John Calvin Commentary Isaiah 14:5

"Jehovah hath broken the staff of the wicked, the sceptre of the rulers;" — Isaiah 14:5 (ASV)

The Lord hath broken the staff of the wicked. He answers the question that has just been asked; for He did not intend that believers should doubt that it would happen, but rather that they should be amazed at such wonderful works of God; for the question had a tendency to arouse their minds to more earnest attention.

It is as if he had said that it did not happen at random or through the blind violence of fortune that they have not been oppressed by continual bondage, but that it ought to be ascribed to the providence of God, who hath broken that hard yoke of bondage. Now, the wicked are amazed at such works and remain bewildered because they do not see the reason; but the righteous know that this ought to be ascribed to God.

Let us therefore learn to admire the works of God and, while we are amazed at them, acknowledge Him as the Author; and let us not think that any of them should be overlooked, especially when He shows His power for redeeming His Church, when by His wonderful power He delivers each of us from the bondage of the devil, from the tyranny of Antichrist, and from eternal death. This is no ordinary work, no part of which ought to be ascribed to human power or to any other cause.

To the staff of the wicked he adds the sceptre of the rulers; and by this repetition he means that no imperial power can support unjust tyranny. And immediately afterwards he states more clearly that the monarchy of the Babylonians would be destroyed, because it was unjust and tyrannical, when he says (Isaiah 14:6) that the people had been struck with an incurable stroke, and that there was no limit to the violence, because they had rioted with impunity in unbounded licentiousness. This reminds us that eventually God will not spare tyrants, though He may overlook them for a time. The same destruction awaits them as, we learn, befell Babylon; for the Lord is righteous (Psalms 11:7), and He is always true to Himself.