This and the next two posts will be unusual. The first two posts will be to establish a point of doctrine. The third post will be to illustrate how to read a verse that appears to be worded differently than how we would speak today. There are three places in the Word of God where the Lord makes clear what his purposes are for three principal things. To grasp the third place it is necessary to understand the first two points and to be able to read your English Bible.
The LORD of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand: That I will break the Assyrian in my land, and upon my mountains tread him under foot: then shall his yoke depart from off them, and his burden depart from off their shoulders. This is the purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth: and this is the hand that is stretched out upon all the nations, Isaiah 14:24-26.
If I was inclined to believe what the Bible says (and I am), then I now know the purpose for the earth. God didn't make the earth for man, that is a side benefit. His purpose for making the earth was to destroy the Assyrian in God's land (Israel) and upon God's mountains. He is speaking of Armageddon.
For thus saith the Lord GOD, My people went down aforetime into Egypt to sojourn there; and the Assyrian oppressed them without cause, Isaiah 54:4. The Assyrian oppressed Israel in Egypt? I thought that Pharaoh oppressed Israel in Egypt? The Assyrian is mentioned 13 times in the Word of God. More often than not he is not a normal man. Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon with fair branches, and with a shadowing shroud, and of an high stature; and his top was among the thick boughs, Ezekiel, 31:3. It was the Assyrian who founded Babylon; Behold the land of the Chaldeans; this people was not, till the Assyrian founded it for them that dwell in the wilderness: they set up the towers thereof, they raised up the palaces thereof; and he brought it to ruin, Isaiah 23:13.
It is not unusual for the Lord to liken a heavenly foe to an earthly king. He does so in Ezekiel 31:18 and again in Ezekiel 28:12. It may hurt our pride, or it make shake our theology, but God's purpose in making the earth was to destroy the Assyrian. All of history will culminate in that moment when the Anti-Christ in his folly and in his unholiness meets the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. Then to add insult to injury, the Assyrian will not inherit the earth, the meek will.
And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS. And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God; That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great. And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army. And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh, Revelation 19:11-21.