Isaiah 10:34

And Lebanon shall fall. When the mighty Sennacherib came against Judah he “reproached the Lord” with his proud boast: “With the multitude of my chariots I am come up to the height of the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon, and will cut down the tall cedar trees thereof, and the choice fir trees thereof: and I will enter into the lodgings of his borders, and into the forest of his Carmel” (2 Kings 19:23). These words can be understood both literally and figuratively. The Assyrians certainly planned to cut down the beautiful cedars of Lebanon for their own use. But they likewise planned to accomplish the ruin of nations symbolized by stately trees (see on Isa. 10:19). Israel had already been cut down, and Assyria planned that Judah should be next.

The Lord, however, makes clear that what will be accomplished in this regard will be by His direction and will, not by the purpose or might of man. Israel had fallen only because God had removed His protecting hand. Eventually, Judah would also fall, as Isaiah himself had predicted (ch. 2:11-13). It was the Lord, however, who would lay low the majestic tree of Judah, not Assyria, as Sennacherib purposed. Isaiah has foretold the doom of proud and mighty Assyria, but without forgetting that the pride of Judah would likewise be humbled, that those once beautiful and stately “trees” would be cut down before the Lord.