Jehovah's Counsel Against the Nations, Chapter Fifteen

JEHOVAH can use the nations to discipline his people for their wickedness. Even so, he does not excuse those nations for their unnecessary cruelty, their pride, and their animosity toward true worship.   Thus, long in advance he inspires Isaiah to record "the pronouncement against Babylon."  (Isaiah 13:1)  However,  Babylon  is a future threat.  In Isaiah's day, Assyria is oppressing God's covenant people.  Assyrian destroys the northern kingdom of Israel and devastates much of Judah.  But Assyrian's triumph is limited. Isaiah writes:  "Jehovah of armies has sworn, saying:  'Surely just as I have figured, so it must occur . . .in order to break the Assyrian in my land and that I may tread him down on my own mountains; and that  his yoke may actually depart from upon  them and that his very load may depart from upon their shoulder.' "  (Isaiah 14:24, 25)  Not long after Isaiah utters this prophecy, the Assyrian threat is removed from Judah.

What, though, of other nations that are enemies of God's  covenant people?  They too must be judged. Isaiah declares:  "This is the counsel that is counseled against all the earth, and this is the hand that is stretched out against all the nations.  For Jehovah of armies himself has counseled, and who can break it up?  And his hand is the one stretched out , and who can turn it back?"  (Isaiah 14:26, 27)  Jehovah's "counsel" is more than mere advice. It is his firm determination, his decree.  (Jeremiah 49:20, 30)  God's "hand" is his applied power. In the final verses of Isaiah chapter 14 and in chapters 15 to 19 , Jehovah's counsel is against Philistia, Moab, Damascus, Ethiopia, and Egypt.

However, Isaiah says that Jehovah's hand is stretched out against "all the nations."  Hence, while these prophecies of Isaiah are first fulfilled in ancient times, they also apply in principle during "the time of the end" when Jehovah stretches out his hand against all the kingdoms of the earth.  (Daniel 2:44; 12:9; Romans 15:4; Revelation 19:11, 19-21)  Long in advance, the almighty God, Jehovah, confidently reveals his counsel.  No one can turn back his stretched-out hand. Psalm 33:11; Isaiah  46:10.

Next time: "A Fiery Snake" Against Philistia

From the Book Isaiah's Prophecy Light for all Mankind, 2000