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RSV
From: Isaiah 10:5-7, 13b-16
Assyria condemned
[13b] I have removed the boundaries of peoples,
and have plundered their treasures;
like a bull I have brought down those who sat on thrones.
[14] My hand has found like a nest
the wealth of the peoples;
and as men gather 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.
[15] Shall the axe vaunt itself 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!
[16] Therefore the Lord, the Lord of hosts,
will send wasting sickness among his stout warriors,
and under his glory a burning will be kindled,
like the burning of fire.
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Commentary:
10:5-19. The prophet sees the Assyrians doings as evidence of Gods control over the fate of nations: Assyria is the rod that the Lord uses to punish his people for their unfaithfulness (cf. vv. 5-6). The Catechism of the Catholic Church uses this passage from Isaiah, and others from Holy Scripture, to point out that we see the Holy Spirit, the principal author of Sacred Scripture, often attributing actions to God without mentioning any secondary causes. This is not a primitive mode of speech, but a profound way of recalling Gods primacy and absolute Lordship over history and the world (cf. Is 10:5-15; 45:5-7; Deut 32:39; Sir 11:14) (no. 304). However, Assyria went beyond its brief, by treating Judah the same way it did pagan nations: it did not realize that its strength was on loan from God, and it took pride in its own might: v. 9 carries a list of important cities captured by the Assyrians (vv. 7-I I). So, in due course, God will judge and humble their pride (vv. 12-18); Assyria will be reduced to a shadow of its former glory.
There is a call here to acknowledge that God is Lord of human affairs, and to be docile to his purposes (cf. vv. 15-16). The sin of pride is denounced, for it involves arrogating to oneself what belongs to God, and putting oneself in Gods place. Therefore, reading the spiritual meaning of the passage, Origen notices that it applies to every sinner: Every evildoer makes an idol of what he desires, and serves his sin; by melting down the work of a craftsmans hands and sculpting the idol in secret, he becomes subject to its curse. We make many idols in the depths of our hearts when we sin (Homiliae in Isaiam, 8, 1).