The book of Isaiah is a powerful book of the Bible. I am studying the Prophecy Study Bible General Editor Tim LaHaye. It is 59% prophecy in the King James Version. My study is highlighted by NIV Halley's Bible Handbook by Henry H. Halley. Isaiah was a prophet of the southern kingdom of Judah, when the northern kingdom of Israel had already been overcome by the Assyrian Empire, which in 734 B.C. took away the population. In 701 the "Assyrians were stopped before the walls of Jerusalem by an angel of God." In Isaiah chapter ten the headline is "Assyria the Instrument of God." The footnote to Isaiah 10:5 states "Isaiah declares that Assyria was a rod in the hand of God to discipline Israel, even though the prideful Assyrians did not intend to cooperate with God. The prophet's intention is to make it clear that Assyria will not conquer Israel by her own power, but by God's permission."
Isaiah's main place in prophecy was to carry forth "...a series of warnings aimed at Judah and Jerusalem (chaps 1-5)" which sound the alarm to the moral decay of the Jewish nation. Eventually Jerusalem is isolated by Assyria, which conquered all of Judah except for Jerusalem. Then Assyria is overcome by the Babylonian Empire, which takes the inhabitants of Jerusalem to Babylon and only a tenth will later return. The overriding message is that nations and empires stand and fall only by the allowance of God, almighty. God will always prevail. It is God's world. He created it. He set forth certain rules of behavior and demands obedience to his laws. The Old Testament establishes his standards for humanity.
As a Believer in the Lord Jesus Christ as my Savior I have studied the laws of God. I have attempted personally to adhere to them in my daily life. I have not been perfect nor can any of us, but we can never cease to attempt to live by God's standards. Unfortunately, I am very cognizant of the moral decay in my own native land much less throughout the world. The question on my mind is when, whether and how may the moral decay so prevalent in the United States bring God's judgment. Will there be a God's instrument to discipline us?
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