Isaiah 14:24-27--An Oracle Concerning Assyria

Isaiah 14:24-27
English Standard Version

An Oracle Concerning Assyria
24 The LORDd of hosts has sworn:
“As I have planned,
    so shall it be,
and as I have purposed,
    so shall it stand,
25 that I will break the Assyrian in my land,
    and on my mountains trample him underfoot;
and his yoke shall depart from them,
    and his burden from their shoulder.”

​26 This is the purpose that is purposed
    concerning the whole earth,
and this is the hand that is stretched out
    over all the nations.
27 For the LORD of hosts has purposed,
    and who will annul it?
His hand is stretched out,
    and who will turn it back?

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It is not just Babylon that the LORD will deal with, but all of the enemies of Israel that refuse to submit themselves to the LORD and imagine they will take the Promised Land by destroying the LORD's people through attrition or assimilation.  Assyria is the largest threat that still remains in play, but the LORD is going to make sure that they are taken care of.  Though the LORD used Assyria to judge Syria, the northern tribes of Israel and Egypt, that does not mean that they should boast and imagine they will escape judgment.  Yet, we know it is part of God's sovereign plan for there to be a remnant from Assyria (and Egypt) that will worship the LORD along with the nation of Israel in the end.  Notice this passage does not say that Assyria would be destroyed, just that God's plans for them would not be thwarted.  They will not live in the Promised Land with those it was promised to, but there will be more than enough space for them in the New Heavens and the New Earth if they confess their sins, repent, and come to the LORD for forgiveness by faith.  The nation of Israel will have a huge influence on the Assyrian empire as the nation of Judah did on the nations of Media and Persia.  Though Babylon had the same chance to be influenced by the LORD and His people, they stuck with their paganism and occult practices, and their kingdom was taken away from them.

The LORD has plans for Assyria so that they will no longer be a threat to His people.  While they had planned to assimilate Israel so they lost their identity, they would the ones who would gain a new identity and culture and would become friends with the Jews for many years.  They still exist today and most of them are now Christians, but they are largely persecuted by their Muslim neighbors to the point that many have become refugees in other nations.  God has a plan for these people to be part of His larger family that will share the gospel with others and stand as an example of those what were once hostile towards Him and His people that can be fundamentally transformed by the gospel.  Pray for them that the LORD would give them a place of peace, rest and security as they have mostly been driven from their ancestorial land.