Use me as You will, O Lord

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!  --Isaiah 10:15

I came across this verse in my daily Bible reading today.  Several thoughts crossed my mind, not all of them worth sharing.  However, for the purpose of this essay, I will share them anyway.

If a Hollywood exec came across this verse, he might think that it touches on all three genres of Action films:  Drama about an axe murderer (The Axe Made Me Do It!); Horror films (insert the word "Saw" with any Roman numeral behind it); and Kung Fu movies, where quarter-staff wielding ninjas fly through the air as if magically lifted by, well, the staff.

Okay, that's not what the verse means.  Let's move on.

A logical person might use this Scripture as a proof text against gun control.  "A gun is just a tool.  The tool is not evil.  Only the person who would use it for murder is evil."  Sounds good on the surface, but not really what the prophet Isaiah was trying to get across. 

Let's look at the verse in context:

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.  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.  My hand has found like a nest the wealth of all 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."  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!  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.  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.  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.  The remnant of the trees of his forest will be so few that a child can write them down.  --Isaiah 10:12-19

 God had used the king of Assyria to punish the evil deeds of Israel.  Shalmaneser had marched against Israel and conquered them, taking the best and brightest away into exile and leaving a remnant, weak and exposed.  Then the king took credit for his achievements.  We have all heard the expression, that it was so easy, "it was like taking candy from a baby."  This is a similar turn of phrase: he said it was like taking eggs out of birds nests, and the birds made no sound--no chirping, no flutter of wings, they didn't even open their mouths.

Many of us remember Julius Caesar, who said of his own conquests, "Veni, Vidi, Vici": I came, I saw, I conquered.  In this case Shalmaneser boasted of his own military prowess, not realizing that God had not only allowed him to conquer Israel, but that He had directed the king's hand and given him the victory.  What this means to us is that we should not glory in ourselves and in our own works, but humbly admit that God works all things for His glory.

I also think it is not too big a stretch to say we should not always assume God will protect us from harm or from evil.  Sometimes bad things happen to good people, either to bring us back under His authority and leadership, as He did with errant Israel, or to make an example of us to other people, like He did with the martyrs.  When He gives us success, it should not go to our heads.  Luke 17:7-9 says, "Will any one of you who has a servant plowing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come home from the field, 'Come at once and recline at table'?  Will he not rather say to him, 'Prepare supper for me, and dress properly, and serve me while I eat and drink, and afterward you will eat and drink'?  Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded?  So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, 'We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.'"

Sometimes we get so caught up in the world's vision of Jesus--love your neighbor, judge not, it's okay to associate with prostitutes and sinners since Jesus did--that we tend to overlook the concept of God's wrath.  Jesus said in Matthew 10:34-36, "Do not think that I have come to bring peace on earth.  I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.  For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.  And a person's enemies will be those of his own household."  If we are faithful, it will not always be sunshine and daisies for us.  It may tear our hearts out to dissociate ourselves from family and friends, but we are called to be faithful to Him, not to them.  Matthew 19:19 says, "And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for My Name's sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life."  His promise is eternal reward, not necessarily rewards on this earth.

God is not a puppet that we can manipulate.  He is not a divine Santa Claus.  He is Lord and Master, and whatever He has for us we must humbly accept, for our good and His glory.