Deeper Reflection
Isaiah describes the nations using four consecutive metaphors (vv.12-13). The first pair of metaphors — the peoples thunder and the nations roar, like the terrifying roar of mighty waters — depicts the nations’ power and might. The next pair, however, portrays these same nations fleeing at the Lord’s rebuke: like chaff before the wind and whirling dust before the storm! The fearsome nations are completely subdued under God’s hand (cf. Psa 2:2-4; 46:6; 47:8). The Lord is King of the nations (Jer 10:7)!While this oracle is directed at the Assyrians, whom God was using to judge His people, it is more broadly applicable to different nations of the world. God’s rebuke of the nations and their subsequent flight “puts the nations in their place”,¹⁸ revealing His sovereignty over them. God is in complete control of human affairs.¹⁹All the nations of the earth are ruled by God’s hand. He is the true King who uplifts and prospers nations, and also the One who vanquishes and disperses them (Job 12:23). “Pretensions to world domination and control (by human leaders)…fade before the realities of God’s sovereign power.” ²⁰The King of the nations not only rules the nations, He rules their rulers (Job 12:24-25)! No human being, however powerful, can ever thwart the purposes of God. ²¹ Even the mental faculties of earthly rulers are given by the Lord; without these, rulers become aimless, senseless and helpless. Even the king’s heart is in God’s hand, which He directs, as a water course, wherever He wills (Prov 21:1).

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¹⁸ John Goldingay, Isaiah, ed. W. Ward Gasque, Robert L. Hubbard Jr., and Robert K. Johnston, Understanding the Bible Commentary Series (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2012), 113-114. ¹⁹ Paul R. House, Isaiah: A Mentor Commentary, vol. 1, Mentor Commentary (Ross-shire, Great Britain: Mentor, 2018), 467. ²⁰ Gerald H. Wilson, Job, ed. W. Ward Gasque, Robert L. Hubbard Jr., and Robert K. Johnston, Understanding the Bible Commentary Series (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2012), 131 ²¹ aniel J. Estes, Job, ed. Mark L. Strauss, John H. Walton, and Rosalie de Rosset, Teach the Text Commentary Series (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2013), 77