{"id":65228,"date":"2019-11-05T10:25:20","date_gmt":"2019-11-05T08:25:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=65228"},"modified":"2023-05-31T07:44:07","modified_gmt":"2023-05-31T04:44:07","slug":"sargon-the-evil-messenger","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/sargon-the-evil-messenger\/","title":{"rendered":"Sargon, The Evil Messenger"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[953,547],"acf":{"old_id":"65228","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":65182,"related_cahpter":"344","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"Isaiah delivers a harsh vision of Assyria\u2019s historical role and its future downfall on its own Day of Judgment","content":"

Isaiah began his prophecy with a formal prophetic declaration, a general monotheistic statement about the rise and fall of empires that attribute their success to their own gods. Such empires are only execut\u00ading God\u2019s will in the world and carrying out His mission, and they are but the rod that delivers God\u2019s punishment:<\/p>\n

Woe to Assyria, rod of My wrath \u2013 in whose hand, as a staff, is My fury \u2013 I send him against an ungodly nation, I charge him against a people that provokes Me, to take its spoil and to seize its booty, and to make it a thing trampled like the mire of the streets. (10:5\u20136)<\/p>\n

Assyria\u2019s task was to bring destruction upon nations deserving of pun\u00adishment, and they were successful. However, it may be asked how God could leave His people\u2019s fate in the hands of an evil, violent nation like Assyria. Isaiah\u2019s answer is that the Assyrian Empire is not actually in control, but rather God is ruling the world through<\/em> the Assyrian rulers. Assyria is an emissary for the punishment of wayward nations, and the Kingdom of Israel in particular.<\/p>\n

Sargon, however, is unaware that he is but a messenger, the rod of God\u2019s wrath. His arrogance surpasses all his predecessors:<\/p>\n

But this is not what he intends, this is not what he has in mind; his purpose is to destroy, to put an end to many nations. ‘Are not my commanders all kings?’ He says. Has not Calno fared like Carchemish, is not Hamath like Arpad, and Samaria like Damascus? As my hand seized the kingdoms of the idols, kingdoms whose images exceeded those of Jerusalem and Samaria \u2013 Shall I not deal with Jerusalem and her images as I dealt with Samaria and her idols? (10:7\u201311)<\/p>\n

This imaginary monologue is a summary of the Assyrian conquest up until Sargon\u2019s time. Carchemish and Samaria, like Arpad, Hamath and Damascus before them, had become Assyrian provinces, and this was attributed to the Assyrian gods who looked on and controlled it all. Sargon perceived himself as the supreme ruler of all kingdoms, and he viewed his ever increasing subjects as dirt beneath his feet. He mocked the \u201ckingdoms of the idols,\u201d and promised that Jerusalem would meet the same end as Samaria. At this point, the prophet begins a description of Assyria\u2019s \u201cDay of Judgment\u201d (10:15\u201321).<\/p>\n

Here, Isaiah contributed to the development of the theory of reward and punishment. If the Assyrian conqueror was indeed but a tool in God\u2019s hand, then it would seem that he had no will of his own, and there is no point in judging, condemning, or punishing him. According to the prophecy, however, every person is created in God\u2019s likeness, and has freedom of choice, the most important aspect of which is their consciousness and intent. The king of Assyria was unaware that he was fulfilling God\u2019s will, and he would be punished for his own intentions, which violated the mission that he was given.<\/p>\n

From: Lau and Bin Nun, Isaiah: Prophet of Righteousness and Justice <\/em>(Maggid Books, 2019), chapter 10.<\/p>\n","image":{"ID":65184,"id":65184,"title":"Isaiah-LauBinNun","filename":"Isaiah-LauBinNun.png","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Isaiah-LauBinNun.png","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/a-vision-of-a-brighter-future\/isaiah-laubinnun\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"isaiah-laubinnun","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":65181,"date":"2019-11-04 21:10:18","modified":"2019-12-16 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