The Assyrian had been sent as God's rod to punish Judah and then was repulsed, but he will seek to return to destroy Israel and will gather many nations under his power, but it will be to their utter destruction. They will gather at the valley of Jehoshaphat outside Jerusalem, multitudes of the heathen in the valley of decision, as a cloud to cover the land.
The Assyrian is proud, he does not stay at home, "he enlargeth his desire as hell" to conquer all nations, to heap unto him all peoples. "Hell and destruction are never full; so the eyes of man are never satisfied." How true this is of Russia today, as she plans to conquer the world.
This will be the war to end all wars before the millennial day, the climax of the great day of God Almighty, and will decide the controversy of Zion. There the Lord will sit to judge all of the heathen round about.
Matt. 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)
There seem to be two aspects of judgment brought together, that of the warring nations attacking Israel in company with Gog, and also a sessional judgment upon the living nations who have heard the gospel of the kingdom but have rejected it by mistreating the Lord's servants.
The Lord will be against Gog, the great Assyrian, the leader of the world rebellion against God, His Christ, and His people. Gog will say, "I will go up to the land of unwalled villages;..., that dwell safely,...To take a spoil, and to take a prey;...upon the people..., which have gotten cattle and goods."
Persia, Ethiopia, Libya, Gomer (Germany) and his bands, all the house of Togarmah (Armenia) of the north quarters and all his bands, with many other people will come down like a flood, with Gog, to destroy Israel, "the land brought back from the sword and gathered out of many people."
The nations of Psa. 83 will also be of the number with Gog, of whom the prophets have spoken in regard to the day of the Lord, the same company responsible for the first attack.
God's people are told to not be afraid of the Assyrian in this last attack, similar to that of Pharaoh at the Red Sea, for he will be turned back and destroyed.
Before the attack a great valley will have been opened when the Mount of Olives slave in the midst to the east and west, and the people of Israel will flee from the Assyrian to this valley.
The Lord will come with fire and sword to plead with all flesh, and the slain shall be many, apostate Jews and Gentiles together. Through the mercy of God some of both Jews and Gentiles will escape to be sent as missionaries to declare the gospel of the kingdom during the millennial day to those who have never heard nor have seen His glory of judgment.
Isa. 66:15,1615For, behold, the Lord will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire. 16For by fire and by his sword will the Lord plead with all flesh: and the slain of the Lord shall be many. (Isaiah 66:15‑16) Isa. 66:18,1918For I know their works and their thoughts: it shall come, that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come, and see my glory. 19And I will set a sign among them, and I will send those that escape of them unto the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, that draw the bow, to Tubal, and Javan, to the isles afar off, that have not heard my fame, neither have seen my glory; and they shall declare my glory among the Gentiles. (Isaiah 66:18‑19)
When the whole work has been performed in the heart of Israel, the Lord will destroy the Assyrian who will fall on the mountains of Israel. Edom, the leader in promoting attacks against Israel, will be destroyed without a remnant, and his land will become the last battlefield of the great day of God Almighty. It will take seven months to bury the dead. The Philistines will also lose their land.
Isa. 10:1212Wherefore it shall come to pass, that when the Lord hath performed his whole work upon mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the stout heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his high looks. (Isaiah 10:12) Isa. 14:2525That I will break the Assyrian in my land, and upon my mountains tread him under foot: then shall his yoke depart from off them, and his burden depart from off their shoulders. (Isaiah 14:25) Obad. Ezek. 39:1212And seven months shall the house of Israel be burying of them, that they may cleanse the land. (Ezekiel 39:12) Isa. 14:29-3229Rejoice not thou, whole Palestina, because the rod of him that smote thee is broken: for out of the serpent's root shall come forth a cockatrice, and his fruit shall be a fiery flying serpent. 30And the firstborn of the poor shall feed, and the needy shall lie down in safety: and I will kill thy root with famine, and he shall slay thy remnant. 31Howl, O gate; cry, O city; thou, whole Palestina, art dissolved: for there shall come from the north a smoke, and none shall be alone in his appointed times. 32What shall one then answer the messengers of the nation? That the Lord hath founded Zion, and the poor of his people shall trust in it. (Isaiah 14:29‑32)
The yoke of the Assyrian upon Israel will be removed forever.
"The name of the LORD cometh from far, burning with his anger,...his lips are full of indignation."
"Thou didst march through the land in indignation, thou didst thresh the heathen in anger."
He will "sift the nations with the sieve of vanity."
"I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth."
God's glory in judgment upon the Assyrian and His glory in grace in restoring Israel will be manifested. "God came from Teman (Edom),...His glory covered the heavens, and the earth was full of his praise." Judgment will then be past.
"For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea."
After full deliverance, the hearts of the entire nation will be deeply touched, fully repented, and every family will weep apart. There will be individual mourning because they will remember their ways and will review Isa. 53 which will remind them of their blood-guiltiness, also the sins of youth. They cry "out of the depths," as they mourn.
Ezek. 20:4343And there shall ye remember your ways, and all your doings, wherein ye have been defiled; and ye shall lothe yourselves in your own sight for all your evils that ye have committed. (Ezekiel 20:43) Zech. 12:10-1410And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. 11In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon. 12And the land shall mourn, every family apart; the family of the house of David apart, and their wives apart; the family of the house of Nathan apart, and their wives apart; 13The family of the house of Levi apart, and their wives apart; the family of Shimei apart, and their wives apart; 14All the families that remain, every family apart, and their wives apart. (Zechariah 12:10‑14) Psa. 25:77Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions: according to thy mercy remember thou me for thy goodness' sake, O Lord. (Psalm 25:7) Psa. 130
The ten tribes will ask the Lord, "What are these wounds in thine hands?" He will answer, "Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends."
After mourning days are past, the barren woman Israel, who will then have more children than the married wife, will sing. As blessing will increase in the entire restored nation and death is swallowed up in victory, there will be a feast of fat things, joys never known before.
Isa. 54:11Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the Lord. (Isaiah 54:1) 2 Kings 8:66And when the king asked the woman, she told him. So the king appointed unto her a certain officer, saying, Restore all that was hers, and all the fruits of the field since the day that she left the land, even until now. (2 Kings 8:6)
The testimony of the true God, given to Israel in the past, will go out to all nations and peoples. All tears will be wiped away, the rebuke of His people gone forever.
Isa. 25
Israel had been told in Joel 2 that "afterward" or "thereupon" the Lord would pour out His Spirit, but after their being restored to Himself He will say, "I have poured out my Spirit upon the house of Israel."
The Lord will make a new covenant with the house of Israel. He will put His law in their inward parts and write it in their hearts, and He will be their God, and they shall be His people. The new covenant in Israel will never be removed.
Jews and Gentiles who are still on earth after the rapture of the Church, having heard and rejected the gospel of the grace of God in the present day, will experience none of the millennial blessing, but will be consigned to eternal punishment.