THEOSISCyrill of Alexandria
We can observe that God, in His unwavering commitment to His glory, experiences profound anger when He witnesses individuals disregarding and attempting to undermine what pleases Him, engaging instead in the most disgraceful actions. The esteemed David conveys, “With reins and bridles thou shalt grip their jaws, those who come near thee. Many are the wounds of the sinner” (Psalms 31:9, 10). This reflects that the Lord enacts punishment upon sinners, expressing His wrath as if entrusting an instrument of discipline to harsh men, who become the agents of divine retribution against the wicked. However, those appointed to this task often hold a misguided sense of superiority over those being punished, and even over God, who has entrusted this duty to them.
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They fail to recognize that their authority to discipline stems from God's will, mistakenly believing they have triumphed over Him who wishes to save them. Thus, the Lord justly directs His anger toward them. As He opposes the proud, He humbles their arrogance by subjecting them to penalties fitting their actions, intending to reveal to them that any victory they perceive over the chastised is not due to their own might, but rather His directive.
This situation mirrors that of the king of Assyria. After conquering Judah and ravaging its cities, he inflated his own significance, convinced that he had seized the holy land against God's intention, who both reigns over it and promises its salvation. Consequently, he acknowledges that the divine wrath is still unaverted and will bring calamity upon the Assyrians. He asserts, “the rod of my fury is given into their hands,” indicating he intends to strike down the ungodly. He commands his own people to be taken captive and to desecrate the cities, thus leading him to ruin. Had he not withdrawn His protective hand and rescinded His aid, which is given freely, they would never have been captives but would have continuously triumphed over their foes with His support.
However, this Assyrian king did not recognize this truth; he wrongly believed he could vanquish and subjugate many nations at will. He thought that no one could withstand his might, that conquering all would be effortless, and that he would dominate all nations without opposition. If someone had confronted him, questioning his exclusive claim to power and dominion, he would have retaliated by underscoring his territorial acquisitions stretching to the far-eastern boundaries, having taken Damascus and Samaria—cities their deities had failed to protect. Rabsak, in relaying the words of the Assyrian king, told those on the city wall, “Let not Hezekiah entice you with words which cannot deliver you… How shall the Gentile gods deliver every man from the hand of the king of Assyria? Where is the god of Emath and Arphath? And where is the god of the city of Seppharim? Is it possible to deliver Samaria out of my hand? Who is of the gods of all these tongues, who will deliver his land out of my hand, as the god of Jerusalem will deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?” (Isaiah 36:14, 18-20). Therefore, the Lord declares that He will chastise the Assyrian who has overstepped bounds in pride and dared to deride divine justice. We too must renounce the vice of pride; and if it rises defiantly against divine glory, then truly woe shall befall those who would dare oppose it.