by Larry Ferrell | March 9, 2018
Concerning Assyria: This short oracle provides the transition from the general treatment of worldly pomp and power, symbolized by Babylon (13:1-14:23), to the concrete and particular expressions of it in Isaiah’s own day which now follow. First in line, naturally enough is Assyria. In its size, its arrogance, and its oppressive imperialism it was the manifestation of the spirit of Babel in the eighth century BC. In one sense there is nothing new here, since the downfall of Assyria has already been treated at length in 10:5-34. But one feature of the present oracle is particularly noteworthy, namely, the tremendous emphasis that is laid here on the Lord’s sovereign purpose which nothing can annul or frustrate. The plan of the Lord has as its first objective the deliverance of His own people (v. 25), but it also concerns the whole of the world and all nations (v. 26). The destruction of Assyria will simply be one manifestation of it, as will the judgments on other nations announced in the following chapters.

Great care is needed, of course, in moving from a passage like this to the particulars of our own day. The way the rise and fall of specific nations fit into God’s sovereign purposes is not revealed to us with the clarity that it was to Isaiah. But the spirit of Babylon is certainly still with us, and if we take revelation 18 as our cue, will be until the very consummation of history. God’s purposes for His people and for the world are still advancing, and as the reflex to that, His wrath is constantly “being revealed … against all the godlessness and wickedness of men” (see Rom. 1:18). Jesus himself spoke of apparently “natural” events such as war, famine and earthquake as signs of the end (Matt. 24:4-8). So while we lack the kind of detailed knowledge that Isaiah had, we do have warrant to seeing his oracles against the nations as illustrating a general truth about history. Every collapse of a proud, immoral regime in our world too is an interim day of the Lord, in route to the final day.

Concerning Philistia: In contrast to the wise and invincible plan of the Lord are the foolhardy plans concocted by men who refuse to acknowledge the Lord. The attempt to implement one such plan clearly provided the setting for this oracle, which is precisely dated to the year King Ahaz died, 715 BC (v. 28). Assyria was still suffering internal instability following the death of Shalmaneser III in 721 BC, and rebellion was in the air in southern Palestine. Philistia was already party to an anti-Assyrian conspiracy headed by Egypt (see chapter 20), and in 715 BC there was apparently an attempt to involve the new king of Judah, Hezekiah. Isaiah was totally opposed to any participation by Judah, as his words in verse 32b make abundantly clear. The only refuge for the people of Zion was in the Lord. This was his consistent message in crisis after crisis. If God’s people looked to the nations for their salvation instead of to Him they could only come to ruin. Plans which did not spring from faith were recipes for disaster.

Hezekiah appears to have heeded Isaiah’s warning on this occasion, and just as well! It was not long before the Assyrian army moved in strength against Philistia (as predicted in v. 31), which suffered the bitter consequences of its action, as did Egypt. Judah as a non-participant in the rebellion was spared. The very colorful image in verse 29 perhaps refers specifically to the death of Shalmaneser III and the rise, in his place, of Sargon II. Whether this is so or not, the general import of the verse is clear. The weakness of Assyria around 715 BC was not the prelude to its demise, as the conspirators had fondly hoped. In fact it was just about to come to its full strength in Sargon, Sennasherib and Esarhaddon. The poor and needy of verse 30a are the hard-pressed people of Judah (see 32b). They will be kept safe if they look to the Lord. But for Philistia there is no hope at all (v. 30b).

Isaiah 14:24-32 Reflection Questions:
Applying these messages to your personal world, what is the Lord saying to you?
In your daily and major decisions are you relying on others or are you relying on the Lord?
What are you doing to continue building your personal relationship with God?
What are some current examples of the “spirit of Babylon”?

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