Leaving Egypt Ministries, Obadiah D. Morris

A chapter summary of Isaiah 10 leaves us with a handful of questions that I believe would be quite fruitful to attempt to answer in our world where men are out of touch with the way of thinking of the prophets. The prophets are very profitable reading in our times, to make a pun, but their message—the expression of the will of God, the judgment that comes upon the kingdoms of men, or the sins involved in trusting in human rulers and lawmakers—seem to be very disregarded in our times, especially given that most churches and Christian readers neglect them for the gospels and the other books of the New Testament, even though they are crucial to understanding each other. 

To attempt to answer some of these questions will probably offer a world of wisdom for men who have become out of touch with the great lessons against statism in the prophetic books. Even Jesus Christ lamented the ignorance people had toward the prophets, saying, “O fools, and slow to heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken” (Luke 24:25). Clearly, they mattered to Christ, who also said, “I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them” (Matthew 5:17). Though He was probably referring more to the Messianic prophecies here, we see that the word “all” was included to suggest that everything they said was also important. 

Let me try and provide some answers to these rather relevant questions provided in this chapter summary.

1. How does the portrayal of unjust rulers in verses 1-4 challenge our understanding of justice in our society today?

The opening verses here are rather important considering that men in our world today simply assume that anyone who calls themselves a “lawmaker” or “law enforcement officer” is a genuine upholder of just law (i.e., the law of God) by virtue of operating under that name. This is simply not the case, though, today or then. As the prophet makes clear, 

“Woe to those who enact unjust statutes and issue oppressive decrees, to deprive the poor of fair treatment and withhold justice from the oppressed of My people, to make widows their prey” (Isaiah 10:1-2). 

Clearly, there are men who control “the law” who—contrary to the assumptions of state worshipers—do, in fact, issue bogus edicts that have nothing to do with law. This is what the prophet complains of here.

The challenge of Isaiah 10:1-2 is thus to expose the foolish and unjust statism that abounds greatly in our society today, even among Christians who think that “the Constitution” or “the lawmakers” are upholders of The Law simply because they said they were. 

What is called “the law” in our times is perverted by men into an instrument of legal plunder, where robbery is declared to be “legal” (for the State, of course, but not for you) under the name of “taxation” and thousands of other names. There is no reason to think that those who have gained control over the legal system are inherently godly or lawful just because they have obtained a monopoly on law. As another prophet could say, “they that handle the law knew me not” (Jeremiah 2:8). Let us not even elaborate on the decrees of the king that landed Daniel in the Lion’s den, Paul in a prison, or Jesus Christ on the cross. Were those “lawful” actions? Were those examples to the Christian that “law’ is always just? That they should always be obeyed? The prophet Daniel, who immediately defied the “king’s decree,” by praying to God anyway would beg to differ (Daniel 6:4-13); so would the apostle Peter who suggested that “we should obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29).

Most people in our time would act as if there is no such thing as an “unjust statute” or “oppressive decree”; anything that a “government” declares to be “law,” they think, must be just and moral and obeyed. They would not agree with Isaiah that those who control the systems of “law” in our world have used it to oppress people, victimize them, and invade their bodies and property; they think it is God’s law order. All those who languish in a cage or are killed by the police are dismissed as men who just “shouldn’t have broken the law if they didn’t want to be in prison or get killed by the police.”

This is how wicked our people have become. They have no discernment nor objective standard for what good law is, but simply take the rulers’ word for it. The “lawmakers” (why do we need to make law if God gave it to us?) are assumed to be men of God and the police who enforce it are assumed to be upholders of order rather than men who have agreed to use violence to enforce the decrees of politicians. 

But not all men have been as foolish as most of our people are today. The nineteenth-century French political economist, Frédéric Bastiat, saw through the lies of the men who control the systems of “law.” As he said, in the increasingly socialist society of his day,

“The law [has been] perverted! And the police powers of the state perverted along with it! The law, I say, [has] not only turned from its proper purpose but made to follow an entirely contrary purpose! The law [has] become the weapon of every kind of greed! Instead of checking crime, the law [is] itself guilty of the evils it is supposed to punish!” (Bastiat, The Law, p. 1).

Most people don’t agree with this today. They say “the law” is just no matter what, because “the government” made it, and “government” is their god. They say ignorant things like “the police are just doing their jobs,” assuming that they are upholding God’s law of liberty and property rather than robbing people under the guise of the law. But as Bastiat said, if the law itself is perverted, e.g., by “lawmakers” decreeing whatever they want to without any objective basis in God’s law system, then the “law enforcers”—the beloved police officers that most men in this country worship—are also perverters of God’s law order, for they are enforcing the decrees of men and not the Law of God. Most people still think that “state law” is here to uphold order and justice in society. But as Bastiat saw, “state law” is nothing but a corruption of good law into a political instrument for robbing people, which he called “legal plunder.” Most people still think that police “protect” us from crime. But as Bastiat saw, they are, through the enforcement of these invasive decrees, criminals themselves. For one is not exempt from theft, kidnapping, or murder, because they wear a badge and call themselves “the law.”

It is pretty easy to show that “law enforcers” are engaged in the enforcement of an ungodly law system. For if “the law” itself is plunder against the people and invasions of property, then those who enforce it are also involved—on the front lines of violence for that matter—in such oppression. The excuse that “they don’t make the law” is not good enough. If anything, the enforcers are entirely worse than the lawmakers, for without them the decrees of politicians are a dead letter. “Write your politician if you don’t want me putting you in a cage” is a sorry excuse to do evil. If “the law” requires violence against the poor, as it surely does in our society, then the enforcers of that law are ungodly. As the scripture says, “He that oppresseth the poor reproacheth his Maker” (Proverbs 14:31). By carrying out the unlawful decrees (by God’s standards) of men, government police officers go against the way of God. 

But how many people would consider police officers to be criminals today? Not very many. Most would tell us that they are indispensable “crime fighters.” We still have a lot to learn from the prophets if men think that anything that men say is “law” is morally acceptable or agreeable with God. Isaiah shows, evidently, that there are ungodly lawmakers.

2. How might we unknowingly contribute to laws or systems that oppress the marginalized?

We have already hinted at this in the answer to the first question. When people support state “lawmakers” and state “law enforcement” officers in the belief that they are upholding the law order of God, they unwittingly support a system of plunder, which is what all statist systems amount to (not just “every one of them but ours”). They contribute to the formation of an Egyptian society that puts people in bondage and under tribute.

3. How can we rectify the injustices within our society in the light of Isaiah’s teachings?

In order to fix our problems, we have to first know how they came about. Namely, our problems started when we trusted in men—particularly a state monopoly—to uphold God’s system of law for us. But we’re in a difficult position to fix these problems given that men cannot even see that this is where we went wrong. They still think this is “freedom” and that the state plunderers “trust in God” because they say they do. Even those (e.g., conservatives) who are beginning to see (way too late) that society is falling apart are still trusting in man’s law systems to get them back on track. In their minds, the only problem with the downfall of society is not the inherent invasions of liberty associated with “state law,” but rather its laxity on “the criminals.” If only state law and the police would get tougher, they tell us, things could be corrected. They are still looking for their salvation in the State. 

What then is the solution? Quite simply, the solution is to return to God again and trust in the Lord to protect us and provide us with the way. We were never to trust in Egypt for our salvation. We were to keep God’s law of liberty close to our hearts, rather than pass off this responsibility to men, who, as Bastiat said, pervert the law order and turn it into a means of extorting their neighbors. Take this Proverb, for instance:

“My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments; for they will add length to your days, years and peace to your life. Never let loving devotion or faithfulness leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. Then you will find favor and high regard in the sight of God and man. Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight. Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and turn away from evil” (Proverbs 3:1-7). 

If one spends just a few minutes reading some of the Psalms, they will see that the Psalmists had trust in God to provide everything for them. Never did they say, “We will lean on police officers for our protection.” Indeed, they realized that statism was precisely what we needed protection from. 

4. In what ways can we see God’s sovereignty in our current global situation?

Again, when men don’t understand the law of God, they cannot understand why the “law” orders of men are crumbling today, not only being perverted themselves and using violence against non-criminals, but indeed failing to give justice to those who are in need of it. But if they had ever read the prophets, they would know that these systems are all bound to fail. This was the very message the prophets were always bringing to the kingdoms of men. The very first words of Isaiah are directed at the kingdoms and the rebellious people in them who never listen. And along with the other prophets, he continues preaching that same message of judgment upon the kingdoms of men. 

Thus, we see God’s sovereignty today in the failing empires of man. They are violations of the Kingdom of God and bound for judgment. They have to come to an end. The downfall of America today, which everyone thought was a “glorious” and even “godly” kingdom, is proof that God is still working to correct people who have chosen paths that are contrary to His will. 

5. How does the image of Assyria as God’s instrument of anger challenge our understanding of God’s justice?

God teaches that the way to stay safe and free is to rely on God for your protection, not politicians. But considering that most men believe precisely the opposite, i.e., that States are here to protect us, here we have another profound lesson from the prophets: that statism is a punishment for the sin of erecting and supporting a State of your own. As the prophet explains, God will make use of the State against people who turn away from Him and towards a “law” system of their own. He says, 

“Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger; the staff in their hands is My wrath. I will send him against a godless nation; I will dispatch him against a people destined for My rage, to take spoils and seize plunder, and to trample them down like clay in the streets” (Isaiah 10:5-6). 

This may sound a little redundant at first, but this is the message the prophets are trying to drive home: Statism brings the State. God uses the State, “the rod of My anger,” to smash other statists, both of whom are in the wrong. He does not approve of violent Assyrian systems but nevertheless will use them to give other statists a taste of their own medicine. All the terrible things that come from states—taxes, war, famine, labor camps, prisons, conscription, government agents stealing your kids, etc—are punishments for trusting in men over God (see 1 Samuel 8). When we find ourselves ruled by statists, this is what we get for trusting them to “protect” us. For the sins of Jerusalem—that is setting up kings and thereby forsaking the Lord—in the scriptures, God sent the very wicked Assyrians upon them. God’s thinking seems to be, “Oh, you like kings? well I have one just for you!” And then, for their own sins, he destroys them, too (Isa 10:12). 

And this is what men still haven’t learned today. They tell us that we need political rulers to keep the proverbial Assyrians away when God tells us that the Assyrians come precisely when we distrust the Lord to keep us safe from our enemies and trust instead in the chariots and horsemen of Egypt.

The challenge to the common thinking on justice is thus that statism brings judgment instead of justice, and that the means of avoiding such evil systems (foreign or domestic) is to avoid having anything to do with them in the first place. 

Whereas most men tell us that the only way to be protected from the “Chinese,” the “Russians,” or “the communists,” is to set up a massively socialistic and militaristic system of our own (which isn’t really ours), God tells us that doing such thing is precisely what will bring a police state, state tyranny, all-around socialism, and even invasion by the very foreign states that caused man-fearing men to say we needed one of our own. 

We may consider the State to be God’s form of justice only insofar as we see it as a means of crushing statist societies who, for likewise disobeying His will, God wants to punish. But we cannot consider the State to be God’s system for law, order, and justice, as most men do today. To the contrary, statist societies invite God’s judgment. The State is an enemy of God, even if He uses one against the other.

6. Can you identify situations where God may have used unlikely ‘instruments’ in your life to achieve His divine purpose?

(I will leave this for the individual to ponder). 

7. How does the punishment of Assyria’s arrogance inform our perspective on pride and humility?

We see in the scriptures that “the proud” are often those who have believed they are gods and had the audacity to attempt to rule over other people. “The proud” are regularly related to the wicked of the world, those who bring their boots down upon us, those who persecute the poor, the wicked state plunderers, the violent political systems that scheme against us, the state oppressors, the people who set up checkpoints and speed traps, the plunderers who trick people into sharing in their stolen (taxed) property, the people who run cities and states, the mighty rulers over people, and even specifically the Egyptian rulers who we know are the statists in the scriptures. 

It would be shallow to consider “the proud” to simply be some individual’s problem with narcissism, though such a consideration should not be neglected, and may even be applied to the rulers. “The proud” are those who think they have a right to rule over other people and escape God’s judgment while doing it. What we can learn, then, from this section of Isaiah is to avoid the pride of statism if we don’t want to be torn down by God. Because “The LORD tears down the house of the proud” (Proverbs 15:25).

8. Discuss the concept of “God’s pruning process” in the context of personal growth. Can you identify moments of pruning in your life?

(I will leave this for the individual to ponder). 

9. In what ways can we ensure that our successes do not lead to arrogance, like the Assyrians?

The State is essentially always competing with God for the hearts and minds of men so that it can trick them into believing that this criminal organization, rather than God, is the source of “freedom,” “law and order,” or “prosperity.” Americans are especially fooled by this trick because of the relentless patriotic propaganda of “freedom” through the State. Rather than, e.g., attribute what freedom and prosperity they may have to what is left of markets, private capital investment, exchange, etc., men over time always point to the plunderous State as the entity that won them all these things (even though it robbed them of these things). We are told to thank Pharaoh’s veterans for “our freedom,” that “freedom isn’t free” but comes from me sacrificing themselves to Egyptian militaries. As the prophet says in another chapter, men have “made Cush their hope and Egypt their boast” (Isaiah 20:5). In modern language, they have said “America is the best country ever” and “we have the most powerful military in the world.”

As soon as men thank the State, rather than God, for what they have, their societies are done. And this is where we are today. The majority of American men would tell you that “without the military, we’d be speaking Chinese.” There is little praise for God alone. Men think that Pharaohs provide bread and that his chariots and horsemen keep them safe. Without Pharaoh’s “law enforcers,” we are told, there would be no “law and order.” As the prophet said elsewhere, they “seek shelter under Pharaoh’s protection and take refuge in Egypt’s shade” (Isaiah 30:2). Most men attribute all they have to the statist system that has, in fact, robbed them of their liberty, put them into bondage, and threatens to impoverish all of society and any progress that was made in spite of them. Our people are proud.

10. What does the prophecy about the remnant of Israel teach us about remaining faithful in difficult times?

Elsewhere in the scriptures, God teaches us that His smashing of statist societies is meant to wake us up to the truth and way in the Lord. As another prophet describes it, 

“You fear the sword, so I will bring the sword against you, declares the Lord GOD. I will bring you out of the city and deliver you into the hands of foreigners, and I will execute judgments against you. You will fall by the sword, and I will judge you even to the borders of Israel. Then you will know that I am the LORD. The city will not be a pot for you, nor will you be the meat within it. I will judge you even to the borders of Israel. Then you will know that I am the LORD. For you have neither followed My statutes nor practiced My ordinances, but you have conformed to the ordinances of the nations around you” (Ezekiel 11:8-12). 

The problem is that men never rely on God; they trust in the “law” systems of men to deliver them to freedom, peace, and prosperity, which as God taught only leads to their destruction. 

Isaiah prophesies a day when men give up on their foolish statism and start trusting in the Lord again, which is the lesson we need to learn in difficult times. 

“On that day the remnant of Israel and the survivors of the house of Jacob will no longer depend on him who struck them, but they will truly rely on the LORD, the Holy One of Israel. A remnant will return —a remnant of Jacob— to the Mighty God” (Isaiah 10:20-21).

Judgment is coming to our society; it is awash in the sin of statism and still unrepentant for this grave error. The question, though, is whether men will wake up when disaster strikes? Will they know that the destruction was inevitable given the system they supported? Probably not. This is their “glorious” country. Will they know that it was both the judgment and effects of trusting in an Egyptian system to maintain order? Most often men say we need more statism. In their minds, the only problem was that we didn’t have enough police, enough jails, enough laws, enough economic intervention, etc. They never see that those things were the cause of the problems in the first place and that all the crimes and things they don’t like are the symptoms of trusting in the kingdoms of men over God. 

Our test, then, is to remain faithful to God as judgment comes upon us. To refuse to turn to the alleged “protection” of men (i.e., politicians) even when it seems like that is our only hope. (And they are going to try and make it seem that way). We have already seen how many people failed in one of the latest schemes of the elites to call a “pandemic,” though it also woke a lot of people up to the evils. Still, a majority of the people lined up to take their “vaccine” and they approved of the State’s measures to (supposedly) fight a pandemic. Well, that was just the first of things to come. I’m afraid that most Americans are ready to go gung-ho over a system they may have been losing faith in as soon as the elites unravel their schemes for the next world war. “National emergencies” have a way of getting even the apolitical to wave a flag and support a Pharaoh. And the rulers know that such society-wide issues as they have manufactured can serve to make men cross “bipartisan” lines and support Egypt in whatever their violent endeavors are. (Recall how George W. Bush’s approval rating shot up to some 90% after September 11th, 2001). 

11. How can the message of hope and restoration in verses 20-34 inspire us during challenging circumstances?

The reason men set up Egyptian systems is because they said this was the only way to protect them from their other enemies. They didn’t trust in God to save them but rather cited the military and police as the indispensable “protectors” in society. They didn’t see that trusting in Egypt, however, brings—again this point seems redundant but men still don’t get it—Egypt. They thought they could have an Egypt to wield against their enemies, that would however refrain from building up a domestic plunder system.

Rather than trust men to protect us from statism, though, God always taught that the way to avoid these systems was to trust in Him. We were never supposed to fear men, for when we fear men, Egyptians show up telling us that they will protect us from them, all while they bring us into bondage. As God says through the prophet, 

‘O My people who dwell in Zion, do not fear Assyria, who strikes you with a rod and lifts his staff against you as the Egyptians did. For in just a little while My fury against you will subside, and My anger will turn to their destruction.’ And the LORD of Hosts will brandish a whip against them, as when He struck Midian at the rock of Oreb. He will raise His staff over the sea, as He did in Egypt. On that day the burden will be lifted from your shoulders, and the yoke from your neck. The yoke will be broken because your neck will be too large” (Isaiah 10:24-27). 

God takes His faithful servants out of Egyptian societies, but men always return to Egypt when they forget to maintain their faith and service to God by obeying His commandments, which teach us to avoid such evils. 

Though great evils will surely come upon us for our sins of supporting false god man-kings, and can’t be avoided once such evils have been erected to this extent, we better keep our faith that God is with us and will exalt His people one day. The future ahead of us will be a great test of our faith, and many will fail.

12. How can we better align ourselves with God’s will in our daily lives, based on the teachings in Isaiah 10?

The answer to this question has more or less already been provided. It is not God’s will for us to trust Egyptian systems; they bring statist occupation rather than keep it away. To better align ourselves with God, we should trust in His salvation over the false salvation of Egypt, which, as we know, only brings judgment. We should trust that God will take care of our statist enemies for us, and that Pharaoh is a liar and a thief.

“Behold, the Lord GOD of Hosts will lop off the branches with terrifying power. The tall trees will be cut down, the lofty ones will be felled. He will clear the forest thickets with an axe, and Lebanon will fall before the Mighty One” (Isaiah 10:33-34). 

“The tall trees” — that is, those state systems that have exalted themselves to the heavens in an attempt to be as gods. Another prophet gives an excellent depiction of this analogizing of tall trees to the kingdoms of men. 

13. What does it mean to “rely solely on the Lord,” as described in the latter part of Isaiah 10?

Most men, being statists, would be offended by a reading of the prophets, who all tell of God destroying the false god systems of statism.

“Therefore the Lord GOD of Hosts will send a wasting disease among Assyria’s stout warriors, and under his pomp will be kindled a fire like a burning flame. And the Light of Israel will become a fire, and its Holy One a flame. In a single day it will burn and devour Assyria’s thorns and thistles. The splendor of its forests and orchards, both soul and body, it will completely destroy, as a sickness consumes a man. The remaining trees of its forests will be so few that a child could count them” (Isaiah 10:16-19).

The problem with men, however, is that they’re arbitrary. They aren’t absolute statists; the other ones (e.g., North Korean) are bad, but not “ours.” So they might read this as God destroying foreign states (e.g., China), but not the one they support. (God using Assyria on His disobedient people and then taking down the Assyrians should serve to disprove this, however). 

Relying on the Lord means trusting in God for everything, including protection from enemies. This is something that has not yet been realized by men who have reduced God to a spiritual matter, despite the endless references to God being also a God who protects us from our enemies and is not limited to soul-saving. If men are still trusting in Egypt to save them, though maybe not Assyrians, they are still not trusting in God. 

14. How does Isaiah 10 affirm God’s commitment to justice?

The great failure of men has been to ignore the word of God, which preaches the destruction that comes upon statist societies for their sins of worshiping man-gods. This is the relentless message of the prophets that is still virtually ignored among men, so much so that it will probably seem as if I am making it up. It isn’t confined to Isaiah 10; all the prophets tell of this same message. God is committed to destroying those false “law” orders of men that go against His ways and follow their own paths. Isaiah 10 is just another example of God destroying these evil systems, a law that is not over with today. 

15. How can the concept of divine justice in Isaiah 10 be applied to contemporary issues in society?

As in the prior question, modern-day statist systems, which are even more heinous and destructive than ever before, are not exempt from God’s judgment just because it is no longer “Biblical times.” God’s law is forever and it applies to all men who disobey the commandments and choose the violent political systems of men. Thus, we should expect these statist systems of today to likewise be torn down. Contrary to brainwashed Americans, “their” country is not “exceptional.”

16. How can Isaiah 10 guide our prayers for those in power and positions of leadership?

We should pray for those in power, but for their salvation and spiritual regeneration rather than for them to make the state system more godly, which is an impossibility. We should pray that they repent, come to know the Lord, and quit walking on the evil path. When most people pray for government agents, however, in their minds, God is with them and they are praying for their abilities to continue plundering us. “Make sure all Pharaohs’s police officers are safe today when kicking in doors of your people, okay?” “Make sure my son comes back safely after bombing children in the Middle East.”

17. Discuss how the themes of judgment, repentance, and restoration in Isaiah 10 relate to the broader narrative of the Bible.

Isaiah 10 is just as good as any other place in the books of the prophets to explain the Kingdom of God to people, which is much different from the violent systems of men that they are used to trusting in. And it isn’t hard to fit this into the wider message of the scriptures. 

We might say that a general prophecy in the scriptures is the eventual success of the Kingdom of God vs. the false kingdoms of men, which hitherto have done nothing but plunder the order of God. 

“In the last days the mountain of the house of the LORD will be established as the chief of the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and all nations will stream to it. And many people will come and say: ‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us His ways so that we may walk in His paths.’ For the law will go forth from Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. Then He will judge between the nations and arbitrate for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will no longer take up the sword against nation, nor train anymore for war” (Isaiah 2:2-4).

As another prophet continues this narrative, 

“‘On that day,’ declares the LORD, ‘I will gather the lame; I will assemble the outcast, even those whom I have afflicted. And I will make the lame into a remnant, and the outcast into a strong nation. Then the LORD will rule over them in Mount Zion from that day and forever. And you, O watchtower of the flock, O stronghold of the Daughter of Zion— the former dominion will be restored to you; sovereignty will come to the Daughter of Jerusalem'” (Micah 4:6-8). 

We have a vision—one that provides great hopes while we yet remain captives of men—of a world where no longer men, but God, is our judge, lawmaker, and king. 

18. How does Isaiah 10 reinforce the importance of humility before God?

As implied in the answer to question 7, where the proud and mighty men of the world believe they are gods and have the right to rule over other people, we need to realize that we don’t have all the answers for ourselves and have to rely on God for everything: Salvation, wisdom, protection, moral instruction, etc. Statists are far from humble; they are the proud. They think they have found all the answers to the world in political violence. With just enough intervention, they tell us, society could be made anew.

But we either humble ourselves before God, or get humbled, and we don’t want the latter. At least a good part of the importance of humility before God is avoiding the evils of statism that come upon societies who trust in men as their protectors, which as Isaiah shows, brings the proverbial Assyrians. 

19. How can the prophetic message of Isaiah 10 inspire our actions as Christians in today’s world?

We ought to be trusting God, our shield, not the systems of men. We ought to fear God, not men, who only bring us into captivity with their false promises and deceptions of salvation through the State. God’s nature has not changed over the ages; our faith and works are to be according to His commandments and not the phony “law” systems of men. 

20. Based on Isaiah 10, how can we maintain hope and faith when facing the consequences of our actions or enduring trials?

This is somewhat of a repeat of question 11. But it is the great test that has come before us. As Babylon continues her decline, will men come back to God or will they continue to support the evils?