“Woe to those who enact evil statutes
And to those who constantly record unjust decisions,
So as to deprive the needy of justice
And rob the poor of My people of their rights,
So that widows may be their spoil
And that they may plunder the orphans.
Now what will you do in the day of punishment,
And in the devastation which will come from afar?
To whom will you flee for help?
And where will you leave your wealth?
Nothing remains but to crouch among the captives
Or fall among the slain.
In spite of all this, His anger does not turn away
And His hand is still stretched out.”
Isaiah 10:1-4 NASB1995
The fourth stanza of this “Speech of the Outstretched Hand” targets those who pervert justice and righteousness. They write evil statutes and record unjust decisions, targeting those who are the most vulnerable. They may “walk the walk” and claim solidarity with the poor and those needing justice, but they do the opposite in courts and in legislatures.
J. Vernon McGee is quoted in Precept Austin with some pithy commentary that lands this right now, in our modern times:
This verse is very much up-to-date. I think we are seeing the working out of this in our contemporary culture, because the courts are to hand down justice and mirror the justice of God, and they don’t. Lawlessness abounds. People sink into degradation. The idea of freedom has been distorted. Every criminal who is arrested ought to be given a fair trial but in order that my family and your family can walk the streets in peace, criminals will have to be punished. Many who are guilty of crimes are set free by a softhearted, softheaded judge. That judge is not giving justice to me and my family or to you and your family....
One of the leading political analysts in this country recently stated on a telecast that every program that has been devised to help the poor has hurt the poor. What is wrong? The only One who will give justice to the poor is God. Judges are supposed to represent God on earth. Today many godless men are judges. They are in no position to judge at all until they recognize that they are representing God....
It is a farce to have a man put his hand on the Bible and take an oath in a court of law today, because most judges do not believe it is the Word of God. The lawyers, the jury, and the men who are taking the oath probably do not believe it is God’s Word. When you don’t believe it, you might as well take an oath on a Sears and Roebuck catalog. Some of them may have more respect for that than they do for the Bible.
God is dealing with principles; and, until a judge represents God, he cannot represent the people. We have gotten so far from this concept that I am sure I sound like a square! And that’s what I am....
God is saying to the judges, “You are to represent Me, and the day is coming when I am going to judge you.” I feel that every judge ought to recognize the fact that he is one day going to stand before God and give an account of how he has handled his responsibility here on earth. Judges in our day seem to have bleeding hearts; they want to show mercy to the poor criminal. Well, they should be meting out justice to both rich and poor. In the day of reckoning, the unjust judges will stand before the Just Judge.
Referring to the Sears and Roebuck catalog dates this commentary a little bit (J. Vernon McGee died in 1988), but he would be astonished at how this situation has not improved, but is actually getting much worse. Judges who release criminals over and over again are not giving any justice to actual or potential victims. It is a form of “suicidal empathy” (being overly empathic or sympathetic to those who would harm or kill you, thus overlooking the victims). It is even worse when those who are in the country illegally commit crimes and are released to do it again and again.
I’m going to detour into something political now because I think it is crucial for Christians to not sit on the sidelines: There are candidates in recent elections for what is known as the Democrat Socialists of America. They are well-funded and are winning primaries and general elections by running on the Democrat ticket, beating out other more mainstream Democrats. They are getting attention because people are perhaps not happy with the current administration so they look for the new shiny object. There have been rumors or reports abounding that this organization advocates eliminating the police and abolishing prisons, letting all offenders go free. Many of the DSA candidates have denied these rumors as the midterm elections loom closer, so I thought I would go straight to their website and see their intended plan rather than sharing someone else’s opinion (see excerpt below):
DSA Political Platform
For all of the working class to achieve collective liberation we must constrain, diminish, and abolish the carceral forces of the state — from prisons and police themselves, to their manifestations in all forms throughout society. Each step forward in reducing the size, power, and authority of the repressive forces of the state expands the space for mass, organized, and collective action of the working class, and clears ground for us to build the institutions of a society to serve our communities with real justice and equality.
We are committed to the horizon of abolition and the path leading us there. Our demands:
Defund the police by rejecting any expansion to police budgets or scope of enforcement while cutting budgets annually towards zero
End the criminalization of working-class survival
Freedom for all incarcerated people
Demilitarize the police and end colonial policing of our cities and neighborhoods
Freedom of working-class self-organization and democratic political action
Invest in community self-governance and care, not cops
I’m not sure I can speak Marxist double-talk very well, but I can read and this sounds like they are certainly advocating eliminating the police and opening up the prisons, plus they are calling for the elimination of laws that “criminalize” working-class survival. I believe this advocates open theft of anything that a “working-class” member deems necessary for their “survival”; I would surmise that might include the latest iPhone and the best clothing, beyond stealing food and other basic commodities. If these policies are implemented at the national level (along with their other super socialist ideas), well, I leave that to your imagine what life would be like, as millions and millions would be victims. It would certainly get Isaiah’s attention, so we need to pray to God for true justice to prevail, not anarchy or totalitarianism (true socialism is impossible to implement without force).
Another part of the McGee commentary is worth looking at: One of the leading political analysts in this country recently stated on a telecast that every program that has been devised to help the poor has hurt the poor. Here’s the response from my web search engine AI on the “War on Poverty”:
Total Spending on the War on Poverty
Since its inception in 1964, the War on Poverty has seen significant financial investment.
Spending Overview
Year Introduced 1964
Total Spending (Adjusted for Inflation): $25 trillion
Key Points
The War on Poverty was launched by President Lyndon B. Johnson in response to a national poverty rate of around 19%.
Despite the expenditure of over $25 trillion, poverty rates have remained relatively unchanged over the decades.
The effectiveness of these programs has been debated, with many arguing that they have not sufficiently addressed the root causes of poverty.
This substantial investment highlights the ongoing challenges in effectively reducing poverty in the United States. Sources: Texas Policy.com, US House of Representatives
I would say that the last statement is in the running for the understatement of the century. As a taxpayer, I would love to know where that money went. As a Christian who should be concerned about those who are poor, it boggles the mind that the government has spent this much money in 50 years and the needle on the poverty rate has barely moved. Interestingly, poverty has decreased overall, but this is credited to increases in market income and not the effects of over 100 government welfare programs. Another tragic side-effect of this spending is the loss of intact black families (see this article here) because of some of the rules of the welfare system that discourage marriages because it will reduce benefits.
Well, I know this is a Bible devotional, but God’s wisdom in His Word is applicable to our lives in every aspect, including the decisions we make when we vote. If believers advocate judges and legislators who are Godly, we will naturally be accused of Christian nationalism. Remember, though, we should always honor God in what we do and not pay attention to the voices raised against our beliefs.
The day of reckoning was coming for those who perverted justice and enacted evil statutes. According to Precept Austin, the reckoning and devastation was coming from Assyria:
More from Precept Austin on the devastation and the rhetorical questions:
Devastation (07722) (so’ah - feminine form) means ruin, desolation or devastation, which can be sudden or unexpected (as something crashing - Cheyne calls it “the crashing ruin”) such as the arrival of a disastrous storm (so’ah = “storm” in Ezek 38:9). It describes that which is laid waste by plundering or destroying and implies a complete ruin of the affected area. In Zeph 1:15, this word describes the dreadful Day of the Lord. The storms of war were stirring and would soon sweep over the Northern Kingdom (722BC).
This prediction is not just desolation but describes sudden, and complete destruction. [Note from Barb - this noun So’ah can also be written as Shoah, which is the term used by the Jews to describe the Holocaust].
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Boyd describes the brutality of the Assyrians...
The Assyrian Kingdom became one of Israel’ s mightiest, most brutal foes. It was a nation with the highest culture, a highly formal religion, and skilled in the crafts and arts of mankind, but was unmercifully cruel in its punishment of its enemies. Their acts were atrocious. King Ashurnasirpal (883–859 BC) was its great leader of expansion. His armies of bowmen, spearmen, slingers, cavalry and charioteers made up one of the most feared and dreaded units of military might of that day. Such was what the prophet Nahum had in mind (Nah 2:3, 4; 3:2, 3).
Ashurnasirpal described his dealings with a certain city he had conquered as follows: “Six hundred of their warriors I put to the sword; 3000 captives I burned with fire; I left not a single one among them alive to serve as a hostage. Kholai, their governor, I captured alive. Their corpses I piled into heaps; their men and maidens I burned in the fire; Khulai, their governor, I flayed and his skin I spread upon the wall of the city of Damdamusa; the city I destroyed, I ravaged, I burned with fire.” (Assyrian Brutality -- By Bob Boyd)
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To whom will you flee for help? - Another rhetorical question calling for a negative reply. There will be no one to rescue or defend from the foreign foe. They had sown the rotten seeds of failing to help the helpless and would reap their bitter harvest of helplessness in the face of the onslaught of the notoriously brutal Assyrian forces. The ESV Study Bible has an interesting note that “Corrupt wealth buys helplessness.”
There is a tragic irony for the only Refuge is the very One Who brought the devastation through His instrument Assyria.
Clarke comments...
As the people had hitherto lived without God in worship and obedience; so they should now be without His help, and should perish in their transgressions. (Isaiah 10 Commentary)
There is also a twist of irony in the questions in this passage for it is as if he is asking
“When you have forsaken others in their time of need, who will you go to for help when you are in need?”
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And where will you leave your wealth? (cp Ps 49:17) - A final rhetorical question. Where will your ill-gotten gain be safe and secure? There was no bank or safe that could keep their wealth safe, for the land would be devastated by the ferocious Assyrian forces. When God’s hand of judgment falls on Israel, all the wealth these leaders had gained through corrupt, unjust methods would vanish like the wind, reminding us of truths in other Scriptures...
This fourth stanza ends the same way as the previous three:
In spite of all this, His anger does not turn away
And His hand is still stretched out.”
Enduring Word has this to say about this phrase at the end of each stanza:
e. For all this, His anger is not turned away, but His hand is stretched out still: Once again, this chorus is heard. The judgment against Israel’s injustice was not enough. There was still sin to judge, and God wasn’t ready to stop His work of judgment.
i. The repetition of the phrase reminds us that God’s judgment is persistent. It moves from phase to phase until it finds repentance. This means that it makes sense for us to repent now, because God’s judgment is persistent for all eternity. “If even physical death does not satisfy the fierce anger of this holy God, what dread and punishment lies beyond the grave?” (Grogan)
ii. It makes perfect sense for this message of coming judgment to follow the announcement of the Messiah. His coming was announced, but the people were not ready for Him, and the predicted judgment would come before they were ready.
So the four stanzas of this speech or poem addressed the following things that keep God’s anger from turning away (true back in the days of Israel and Judah and true today):
Pride and arrogance
Failed leadership
Selfishness
Perverted justice and righteousness
My next devotional examines Isaiah 10: 5-7 - Woe to Assyria, the rod of His anger.
Heaven on Wheels Daily Prayer:
Dear Lord - I pray for justice and righteousness. I pray that the candidates of the DSA are not successful in this election and that the people vote for judges and candidates who are godly. Amen.
Citations and Credits:
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.Lockman.org.
Precept Austin was accessed on 10/21/2026 to review commentary for Isaiah 10:1-4
Biblehub.org was accessed on 10/21/2026 to review commentary for Isaiah 10:1-4
Commentary from Enduring Word is used with written permission and without any alteration. ©1996-present The Enduring Word Bible Commentary by David Guzik – enduringword.com. At the link referenced, the bibliography used by David Guzik can be accessed.