We Are God's Instruments

WE ARE GOD'S INSTRUMENTS (TOOLS, MACHINES, PUPPETS, ROBOTS, VESSELS) AND HE USES US TO HIS OWN ENDS. THIS IS SO WHETHER WE REALIZE IT OR ACCEPT IT AS SO.

The following narrative from Isaiah 10


"The Lord says, "How terrible it will be for the people of Assyria! They are the war club that carries out (executes - SS) my anger. I will send them against the ungodly nation of Judah. I will order (make -- SS) them to fight against my own people. They make me angry. I will order them to take their goods and carry them away. I will order them to walk on my people as if they were walking on mud. But that is not what the king of Assyria plans. It is not what he has in mind. His purpose (intent, reasoning, etc., in contrast to God's purpose and plan -- SS) is to destroy many nations. His purpose is to put an end to them (which God's intention is not to put an end to Israel, only to correct them to salvation -- SS).

'Aren't all of my commanders kings?' he says.
'I took over Calno just as I took Carchemish.
I took over Hamath just as I did Arpad.
I took Samaria just as I did Damascus.

My powerful hand grabbed hold of kingdoms whose people worship statues of gods. They had more gods than Jerusalem and Samaria did. I took over Samaria and its statues of gods. In the same way, I will take Jerusalem and its gods.'


The Lord will finish everything he has planned (purposed, predetermined, predestined -- SS) to do against Mount Zion and Jerusalem. Then he'll say, "Now I will punish the king of Assyria. I will punish him because his heart and his eyes are so proud.

"The king of Assyria says, "'I have used my powerful hand to take over all of those nations. I am very wise. I have great understanding. I have wiped out the borders between nations. I've taken their treasures. Like a great hero I've brought their kings under my control. I've taken the wealth of the nations. It was as easy as reaching into a bird's nest. I've gathered the riches of all of those countries. It was as easy as gathering eggs that have been left in a nest. Not a single baby bird flapped its wings. Not one of them opened its mouth to chirp.' "Does an ax claim to be more important than the one who swings it? Does a saw brag that it is better than the one who uses it? That would be like a stick swinging someone who picks it up! It would be like a war club waving the one who carries it!" (verses 5-15)

I am sure that all the things that the King of Assyria did in conquering Israel, and the other nations, he thought was the direct result of his own free will, his own self determinations and machinations. He was creating the future by his choices and decisions, a veritable king of kings, he surmised that he was, a sovereign who had no sovereign over him.

But, as the text shows, he was just a pawn of the Lord, doing God's will even though he did not know or acknowledge it. Men can "mean (intend, purpose, etc.) something for evil (one reason) while God secretly "means it for good," as in the case of Joseph being sold into Egypt by his brothers (Gen. 50:20), and in the death of Christ by the hands of wicked men (who intended one thing in putting Christ to death while God intended something else from the same event -- see Acts 2:23 & 4:35).

People act with a sense that they are not being controlled or forced by anything, when the fact is, they are controlled completely, first by God and next by "secondary causes."

"Does an ax (some might not like God saying we are merely axes and hammers in his hand to use us as he pleases; don't they cry out that such a view degrades man and makes him, of all things, a puppet or robot?)claim to be more important than the one who swings it? (But, yes, Arminian free will theology and philosophy does make man, the ax and hammer, more important that the one who made the hammer) Does a saw brag that it is better than the one who uses it? That would be like a stick swinging someone who picks it up! It would be like a war club waving the one who carries it!"

"...like a stick swinging someone who picks it up," says to us that God swings us as he pleases. We do not swing him! He is not the puppet, we are!

Thank God he is making me into a glorious happy puppet who will have all the freedom in the world from sin, death, suffering, etc. I am glad I will be freed from such.

We do not create ourselves. God creates us. He is the decider of the destiny of every creature, from the highest angel to the lowest worm.

Will we be like the wicked king of Assyria and be ignorant of the rule of God over the universe, over our lives, over the destinies of nations and individuals?

I hear people say, "God manages and directs us, but he does not control us." It is absurd to think that manage does not involve control.

"Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you."