Isaiah 33
HERE an unnamed enemy comes up for judgment. Who is he? It is believed to be none other than the Gog of Ezekiel 38 and 39, the last earthly enemy to be dealt with in the judgments attending the personal return of the Lord to the earth.
Turning to Ezekiel 38, verse 2, we find his title, “The chief prince of Meshech and Tubal,” and this is repeated in verse 3, and in verse 1 of chapter 39. It has been known for an extended period that the words translated “The chief prince” are properly rendered “Prince of Rosh,” Rosh being the ancient name corresponding to Russia, while Meshech is represented in. Moscow, and Tribal in Tobolsk, important City of Siberia.
The Assyrian, or king of the north, whom we have considered in reading previous chapters, it is believed will get his support from Russia, but that vast country, joining with others named in Ezekiel 38, verses 5 and 6, must meet its judgment too, and latest of all.
Indeed, in one or other of the conflict; of which Isaiah prophesied, occurring and following the Lord’s appearing, the power of all nations will meet His judgment, and those who remain of the Gentiles after those conflicts must meet Him in the tribunal of Matthew 25:31-4631When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: 32And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: 33And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. 34Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 35For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: 36Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. 37Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? 38When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? 39Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? 40And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. 41Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: 42For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: 43I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. 44Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? 45Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. 46And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal. (Matthew 25:31‑46).
The special marks of this last enemy are his immunity from attack, and his habits of spoiling and dealing treacherously with other countries. He will reap according to his sowing. Nevertheless, the threatened attack, regarding which (read the two chapters in Ezekiel which have been referred to) will cause the greatest alarm in the land of Israel, although they will have seen the defeat and destruction at the hand of the Lord of all other hostile powers.
This alarm is but brief however, for verse 3 continues “At the lifting up of Thyself the nations were scattered,” and the Lord tells His fearsome people that “your spoil shall be gathered like the gathering of the caterpillar; as the running of locusts shall they run upon them.”
Verses 7 to 9 show how deeply the people of God will be concerned over the approach of the last enemy, and verses 11 and 12 are the Lord’s answer to the insolent challenge of the leader. We must turn again to Ezekiel for the account of the disaster which will overtake Gog and his hosts, for Isaiah refers to it only briefly in verse 23.
It is evident also, from this chapter and other prophetic scriptures that the Lord’s dealing with sinners will not be all in a moment; it will go on for some time after He has descended from heaven. So verses 13 to 16 indicate that there are then, at that time, sinners in Jerusalem. For them judgment is certain, and will he early, we may be sure.
Verses 17 to 22 picture Israel in their new happy, blessed state. They shall behold the King (the Lord Jesus) in His beauty, and no longer shut in by fear and alarm, but free to look at the far stretch-big land (as verse 17’s close should read). They will meditate on the terror they had experienced; the men who had been so important, so fierce, before the Lord’s appearing, are gone forever from Israel’s land. Jerusalem is now seen as a quiet habitation, where Jehovah will be with them in Majesty. He is their Judge, their Law-giver, their King.