“Yahweh of hosts has sworn.
‘As I have designed,
So shall it be.
As I have planned,
So shall it come to pass.
I will break the Assyrian
In my land.
On my mountains
I will trample him under foot.
His yoke shall be removed
From them.
His burden shall be removed
From their shoulders.’
This is the plan that is planned
Concerning the whole earth.
This is the hand that is stretched out
Over all the nations.
Yahweh of hosts has planned.
Who will annul it?
His hand is stretched out.
Who will turn it back?”
Having dealt with Babylon and its city, Yahweh turned to the Assyrians themselves. He says that the Assyrians would be wiped out. Around 610 BCE, they were wiped out by the Persians. The Assyrian Empire went back a couple of millennium BCE. However, the so-called neo-Assyrian Empire went from about 911-610 BCE. This large neo-Assyrian Empire is what the Israelites faced during this time frame. Isaiah has Yahweh clearly plan the destruction of the Assyrian Empire. The theme here is that whatever Yahweh has planned, it will come to pass. He was going to break the Assyrians and trample them underfoot. Yahweh said that the Assyrians would no longer be in his land and his mountains. The Assyrian yoke and burden would be removed from the Israelites. However, Yahweh’s plan was also for the whole world. He had planned it and stretched out his hand. It was going to happen. Who was going to stop Yahweh? Thus it came to pass that the Persians attacked and destroyed the Assyrian Empire in the 7th century BCE, because of the plan of Yahweh.
Eugene Finnegan Bible Project 