The miracles of the Exodus sent a powerful message to the Egyptians, the Israelites, and all the people in the region. Moses' father-in-law Jethro affirmed, "Blessed be the LORD, who has delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of Pharaoh and has delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians. Now I know that the LORD is greater than all gods, because in this affair they dealt arrogantly with the people" (Ex 18:10-11).
But not everyone got the message, and so God gave periodic reminders. In the late 8th century BC, the haughty Assyrian Empire conquered the Kingdom of Israel and threatened to overrun the kingdom of Judah. Through the prophet Isaiah, God warned the Assyrians---and all other evil human empires---that there was a day of reckoning in their future. The destroyer would one day be destroyed (Isa 33:1), for the God of Israel is the true king (verse 5). When things seemed hopeless for Judah (vv 7-9), God would arise (verse 10), and the plans of the nations would come to nothing (vv 11-12). All the world would witness this (v 13).
Isaiah's message to Judah was to place trust in God, not in political alliances with nations in the region. To succeed, the people needed to submit to God's rule and live according to his ways (vv 14-16). Then they would live in peace, troubled by no foreign powers (vv 17-24).
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