Isaiah 14:24-27

Isaiah 14:24-27

[24] 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:  [25] That I will break  the Assyrian  in my land,  and upon my mountains  tread him under foot:  then shall his yoke  depart  from off them, and his burden  depart  from off their shoulders.  [26] This is the purpose  upon the whole earth:  and this is the hand  that is stretched out  upon all the nations.  [27] For the LORD  of hosts  hath purposed,  and who shall disannul  it? and his hand  is stretched out,  and who shall turn it back? 

What does Isaiah 14:24-27 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

This section of the oracle particularizes the judgment of Babylon in Isaiah"s day. Here we see the exemplification and validation of God"s universal purpose to judge human hubris that the prophet earlier declared ( Isaiah 13:2-16). The particular manifestation of Babylonian pride that threatened Israel when Isaiah wrote was Assyria.
"Having announced the downfall of the Chaldean empire, the LORD appends to this prophecy a solemn reminder that the Assyrians, the major Mesopotamian power of Isaiah"s day, would be annihilated, foreshadowing what would subsequently happen to Babylon and the other hostile nations." [1]
Yahweh of armies proceeded to swear that what He had purposed would happen (cf. Hebrews 6:13-14), namely, the destruction of Assyria ( Isaiah 14:24). A stronger assurance is hard to imagine. God would defeat the Assyrians in His land, the Promised Land (cf. Isaiah 37:36-37). He would break the Assyrian yoke off of His people, and thus remove the burden that the Assyrians were to the Israelites ( Isaiah 14:25; cf. Isaiah 9:3; Isaiah 10:27). This would be representative of what He would do to the whole world in judging sin and pride in the future ( Isaiah 14:26). No one would be able to turn aside His hand stretched out in judgment because He is God Almighty ( Isaiah 14:27; cf. Isaiah 13:2).
The near fulfillment came in701 B.C. when the angel of the Lord slew185 ,000 Assyrian soldiers who had surrounded Jerusalem ( Isaiah 37:36-37). Later fulfillments came in689 B.C, when the Assyrians under Sennacherib sacked Babylon, and in539 B.C, when Cyrus the Persian destroyed it.