Isaiah 14:24-27 – Taking God at His Word

Starting from Isaiah chapter 13, the prophet delivered a series of judgments on the nations surrounding His covenant people. He started off by proclaiming the ultimate downfall of Babylon. In Isaiah 14:24-27, the prophet turned to talk about God’s promised deliverance from Assyria again. This was something which he had told them earlier. While Babylon would be the ultimate deliverance, the immediate threat confronting Judah was Assyria. God wanted them to be assured of His deliverance.  

Menacing Assyria was the nation that had carried the northern kingdom into captivity. Earlier in Isaiah 7, we saw how King Ahaz chose to rely on Assyria to deliver them from the threat of the Syria-Israel alliance. Because he chose to trust Assyria, Judah was not spared the agony of the Assyrian threat as well. Having helped Ahaz, Assyria would then turn to intimidate Judah. Here God once again promised to deliver them from Assyria. But the tone of Isaiah 14:24 suggests that the people of Judah were not convinced. They considered Assyria far too formidable and hence were not able to trust God fully.

So we see God graciously descended to their level and gave them a fresh word in an oath, assuring them that He would take Assyria off their back. He promised that the yoke they experienced would be broken off. Nothing could hinder God’s purpose which He had so unequivocally declared. Here Isaiah was probably thinking about what he had proclaimed earlier in chapter 10. He wanted to assure Judah that as he had declared then, the promise God made still stood. And God would not only deal with Assyria, but He would also deal with the threats coming from other nations against His people. Isaiah assured them that nothing and no one could frustrate what God had planned.

These verses reveal how truly compassionate our God is. Having assured His people so many times, one would have expected them to take Him at His word. But this was not the case. They kept refusing to trust Him fully. So here God literally condescended to their level to bring an assurance of His deliverance in an oath. Remember that God has no one greater than Himself. His word is final. Do not test His patience by doubting what He says. We must learn to take Him at His word instantly, not vacillatingly. Let us trust God absolutely!