Jehovah, the Creator, speaks here of Israel, His chosen, though so wayward, people. All the nations, except those comprised in the Roman empire which will have already met its judgment at the instant of the Lord’s coming again to the earth, will be assembled together against Jerusalem (Psalm 83). That land and that city have again and again been coveted by the kings of the earth, and not knowing of the Lord’s intervention on behalf of the Jews and the destruction of the western hosts, the associated Gentile powers under the king of the north or in league with him, will continue with a previously begun campaign to ravage the land of Israel.
When the Lord comes to the earth a second time, all that fear Him among the Jews will have long before left Jerusalem in obedience to His instructions in Matthew 24:15-20,15When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) 16Then let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains: 17Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house: 18Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. 19And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! 20But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day: (Matthew 24:15‑20) upon the setting up of idolatry in the temple there. Having first destroyed the western Gentile powers, he will deliver the oppressed remnant and deal in instant and unsparing judgment with the Jewish rebels, cleansing Jerusalem before the (second) appearance of the eastern Gentile powers who are concerted in the siege.
Jerusalem and Judah will be made of God a cup of trembling (or bewilderment) unto all the peoples round about (verse 2), and a burdensome stone for all. All that burden themselves with Jerusalem shall be wounded (verse 3), and this siege will be unlike any of the city’s many past ones, for Jehovah will, upon this occasion, act on behalf of His people, smiting every horse with astonishment and his rider with blindness, every horse of the peoples (Gentiles) with blindness.
The (new) leaders of Judah, front among the believing remnant, —the former leaders exercising authority under the wicked and apostate king having been put to death by the Lord—will say in their heart. The inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be my strength in (or rather, through) Jehovah of hosts their God. What a change this means, in Judah and Jerusalem, so long the center of godlessness and manifold wickedness, the scene of the cross of Christ!
Then will He (that is to say, the Lord, who will be owned as Jehovah equally with His Father and the Holy Spirit) make the leaders of Judah executors of His judgments on the peoples round about, and Jerusalem shall he inhabited again in her own place. Of all the tribes of Israel, deepest in sin has been Judah, the tribe responsible for rejection of the Messiah when He came in lowly grace. The other tribes of the sons of Jacob might well hold this against their brethren of Judah, and therefore (amazing depth of divine grace!) Jehovah shall save the tents of Judah first (verse 7).
“In that day” Jehovah will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem (verse 8). It is the time of the invasion of the land by the nations led by the king of the north (often in Isaiah referred to as the Assyrian), and, as it would appear also, a later one by Russia herself. See Isaiah 8:77Now therefore, behold, the Lord bringeth up upon them the waters of the river, strong and many, even the king of Assyria, and all his glory: and he shall come up over all his channels, and go over all his banks: (Isaiah 8:7) to 12:6 and Psalm 83, Daniel 8:23-25,23And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up. 24And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people. 25And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand. (Daniel 8:23‑25) Ezekiel 38-39, the fulfillment of all of which will shortly follow the judgment of western powers at the Lord’s return to the earth (Matthew 24:26-30,26Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not. 27For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. 28For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together. 29Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: 30And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. (Matthew 24:26‑30) Revelation 19:11-2111And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. 12His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. 13And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. 14And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. 15And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. 16And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS. 17And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God; 18That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great. 19And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army. 20And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. 21And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh. (Revelation 19:11‑21)).
For an understanding of the order of prophetic unfoldings, it must be apprehended that the eastern and western powers will be dealt with separately by the Lord Jesus when He comes again. Except Daniel, the Old Testament prophets chiefly tell of the eastern oppressors of Israel, with little reference to the western power under which the Lord was crucified. Shortly before His coming, the eastern powers led by the Assyrian or king of the north (north in relation to the land of Israel) will have successfully invaded the country of the Jews, being used of God unconsciously to themselves (Isaiah 10:5-8, 12-14; 28:145O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation. 6I will send him against an hypocritical nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets. 7Howbeit he meaneth not so, neither doth his heart think so; but it is in his heart to destroy and cut off nations not a few. 8For he saith, Are not my princes altogether kings? (Isaiah 10:5‑8)
12Wherefore 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. 13For he saith, By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom; for I am prudent: and I have removed the bounds of the people, and have robbed their treasures, and I have put down the inhabitants like a valiant man: 14And my hand hath found as a nest the riches of the people: and as one gathereth eggs that are left, have I gathered all the earth; and there was none that moved the wing, or opened the mouth, or peeped. (Isaiah 10:12‑14)
14Wherefore hear the word of the Lord, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem. (Isaiah 28:14) to 29:8, etc. to punish the unrepentant who will comprise the majority of the earthly people of God.
After capturing Jerusalem (Zechariah 14:22For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city. (Zechariah 14:2)) the associated eastern nations under the king of the north will continue southward into Africa (Daniel 11:41-15), and it is while there engaged in war (as many judge) that the Lord will suddenly appear at Jerusalem, will destroy the western powers and the false prophet, and will undertake the cleansing of the land of all the sinners who remain there. Shortly, alarmed by news which seems to call for an immediate movement northward, the king of the north returns, and Jerusalem will again be invested, but now the Lord is with His people, and the eastern armies will be completely defeated.
The appearing of the Lord for His earthly saints as expressed here, presents a marked contrast with Ills appearing for His heavenly saints, for the Jews must pass through an experience like that of Joseph’s brethren in Genesis 42, 44 and 45. Psalm 51 will be the language of every Jew as he reflects upon the rejection of Christ when He came to His own, 1900 years ago. The mourning of Hadadrimmon (verse 11) appears to be that which occurred upon the death of Josiah, the last godly king of Judah.