The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 10:15
Man, the instrument of God. This passage is most humbling to that pride of man which leads him to say, "I am my own; I can do as I please with my own powers and life." That pride it breaks down by saying," Not so; you are not your own; you are God's; he made you; he gives you all; he uses you for his own high purposes." The proudest, wealthiest, mightiest man on earth may seem to be something. In reality, what is he? An axe, a saw, a staff in the hands of God, to work out his will. How... read more
The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 10:15
Shall the axe boast itself ? Here the prophet takes the word, and rebukes Assyria for her folly in forgetting, or not perceiving, that she is a mere instrument, like an axe, a saw, a rod, or a stuff. The saw … him that shaketh it; rather, him that moveth it to and fro . The action of sawing is alluded to. As if the rod should shake itself against them that lift it up ; rather, as if a rod were to move them to and fro that lift it up . For Assyria to assert herself as if she were... read more