The Burden of Philistia (Isaiah 14:28-32).
This comes ‘in the year that King Ahaz died'. Thus it is probable that we are to see some connection between the death and the oracle. Philistia are told that they must not rejoice at the breaking of ‘the rod', for another will arise to continue their harassment, and they will also experience famine and further invasion.
Philistia had often experiened subjugation by the house of David. They were subdued by David (2 Samuel 5:17-25; 2 Samuel 21:15) and still paid tribute in the reign of Jehoshaphat (2 Chronicles 17:11), but rebelled against Jehoram (2 Chronicles 21:16-17), were again subdued by Uzziah (2 Chronicles 26:6), and again shook off the yoke in the reign of Ahaz (2 Chronicles 28:18).
Analysis of Isaiah 14:28-32.
a This burden was in the year that King Ahaz died. ‘Do not rejoice, O Philistia, all of you, because the rod that smote you is broken, for out of the snake's root will come forth a viper, and his fruit will be a fiery flying snake (Isaiah 14:28-29).
b And the firstborn of the poor will feed, and the needy will lie down in safety, and I will kill your root with famine, and your remnant will be slain (Isaiah 14:30).
b Howl, O gate, cry, O city, you are melted away (demoralised), Philistia, all of you. For there comes a smoke out of the north, and none stands aloof at his appointed times.
a What then shall one answer the messengers of the nation? That Yahweh has founded Zion, and in her will the afflicted of her people seek refuge.
In ‘a' Philistia are seen as rejoicing over the death of Ahaz because his loyalty to Assyria had been a hindrance to the anti-Assyrian confederacy, and being warned that Hezekiah will not be any better for them, because he will not join with their plans and will prove more than a match for any aggressors, while in the parallel the assurance is given the Yahweh has founded Zion which will be a strength to those who seek refuge in her, a further warning not to meddle with Judah. In ‘b' they are assured that under Hezekiah the nation will again prosper after the bad days at the end of Ahaz's reign when they were under siege by their neighbours, while Philistia will suffer famine and slaughter, while in the parallel has only punishment from Assyria to look forward to, and they will not be able to stand aloof from it.
‘This burden was in the year that King Ahaz died.'
Again we have the strange indication of time given on the basis of a king's death. (Normally reference would be to the next king's accession). Thus we would expect some connection with what follows.
‘Do not rejoice, O Philistia, all of you,
Because the rod that smote you is broken,
For out of the snake's root will come forth a viper,
And his fruit will be a fiery flying snake.'
The most obvious explanation of the breaking of the rod is the death of Ahaz, ‘the rod' thereby being broken. This has been objected to on the grounds that he was not in a position to hurt Philistia. But as a vassal of the king of Assyria he may well have been provided with Assyrian troops under an Assyrian commander, so that they could mingle with his own and be used to punish Philistia for some infraction against them or, it may be that with Assyrian soldiers temporarily stationed in Judah with his approval, he had at some stage been a rod to keep Philistia in line. Thus he could have been a rod to them.
Others see ‘the rod that smote you' as referring to David, and thus by inference to the Davidic house. For David and his descendants were certainly a rod to Philistia. Ahaz is then seen as ‘the broken rod' because he had lost his independence and had become a mere vassal king. This again ties the rod in with Ahaz. In this case Isaiah is telling Philistia not to rejoice that the Davidic house has lost its independence.
These words were possibly spoken when an embassy came from Philistia with proposals for a rebellion. It is not likely that this was on the death of a king of Assyria (rebellions regularly occurred when kings died) for none fit the timing, but it may well have been a rebellion fomented by Egypt which Ahaz's loyalty to Assyria had previously thwarted. Thus Ahaz's death might have been seen by them as increasing the possibility of support from Judah, and their hopes may thus have been placed in the new young king Hezekiah. If so Isaiah clearly disapproved of it, as we would expect, for he would be urging Hezekiah to trust in Yahweh alone. Indeed it may have been their subsequent punitive expedition to punish Hezekiah for observing Isaiah's request that resulted in Hezekiah's defeat of them in the fourth year of his reign (2 Kings 18:8).
‘All of you.' This would be the combined force of Philistine cities, Gaza, Ashkelon, Gath and Ashdod. (The king of Ekron was loyal to Assyria which was why Hezekiah at some stage imprisoned him in Jerusalem). They were constantly seeking opportunities to break free from Assyria. In 734 BC Gath refused to pay tribute and was sacked. In 720 BC Gaza, Ashkelon and Gath all sided with Egypt against Assyria, and when the Egyptian forces were defeated at Gaza found themselves again defeated and occupied. In 711 BC Ashdod played a major part in a joint rebellion with west Palestine states and it too was defeated. Thus this attempt was one among many.
The idea of the rod becoming a snake comes from the Exodus narrative (Isaiah 4:2-3; Isaiah 7:10-12). The snake's root may be Assyria. The viper in their midst is then not identified but would be far worse for them than Ahaz and would bring on them the might of Assyria, pictured in terms of the snake which as it struck with amazing speed appeared as if to fly (compare Isaiah 30:6). If a rebellion did arise it was certainly crushed.
But the idea may equally be that Ahaz was the rod which became the snake's root producing the viper Hezekiah who became a flying serpent to rout Philistia as mentioned above.
‘And the firstborn of the poor will feed,
And the needy will lie down in safety,
And I will kill your root with famine,
And your remnant will be slain.'
This would suggest that the last part of Ahaz's reign was a time of shortage, possibly due to Philistine retaliation once the Assyrian forces had gone, so that the poor had seen their firstborn die of starvation and the needy and undefended had lived precariously. The satisfactory feeding of the firstborn was a measure of general prosperity. The firstborn would be the first to receive food after the parents because of his status, thus if the firstborn did not feed neither did the others. This demonstrates that the times had indeed been desperate. But the accession of Hezekiah has produced better days so that their firstborn now have sufficient food and the needy sleep soundly. So God will now return the compliment and bring famine and warfare on the Philistines. While the root of the Davidic house will prosper, the root of the Philistines will starve.
‘Howl, O gate, cry, O city,
You are melted away (demoralised), Philistia, all of you.
For there comes a smoke out of the north,
And none stands aloof at his appointed times.
What then shall one answer the messengers of the nation?
That Yahweh has founded Zion, and in her will the afflicted of her people seek refuge.'
We know from 2 Kings 18:7 that Hezekiah had broken with Assyria. Thus Philistia may well have done so at the same time. Both therefore await ‘the smoke from the north', that is the dust clouds raised by the advancing Assyrians. But while Hezekiah will be confident in Yahweh the Philistines will all be demoralised for they have no one to look to, and they are desperately seeking allies. Therefore they will howl. The gate was the point of attack for any advancing army. That is why the howl will come from the gate as the army approaches.
‘None stands aloof at his appointed times.' This must refer to the fact that none can evade what is coming. None can stand back and pretend not to be part of it. For when their appointed time comes they will be forced to face the invading army whatever happens, or alternatively to surrender and face the consequences in excessive tribute and severe punishment.
In view of this how should Hezekiah respond to the Philistine approaches? What answer should he give to the messenger from the allied nations? Isaiah's answer is simple. It is Yahweh Who has founded Zion and thus it is Zion which is a safe place of refuge at this time when He still looks with favour on it. So as the armies approach the people can flee for refuge into the city that is God's foundation, which He has established and will therefore protect, and there they will be secure. They therefore have no need of alliances with foreign nations. We are always safest when our reliance is on God.