Jehovah of hosts hath sworn saying, Assuredly as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, it shall stand
Chapter 14 has just described the fall of Babylon's proud king. Now the Lord of hosts swears an oath that fixes two things at once: what God has planned will happen, and He will break the enemy He names in His own land.
Here God binds Himself by an oath to what He has already planned. Writers see behind this oath a purpose that history serves and never shapes.
We should always remember that God has His own purpose before Him. He acts towards His ancient people Israel. He deals with the nations of the earth. He disciplines the saints who form the church. Behind all of it stands His purpose concerning all. God makes everything bend to this purpose. Everything is working towards it in some way, however hidden from human sight. "The LORD of hosts has sworn: As I have planned, so shall it be... This is the purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth." This purpose was not formed because events turned out as they did in the world's history. Instead, the events that have happened serve to bring about God's purpose. His purpose is an eternal purpose.
The same settled purpose steadies believers today.
In a day when many are turning away from the truth, how blessed for us are the words, "But God's firm foundation stands." This foundation is the settled purpose of God — what was in God's mind before time began. God is working it all out through the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Long ago Scripture had said, "As I have planned, so shall it be, and as I have purposed, so shall it stand." God will certainly accomplish what He purposed for the pleasure of His heart and for the glory of Christ. Nothing will turn Him from it.
The oath goes on to name a target: not the Babylonian king just judged, but the Assyrian.
Some suppose that the king of Babylon and the Assyrian are the same person. It is a common mistake, especially among learned men. But the later statement is clearly an addition to the fall of Babylon's king, who has already been judged. Then the Assyrian follows, and the Lord deals with him swiftly in His own land.
These two powers fall here in an order that history did not follow.
This word about Assyria stands here on purpose, after the word about Babylon. It marks the order of the end. The day of Jehovah will come at the end of the age, and the fulfilment will be complete, not partial. Then the last Assyrian will fall, after the destruction of the one who finally represents "the beast," the system of power that began with Babylon. In actual history the order was the reverse, for Assyria fell long before Babylon... The Assyrian is neither Antichrist nor the beast, but the chief of the north-eastern hordes of that day, of whom the prophets have much to say.
Breaking the Assyrian is not an end in itself. The oath also carries a promise for a people under long chastening.
With the fall of the Assyrian... the Lord's chastening of His people will cease. The last foe to be judged is the one who was their earliest — the Assyrian. This is fully predicted in Isaiah 14: "I will break the Assyrian in my land, and on my mountains trample him underfoot; and his yoke shall depart from them, and his burden from their shoulder."
This oath is not only about two ancient kingdoms.
Notice that his yoke departs from the necks of Israel only when the Assyrian is broken. This cannot happen until the end, for there is still a remnant of Israel in the land of Assyria. When God regathers His people, He will recover the remnant from Assyria and from the other lands where they were scattered. Until then, the final judgment on the Assyrian waits. God tells us that this purpose has to do with the whole earth, and all nations. This is undoubtedly when Christ comes to resolve every problem in view of His kingdom.
- Sworn — God does not just predict; He swears. What He planned will be, and what He purposed will stand.
- Fixed — His purpose was not shaped by how history turned out; history bends to serve it.
- Named — The oath targets the Assyrian, a figure distinct from the king of Babylon judged earlier in the chapter.
- Ordered — Babylon falls first, the Assyrian last. That reversed order points the passage forward, to the end of the age.
- Freed — The purpose ends in a yoke lifted from shoulders, and it reaches as far as the whole earth.
to break the Assyrian in my land; and upon my mountains will I tread him under foot; and his yoke shall depart from off them, and his burden depart from off their shoulders.
God swears an oath here: to break one enemy, the Assyrian, on His own ground, and to lift that enemy's yoke off Israel's shoulders. Who is this Assyrian, when does God keep the oath, and why does He crush him at home?
Assyria had two roles in Israel's story. God first used the nation to discipline Israel, then turned on the instrument itself.
God used Assyria as His rod to punish His guilty people Israel. Then, as in other cases, the rod itself had to bear God's judgement for its pride and wickedness... The indignation against Israel ends with the destruction of the Assyrian.
This passage sits at the end of a chapter about Babylon's fallen king, so readers often merge the two figures into one. Commentators call that a real mistake.
Some suppose that the king of Babylon and the Assyrian are one and the same person. It is a common mistake, and especially among learned men. But the later statement clearly adds something to the fall of Babylon's king, who has already been judged. Then comes the Assyrian, dealt with at once in Jehovah's land.
In history, Assyria fell long before Babylon rose. Here the Assyrian falls last, so writers look for a fulfilment still ahead.
The last Assyrian will fall after the destruction of the one who at the end stands for "the beast," the system of power that began with Babylon. In history it was the other way round, for Assyria fell long before Babylon. But in time the beast will be destroyed from above. Then Jehovah will tread the Assyrian under foot on His mountains, which did not literally happen in the past... The Assyrian is neither Antichrist nor the beast. He is the chief of the north-eastern armies of that day, and the prophets say much about him.
The place of the judgment matters. God calls the land His own, and His rights reach further than one battlefield.
He will trample down the Assyrian in His land, because He owns Israel for His people. God will assert all His rights over the earth in the person of Christ.
Those same hills had watched Israel lose. Now the ground of past defeat becomes the ground where the invader falls.
Until now Jerusalem had been prey for the nations, and the phrase "the mountains of prey" points to her. These mountains had often watched Israel be defeated. On them Israel's enemies will become the prey when God shines out in His glory.
The second half of the verse is rescue. God's anger with His people does not fade away slowly; it ends at one event.
When at last the Assyrian lifts up his hand, Jehovah steps in and strikes him. Jehovah's indignation and His anger against Israel had never been turned away until then. Both will end when God destroys this rod that lifted itself up against the Lord who used it... Sennacherib was a picture of this.
Israel's discipline began with Assyria, and writers point out where it ends.
With the fall of the Assyrian... put down in that day by the Son of Man, the Lord's chastening of His people will cease. The last foe to be judged is the one who was their earliest — the Assyrian.
God announced this long before He kept it. Writers say that is the point of studying prophecy at all.
Our study of prophecy should impress our hearts with the greatness and majesty of God. He has the sovereign right to form His own purposes and the absolute power to carry them out. So He can announce the end from the beginning thousands of years in advance, with complete certainty, down to the smallest detail.
- Rod: God used Assyria to strike His people. Then He judged the rod itself for its pride.
- Rod broken: The Assyrian is not the king of Babylon. His fall is a separate blow, and it comes after Babylon's king is judged.
- Rod broken last: In history Assyria fell first. In prophecy he falls after the beast, so writers look beyond Sennacherib for the full fulfilment.
- Broken at home: God breaks him "in My land," on "My mountains," because He still owns the land and the people. The scene of old defeats becomes the scene of rescue.
- Broken for good: When the yoke lifts, God's long anger with Israel ends. The first enemy is the last one judged, and no hand can turn back the oath behind it.
This is the counsel which is purposed concerning the whole earth; and this is the hand which is stretched out upon all the nations.
God's word against one empire ends with a claim far bigger than that empire. What He does to the Assyrian is a sample of what He has settled for the whole earth. Two questions follow. Who is this enemy? And why is his fall called a plan laid over every nation?
One oppressor falls, but this is no local event. His fall is the visible edge of a plan that covers everything, and that reach pushes the fulfilment into the future:
Notice carefully: the yoke departs from the necks of Israel only when the Assyrian is broken. This cannot happen until the end... Moreover, God tells us that this purpose has to do with the whole earth, and all nations. This is undoubtedly when Christ comes to resolve every problem in view of His kingdom. God will deal with the whole earth in the judgments of that day. He will gather all nations to the great judgment foretold in Matthew 25.
Earlier in the chapter the subject is the king of Babylon. Here it changes, and the two powers fall in a set order:
The prophecy of Isaiah 14:24-27 has no connection with what goes before. It is directed against Assyria, not Babylon... it is deliberately placed here afterwards to mark the order of these events. At the end of the age the day of the Lord arrives not in part but in full. Then the last Assyrian falls, after the destruction of the one who finally represents "the beast," the system of power that began with Babylon. Historically it was the reverse, for Assyria fell long before Babylon... The Assyrian is neither the Antichrist nor the beast, but the chief of the north-eastern hordes of that day, of whom the prophets have much to say.
Part of this has already happened. Sennacherib was the Assyrian king who invaded Judah, and his defeat was a first instalment:
Here is a prophecy connected with God's purpose "upon the whole earth," and that carries us down to the time of the end. Sennacherib did fall, and his army was destroyed in the land of Israel in the days of king Hezekiah. But that was only the partial fulfilment of the divine judgment on the Assyrian.
God clears the land because He has claimed the people in it:
The Assyrian is just as senseless in rising up against Christ joined with Israel, the Prince of princes. The indignation ends then, and God owns Israel, whom He has long chastised. When Christ reigns in Zion, God owns Israel, but not all the enemies are destroyed yet... He will trample down the Assyrian in His land, because He owns Israel for His people.
The word "purposed" is the hinge of the verse. It does not describe God reacting to how world events turned out:
That God has His own purpose before Him should always be remembered. Behind everything He does there is His purpose. That covers His acts towards His ancient people Israel, His dealings with the nations of the earth, and His discipline of the saints who form the church. Everything bends to this purpose. Everything works in some way towards it, however hidden from human sight... God did not form this purpose because events turned out as they did in the world's history. Rather, the events that have happened serve to bring about God's purpose. His purpose is an eternal purpose. This comes out more fully, though it is not more certain, when Scripture speaks of the church. He "works all things according to the counsel of his will" (Ephesians 1:11). This is "according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Ephesians 3:11).
The hand is not aimed at one army alone. No one can reverse it, and it reaches the proud of the earth:
It is the Lord of hosts who has purposed, and who will annul it? His hand is stretched out, and who will turn it back? ... We read, moreover, of the Lord's purpose "to defile the pompous pride of all glory, to dishonour all the honoured of the earth."
- Purposed. The plan came first. World events do not shape God's purpose; they serve it. It is an eternal purpose.
- Unstoppable. The Lord of hosts has purposed, and no one annuls it. His hand is stretched out, and no one turns it back.
- One enemy. The Assyrian is a specific power — not the Antichrist and not the beast — and God breaks him in His own land.
- Whole earth. That single fall is the sample of a purpose that covers every nation and ends in the judgment of all.
- Israel freed. The yoke lifts only when the Assyrian falls. God tramples him because He owns Israel as His people.
For Jehovah of hosts hath purposed, and who shall frustrate [it]? And his hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back?
The closing lines of Isaiah 14 leave Babylon behind and turn to another oppressor. Verse 27 seals the matter with two questions nobody can answer. They leave the reader asking who this God is, what He has decided, and how far His reach goes.
The verse names God as the LORD of hosts. That title first appears at a low point in Israel's story.
It is worth noting that in this book God calls Himself "the Lord of hosts." We first find this title in the first book of Samuel. It was the time of the judges, when every man did what was right in his own eyes, much as it is today. … Many of the prophets use the name, above all in days of weakness and failure. It is good to know that, despite man's failure, there is an all-sufficient God with unlimited resources at His disposal.
The word "purposed" is the hinge of the verse. What stands behind it is far bigger than Assyria.
That God has His own purpose before Him should always be remembered. Behind everything He does lies His purpose. It stands behind His outward acts towards His ancient people Israel, behind His dealings with the nations of the earth, and behind His discipline of the saints who form the church. God makes everything bend to this purpose. Everything is in some way working towards it, however hidden that work is from human sight… He did not form this purpose because events turned out as they did in the world's history. The events that have happened serve to bring about God's purpose, and His purpose is an eternal purpose.
God's purpose has a named target. It is the Assyrian, and he falls on God's own ground.
The Assyrian is no less senseless in rising up against Christ joined with Israel, the Prince of princes. The indignation ends then, and God owns Israel, long chastised… He will trample down the Assyrian in His land, because He owns Israel for His people.
Readers often mix this Assyrian up with other figures in prophecy. Commentators keep them apart.
The Assyrian is neither Antichrist nor the beast, but the chief of the north-eastern hordes of that day, of whom the prophets have much to say.
Here the prophecy places the Assyrian's fall after the fall of the beast. History ran the other way round, so the full fulfilment must still be ahead.
This prophecy stands here afterwards for a reason. It marks the order of events. When the complete fulfilment comes, and the day of the Lord arrives not in part but in full at the end of the age, the last Assyrian will fall after the destruction of the one who finally represents "the beast," the system of power that began with Babylon. In the past it had been the reverse, for Assyria fell long before Babylon. But in time the beast will be destroyed from above. Then the Lord will tread the Assyrian under foot on His mountains, which did not literally happen in the past.
The second question of the verse is about God's outstretched hand. So where does that leave the nations?
It is God's fixed purpose to teach all the nations of the earth that Israel has a special place in His heart, and that He has destined Israel for the first place on the earth. If nations forget or oppose, so much the worse for them. It is useless for them to try to thwart God's purpose, for they may be sure that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob will confound every scheme formed against the people of His choice. Men may think, in their pride and folly, that their hand is high, but they will have to learn that God's hand is higher still.
This same certainty steadies believers now. When opposition is loud, there are only two things to look at.
The enemy may oppose. But God will always prove Himself above him. All we need is a spirit of simple, childlike confidence and rest in the divine purpose. Unbelief will look at the enemy's efforts to thwart God rather than at God's power to accomplish. Faith fixes its eye on the latter.
- Purposed — The plan is God's own and eternal. History did not shape it. God makes history serve it.
- Named — The One behind it is the LORD of hosts. That name appears in days of weakness and failure, to remind His people that His resources have no limit.
- Aimed — Its named target is the Assyrian, trampled down in God's own land, because God owns Israel as His people.
- Extended — The hand reaches over the nations. God will confound every scheme against His chosen people, however high man's hand seems.
- Unturned — No one can annul it. So faith stops measuring the enemy's efforts and rests in God's power.