Isaiah 14:25

The LORD of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand: -CONFIRMATION OF THIS BY THE HERE-FORETOLD DESTRUCTION OF THE ASSYRIANS UNDER SENNACHERIB; a pledge to assure the captives in Babylon that He who, with such ease, overthrew the Assyrian, could likewise effect His purpose as to Babylon. The Babylonian king, the subject of this prediction, is Belshazzar, as representative of the kingdom, (Daniel 5:1.) This would comfort the Jews when captives in Babylon, being a pledge that God, who had by that time fulfilled the promise concerning Sennacherib (though now still future), would also fulfill His promise as to destroying Babylon, Judah's enemy. Verse 24. SURELY AS I HAVE THOUGHT, SO SHALL IT COME TO PASS. The Lord's thought (purpose) stands in antithe...

25._That I may bruise the Assyrian in my land. _Some think that this relates to Sennacherib’s army, which the hand of God destroyed by means of an angel, when he besieged Jerusalem. (2 Kings 19:35; Isaiah 37:36.) If this interpretation be preferred, the meaning will be, that the Lord will shortly give some evidence of that destruction which he has threatened against the Babylonians. Those who heard these predictions might have brought this objection: “Of what avail will it be to us that Babylon is destroyed, after Babylon has ruined us? Would it not have been better that both Babylon and we had remained uninjured? What consolation will be yielded to us by its destruction, when we, too, shall have been destroyed?” And, indeed, I have no doubt that he holds out a proof of God’s favor in destroying their enemies, which eithe

24-27 Let those that make themselves a yoke and a burden to God's people, see what they are to expect. Let those that are the called according to God's purpose, comfort themselves, that whatever God has purposed, it shall stand. The Lord of hosts has purposed to break the Assyrian's yoke; his hand is stretched out to execute this purpose; who has power to turn it back? By such dispensations of providence, the Almighty shows in the most convincing manner, that sin is hateful in his sight....

Verse Isaiah 14:25. _I WILL BREAK THE ASSYRIAN - UPON MY MOUNTAINS_ - "To crush the Assyrian - on my mountains"] The Assyrians and Babylonians are the same people, Herod. i. 199, 200. Babylon is reckoned the principal city in Assyria, _ibid_. 178. Strabo says the same thing, lib. xvi. _sub init_. The circumstance of this judgment being to be executed on God's mountains is of importance; it may mean the destruction of Sennacherib's army near Jerusalem, and have a still farther view: compare Ezekiel 39:4; and see Lowth on this place of Isaiah....

THAT I WILL BREAK - That I will break his power; that I will discomfit and destroy his army. THE ASSYRIAN - Sennacherib (see Isaiah 10.) IN MY LAND - That is, in the land of Canaan. This is often called his land; and this expression shows that the passage does not and cannot refer to the king of Babylon, for he was destroyed in his own city Daniel 5) AND UPON MY MOUNTAINS - That is, upon the mountains of Palestine. The army of Sennacherib was destroyed on the mountains that were near to Jerusalem (see the notes at Isaiah 10:33). Then shall hi

EXPOSITION ISAIAH 14:1 THE RESTORATION OF ISRAEL, AND HER SONG OF TRIUMPH OVER BABYLON. The destruction of Babylon is to be followed by the restoration of Israel, with the good will of the nations, and by their exercising rule over their late oppressors (Isaiah 14:1, Isaiah 14:2). In this time of rest and refreshment they will sing a song of triumph over Babylon. The song extends from Isaiah 14:4 to...

THAT I WILL BREAK THE ASSYRIAN IN MY LAND,.... This was his thought, counsel, purpose, and decree; which must be understood either of the king of Babylon, as before, called the Assyrian; as the king of Babylon seems to be called the king of Assyria in 2 Chronicles 33:11, but then his destruction was not in the land of Israel, or on the mountains of Judea, as is here predicted; or rather, therefore, this is a new prophecy, or a return to what is foretold in the tenth chapter Isaiah 10:1 concerning Sennacherib and his army, and the destruction of it; which, coming to pass long before the destruction of Babylon, is mentioned for the comfort of God's people, as a pledge and assurance of the latter: though some think that it was now past, and is observed to strengthen the faith of the Jews,

Isaiah 14:1. _For the LORD will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land: and the strangers shall be joined with them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob._ This promise had a measure of fulfillment when Israel was brought back from Babylon; and still is it true that, when God's people come to their worst, there is always something better before them. On the other hand, it is equally sure that, when sinners come to their best, there is always something terrible awaiting them. The apostle Paul wrote to the Romans, «God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew;» and his declaration agrees with this prophecy, «The Lord will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land.» I believe that there will be a far grander fulfillment of this prophecy in that day when God shall bring back his chosen people to

CHAPTER 14 Israel's Restoration and Blessing After Babylon is Fallen and the Burden of Philistia 1. _Israel's restoration and exaltation (Isaiah 14:1)_ 2. _The proverb against the king of Babylon (Isaiah 14:3)_ 3. _The triumph over Lucifer (Satan) (Isaiah 14:12)_ 4. _Babylon's destruction (Isaiah 14:21)_ 5. _The Assyrian broken (Isaiah 14:24)_ 6. _The burden of Philistia (Isaiah 14:28)_ When the last great Babylon is

THE DESTRUCTION OF ASSYRIA. This is usually regarded as a genuine fragment by Isaiah, asserting, as in Isaiah 10:5, the approaching destruction of Assyria in Palestine, and uttered probably not long before Sennacherib's invasion in 701. Some take it to be post-exilic, mainly on the ground that, just as in the later eschatology, the judgment is to be inflicted on all the nations, while Isaiah limits his view to a much narrower horizon. It is also said to be put together out of Isaianic phrases. It is true that numerous parallels occur in the other prophecies, but the piece is so free and vigorous in style, that it does not make the impression of having been composed by a mere copyist. Nor was it possible for the Assyrian Empire to be broken up without affecting the other nations in a vital and far-reaching way. The view taken of a fragment like this necessarily depends to a large extent o...