In Isaiah, chapter ten, verse five, “O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation.” God had used the Assyrians to punish His godless people. Now God would punish Assyria for their pride and arrogance, as in verses eight to fourteen of this theme chapter. Therefore, Isaiah prophesied destruction for the Assyrians, as in verses sixteen to nineteen. This specific prophecy was fulfilled when God’s angel destroyed the soldiers in the Assyrian camp surrounding God’s chosen nation, as in chapter thirty-seven, verses six through seven, “And Isaiah said unto them, Thus shall ye say unto your master, Thus saith the LORD, Be not afraid of the words that thou hast heard, wherewith the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. Behold, I will send a blast upon him, and he shall hear a rumour, and return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.”
The phrase refers to an inner voice sent by God to influence a person’s conduct and thought. Concerning the prediction that the king of Assyria would “fall by with the sword,” as in thirty-seven to thirty-eight, “So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh. And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Armenia: and Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead. Earlier, in verse eleven of the same chapter, there was boasting from this king of Assyria, “Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands by destroying them utterly; and shalt thou be delivered?” Look what happened to him.