The king of Assyria appears in the writings of Isaiah that Nephi included in the Nephite record, where he is the ruler whom the Lord uses as an instrument of judgment against Israel. Isaiah calls him “the rod of mine anger,” the staff in whose hand is God’s indignation (2 Nephi 20:5). A king of this period was Tiglath-pileser, who reigned from 747 to 734 B.C. and expanded the Assyrian Empire through his military campaigns.
After the Lord has finished his work upon Mount Zion and Jerusalem, he declares he will punish the king of Assyria for his proud heart and his high looks (2 Nephi 20:12). The king’s boasting is compared to a tool exalting itself over the one who uses it: an axe boasting against the man who hews with it, or a saw magnifying itself over the man who shakes it (2 Nephi 20:15). Isaiah foretells that the remnant of Israel will no longer rely on the one who struck them, but will turn to the Lord (2 Nephi 20:20). Among the other nations whose fate Isaiah pronounces is Babylon (2 Nephi 23:1).