The People of the Prince, the Coming One (4 of 4)

.

The People of the Prince

As noted before, the Scriptures are replete with God, and Christ no less, as the King of kings and Lord of lords using the ungodly nations of the world to mete out His judgments upon other nations. For instance, in Isaiah, chapter ten, God uses the Assyrians to mete out His judgments upon the northern tribes of Israel, and then He uses another nation to mete out His judgment upon the Assyrians. We see this with regards to God using the Media-Persians to overthrow the Babylonians after the Babylonians are used to judge Israel, in Isaiah 13:17-9 and 49:14-15. But here, in chapter ten, Isaiah writes:

Woe to the Assyrian, the rod of My anger, in whose hand is the club of My wrath! I send him against a godless nation, I dispatch him against a people who anger me, to seize loot and snatch plunder, and to trample them down like mud in the streets. But this is not what he intends, this is not what he has in mind; his purpose is to destroy, to put an end to many nations. (vv. 5-7)

Then it is in verse 12 that God says after using the Assyrians for punishing Israel that He will in turn punish them for the willful pride of their own hearts,

When the Lord has finished all his work against Mount Zion and Jerusalem, He will say, “I will punish the king of Assyria for the willful pride of his heart and the haughty look in his eyes.”

But notice how the Lord refers to these Assyrians whom He uses to mete out His judgments upon Israel. In verse 15, He calls them His “ax,” “saw,” “rod” and “club.” In verse 34, He says of Israel that He will use this ungodly “ax” to cut them down: “He [God] will cut down the forest thickets with an ax [i.e., with the Assyrians]; Lebanon will fall before the Mighty One.” In verse 33, the Lord had said of Israel, “See, the Lord, the Lord Almighty, will lop off the boughs with great power. The lofty trees will be felled, the tall ones will be brought low.” The northern tribes of Israel were “felled“ by this “ax.” And similar to the Lord using the Babylonians as an “ax” to cut down the Egyptians (cf. Jer. 46:22-26), so too was He going to eventually use them to hew down Judah. But yet out of these ruins or “felled trees,” which are now all stumps, God says in Isaiah 11 that “a Branch” would grow. This “Branch” was the appearance of Christ in the fulfillment of Amos’ prophecy in Acts 15:16, “After this I will return and rebuild David’s fallen tent. Its ruins I will rebuild, and I will restore it…”

In referring to the Assyrians as “the rod of My anger” in verse 8, God again uses this terminology through the prophet Micah. He tells Israel to “heed the rod and the One who appointed it” (6:2). The “rod” is the ungodly nations, such as the Assyrians above, whom God uses to correct Israel. God is “the One” who appointed it! God is the Commander in Chief behind them all. They are “His armies” whom He uses to mete out His judgments. They are “the people” of the Prince and the King of kings.

In fact, in Ezekiel 32:3, God says concerning His judgment upon Egypt, “With a great throng OF PEOPLE I will cast My net over you, and they will haul you up in My net. I will throw you on the land and hurl you on the open field, I will let all the birds of the air settle on you and all the beasts of the earth gorge themselves on you.” These birds and beasts that God was going to use to gorge themselves upon the Egyptians were the Babylonians in verses 11-12, “For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: “‘The sword of the king of Babylon will come against you. I will cause your hordes to fall by the swords of mighty men—the most ruthless of all nations. They will shatter the pride of Egypt, and all her hordes will be overthrown.”

First of all, notice that God here says He will use the “people” of another nation, the Babylonians in this case, to judge the Egyptians. This is the exact same Hebrew word “am” (Strong’s: 5971) used in Daniel 9:26 for “people.” God says He will cast His “net” over them, which was the capturing of these Egyptians with these "people" of the Babylonians whom God uses to do this with. Similarly, in Jer.16:16, the Lord refers to the Babylonians as His “fishermen,” and even "hunters," whom He uses to judge Israel; but here in Ezekiel, these “nets” of God’s such “fishermen” were going to catch the Egyptians. Like fish, the Egyptians would be hurled upon the open fields to be gorged by these ravenous birds and animals, the Babylonians. Such analogies of using “birds” and “beasts” of prey with regards to one nation devouring another nation are used over and over again in the Scriptures. A concordance will help to see this. And while all this is the work and hand of God, yet it is evident that armies of “people” were the instruments of war that He used to do the actual work of the destruction and desolation. They are God’s desolating armies that He uses to mete out His judgments.

Similarly, in Habakkuk, the Lord tells the prophet,

Look at the nations and watch—and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told. I am raising up the Babylonians, that ruthless and impetuous people, who sweep across the whole earth to seize dwelling places not their own. They are a feared and dreaded people; they are a law to themselves and promote their own honor. Their horses are swifter than leopards, fiercer than wolves at dusk. Their cavalry gallops headlong; their horsemen come from afar. They fly like a vulture swooping to devour; they all come bent on violence. Their hordes advance like a desert wind and gather prisoners like sand. They deride kings and scoff at rulers. They laugh at all fortified cities; they build earthen ramps and capture them. Then they sweep past like the wind and go on—guilty men, whose own strength is their god (1:5-11).

Habakkuk says of the Lord in verses 14-15,

You have made men like fish in the sea, like sea creatures that have no ruler. The wicked foe pulls all of them up with hooks, he catches them in his net, he gathers them up in his dragnet; and so he rejoices and is glad.

But because of the waywardness of the Babylonian's hearts, similar to the Assyrians in Isaiah chapter ten, the Lord says, “Because you have plundered many nations, THE PEOPLES [Heb. "am"] who are left will plunder you” (Hab. 2:8). They are, no less, “the peoples” of the Coming One who comes as the Judge of all the earth.

In the next chapter, Hab. 3:3 says in the Greek Septuagint, “Though he should tarry, wait for him; for he will surely come, and will not tarry.” Most translations substitute “he” for “it,” but the Septuagint translators saw this as referring to a person that would come to judge Israel via the Babylonians, and then eventually even judge the Babylonians. Who is this “coming” one? The inspired writer of the book of Hebrews, in agreement with the Septuagint translation, says it is Christ, “He who is coming will come and will not delay” (10:37). Coming to do what? Coming to “destroy” those who shrink back and who are not of those who believe and are saved (v. 39). In Habakkuk, Christ (God) was in the business of judging all those who would not live by faith, including the Babylonians and the ungodly Israelites, just as He did upon those Jews who delivered up Christ to be crucified, destroying their city and their sanctuary in 70 AD via the Roman armies; and who are all “His armies” no less that He uses to bring it all about.

In the Greek Septuagint, the words for “he will come” are literally, hoti erkomenos exei, or “the Coming One,” the same words used to describe Christ again, in Hebrews 10:37, “ho erkomenos exei.” In Habakkuk, God (and Christ no less) is “the Coming One” who was going to Judge Israel with the armies and peoples of the Babylonians, and then as we saw earlier in Isaiah, use the Media-Persians to Judge the Babylonians. The Prince and King of all Israel was “the Coming One” who was coming with the hordes or “peoples” of the Babylonians to Judge Israel. He “comes” in many ways to Judge, but in this particular incident He was going to use the “swords” of the Babylonians. Again, no one who has a working knowledge of the Greek Septuagint and the Greek New Testament denies that the phrase “O erkomenos” refers to Christ. It’s just that many have not seen Him in the light that is often presented of Him above. But by a close analysis and comparison between the Greek Septuagint and the writings of the NT writers, we can very well see now how in what sense, and in just one of the many ways, in which Christ as the Judge, Prince, and Ruler reigns over the kingdoms of this world, even using them for His own intents and purposes. Remember what God had said through Isaiah concerning the Assyrians? “I send him against a godless nation, I dispatch him…to seize…to trample….But this is not what he intends, this is not what he has in mind; his purpose is to destroy…” (vv. 6-7). But God’s purpose was to use them to mete out His justice upon Israel and other ungodly nations.

John Calvin once said with regards to all of the above when it came to God allowing the trials to come upon Job’s life, similar to what He allows to come upon all the faithful ones like Habakkuk,

The Lord permits Satan to afflict his servant [Job]; and the Chaldeans, who had been chosen as the ministers to execute the deed, He hands over to the impulses of Satan, who, pricking on the already depraved Chaldeans with his poisoned darts, instigates them to commit the crime. They rush furiously on to the unrighteous deed, and become its guilty perpetrators. Here Satan is properly said to act in the reprobate, over whom he exercises his sway, which is that of wickedness. God also is said to act in His own way; because even Satan when he is the instrument of divine wrath, is completely under the command of God, who turns him as He will in the execution of His just judgments….We thus see that there is no inconsistency in attributing the same act to God, to Satan, and to man, while, from the difference in the end and mode of action, the spotless righteousness of God shines forth at the same time that the iniquity of Satan and of man is manifested in all its deformity. (Inst., II, IV, 2).

God was the author of that trial of which Satan and wicked robbers were merely the instruments. Satan’s aim is to drive the saint to madness by despair. The Sabeans cruelly and wickedly make a sudden incursion to rob another of his goods. Job acknowledges that he was deprived of all his property, and brought to poverty, because such was the pleasure of God. Therefore, whatever men or Satan himself devise, God holds the helm, and makes all their efforts contribute to the execution of His Judgments. (Inst., I, XVIII, 1)

Earlier, we spoke of God using the Media-Persians in Isaiah, chapter 13:17-19 and 49:14-15, against the Babylonians. In chapter 48:14, He calls them His “chosen ally,” that were to mete out those judgments upon them. Then in the latter part of verse 16, we see that “the Lord” here is none other than Christ who is speaking, and begins to say with regards to this judgment, “the Sovereign Lord has sent Me with His Spirit.” And as one carefully reads these immediate chapters surrounding this text, one will see that it is Christ, and not Isaiah, that is speaking. There is a discourse going on here between the Father and the Son. And it is the Messiah who is claiming here in verse 16a, that He is “there” when the judgment occurs: “I am there,” He says! The “Coming One” was “there” and coming to Judge the Babylonians via the Media-Persians. The Sovereign Lord, with Christ and the Holy Spirit was there no less to mete out this judgment.

We can see now how earlier it was stated in Daniel 9:26 that “of the Ruler” is a prepositional phrase “of possession.” They are truly Christ’s armies whom He uses to do His bidding. And being the “object” of the people He is no less involved in the activity, but not the one who is actually doing the activity. Do you see how this all beautifully makes sense now? And this idea is to be understood no less differently in what Christ and Stephen had said earlier, that “the King,” and even, “this Jesus” will destroy the city and sanctuary of those natural, carnal Jews and murderers of all the prophets and even of the Son.

Chapter 49 of Isaiah continues with Christ speaking; and then in verses 6-7, God says, “I will also make You a light for the Gentiles, that You may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth…to Him who was despised and abhorred by the nation, to the servant of rulers: kings will see You and rise up, princes will see and bow down…” This is not Isaiah, or anyone else for that matter that this prophecy is referring to. It is none other than the Messiah, the Suffering Servant of the Lord who is depicted both as Lord and Savior.

In chapter 13 of Isaiah, the Lord had referred to these Media-Persians whom He would use to destroy Babylon, “See, I will stir up against them the Medes, who do not care for silver and have no delight in gold. Their bows will strike down the young men; they will have no mercy on infants nor will they look with compassion on children. Babylon, the jewel of kingdoms, the glory of the Babylonians’ pride, WILL BE OVERTHROWN BY GOD like Sodom and Gomorrah” (vv. 17-19). In the beginning of the chapter, verse 3, the Lord seems to be referring to all of His "holy ones"[1] who are behind the scenes going to war for Him. Behind the scenes, similar to 2Kgs. 6:17, God is mustering all of His angelic hosts to fight in these battles; but He is also mustering the armies of the earth at His beck and call. There is a spiritual battle going on behind the earthly one. Daniel 11:1 seems to lend credence to this idea. And then in verses 4-5, the prophet says, “The Lord Almighty is mustering an army for war. They come from faraway lands, from the ends of the heavens—the Lord and the weapons of his wrath—to destroy the whole country.” This “whole country” is the Babylonians, and the Lord is “mustering” the Media-Persians “from faraway lands” to fight against them. Just as armies are the weapons of a king’s wrath here upon earth, so too are these armies the weapons of God’s wrath who reigns as King of all kings from heaven.

Joel, similarly, metaphorically describes the northern armies (cf. 2:20, either the Assyrians or the Babylonians) as “locusts” coming to judge Israel. In chapter two, verse 11, Joel describes these armies as the Lord’s armies: “The Lord thunders AT THE HEAD OF HIS ARMY; His forces are beyond number, and mighty are those who obey His command.” And again, in verse 25, the Lord calls them, “MY GREAT ARMY THAT I SENT AMONG YOU.”

This idea of the Lord using “locusts” as a metaphor for these ungodly nations that devour everything before them is not uncommon in the Scriptures. Isaiah also says of such “locusts” that Joel is describing here, “Your plunder, O nations, is harvested as by young locusts; like a swarm of locusts people pounce on it.” (NIV, ‘02 ver.).

Here in Joel, these “locusts” are mistakenly understood by many to be literal locusts that are said to be God’s “armies.” And while God may use such creatures of devastation to devour Israel’s and other nation’s crops, that is not how God is using this word here. Here, as with many of God’s prophets, Joel is speaking in very highly figurative and descriptive language to depict the northern armies (whether the Assyrians or the Babylonians, but most likely the Babylonians) that were to pounce upon Israel and bring utter devastation into all the land and consume everything in their path. Isaiah refers to Cush as the land of “whirring wings” and as “swift messengers” (Isa. 18:1-2). The imagery that Joel uses in his prophecy here, and elsewhere throughout his prophetical writings, is immense and not without its difficulties, especially when one begins to read the third chapter.

But in chapter two, verse 2, the Lord says, “As the dawn is spread over the mountains, so there is a great and mighty PEOPLE [NAS; Heb. am]” which is coming. And in verse 25, a “great army that I sent among you.” And it is this same army that God refers to in verse 20, also referred to as “the northern army,” that He would eventually drive away from Israel after using them to meet out His judgments upon them. Before them [i.e., before these Babylonians] a “fire devours,” behind them “a flame blazes;” before them “the land is like the garden of Eden” just ripe for stripping bare, whereas behind them is left utter devastation, depicted as “a desert waste—nothing escapes them,” (v. 3). It is the same nation that Joel had described in chapter one, verses 6-7: “A nation has invaded my land, powerful and without number; it has the teeth of a lion, the fangs of a lioness. It has laid waste my vines and ruined my fig trees. It has stripped off their bark and thrown it away, leaving their branches white.” All this language graphically depicts the devastation that this northern army was to bring upon the nation of Israel and upon the people.

Isaiah 33:4 (as just noted), Jer. 51:14, 27 and Nah. 3:15-17, are additional “interpretive keys” in understanding all of this imagery. In addition to Isaiah already spoken of above, Jeremiah writes with regards to judgments against Babylon via other nations the Lord would use, “The Lord Almighty has sworn by Himself: I will surely fill you with men, as with a swarm of locusts, and they will shout in triumph over you…Prepare the nations for battle against her; summon against her these kingdoms: Ararat, Minni and Ashkenaz. Appoint a commander against her; send up horses like a swarm of locusts.”

Nahum likewise affirms of Nineveh:

There the fire will devour you; the sword will cut you down and, like grasshoppers, consume you. Multiply like grasshoppers, multiply like locusts! You have increased the number of your merchants till they are more than the stars of the sky, but like locusts they strip the land and then fly away. Your guards are like locusts, your officials like swarms of locusts that settle in the walls on a cold day—but when the sun appears they fly away, and no one knows where (3:15-17).

Here Nahum says the “guards” (or soldiers) are “like locust,” and the “swarms” of locust are similarly what Joel also describes in 1:4 and 2:25 as the “officials” of the land (or “nobles,” in Nah. 3:18). The “great” locusts in Joel points to the king and his leading rulers (the “king of Assyria” and his “shepherds” or rulers of Nah. 3:18), while the “young” locusts are most likely his young warriors or soldiers as described in Nahum also as the “guards.” The “other” locusts in Joel must be the rest of the people in the land invading Israel who take their share of the plunder (referred to as “the people” of the king of Assyria, here in Nah. 3:18). And what is interesting about Nahum is that he says the Assyrians who are likened unto grasshoppers, will themselves be “cut down” by “grasshoppers,” no less (v. 15; kind of similar to Moses’ serpent swallowing Pharaoh’s magician’s serpent). Again, what is depicted here is not what is “naturally” occurring via “literal” locusts, but God is using such language to describe these foreign nations with their people and rulers. Clearly, it is not out of character with God to describe such things or ideas with such literal objects or word pictures. He does it often in Scripture. Such is the “language” of God. And if the truth were really known with regards to locusts, in His sight we are all like “grasshoppers” (Isa. 40:22).

And if all that were not enough, Jeremiah repeatedly says concerning the Lord with these “people” as His armies,

From the north disaster will be poured out on all who live in the land…At that time this people and Jerusalem will be told: A scorching wind from the barren heights in the desert blows toward My people, but not to winnow or cleanse; a wind too strong for that comes from Me. Now I pronounce My judgments against them.” Look! He [the Babylonians] advances like the clouds, his chariots come like a whirlwind, his horses are swifter than eagles. Woe to us! We are ruined!…Tell this to the nations, proclaim it to Jerusalem: A besieging army is coming from a distant land, raising a war cry against the cities of Judah. They surround her like men guarding a field, because she has rebelled against Me, declares the Lord…This is what the Lord says: The whole land will be ruined, though I will not destroy it completely…Go through her vineyards and ravage them, but do not destroy them completely. Strip off her branches, for these people do not belong to the Lord…O house of Israel, declares the Lord, “I am bringing a distant nation against you—an ancient and enduring nation, A PEOPLE [Heb. goy; trans. “people” or “nation”] whose language you do not know, whose speech you do not understand. Their quivers are like an open grave; all of them are mighty warriors. They will devour your harvests and food, devour your sons and daughters; they will devour your flocks and herds, devour your vines and fig trees. With the sword they will destroy the fortified cities in which you trust....Behold, A PEOPLE [Heb. am] comes from the north country. A great nation shall be stirred up from the uttermost parts of the earth. (Jer. 1:14; 4:11-13, 16-17, 27; 5:10, 15-17; 6:22 [2])

Also notice how, again, the Lord says, “I AM BRINGING a distant nation against you…A PEOPLE whose language you do not know....a PEOPLE comes from the north country.” And, again, in this last verse, the same Hebrew word “am” is used as in Daniel 9:26.

Again, the Lord continues to say through Jeremiah,

I will scatter them among nations that neither they nor their fathers have known, and I will pursue them with the sword until I have destroyed them…For this is what the Lord says: At this time I will hurl out those who live in this land; I will bring distress on them so that they may be captured…I will destroy them with the sword, famine and plague…I have determined to do this city harm and not good, declares the Lord. It will be given into the hands of the king of Babylon, and he will destroy it with fire…I will hand you over to those who seek your life, those you fear—to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and to the Babylonians. I will hurl you and the mother who gave you birth into another country, where neither of you was born, and there you both will die. (9:16; 10:18; 14:12; 21:10; 22:25-26)

And again, the King of Israel declares,

I will summon all THE PEOPLES [Heb. mishpachah; tribes of people or clans] of the north and My servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, declares the Lord, and I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants and against all the surrounding nations. I will completely destroy them and make them an object of horror and scorn, and an everlasting ruin. I will banish from them the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of bride and bridegroom, the sound of millstones and the light of the lamp. This whole country will become a DESOLATE wasteland, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years (25:9-11).

What is also interesting about these immediate verses above is that the Lord says He will summon “all the peoples,” along with Nebuchadnezzar His “servant,” no less. They are all “the peoples” whom God “summons” to mete out His judgments upon Israel, to "serve" His ends, and to even make them “desolate,” the very thing He was going to do with “the people” of the Roman armies upon Jerusalem in 70 AD, and for which He says in Daniel, “for the overspreading of abominations HE [the Prince] shall make it desolate” (9:27, AKJV). "He," the Lord ("the Prince, the Coming One"), shall make it “desolate,” just like He made Jerusalem “desolate” above through the Babylonians. And also notice that the Lord says that this king of Babylon is His “servant,” the very thing that Paul says these ministers of God’s justice are in Romans 13:4.

Continuing with Jeremiah, God says,

See, I am beginning to bring disaster on the city that bears my Name, and will you indeed go unpunished? You will not go unpunished, for I am calling down a sword upon all who live on the earth, declares the Lord Almighty…The Lord will roar from on high; He will thunder [like flashes of lightning, cp. Ezk. 21] from his holy dwelling and roar mightily against His land. He will shout like those who tread the grapes, shout against all who live on the earth. The tumult will resound to the ends of the earth, for the Lord will bring charges against the nations; He will bring judgment on all mankind and put the wicked to the sword, declares the Lord. This is what the Lord Almighty says: Look! Disaster is spreading from nation to nation; a mighty storm is rising from the ends of the earth. At that time those slain by the Lord will be everywhere…(25:29-33).

Here, instead of showers of blessing, the Lord likens storm clouds metaphorically to impending judgment and disaster that He is going to bring upon Israel. According to Ezekiel 21, such judgments of swords flashing are described in highly apocalyptic and figurative language as that which “flashes like lightning,” and that will “thunder” (in the verse above) from one end of heaven to the other. And these are the very words that Jesus uses to describe His coming as “the Coming One” to Judge Israel in 70 AD (Mat. 24:27; Lke. 17:24); and that “wherever there is a carcass, there will the vultures” of these ungodly armies be upon Israel (Mat. 24:28); just as these armies above are described. And many who would be scattered by the Assyrians and Babylonians whom the Lord refers to as storm clouds of judgment, would He one day rescue some, such as His apostles and those from all around the world on the day of Pentecost (cp. Acts 2:5), “from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness” (Ezk. 34:12).

Again, when Jesus told the Sanhedrin that from henceforth they would “see” Him “seated with power” and coming “with clouds,” Jesus meant what He said, and said what He meant. But because their ears were “dull” of hearing, they really didn’t have a clue as to what He was referring to. Nothing has changed even today with regards to understanding such language as this. But like the storm clouds of desolating armies described above, and just like terrible lightning that flashes from the east and shines even unto the west, so too would the Coming One come in a way totally unexpected to these Jews, and even for many Christians still today. They would “see” Christ coming with “clouds” alright, but it was with the “clouds” of doom of the desolating armies of the Roman legions in 70 AD. And this is all still played out today throughout history upon the nations of the world. Christ is judging nations with His four sore and dreadful judgments (Ezk. 14:21), even as we speak. He is still judging nations with “the sword;” He is still spreading famine amongst the ungodly; and He is still overthrowing sinners with all manner of His devastating pestilences. God “is a righteous Judge, a God who expresses His wrath everyday” (Psm. 7:11). And “He brings the clouds to punish men, or to water His earth and show His love” (Job. 37:13); the scourge of such men as Pilate who mixed the blood of some Galileans with their sacrifices; or even the falling towers upon eighteen in Siloam (Lke. 13:4); and all up until the final day and resurrection of all mankind, when He judges all the world in righteousness.

Again, Jeremiah continues,

Give them a message for their masters and say, This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Tell this to your masters: With My great power and outstretched arm I made the earth and its people and the animals that are on it, and I give it to anyone I please. Now I will hand all your countries over to My servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; I will make even the wild animals subject to him. All nations will serve him and his son and his grandson until the time for his land comes; then many nations and great kings will subjugate him…For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says about the houses in this city and the royal palaces of Judah that have been torn down to be used against the siege ramps and the sword in the fight with the Babylonians: They will be filled with the dead bodies of the men I will slay in my anger and wrath. I will hide my face from this city because of all its wickedness....While Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army and all the kingdoms and PEOPLES [Heb. am] in the empire he ruled were fighting against Jerusalem and all its surrounding towns, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord: This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Go to Zedekiah king of Judah and tell him, this is what the Lord says: I am about to hand this city over to the king of Babylon, and he will burn it down. You will not escape from his grasp but will surely be captured and handed over to him (27:4-8; 33:4-5; 34:1-3)

Of Egypt, God again says through Jeremiah,

This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: I will send for My servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and I will set his throne over these stones I have buried here; he will spread his royal canopy above them. He will come and attack Egypt, bringing death to those destined for death, captivity to those destined for captivity, and the sword to those destined for the sword. (43:10-11).

In a message against Moab, God again says through Jeremiah,

But days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will send men [from another nation] who pour from jars, and they will pour her [Moab] out; they will empty her jars and smash her jugs [cf. v. 38]....Moab will be destroyed and her towns invaded; her finest young men will go down in the slaughter declares the KING, whose name is the LORD Almighty....for he who destroys Moab will come against you and ruin your fortified cities. (48:12, 15, 18).

Notice how the Lord says that as “the KING” and as “the LORD Almighty” He will send men from another nation to destroy Moab. “He [most likely Nebuchadnezzar] who destroys Moab will come against you and ruin your fortified cities.” Like “an eagle [who] is swooping down, [and] spreading its wings over Moab” (v. 41), will this other nation overtake Moab where their “sons are taken into exile and your daughters into captivity” (v. 46).

In judgments against Edom, Kedar and Hazor, Jeremiah writes from the Lord,,

Like a lion coming up from Jordan’s thickets to a rich pastureland, I will chase Edom from its land in an instant. Who is the chosen one I will appoint for this? Who is like me and who can challenge me? And what shepherd can stand against me? Therefore, hear what the Lord has planned against Edom, what He has purposed against those who live in Teman: The young of the flock will be dragged away; He will completely destroy their pasture because of them. At the sound of their fall the earth will tremble; their cry will resound to the Red Sea. Look! An eagle will soar and swoop down, spreading its wings over Bozrah. In that day the hearts of Edom’s warriors will be like the heart of a woman in labor…

Concerning Kedar and the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon attacked: This is what the Lord says: Arise, and attack Kedar and destroy the people of the East. Their tents and their flocks will be taken; their shelters will be carried off with all their goods and camels. Men will shout to them, Terror on every side! Flee quickly away! Stay in deep caves, you who live in Hazor, declares the Lord. Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has plotted against you; he has devised a plan against you. Arise and attack a nation at ease, which lives in confidence, declares the Lord, a nation that has neither gates nor bars; its people live alone. Their camels will become plunder, and their large herds will be booty. I will scatter to the winds those who are in distant places and will bring disaster on them from every side, declares the Lord. Hazor will become a haunt of jackals, a desolate place forever. No one will live there; no man will dwell in it. (Jer. 49:19-22, 28-33; see also Ezk. 25:13 concerning Edom).

A message against Babylon,

Therefore this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: I will punish the king of Babylon and his land as I punished the king of Assyria…Attack the land of Merathaim and those who live in Pekod. Pursue, kill and completely destroy them, declares the Lord. Do everything I have commanded you. The noise of battle is in the land, the noise of great destruction! How broken and shattered is the hammer of the whole earth! How desolate is Babylon among the nations! I set a trap for you, O Babylon, and you were caught before you knew it; you were found and captured because you opposed the Lord. The Lord has opened HIS ARSENAL and brought out the weapons of his wrath, for the Sovereign Lord Almighty has work to do in the land of the Babylonians. Come against her from afar. Break open her granaries; pile her up like heaps of grain. Completely destroy her and leave her no remnant. Kill all her young bulls; let them go down to the slaughter! Woe to them! For their day has come, the time for them to be punished. Listen to the fugitives and refugees from Babylon declaring in Zion how the Lord our God has taken vengeance, vengeance for his temple. SUMMON ARCHERS against Babylon, all those who draw the bow. Encamp all around her; let no one escape. Repay her for her deeds; do to her as she has done. For she has defied the Lord, the Holy One of Israel. Therefore, her young men will fall in the streets; all her soldiers will be silenced in that day, declares the Lord. See, I am against you, O arrogant one, declares the Lord, the Lord Almighty, for your day has come, the time for you to be punished. The arrogant one will stumble and fall and no one will help her up; I will kindle a fire in her towns that will consume all who are around her…As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah along with their neighboring towns, declares the Lord, so no one will live there; no man will dwell in it. Look! AN ARMY [A PEOPLE; Heb. am] is coming from the north; a great nation and many kings are being stirred up from the ends of the earth. They are armed with bows and spears; they are cruel and without mercy. They sound like the roaring sea as they ride on their horses; they come like men in battle formation to attack you, O Daughter of Babylon.

The king of Babylon has heard reports about them, and his hands hang limp. Anguish has gripped him, pain like that of a woman in labor. Like a lion coming up from Jordan’s thickets to a rich pastureland, I will chase Babylon from its land in an instant. Who is the chosen one I will appoint for this? Who is like me and who can challenge me? And what shepherd can stand against me? Therefore, hear what the Lord has planned against Babylon, what He has purposed against the land of the Babylonians: The young of the flock will be dragged away; He will completely destroy their pasture because of them…This is what the Lord says: See, I will stir up the spirit of a destroyer against Babylon and the people of Leb Kamai. I WILL SEND FOREIGNERS to Babylon to winnow her and to devastate her land; they will oppose her on every side in the day of her disaster. Let not the archer string his bow, nor let him put on his armor. Do not spare her young men; completely destroy her army…Sharpen the arrows, take up the shields! The Lord has stirred up the kings of the Medes, because His purpose is to destroy Babylon. The Lord will take vengeance, vengeance for his temple. Lift up a banner against the walls of Babylon! Reinforce the guard, station the watchmen, prepare an ambush! The Lord will carry out His purpose, His decree against the people of Babylon…The Lord Almighty has sworn by Himself: I WILL SURELY FILL YOU WITH MEN, as with a swarm of locusts, and they will shout in triumph over you…YOU are My war club, My weapon for battle—WITH YOU I shatter nations, WITH YOU I destroy kingdoms, WITH YOU I shatter horse and rider, WITH YOU I shatter chariot and driver, WITH YOU I shatter man and woman, WITH YOU I shatter old man and youth, WITH YOU I shatter young man and maiden, WITH YOU I shatter shepherd and flock, WITH YOU I shatter farmer and oxen, WITH YOU I shatter governors and officials…The Lord will destroy Babylon; He will silence her noisy din. Waves [of people] will rage like great waters; the roar of their voices will resound. A destroyer will come against Babylon; her warriors will be captured, and their bows will be broken. For the Lord is a God of retribution; He will repay in full....declares the King, the Lord Almighty (Jer. 50:18, 21-32, 40-45; 51:1-4, 11-12, 14, 20-23, 55-57).

Notice particularly chapter 51, verses 1-2, 11, 20, 55 and 57. Here the Lord says, “I will stir up the spirit of a destroyer...I will send foreigners to Babylon....The LORD has stirred up the kings of the Medes because His purpose is to destroy Babylon.” Of these Medes, the Lord affirms, “You are My war club, My weapon for battle.” With them, “the Lord will destroy Babylon....waves of enemies will rage like great waters; the roar of their voices will resound.” But now pay close attention to verse 57. After the Lord has said everything in the previous verses concerning Him sending the armies of the Medes to bring desolation upon Babylon, He then announces, “declares THE KING, whose name is the LORD Almighty,” the very same thing He had just said a little earlier concerning Moab in Jeremiah 48:15. These are the only two places that I presently know of where the Lord in sending men to destroy another nation refers to Himself as the King! And there is ample reason for doing so. Once again, the Lord is letting us, and them, know that He is the overarching KING no less who sends these armies of people (His armies of people no less) to bring desolation to Babylon, the exact same thing that Jesus tells us in His parable of The Wedding Banquet to the Jews in Mat. 22:7 with regards to their impending desolation that was to come upon them via the King of all kings in 70 AD.

It isn’t enough that I myself have over-emphasized that the Lord is the Commander behind all of these peoples, armies, and nations with their leaders; the Lord too has “emphasized” over and over again that it is with them that He judges others: “with you,” “with you,” and “with you I shatter nations, kingdoms, horse and rider, chariot and driver, man and woman, old man and youth, young man and maiden, shepherd and flock, farmer and oxen, and both governors and officials.” With THEM the Lord does all these things. They are “His people,” no less, whom He uses to do all these things. As in Daniel 9:27, they are the overwhelming “flood” of destruction and dissipation that the Lord uses to mete out His retribution. They are what Jesus referred to as, “the roaring and tossing of the waves” in Lke. 21:25, that were to overwhelm the city and sanctuary of Jerusalem via the overwhelming “floods” of the Roman armies.[3] Clearly, the Lord takes advantage of such secondary causes to mete out such judgments; though not always. And understand also that it is not what they had purposed or intended in their minds, but they had other ulterior motives to do what they themselves enjoyed doing, while God had His (cp. Isa. 10:7; Ezk. 38:10-13). They did it all for evil reasons, but God in His justice meant it all for His own good and proper reasons and purposes.

As I said before, I too cannot over-emphasize all of this enough. And I cannot relent until I finish with the words of the prophet Ezekiel. In God’s lament against Egypt through His prophet Ezekiel, He says,

For the day is near, the day of the Lord is near—a day of clouds, a time of doom for the nations. A sword will come against Egypt, and anguish will come upon Cush. When the slain fall in Egypt, her wealth will be carried away and her foundations torn down. Cush and Put, Lydia and all Arabia, Libya and the people of the covenant land will fall by the sword along with Egypt. This is what the Lord says: The allies of Egypt will fall and her proud strength will fail. From Migdol to Aswan they will fall by the sword within her, declares the Sovereign Lord (30:4-6).

And, again, in verses 9-12 the Lord says,

On that day MESSENGERS will go out FROM ME in ships to frighten Cush out of her complacency. Anguish will take hold of them on the day of Egypt’s doom, for it is sure to come. This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will put an end to the hordes of Egypt BY THE HAND OF Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. HE AND HIS ARMY—the most ruthless of nations—WILL BE BROUGHT IN to destroy the land. They will draw their swords against Egypt and fill the land with the slain. I will dry up the streams of the Nile and sell the land to evil men; BY THE HAND OF FOREIEGNERS I WILL LAY WASTE the land and everything in it.

Again, could anything be more clearer here? Messengers from Babylon are to go out FROM GOD “to frighten Cush.” The Lord says He is going to have them “BROUGHT IN.” Verses 13 through 19 also concur, “I will destroy…I will spread fear…I will lay waste…set fire…inflict punishment…I will pour out My wrath…cut off the hordes of Thebes….I will set fire to Egypt…Thebes will be taken by storm…the young men will fall by the sword…Dark will be the day…I will break the yoke of Egypt…she will be covered with clouds, and her villages will go into captivity…they will know that I am the Lord.” What is also to be noted here is the same language used of “clouds” that Christ everywhere uses in His coming to judge Israel in 70 AD (cf. Mat. 24:30; 26:64; Rev. 1:7). Such language is replete in the OT prophets. Even of Gog, God had said, “I will turn you around and put hooks in your jaws and bring you out [against Israel] with your whole army...After many days you will be called to arms....You and all your troops and the many nations [PEOPLE; Heb. am] with you will go up, advancing like a storm; you will be like a cloud covering the land….You will come from your place in the far north, you and many nations [PEOPLE; Heb. am] with you…You will advance against My people Israel like a cloud that covers the land” (Ezk. 38:4, 8, 9, 15-16).

Sometimes such “clouds” are used as figurative language to express His blessing, while at other times they are used in the context of cursing. Recall in Job. 37:13, how the Lord “brings the clouds to punish men, or to water His earth and show His love” (NIV; see also Ezk. 13:11-13). What this shows us here is that God also literally uses such things in the natural discourses of life to do such things, but He then takes these ideas and uses them metaphorically in other places to describe judgment or blessing. Another such example of this usage of “clouds,” metaphorically speaking, is seen in Isaiah 19:1 concerning the judgment of Egypt, “the Lord rides on a swift cloud and is coming to [judge] Egypt.” We should know by now how He accomplishes this. He didn’t literally come with “clouds.” It was through other nations that He came, as the Coming One, to mete out such judgments. Such days are a day of “gloom” and “darkness,” where the Lord also said of Egypt that He would, “cover the heavens and darken the stars…cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon will not give its light. All the shining lights in the heavens I will darken over you; I will bring darkness over your land” (Ezk. 32:7-8). These things didn’t literally occur to Egypt. What God was saying was that a “stormy day” was about to come upon Egypt in which all of her pomp, splendor and glory would no longer be seen anymore. Similar to God saying of Antiochus Epiphanes in Daniel 8:10, that he would cast some of the stars to the ground of the sinning Israelites and trample them under his feet, so too was God going to humble Egypt and remove her from her exalted position, to a place where she would be debased before God and the nations around her.

Even in going back to Isaiah 13, which we discussed earlier, that chapter describes God’s judgment on the Babylonians via the Medes with similar apocalyptic language as “the stars of heaven and their constellations will not show their light. The rising sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light.” Again, this was all bespeaking of the pomp and splendor of the Babylonians coming to an end. And again, this is the same language that Christ used to speak of Israel’s impending doom in Mat. 24:29, with Peter later picking up on this language again in Acts 2:19-20, from the prophecy of Joel. It all commenced some forty years later in the removal of Israel as a theocracy under God. Such highly figurative and apocalyptic language is used over and over again in the prophets to depict the bringing down of ungodly nations and the removal of their pomp, splendor and glory (see also Isa. 34:4 concerning the land of Edom). What God was saying in everyone of these instances is that these luminaries and dignitaries of the world would to no longer give their light.

God through His prophet Ezekiel, again says of Israel,

I will hand it [Israel’s silver, gold and jewelry] all over as plunder TO FOREIGNERS and as loot TO THE WICKED of the earth, and they will defile it. I will turn my face away from them, and they will desecrate my treasured place; robbers will enter it and desecrate it. Prepare chains, because the land is full of bloodshed and the city is full of violence. I will bring the most wicked of the nations to take possession of their houses; I will put an end to the pride of the mighty, and THEIR SANCTUARIES WILL BE DESECRATED…I will drive you out of the city and hand you over TO FOREIGNERS and inflict punishment on you. You will fall by the sword, and I will execute judgment on you at the borders of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord. This city will not be a pot for you, nor will you be the meat in it; I will execute judgment on you at the borders of Israel…I bring a sword against that country and say, ‘Let the sword pass throughout the land,’ and I kill its men and their animals…For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: How much worse will it be when I send against Jerusalem my four dreadful judgments—sword and famine and wild beasts and plague—to kill its men and their animals!…I stretched out my hand against you and reduced your territory; I GAVE YOU OVER TO THE GREED OF YOUR ENEMIES…

Son of man, prophesy and say, This is what the Lord says: A sword, a sword, sharpened and polished—sharpened for the slaughter, polished to flash like lightning! Shall we rejoice in the scepter of my son [Judah]? The sword despises every such stick. The sword is appointed to be polished, to be grasped with the hand; it is sharpened and polished, made ready for the hand of the slayer. Cry out and wail, son of man, for it is against My people; it is against all the princes of Israel. They are thrown to the sword along with my people. Therefore beat your breast…So that hearts may melt and the fallen be many, I have stationed the sword for slaughter at all their gates. Oh! It is made to flash like lightning, it is grasped for slaughter. O sword, slash to the right, then to the left, wherever your blade is turned…Son of man, mark out two roads for the sword of the king of Babylon to take, both starting from the same country. Make a signpost where the road branches off to the city. Mark out one road for the sword to come against Rabbah of the Ammonites and another against Judah and fortified Jerusalem. For the king of Babylon will stop at the fork in the road, at the junction of the two roads, to seek an omen: He will cast lots with arrows, he will consult his idols, he will examine the liver. Into his right hand will come the lot for Jerusalem [remember, “the casting of the lot is of the Lord”], where he is to set up battering rams, to give the command to slaughter, to sound the battle cry, to set battering rams against the gates, to build a ramp and to erect siege works....The Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, the men of Pekod and Shoa and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them, handsome young men, all of them governors and commanders, chariot officers and men of high rank, all mounted on horses. They will come against you with weapons, chariots and wagons and WITH A THRONG OF PEOPLE [Heb. am]; they will take up positions against you on every side with large and small shields and with helmets. I will turn you over to them for punishment, and they will punish you according to their standards. I will direct My jealous anger against you, and they will deal with you in fury. They will cut off your noses and your ears, and those of you who are left will fall by the sword. They will take away your sons and daughters, and those of you who are left will be consumed by fire (7:21-24; 11:8-11; 14:17, 21; 16:27; 21:9-12, 15-16, 19-22; 23:23-25).

Of the Ammonites, God also says, “I will pour out my wrath upon you and breathe out my fiery anger against you; I WILL hand you over TO BRUTAL MEN, men skilled in destruction” (Ezk. 21:31).

Of Israel, He again says, “Say to the house of Israel, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I AM ABOUT TO DESECRATE MY SANCTUARY—the stronghold in which you take pride, the delight of your eyes, the object of your affection. The sons and daughters you left behind will fall by the sword’ (Ezk. 24:21).

Here God says as the Lord and King of all the earth that He is going to “desecrate” the temple of the Israelites. This is a remarkable statement and very pertinent to our study here. How was this great Prince and King of all kings going to do this? With His desolating armies of the heathen nations. With His “ax,” His “club,” His “saw,” His “sword,” His “servants,” His “hammer” and no less His “people” whom He uses to do these things with. People whom He molds and uses for ignoble purpose, and people whom He molds and uses for noble purposes (Rom. 9:21; Isa. 45:9). He alone is the Potter of all, we are but the clay and putty in His hands. And no man can stay His hand or say to Him, “What are You doing?” Truly, “the people” of this reigning Prince, the Coming One, brought utter desolation and destruction as an overwhelming tide and flood of opposition to carry away all sinners, including all the sinners in Israel both then, and in 70 AD, and even still among nations today!

Of Philistia, God says,

This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Because the Philistines acted in vengeance and took revenge with malice in their hearts, and with ancient hostility sought to destroy Judah, therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am about to stretch out my hand against the Philistines, and I will cut off the Kerethites and destroy those remaining along the coast. I will carry out great vengeance on them and punish them in my wrath. Then they will know that I am the Lord, when I take vengeance on them. (Ezk. 25:15-17)

Of Tyre, He says,

I am against you, O Tyre, and I will bring many nations against you, like the sea casting up its waves…For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: From the north I AM GOING TO BRING against Tyre Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, king of kings, with horses and chariots, WITH HORSEMEN AND A GREAT ARMY [PEOPLE; Heb. am]. He will ravage your settlements on the mainland with the sword; he will set up siege works against you, build a ramp up to your walls and raise his shields against you…This is what the Sovereign Lord says: WHEN I MAKE YOU A DESOLATE CITY, like cities no longer inhabited, and when I bring the ocean depths over you and its vast waters cover you. (Ezk. 26:3, 7-8, 19)

Again, the Lord says here, “I make you a desolate city.” How so? Need I ask? Let us move on.

Of Egypt, God again says through Ezekiel,

Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will bring a sword against you and kill your men and their animals. Egypt will become a DESOLATE wasteland. Then they will know that I am the Lord…Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am going to give Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he will carry off its wealth. He will loot and plunder the land as pay for his army. I have given him Egypt as a reward for his efforts because HE AND HIS ARMY DID IT FOR ME, declares the Sovereign Lord. (29:8, 19-20).

Notice that God says of Nebuchadnezzar in overtaking Egypt that “he and his army did it for Me.” Can anyone really now deny that such “armies” are God’s armies and peoples whom He uses for such purposes? Anyone who still cannot “see” this is truly blinded by deception. As Jesus had Himself said, “the King was enraged, He sent His army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city” (Mat. 22:7). But you know, after all this, I have still read comments from those online that we shouldn’t take this story used by Jesus so literally as actually speaking of what God would do, let alone of what Christ Himself would do. Are you kidding me? After all that has been said on this, is there still room for any doubt that God (or Jesus) has done, and still continues to do, such things? Of a truth, Jesus is both Prince and Savior, Judge and Deliverer, High Priest and King of kings. He is Prophet, Priest and King. It is a well-established fact that the Messiah is known to have combined all three of these offices into one person. God is a God of love, but also a God of wrath; God is a God of mercy, but He is also a God of justice. He is the Suffering Servant and Savior, and the King of kings and the Prince and Ruler of all the earth.

What happened to Israel is a dire warning for all of the peoples of the earth,

And the nations will know that the people of Israel went into exile for their sin, because they were unfaithful to Me. So I hid my face from them and handed them over to their enemies, and they all fell by the sword. I dealt with them according to their uncleanness and their offenses, and I hid my face from them. (Ezk. 39:23).

Have no doubt about it, “the people” of Messiah, the Prince, and also called, “the Coming One,” destroyed both city and sanctuary just as Jesus had said would happen. He is both “Prince and Savior.” And none can stay His hand, or say to Him, “What doest thou?” Our Sovereign “Lord and Christ” rules over the kingdoms of men, and gives them to whomsoever He wills, and not the other way around, as Satan and others would have us believe. Clearly, in Scripture, God uses “the sword” of the leaders and of the armies of the peoples of this world to display His wrath and to execute His judgments. What was true in the OT era, is no less true in the NT era. God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. And He does not change.

The Lord is King for ever and ever;
the nations will perish from His land….
Lift up your heads, O you gates; be lifted up, you ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in. Who is this King of glory?
The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle….
The Lord sits enthroned over the flood;
the Lord is enthroned as King forever….
My heart is stirred by a noble theme as I recite my verses for the King;
my tongue is the pen of a skillful writer.
You are the most excellent of Men
and Your lips have been anointed with grace,
since God has blessed You forever.
Gird Your sword upon Your side, O Mighty One;
clothe Yourself with splendor and majesty.
In Your majesty ride forth victoriously
in behalf of truth, humility and righteousness;
let Your right hand display awesome deeds.
Let Your sharp arrows pierce the hearts of the King’s enemies;
let the nations fall beneath Your feet.
Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever;
a scepter of justice will be the scepter of Your kingdom.
You love righteousness and hate wickedness; therefore God, Your God,
has set You above your companions
by anointing You with the oil of joy….
How awesome is the Lord Most High,
the great King over all the earth!
He subdued nations under us, peoples under our feet.
For God is the King of all the earth; sing to Him a psalm of praise.
God reigns over the nations; God is seated on His holy throne.
THE NOBLES OF THE NATIONS ASSEMBLE
AS THE PEOPLE OF THE GOD OF ABRAHAM, 
FOR THE KINGS OF THE EARTH BELONG TO GOD; He is greatly exalted….
When the Almighty scattered the kings in the land,
it was like snow fallen on Zalmon.
He breaks the spirit of rulers;
He is feared by the kings of the earth…..
Pour out your wrath on the nations that do not acknowledge You,
on the kingdoms that do not call on Your name….
Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne;
love and faithfulness go before You….
For the Lord is the great God, the great King above all gods….
The Lord says to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand
until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.”
The Lord will extend Your mighty scepter from Zion;
You will rule in the midst of your enemies.
Your troops will be willing on your day of battle.
Arrayed in holy majesty,
from the womb of the dawn You will receive the dew of Your youth.
The Lord has sworn and will not change His mind:
“You are a Priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.”
The Lord is at Your right hand;
He will crush kings on the day of His wrath.
He will judge the nations,
heaping up the dead and crushing the rulers of the whole earth….
Know that the Lord is great, that our Lord is greater than all gods.
The Lord does whatever pleases Him,in the heavens and on the earth,
in the seas and all their depths.
He struck down many nations
and killed mighty kings….

I will exalt you, my God the King;
I will praise your name for ever and ever.

Psm. 10:16; 24:7-8; 29:10; 45:1-7;
47:2-3, 7-9; 68:14; 76:12; 79:6; 89:14;
95:3; 110:1-6; 135:5-6, 10; 145:1

Footnotes:


[1] Some understand this phrase “holy ones” (in the NIV) to denote not a moral quality in these individuals, such as that of angels, but denotes those who are “set-apart” or “separated” for the task at hand. In this case, the Media-Persians who were “set-apart” by God to overthrow the Babylonians. And the phrase in the last part of verse 3, translated, “those who rejoice in My triumph” (NIV; see also KJV) is understood to mean by others as, “My proudly exulting ones” (ESV, NAS), and, again, referring to these Media-Persians as exulting in their own pride and not as those who are rejoicing in God’s triumph as angels would do. Irregardless of which translation is correct, the overarching theme is God using the Media-Persians as the arrows in His quiver to bring down the Babylonians.
[2] This last verse (Jer. 6:22) is taken from the World English Bible, a more readable rendition of the NAS.
[3] See my article on the Olivet discourse entitled: The Coming of the Son of Man for a further explanation of all of this in the context and setting of this verse. See also, more specifically, Isaiah 8:7, which reads, "therefore the Lord is about to bring against them [Israel] the mighty floodwaters of the River—the king of Assyria with all his pomp." The Lord also says of such nations as these that, "they will roar over it like the roaring of the sea" (Isa. 6:30). And one does not have to go too far in the book of Revelation to understand the "sea" as being symbolic for "many peoples" (17:15). Isaiah 17:12, likewise says, “Oh, the raging of many nations—they rage like the raging sea! Oh, the uproar of the peoples—they roar like the roaring of the great waters! Although the peoples roar like the roar of surging waters, when he rebukes them they flee far away...” These are just some of the many examples that can be found as one reads the OT prophets. So it should come as no surprise to us that Jesus, as the Prophet of all prophets, and who formed these words in His prophets mouths, would use similar language to figuratively describe the overwhelming flood of the Roman armies that were to devastate Jerusalem in 70 AD.