The Prophecy of Isaiah - Part 61 Discussion

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Isa 14: 24-27 I Will Break The Assyrian In My Land, And Upon My Mountains Tread Him Under Foot

Isa 14:24  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:
Isa 14:25  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.
Isa 14:26  This is the purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth: and this is the hand that is stretched out upon all the nations.
Isa 14:27  For the LORD of hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul it? and his hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back?

As we learned earlier in this prophecy, the Assyrians and the Babylonians are the same Chaldean peoples. The Assyrians were the earlier of the two empires with its capital of Nineveh.

Isa 23:13  Behold the land of the Chaldeans; this people was not, till the Assyrian founded it for them that dwell in the wilderness: they set up the towers thereof, they raised up the palaces thereof; and he brought it to ruin.

Isa 47:1  Come down, and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon, sit on the ground: there is no throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans: for thou shalt no more be called tender and delicate.

1Ki 11:29  And it came to pass at that time when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, that the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite found him in the way; and he had clad himself with a new garment; and they two were alone in the field:
1Ki 11:30  And Ahijah caught the new garment that was on him, and rent it in twelve pieces:
1Ki 11:31  And he said to Jeroboam, Take thee ten pieces: for thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, Behold, I will rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and will give ten tribes to thee:
1Ki 11:32  (But he shall have one tribe for my servant David's sake, and for Jerusalem's sake, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel:)

Isa 8:1  Moreover the LORD said unto me, Take thee a great roll, and write in it with a man's pen concerning Mahershalalhashbaz. [Hasting to the booty, swift to the prey]
Isa 8:2  And I took unto me faithful witnesses to record, Uriah the priest, and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah.
Isa 8:3  And I went unto the prophetess; and she conceived, and bare a son. Then said the LORD to me, Call his name Mahershalalhashbaz.
Isa 8:4  For before the child shall have knowledge to cry, My father, and my mother, the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria shall be taken away before the king of Assyria.

Later the king of Assyria also conquered the southern kingdom of Judah and took its king, Manasseh, captive to Assyria:

2Ch 33:11  Wherefore the LORD brought upon them the captains of the host of the king of Assyria, which took Manasseh among the thorns, and bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon.
2Ch 33:12  And when he was in affliction, he besought the LORD his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers,

Manasseh was one of the worst kings of Judah, but like King Ahab of the northern kingdom of Israel, Manasseh humbled himself while in Assyrian captivity in Babylon, and the Lord had great mercy on Manasseh and returned him to the throne of Judah.

2Ch 33:13  And prayed unto him: and he was intreated of him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD he was God.

During the days of the king of Assyria,​ Babylon was but one of the cities of the Assyrian empire. When Assyria conquered Syria and the northern kingdom of Israel, the king of Assyria sent many men from Babylon to occupy the cities of Israel because Babylon, at that time,​ was subject to the king of Assyria:

2Ki 17:24  And the king of Assyria brought men from Babylon, and from Cuthah, and from Ava, and from Hamath, and from Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel: and they possessed Samaria, and dwelt in the cities thereof.

But after God had used Assyria to punish His own people,​ He then used the Babylonians to destroy the king of Assyria and to usurp rulership over all the cities and kingdoms of the Chaldeans:

Isa 10:12  Wherefore it shall come to pass, that when the Lord hath performed his whole work upon mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the stout heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his high looks.

It is this verse of Isa 10:12 to which our study today refers:

Isa 14:24  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:
Isa 14:25  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.

What Christ and His Father had "sworn... [and] thought... and [had] purposed", and what they purpose to this very day, is to "punish the fruit of the stout heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his high looks". This 'king of Assyria is but an earlier symbol of the king of Babylon, who is just an earlier symbol of the second beast of Revelation 13.

Both of these kings defy their Creator. Let's look at what each of these men ha​s said in their heart in defiance of their Creator:

Here is the boasting of the king of Assyria:

2Ki 18:31  Hearken not to Hezekiah: for thus saith the king of Assyria, Make an agreement with me by a present, and come out to me, and then eat ye every man of his own vine, and every one of his fig tree, and drink ye every one the waters of his cistern:
2Ki 18:32  Until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of corn and wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of oil olive and of honey, that ye may live, and not die: and hearken not unto Hezekiah, when he persuadeth you, saying, The LORD will deliver us.
2Ki 18:33  Hath any of the gods of the nations delivered at all his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria?
2Ki 18:34  Where are the gods of Hamath, and of Arpad? where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah? have they delivered Samaria out of mine hand?
2Ki 18:35  Who are they among all the gods of the countries, that have delivered their country out of mine hand, that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem out of mine hand?

Here is the boasting of the king of Babylon:

Dan 4:30  The king spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty?

And this is the what the beast within every man does:

Rev 13:5  And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.
Rev 13:6  And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.
Rev 13:7  And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.

Is this not exactly what the kings of Assyria and Babylon do? Of course it is. Just as the king of Babylon, a Chaldean, followed the king of Assyria, who was also a Chaldean, so also here in their final manifestation we again have two appearances of the same beast within all men. But instead of being called 'the king of Babylon' here in his final Biblical manifestation he is called "another beast coming up out of the earth":

Rev 13:11  And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.
Rev 13:12  And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.

This second beast "comes up out of the earth", as contrasted with the first beast which "came up out of the sea":

Rev 13:1  And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.
Rev 13:2  And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.
Rev 13:3  And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.
Rev 13:4  And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?

Daniel told Nebuchadnezzar that he was the "head of gold" on the doomed image of which Nebuchadnezzar had dreamed and then forgotten. No doubt the Babylonian empire was superior to the Assyrian empire simply because Babylon conquered Nineveh and the Assyrians. The truth is that both were the same Chaldean peoples, as Isaiah demonstrates many times.

Here are but a few of many examples how both Assyria and Babylon are called 'Chaldeans':

Isa 23:13  Behold the land of the Chaldeans; this people was not, till the Assyrian founded it for them that dwell in the wilderness: they set up the towers thereof, they raised up the palaces thereof; and he brought it to ruin.

Isa 43:14  Thus saith the LORD, your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; For your sake I have sent to Babylon, and have brought down all their nobles, and the Chaldeans, whose cry is in the ships.

Isa 47:1  Come down, and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon, sit on the ground: there is no throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans: for thou shalt no more be called tender and delicate.

So it is with the two beasts of Revelation 13. The 'sea' is as much a part of the '​earth' as Assyria is a part of the Chaldeans, as these verses demonstrate:

Gen 1:1  In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
Gen 1:2  And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

Exo 15:10  Thou didst blow with thy wind, the sea covered them: they sank as lead in the mighty waters.
Exo 15:11  Who is like unto thee, O LORD, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?
Exo 15:12  Thou stretchedst out thy right hand, the earth swallowed them.

Now that we know that the Assyrians and the Babylonians are one and the same very religious Chaldean peoples,​ we can understand why these verses concerning the king of Assyria are here with this parable against the king of Babylon, and we will also understand why the Lord tells us He will "break the Assyrian in [the Lord's] own land, and upon [His] mountains.

Isa 14:25  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.

But there is one more little nugget we can glean from the judgment of the Lord upon "Babylon the Great" (Rev 17: 5). That nugget is given to us in the last two verses of our study. After addressing both the king of Babylon and the king of Assyria in this 14th chapter of Isaiah, the very next verse tells  us this:

Isa 14:26  This is the purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth: and this is the hand that is stretched out upon all the nations.
Isa 14:27  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 we are being told here is what we are really being told everywhere we read about the judgment of Babylon. Babylon is not judged in a vacuum. The Truth is that the judgment of Babylon is the judgment of the whole world, as we were just told: "This is the purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth: and this is the hand that is stretched out upon all the nations".

So once again Babylon is not just the Christian world, rather Babylon is "the whole earth... all nations", and all the "kings of the world" over whom "Babylon the great" has been given dominion for so long.

Notice what happened to Nebuchadnezzar,​ the king of Babylon which has been written for our sakes:

Dan 4:1  Nebuchadnezzar the king, unto all people, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth; Peace be multiplied unto you.
Dan 4:2  I thought it good to shew the signs and wonders that the high God hath wrought toward me.
Dan 4:3  How great are his signs! and how mighty are his wonders! his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and his dominion is from generation to generation.
Dan 4:4  I Nebuchadnezzar was at rest in mine house, and flourishing in my palace:
Dan 4:5  I saw a dream which made me afraid, and the thoughts upon my bed and the visions of my head troubled me.
Dan 4:6  Therefore made I a decree to bring in all the wise men of Babylon before me, that they might make known unto me the interpretation of the dream.
Dan 4:7  Then came in the magicians, the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers: and I told the dream before them; but they did not make known unto me the interpretation thereof.
Dan 4:8  But at the last Daniel came in before me, whose name was Belteshazzar, according to the name of my god, and in whom is the spirit of the holy gods: and before him I told the dream, saying,
Dan 4:9  O Belteshazzar, master of the magicians, because I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in thee, and no secret troubleth thee, tell me the visions of my dream that I have seen, and the interpretation thereof.
Dan 4:10  Thus were the visions of mine head in my bed; I saw, and behold a tree in the midst of the earth, and the height thereof was great.
Dan 4:11  The tree grew, and was strong, and the height thereof reached unto heaven, and the sight thereof to the end of all the earth:
Dan 4:12  The leaves thereof were fair, and the fruit thereof much, and in it was meat for all: the beasts of the field had shadow under it, and the fowls of the heaven dwelt in the boughs thereof, and all flesh was fed of it.

We know that the kingdom of Babylon did not rule over the entire physical planet, but it did rule over everything of any consequence at that time, including eventually, Egypt.

Jer 46:24  The daughter of Egypt shall be confounded; she shall be delivered into the hand of the people of the north.
Jer 46:25  The LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, saith; Behold, I will punish the multitude of No, and Pharaoh, and Egypt, with their gods, and their kings; even Pharaoh, and all them that trust in him:
Jer 46:26  And I will deliver them into the hand of those that seek their lives, and into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of his servants: and afterward it shall be inhabited, as in the days of old, saith the LORD.

What is said of Babylon in scripture symbolizes what is being said of the whole world:

Isa 14:26  This ["parable against Babylon" -​ Isa 14:4] is the purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth: and is the hand that is stretched out upon all the nations.

Isa 14:4  That thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say, How hath the oppressor ceased! the golden city ceased!

This universal application of the judgment of the king of Babylon here in Isaiah is the same message being given to us in Revelation 17 and 18. Look at how universal the influence of Babylon The Great is stated to be. Babylon's dominion is over "the kings of the earth":

Rev 17:1  And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:
Rev 17:2  With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.

Rev 17:15  And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.

Rev 17:18  And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.

Cities like Jerusalem, Babylon, Tyre, Sidon, etc. in scripture are always addressed as women. Women in scripture, are always the Biblical symbol of both true and false religion. It is religion which is "that great city, which reigns over the kings of the earth". This particular woman,​ who reigns over the kings of the earth,​ has a special hatred for the Lord's elect. The fact is that all religions of men harbor deep-​seated enmity against Christ and His doctrine. They one and all hate the doctrine of Christ mainly because Christ's doctrine teaches us that none of us are free to do as we please:

Gen 45:4  And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt.
Gen 45:5  Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life.
Gen 45:6  For these two years hath the famine been in the land: and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest.
Gen 45:7  And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance.
Gen 45:8  So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.

That was the same conclusion the Lord delivered to Nebuchadnezzar when Daniel interpreted his dream about the tree that nourished the whole earth:

Dan 4:17  This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men.

That is the same message Christ gave to Pilate when Pilate thought Christ's life was in his hands:

Joh 19:11  Jesus answered, Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin.

And finally that is also the same message Christ has for us concerning the affairs of this earth since the time of His death and resurrection:

Mat 28:18  And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.

These verses are telling us that even the thoughts and actions of all whose religion is contrary to the doctrine of Christ are actually as much a work of Christ through the power given Him by His Father as Joseph's brothers selling him into Egyptian slavery and the Jews delivering Christ up to Pilate to be crucified​. It was all nothing more or less than "what [His] hand and [His] counsel determined before to be done".

Act 4:26  The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ.
Act 4:27  For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together,
Act 4:28  For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done.

It wa​s the religious leaders who delivered Christ up to be crucified,​ and it will always be that same "great city" which will again deliver Christ up to be crucified again:

Luk 13:33  Nevertheless I must walk to day, and to morrow, and the day following: for it cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem.

Physical Jerusalem typifies "the great city" which still wants to destroy those who follow the Lord:

Rev 11:7  And when [the "two witnesses"] shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.
Rev 11:8  And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.

When the Lord's hypocritical people were removed from Jerusalem, they were taken to Babylon:

2Ki 24:15  And he carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon, and the king's mother, and the king's wives, and his officers, and the mighty of the land, those carried he into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon.
2Ki 24:16  And all the men of might, even seven thousand, and craftsmen and smiths a thousand, all that were strong and apt for war, even them the king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon.

Babylonian captivity produced a spirit of true repentance in just a very few of those who knew what the Lord had done to Jerusalem. It was only a small minority of the Lord's people who came out of Babylon to rebuild the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem, and our Lord tells us it is and always will be that way, until the end:

Mat 22:14  For many are called, but few are chosen.

What this chapter is revealing to all with eyes that see and ears that hear, is that God's calling is to all men everywhere, and it is this whole world which makes up "Babylon the great,​ the mother of harlots and of abominations of the earth."

Rev 17:4  And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:
Rev 17:5  And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
Rev 17:6  And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.

Rev 17:18  And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.

So the king of Assyria and the king of Babylon are both just earlier manifestations of this great city which is also called "the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth". It is of this system that all who have been​ given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God are commanded:

Rev 18:4  And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.

Next week, if the Lord wills, we will learn that even our most personal weaknesses and faults must be destroyed and burned up before we can come back to the kingdom of God.

Those weaknesses and faults are symbolized as the nations which are​ closest to us. Israel's most intimate enemy was the Philistines, and these are our verses for our next study which will bring us to the end of this chapter:

Isa 14:28  In the year that king Ahaz died was this burden.
Isa 14:29  Rejoice not thou, whole Palestina, because the rod of him that smote thee is broken: for out of the serpent's root shall come forth a cockatrice, and his fruit shall be a fiery flying serpent.
Isa 14:30  And the firstborn of the poor shall feed, and the needy shall lie down in safety: and I will kill thy root with famine, and he shall slay thy remnant.
Isa 14:31  Howl, O gate; cry, O city; thou, whole Palestina, art dissolved: for there shall come from the north a smoke, and none shall be alone in his appointed times.
Isa 14:32  What shall one then answer the messengers of the nation? That the LORD hath founded Zion, and the poor of his people shall trust in it.