- "I will send him against you, a hypocritical nation. I will allow his army to plunder, capture and kill the people, and to tread them down like mud in the streets.”
The intent of his heart will not be to be the Lord's instrument, but to destroy and annihilate many nations.
He will say, “Have not all my commanders become kings? Is not Calno (Syria) conquered as Carchemish (Turkey)? Is not Hamath (Lebweh) conquered as Arpad (Tel Erfad)? Is not Samaria conquered as Damascus?
I have overcome all these kingdoms, whose graven images were greater than Jerusalem's and Samaria’s. And since I have conquered Samaria and her idols, will I not easily conquer Jerusalem and her idols?"
After the Lord has performed His whole work upon Mount Zion and Jerusalem, He will punish the Assyrian king for his pride and arrogance. For he will also say,
“By my strength and wisdom I have done these things. I am a brilliant and valiant commander, who conquered the people and their treasures. I easily conquered the people of all the earth and their riches, like one who gathers eggs without disturbing the chickens.”
But the Lord reasons,
- "How can an axe boast that it cuts wood when it has no life—when it was the woodsman's power that cut the wood?”
Because the Assyrian king will boast like a lifeless axe, the Lord of Hosts will starve his followers and cause his glory to go up in smoke.
The light of Israel will call down fire and the Lord will bring down flames. In a single day, the oppressors will be burned like thorn bushes. The fire will consume the Assyrian king and his glory--his armies and the wicked throughout the earth, both body and soul.
