Isaiah 14:24 - Meaning and Application

The destruction of Babylon and the Chaldean empire was still far in the future. In fact, the empire had not yet risen very high when Isaiah foretold its fall, and nearly 200 years passed between the prophecy and its fulfillment. The people Isaiah spoke to could reasonably ask, “What does this mean for us, and how can it help us?” He answers those questions by speaking of the ruin of the Assyrians and the Philistines, their present enemies, which they would soon see for themselves and from which they would benefit. These events would comfort them now and also serve as a pledge of future rescue, strengthening the faith of later generations.

God is the same to his people today, tomorrow, and forever. He will always be what he has been and what he is now. Here, then, is assurance of the destruction of the Assyrians (Isaiah 14:25): “I will break the Assyrian in my land.” Sennacherib, the Assyrian king, brought a powerful army into Judah, but God broke it there by the sword of a destroying angel. Those who wrongly invade God’s land learn that they do so at great risk. Those who trample on his holy mountains will themselves be trampled there.

God says he will do it himself, because his people had no strength against such a great army. “I will break the Assyrian,” he says, as if to say, “Leave it to me. I have angels, even armies of angels, at my command.” Breaking Assyria’s power would also break the burden off God’s people. The army had become a heavy load on Judah, since the people had to house it and pay tribute to it. So the Assyrian had to be broken so that Judah and Jerusalem could find relief. Let those who become a yoke and a burden to God’s people think carefully about what they can expect.

This promise is confirmed by an oath (Isaiah 14:24). The Lord of hosts has sworn it, so that he might show that his purpose never changes, and so that his people may have strong comfort (Hebrews 6:17, 18). What is said here about this one plan is true of all God’s purposes: “As I have planned, so it will happen.” He is never divided in mind, and no one can turn him aside. He is never forced to make new plans the way people often are when events surprise them. Let those who are called according to God’s purpose take comfort from this. As God has planned, so it will stand, and their stability rests on that.

The breaking of Assyria’s power also stands as a pattern of what God would do to all the nations that rose up against him and his church (Isaiah 14:26). This is the purpose that is planned for the whole earth, that is, for the whole world, and for all its people. It is not only about the Assyrian empire, which was then treated as if it were nearly the whole world, as the Roman empire was later (Luke 2:1). It also includes all states and rulers who would ever attack God’s land and mountains. They would share Assyria’s fate and soon learn that they had brought harm on themselves.

Jerusalem, as it was to the Assyrians, would be a burdensome stone to all peoples. All who try to bear it will certainly be crushed by it (Zechariah 12:3, 6). The same power and justice that would now be stretched out against Assyria for invading God’s people would be stretched out against every nation that did the same. This remains true: “Cursed is anyone who curses Israel” (Numbers 24:9). God will always stand against the enemies of his people (Exodus 23:22).

No power on earth can change God’s plan (Isaiah 14:27). The Lord of hosts has planned to break the Assyrian’s yoke, and every cruel rod laid on the righteous, and no one can undo it. No one can persuade him to withdraw it, and no one can find a legal argument against it. His hand is stretched out to carry out his purpose, and no one has enough strength to turn it back or stop his judgment.

Assurance is also given of the destruction of the Philistines and their power. This burden, this warning message against them, came in the year King Ahaz died, which was the first year of Hezekiah’s reign (Isaiah 14:28). When a good king replaced a bad one, this welcome message was sent. When we reform, and not before, we may expect good news from heaven.

Here we have first a rebuke to the Philistines for celebrating the death of King Uzziah. He had been like a serpent to them (Isaiah 14:29), biting and striking them, and bringing them very low (2 Chronicles 26:6). He fought against the Philistines, broke down their walls, and built cities among them. But when Uzziah died, or rather stepped down from rule, the news was welcomed in Gath and announced in Ashkelon. It is cruel to rejoice over a neighbor’s fall. Yet they should not feel safe, because although they later struck back at Ahaz and took many of Judah’s cities (2 Chronicles 28:18), a far more dangerous enemy would rise from Uzziah’s line, a cockatrice, a deadly serpent. That enemy would be Hezekiah, whose rule would become for them a fiery flying serpent, because he would attack them with speed and force. We see that he did so, for he struck the Philistines as far as Gaza (2 Kings 18:8). If God removes one useful worker in the middle of his work, he can and will raise up others to continue and finish what was left undone.

The Philistines are also foretold to be destroyed by famine and war. First, by famine (Isaiah 14:30). When God’s people, whom the Philistines had wasted, troubled, and impoverished, would once again enjoy plenty, and even the poorest among them would have enough to eat, then God would kill the Philistines’ root with famine. What had been their strength, and what they thought made them secure as a tree is secure by its root, would slowly dry up and be starved away, as people die from famine. In this way he would destroy the rest of them as well. Those who escape one judgment are often only being kept for another. When only a few remain, even those will at last be cut off, for God will make a full end.

When God’s needy people can lie down in safety, no longer frightened by war, but singing peacefully, then every gate and city of the Philistines will cry out in grief (Isaiah 14:31). Their whole state will fall apart. From Judea, which lay north of Philistia, a smoke will come, meaning a great army moving forward and raising a dust cloud, like smoke before a destroying fire.

None in that army will be absent at the appointed time. No one will wander off or be missing when battle comes. They will all be strong, ready, and united against the common enemy when God’s time arrives. None of them will refuse the public task, as Reuben and Asher did in Deborah’s day, staying among the sheepfolds and by the seashore instead of coming to battle (Judges 5:16-17). When God has work to do, he can wonderfully fit and direct people for it.

We should draw a good lesson from all these events for the encouragement of God’s people (Isaiah 14:32): “What will one answer the messengers of the nations?” This means several things. First, the great things God does for his people cannot stay hidden. Even the nations notice them and make remarks about them (Psalm 126:2). Second, messengers will come asking about these things. Jacob and Israel had long been a people set apart and favored in unusual ways, so others will ask about them out of goodwill, ill will, or simple curiosity.

Third, we should always be ready to explain the hope we have in God’s providence, his wise care over the world, as well as in his saving grace, answering everyone who asks with gentleness and respect (1 Peter 3:15). We do not need to look beyond the truths of Scripture for our answer, because God is carrying out Scripture in all he does. Fourth, God’s dealings with his people will end so clearly and so gloriously that anyone will be able to explain them to those who ask.

The answer to the messengers of the nations is this: God is, and will remain, a faithful friend to his church and people, and he will protect and increase their good. Tell them that the Lord has founded Zion. This explains both the work itself and the reason behind it. What is God doing in the world, and what is he aiming at in the rise and fall of kingdoms, in the ruin of some nations and the lifting up of others? In all of it, he is founding Zion. He is working for the good of his church, and what he plans, he will carry out.

When the messengers of the nations asked about Hezekiah’s victories over the Philistines, they may have expected to hear about strategy, wise planning, or military skill. Instead, they are told that these successes did not come from human methods, but from God’s care for his church and the interest he has in it. The Lord has founded Zion, and therefore the Philistines must fall.

God’s church also depends on him. “The poor of his people shall trust in it,” meaning the poor and lowly among them, even the poorest, will trust in this truth more than others, because they have nothing else to lean on (Zephaniah 3:12-13). The poor receive the gospel (Matthew 11:5). They will trust this great truth, that the Lord has founded Zion. On this they will build their hope, not on human strength.

This should give us full peace about public affairs. However things may go with certain people, parties, or interests, the church cannot fall apart. God is its founder, and Christ is the rock on which it stands. The poor of his people will also turn to it, as some translate it, and join themselves to his church and cause. They will line up with God’s purposes, support his people, and shape their own small plans around his greater plan.

Those who choose God’s people for their people must also be willing to share their lot. Let the messengers of the nations know this: the poor Israelites, who trust in God, have their foundation in the holy mountains like Zion itself (Psalm 87:1), and so they are like Zion, which cannot be shaken but remains forever (Psalm 125:1). Therefore, they will not be afraid of what man can do to them.