IV. THE NATIONS THE ENEMIES OF ISRAEL—THEIR FINAL OPPOSITION TO JERUSALEM FOLLOWED BY JUDGMENT UPON THEM

Throughout the Word a clear distinction is made between the nation and the nations. The special nation which God has chosen for Himself is the seed of Abraham, or, as we generally term that people, Israel. " You only have I known of all the families of the earth" (Amo 3:2). "Ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me out of all the peoples— for all the earth is mine—and ye shall be to me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation" (Exo 19:5-6). "Jehovah took pleasure in thy fathers, to love them, and He chose their seed after them, even you, out of all the peoples, as it is this day " (Deu 10:15). "Thus saith Jehovah, who giveth the sun for a light by day, the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, who stirreth up the sea so that the waves thereof roar— Jehovah of Hosts is His name: If those ordinances depart from before me, saith Jehovah, the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever" (Jer 31:35). "God's gifts and calling are without repentance" (Rom. 11).

But Israel was disobedient and became apostate. The times of the Gentiles, or nations, began then, and they are still running. Israel as a nation is set aside and the dominion of the earth is in the hands of the Gentiles.

"And now I have given all these lands into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, my servant; and the beasts of the field also have I given him to serve him. And all the nations shall serve him, and his son and his son's son, until the time of his land also come, when many nations and great kings shall reduce him to servitude." (Jer 27:6-7.)

Thus it was predicted through Jeremiah. Nebuchadnezzar had his dream of the great image, representing the four great world powers down to their final history (Dan. 2), and Daniel had his vision in which the history of the times of the Gentiles ending with the coming of the Son of Man in clouds, is revealed (Dan. 7). The Gentile world powers as seen by Nebuchadnezzar, the golden head, are four, the last divided into ten kingdoms; as revealed to the prophet Daniel in the form of beasts, they are likewise four. Zechariah in his night visions saw four horns, concerning which the Lord says : " These are the horns which have scattered Jerusalem, Judah, and Israel " (Zec 1:19). These four horns are in harmony with the dream of Nebuchadnezzar and the vision of Daniel. They all describe the four great world powers. The prophet Joel in describing the locust plague which had devastated the land mentions four species of the insect, or rather the locust in its fourfold development, a type again of the four great Gentile powers who were to prey upon Israel's land during the time of their apostasy.

Everywhere these nations are described as the enemies of Israel, and therefore the enemies of God. The enmity of the nations against Israel, however, appears fully developed at the end of the age. When the Lord, Jehovah, at last arises, He comes to judge these nations for the evil they have done to His people and to Immanuel's land. The nations, though they have become " civilized" and call themselves " Christian nations," have sinned and are sinning against the chosen people. They have persecuted them and stripped them again and again. The worst, however, is yet to come.

If we turn once more to Balaam's inspired parables, we read there of the invincibility of the people whom Balaam and Balak the Gentile would have cursed:

"For there is no enchantment against Jacob, Neither is there any divination against Israel. In its time it shall be said of Jacob and Israel, What God hath wrought! So, the people will rise up as a lioness And lift himself up as a lion." (Num 23:23-24.)

And so in Moses' song we read of the enemies of Israel whom the coming Jehovah judges.

The Book of Psalms is full of prophetic descriptions of the enemies of Israel and the believing remnant; their prayers for the overthrow and destruction of these enemies are then not only timely but will also be answered.

The 2d Psalm finds then its great fulfilment:

"Why are the nations in tumultuous agitation And why do the peoples meditate a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves And the princes plot together

Against Jehovah and against His anointed. Let us break their bands asunder And cast away their cords." (Psa 2:1-3.)

This will be the final attitude of the nations, and in our day we see already much of this spirit. In the 46th Psalm, that glad redemption song of the delivered nation, we see them looking back to what had been. " The nations raged, the kingdoms were moved" (verse 6).

Here is a prophetic picture of what has been and is yet to be:

"O God, the nations are come into Thine inheritance, Thy holy temple have they defiled; They have laid Jerusalem in heaps. The dead bodies of Thy servants Have they given to be meat Unto the fowls of the heavens, the flesh of Thy saints Unto the beasts of the earth: Their blood have they shed like water Round about Jerusalem. And there was none to bury them." (Psa 79:1-3.)

(Compare this with Rev. II.)

But one more illustration from the Psalms. A prayer which will be heard from Jewish lips:

"O God, keep not silence; Hold not Thy peace and be not still, O God: For behold Thine enemies make a tumult And they that hate Thee lift up the head And consult against Thy hidden ones; They say, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation And let the name of Israel be mentioned no more. For they have consulted together with one heart; They have made an alliance together against Thee." (Psa 83:1-6.)

From these passages we learn then that the nations are not alone the enemies of God's chosen earthly people, but that at the end, immediately before the King is enthroned upon Zion's hill, they will band themselves together, and, consulting together, they will form an unholy alliance against His people, against God, and His Anointed. It is true, history shows in the past such conspiracies of nations against the chosen nation, but the great and powerful alliance of the nations is yet to come.⁽¹⁾ It falls in the period which we described in the last chapter, the great tribulation.

The book of Joel, which begins with the description of the locusts, literal locusts, which had played such havoc with the trees and all vegetable life, reveals under the type of locusts an invasion of the land by enemies. They are coming upon the land from the north, and are called " the northern army."

This invasion is described, perhaps, in the sublimest language ever used by any prophet.

"Before them consumeth a fire And behind them a flame burneth; Like the garden of Eden the land is before them, And behind them—a desolate wilderness.

Surely nothing escapeth them. The appearance of them is like the appearance of horses, And like horsemen shall they run. Like the noise of the chariots, on the tops of the mountains they leap; Like the noise of a flame of fire consuming stubble, Like a strong people set in battle array. Before them the people are trembling; All faces turn pale. They shall run like mighty men; They shall climb the wall like men of war: And they shall march every one in his ways, And shall not break their ranks.

Neither shall one press upon another; They shall march every one in his path; And they rush upon the weapon, but shall not be wounded. They shall run around in the city; They shall run upon the wall; They shall climb up into the houses, They shall enter in at the windows like a thief. Before them trembleth the earth, The heavens shake, Sun and moon shall be darkened, And the stars withdraw their shining." (Joe 3:1-10.)

When this awful invasion takes place, and Israel's land suffereth the worst, Jehovah will utter His voice and the enemies will be overthrown by His power.

"And I will remove far off from you the northern army And will drive him into a land barren and desolate. His face towards the eastern sea, And his rear towards the hinder sea; And his stench shall come up, And his ill odours shall come up, For he hath exalted himself to do great things." (Joe 2:20.)

This northern army will be under the leadership of the King of the North, of whom and his allies we will hear in the next chapter. The 3d chapter in Joel describes the judgment of the nations who came up against Jerusalem. They will be brought down into the valley of Jehoshaphat and the judgment will be on account of Israel.

"I will enter into judgment with them there On account of my people and mine inheritance Israel, Whom they have scattered among the nations: And they have parted my land, And they have cast lots for my people, And have given a boy for a harlot And sold a girl for wine and drunk it." (Joe 3:2-4.).

"Let the nations rouse themselves And come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat, For there will I sit to judge all the nations round about." (Joe 3:12.)

In the prophet Amos we find predictions against nations. This prophet began his prophetic office by pronouncing judgment against the enemies of Israel. They had sinned against Israel and done evil to them. There has been a fulfilment unquestionably of these judgments, yet a final fulfilment of it is yet to come. Obadiah's vision is about Edom. Here, too, we read of a confederacy of nations rising up against Israel.

Isaiah's vision contains many vivid descriptions of the nations, their final onslaught on Jerusalem, as well as their complete overthrow and judgment by Jehovah's intervention and manifestaion. In the first part of Isaiah the great event of the Assyrian's invasion, coming from the north, and the miraculous escape of Jerusalem, as well as the destruction of Sennacherib's army, form the basis of the prophecy. It is typical history of what shall be repeated, only on a grander scale, before Jehovah comes. In this light the 10th chapter is to be read.

With the 13th chapter begins a series of predictions against the nations. The first and most prominent is Babylon, the last is Tyre. These utterances will find their literal fulfilment in the end of this age. Babylon's past judgments have never amounted to that which is declared in the thirteenth chapter:

"And Babylon, the glory of the kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation." (Isa 13:19-20.)

In the 29th chapter Jerusalem is called Ariel. "Ariel (the lion of God), the city where David dwelt." Here we find, first of all, a description of that great end drama of this age:

"I will distress Ariel, and there shall be sorrow and sadness and it shall be unto me as an Ariel. And I will camp against thee round about, and will lay siege against thee with watchposts, and I will raise forts against thee. And thou shalt be brought low, thou shalt speak out of the ground, and thy speech shall come low out of the dust and thy voice shall be as of one that hath a familiar spirit, out of the ground, and thy speech shall whisper out of the dust, and the multitude of thine enemies shall be like small dust, and the multitude of the terrible ones as chaff that passeth away; and it shall be an instant suddenly. Thou shalt be visited by Jehovah of hosts with thunder and with earthquake and great noise, with whirlwind and tempest, and the flame of devouring fire. And the multitude of all the nations that war against Ariel, even all that war against her and her fortifications and that distress her, shall be as a dream of a night vision. It shall even be as when the hungry dreameth, and, behold he eateth; and he awaketh, and his soul is empty; or as when the thirsty dreameth, and behold he drinketh, and he awaketh, and behold he is faint, and his soul craveth; so shall the multitude of all the nations be that war against mount Zion." (Isa 29:2-8.)

It is, of course, impossible to give a complete exegesis of this most interesting prophecy. We have put "all the nations" in italics, because it has been claimed that this prediction was long ago fulfilled. The term " all nations" and the multitude of all the nations points clearly to the future. Suffice it to say that this passage is in the closest harmony with what we have learned so far and what we shall yet find concerning the ending of the age, and the nations' attitude towards Jerusalem.

We take another prediction from the 34th chapter:

"Come near, ye nations, to hear; and hearken, ye peoples, let the earth hear and all its fulness; the world and all that cometh forth of it. For the wrath of Jehovah is against all the nations, and His fury against all their armies. He hath devoted them to destruction; He hath delivered them to the slaughter; and their slain shall be cast out, and their stink shall come up from their carcasses, and the mountains shall be melted with their blood." (Isa 34:1-3.)

Other prophecies in Isaiah relating to this final great conflict might be quoted, but these are sufficient. The very last verse in Isaiah is to be connected with the above quotation from the 34th chapter:

"And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcasses of the men that have transgressed against me; for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring to all flesh." (Isa 66:24.)

These are the carcasses of the slain of the Lord in that day.

Jeremiah is not silent concerning the nations and their opposition to Jerusalem. Passing over a number of passages we quote the following:

"And I will bring upon that land all my words which I have pronounced against it, all that is written in this book which Jeremiah has prophesied against all the nations. For many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of them also; and I will recompense them according to their deeds, and according to the work of their hands. For thus hath Jehovah the God of Israel said unto me: Take the cup of the wine of this fury at my hand, and cause all the nations to whom I send thee to drink it. And they shall drink and reel to and fro and be mad, because of the sword I will send among them." (Jer 25:13-17.)

Not for a moment would we say that there has not been a partial fulfilment of this, as well as similar passages. But the first captivity of Israel in Babylon is typical of their second and greater dispersion, in which they are now, and the announcements of Jehovah's coming in vengeance upon the enemies of His people reach on to the final great deliverance and restoration of His people.

The 50th and 51st chapters in Jeremiah describe the judgments to come upon Babylon, the fulness of which will be realized in the future. In the third part of Ezekiel (chapters 32-48), which treats of the coming restoration of the house of Judah and the house of Israel, and which contains so many precious promises to Israel and a description of their literal fulfilment, contains also a prophecy about the nations, especially Gog and Magog, which fall into the land immediately before the time of Jehovah's remembrance of His people. The dreadful end of these invaders is described. The reader will find this prophecy in the 38th and 39th chapters. The preceding chapter makes known the complete restoration of His people in the vision of the resurrection of the dry bones. These enemies are "Gog, Magog, prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal." They are accompanied by other nations, " Persia, Cush, and Phut, with them, Corner and all his bands; the house of Togarmah from the uttermost north, and all his bands, many nations with thee."

From this we learn again the wonderful harmony of these prophecies. Here, as we have seen in the other passages, a confederacy of nations is accomplished before the day of Jehovah, and these nations come down upon the land. That the land of the north and the immense territory acquired by that land—we mean Russia—will be in that confederacy is obvious.⁽²⁾ And now let us listen to the word of prophecy concerning the final onslaught of these enemies:

"And thou shalt come from thy place out of the uttermost north, thou and many peoples with thee, all of them riding upon horses, a great assemblage and a mighty army. And thou shalt come up against my people Israel as a cloud to cover the land, it shall be at the end of days, and I will bring thee against my land, that the nations may know me, when I shall be hallowed in thee, O Gog, before their eyes. Thus saith Jehovah: Art thou not he of whom I have spoken in old time through my servants the prophets of Israel who prophesied in those days, for many years, that I would bring thee against them? and it shall come to pass in that day, in the day when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, saith the Lord Jehovah, that my fury shall come up in my face; for in my jeaousy, in the fire of my wrath have I spoken. Verily in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel." . . . Eze 38:15-23.)

The overthrow of this hostile army and the terrible judgment which overtakes them is the theme of the 39th chapter:

"Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou and all thy bands, and the peoples that are with thee: I have given thee to be meat for the birds of prey of every wing, and to the beasts of the field. Thou shalt fall in the open field; for I have spoken it, saith the Lord Jehovah." (Eze 39:3-4, and to the end of the chapter. )

How complete the harmony with the other prophets! We may reach from here into the New Testament and quote a few verses of what John saw and heard in the isle of Patmos:

"And 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; that 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, free and bond, both small and great." (Rev 19:17-18.)

This event takes place when the heavens open, and the King of kings comes forth, and is to be connected with the prophecy in the two chapters we quoted from in the book of Ezekiel.

Notice the fulfilment is to be at the end of days. It is also striking that the Lord saith in Eze 38:17, "Art thou not he of whom I have spoken in old time through my servants the prophets of Israel?" Here then have we a full confirmation of what we said in the beginning. The Lord speaks Himself; the same Spirit through each of these men makes known God's purposes. Therefore this Divine harmony. How strange—that Christians can pass by these visions and prophecies and can pronounce them as being of little value! How wicked to say the Lord has not spoken, or to declare these sublime revelations to be the " imaginations of Jewish patriots "!

All readers of the Word know something of the great importance of the Divine revelations made to Daniel, the captive in the dispersion. It is not strange that both Jews and Gentiles should oppose and reject that greatest of all Old Testament prophetic books. The Jews have put Daniel in the Writings⁽³⁾ and do not recognize Daniel as a prophet. Of his wonderful prophecies they are sadly ignorant. Worse, however, is the way Higher Criticism has treated this book.

The great, final struggle in the land and around Jerusalem is here fully given. The prophecy of the seventy year-weeks is well known (Dan 9:25-27). Jerusalem's history ends abruptly with the sixty-ninth week. It is, however, not fully ended. One week remains, the seventieth. The gap between the sixty-ninth and the seventieth week is the present age. This is of much importance. The present age, in which God by His Spirit forms the church, the body of Christ, is not a revelation contained in the Old Testament. As soon as this age is concluded, with the fulness of the Gentiles coming in, the completion of the church, Israel's history will begin again. The seventieth week will run its course, and in that week the times of the Gentiles ⁽⁴⁾ will terminate. This last week brings wickedness to the full; the great tribulation falls into that week; it is therefore entirely Jewish. Furthermore, in that last week the nations will fulfil their destiny under the leadership of the evil ones by falling into the land. The events of this great period, the winding up of the day of man, and the beginning of the day of Jehovah, are contained in the last chapters of Daniel. It is not our intention to go through these chapters, as it would lead us into a more detailed exposition, which is not the object of this volume. The great war centering around Immanuel's land ends with the personal, visible, and glorious manifestation of the Son of Man.

The same testimony concerning the nations at the end of this age is found in Micah, chapters Mic 4:13; Mic 5:6; Mic 5:15; Mic 7:16-17.

Habakkuk stands personally as a type of the faithful remnant of God's people, struggling in faith and hope in the tribulation and conflict preceding the manifestation of Jehovah. In the 1st chapter we find a description of the Chaldean army and their invasion. While it is true that such an invasion took place in the past, it is also true that it stands for the coming greater invasion. The 3d chapter, to which we shall refer later, makes mention of this great, final struggle.

"They came out as a whirlwind to scatter me Whose exulting was as to devour the afflicted secretly." (Hab 3:14.)

In Zephaniah, chapter Zep 2:8-15 and chapter Zep 3:6 refer to the same judgment of nations.

From Haggai we quote the following words:

"I will shake the heavens and the earth; and I will overthrow the thrones of kingdoms and I will destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the nations; and I will overthrow the chariots and those that ride therein; and the horses and their riders shall come down, every one by the sword of his brother." (Hag 2:21-22.)

Next to the prophet Daniel, in the fulness of the revelation of these great future events, stands the prophet Zechariah.⁽⁵⁾ In the first night vision he hears words from Jehovah which assure His gracious intervention in behalf of Jerusalem and words which denote His displeasure with the nations:

"Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy, and I am wroth exceedingly with the nations that are at ease; for I was but a little wroth and they helped forward the affliction." (Zec 1:14-15.)

What an awful accusation that the nations helped forward the affliction!

We have before indicated that the four horns in the second night vision stand for the four world powers. (Dan 2:21.) This vision also shows that the horns of the nations are to be cast out. It is in the closing chapters of Zechariah we find many striking predictions of the nations coming against Jerusalem.

The 12th chapter contains several words of Jehovah relating to the closing scenes of the end of the age:

"Behold I will make Jerusalem a cup of bewilderment unto all the peoples round about and also against Judah shall it be in the siege of Jerusalem. And it shall come to pass in that day that I will make Jerusalem a burdensome stone unto all peoples; all that burden themselves with it shall certainly be wounded, and all the nations of the earth shall be assembled together against it" (Zec 12:2-3).

"And it shall come to pass in that day that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem" (Zec 12:9).

Still more is said in the last chapter of Zechariah. There we have the history recorded of the coming siege of Jerusalem. The historical fulfilment of the 14th chapter of Zechariah has often been attempted by critics, but they all have miserably failed. Though Jerusalem has seen many a siege, and perhaps more bloody and heartrending scenes than any other city of the world, but the siege prophetically described in the last chapter of the prophet Zechariah has not yet been. It is to come, and falls into the last half of the seventieth week of Daniel. It will form the awful climax of the great tribulation.

"Behold the day cometh for Jehovah, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee. And I will assemble 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 rest of the people shall not be cut off from the city.

And Jehovah will go forth and fight with those nations, as when He fought in the day of battle. And His feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem towards the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof towards the east and towards the west . . . and Jehovah my God shall come and all the holy ones with thee." (Zec 14:1-5.)

In harmony with all the other prophetic predictions touching the punishment of these nations, we read in this wonderful finale of Zechariah the following :

"And this shall be the plague wherewith Jehovah will smite all the peoples that have warred against Jerusalem; their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongues shall consume away in their mouth. And it shall come to pass in that day that a great panic from Jehovah shall be among them," etc. (Zec 14:12-15.)

Awful fate which awaits these nations! Little do the nations of Europe dream of what is in store for them. Little does Russia, and all with her, concern herself with her future divinely foretold. Antisemitism is growing everywhere, but the final great outbreak against Jerusalem is kept back by Him, who hindereth. The nations whose future and end is so clearly outlined in the prophetic Word call themselves even " Christian nations," possess the Bible, through which they may know God's purposes, and yet are ignorant of it all.

But how striking the harmony existing in the predictions concerning the nations at the end!

If we glance rapidly at the New Testament we find that the testimony of the theme of this chapter is continued there. Our Lord said to His disciples, "Jerusalem shall be trodden down until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled." The last treading down of Jerusalem is at the end of the age. The great prophetic discourse of our Lord to which we have to refer again, contained in the 24th chapter of Matthew, reveals, as stated before, the events which take place immediately before His second visible coming in clouds in power and glory. Our Lord spoke elsewhere of the siege and destruction of Jerusalem in the year 70, but this siege is not before Him in the first part of Matthew 24. Here He speaks of the last siege, the siege of Zechariah 14, and pictures events which are far from being fulfilled at this time. In this chapter He speaks the familiar words:

"But you will hear of wars and rumours of wars. See that ye be not disturbed; for all these things must take place, but it is not yet the end. For nation shall rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there shall be famines and pestilences, and earthquakes in divers places. But all these are the beginning of throes. Then shall they deliver you up to tribulation, and shall kill you, and you will be hated of all the nations for my name's sake." (Verses 6-9.)

Addressing these words to His Jewish disciples, representing the Jewish remnant, He tells them that the end of the age will be an end of tumult, political upheaval, and those who are then His faithful witnesses shall be hated by all nations. Later our Lord refers to the " abomination of desolation, which is spoken of through Daniel the prophet," and thereby calling our attention to this fact, that as Daniel's vision of the abomination of desolation (Dan. 9) falls in the end of the age, that His words likewise treat of the same period.

It is not a parable our Lord gives in the closing verses of the 25th chapter in the same Gospel. What He says there is the description of a great event following His glorious, visible advent at the end of the great tribulation, a description such as He alone could give.

"But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then shall He sit down upon His throne of glory, and all the nations shall be gathered before Him." (Mat 25:31-46.)

It is not a universal judgment of good and evil, believers and unbelievers, but a judgment of all the nations. The event follows His manifestion and is closely connected with prophecies like the one contained in the 3d chapter of Joel and others.

The book of Revelation after the 5th chapter is describing these struggles likewise as well as the judgments which fall upon Babylon, the kings and the nations. To follow all this in detail would take a volume for itself.

1 There will be a double confederacy of nations: the confederacy of the nations belonging to the restored Roman Empire, and the confederacy of the nations coming from the north under the leadership of the King of the North.

2 " Rosh " certainly reminds one of " Russia "; " Meshech " of "Moscow"; "Tubal," of "Tobolsk"; and "Togarmah," of " Turcomenia." Gog, Gomer, Meshech, etc., are first mentioned in Genesis 10. They settled in a northern direction. Gog and Magog occupied the territory of Russia of to-day, while Gomer was west of Gog and Magog, covering the territory of Austria and Germany. It is a most interesting fact that Russia is aware of this prophecy. Many intelligent Russians believe Eze. 38-39 to mean their land. When the first edition of this volume was published, a Russian princess ordered a copy. It was returned to the publisher, being refused by the Russian censorship, the above passage being the objectionable feature. Russia is the great Jew-hating country.

3 The Hebrew Bible is divided into three parts: Toro, the Law; Nevjim, the Prophets; Kethubim, the Writings.

4 The times of the Gentiles are an entirely different thing from the " fulness of the Gentiles." A people is to be gathered out from the Gentiles for His name; when this is completed the fulness of the Gentiles is reached. The times of the Gentiles began before the calling out of a people for His name took place, and they will continue after the church is taken. The dominion of the Gentiles will end with the coming of the Lord visibly from Heaven.

5 For a complete exposition of this prophet of the coming glory see our book " Studies in Zechariah."