become a fire, and his Holy One a flame, and it will burn and devour his thorns and briers in one day. 18 The glory of his forest and of his fruitful land the Lord will destroy, both soul and body, and it will be as when a sick man wastes away. 19 The remnant of the trees of his forest will be so few that a child can write them down.
    Despite the arrogance of his people, God still saves them
    That’s perhaps the most astounding glory of God
    Despite how weak and arrogant and petty we are, God still saves us
    He says “Yes I will use even these knuckleheads to accomplish my purpose.”
    God doesn’t need the professional tools in his hand, he just needs his hands

    Conclusion

    Don’t leave your life in the hands of others or even in your own hands.

      • Isaiah 10:4NIV2011

      • Isaiah 9:8–12NIV2011

      • Isaiah 9:13–17NIV2011

      • Isaiah 9:18–21NIV2011

      • Isaiah 10:1–4NIV2011

      • Isaiah 10:5–6NIV2011

      • Isaiah 10:7–14NIV2011

      • Isaiah 10:15NIV2011

      • Isaiah 10:16–19NIV2011

      • Matthew 5:17–20CSB

      • Isaiah 2:2CSB

      • Matthew 5:17–18CSB

      • Genesis 12:3CSB

      • Genesis 18:17–19CSB

      • Exodus 19:5–6CSB

      • Deuteronomy 6:5CSB

      • Deuteronomy 10:16CSB

      • Deuteronomy 28:45–47CSB

      • Deuteronomy 29:4CSB

      • Deuteronomy 30:1–2CSB

      • Deuteronomy 30:6CSB

      • Jeremiah 31:31–34CSB

      • Jeremiah 22:16CSB

      • Ezekiel 36:25–27CSB

      • Matthew 5:18–19CSB

      • Matthew 5:18CSB

      • Matthew 5:20CSB

      • Matthew 1:19NIV2011

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