Isaiah 10:34
34 And he shall cut down [naqaph] the thickets [cabak] of the
forest [ya`ar] with iron, [barzel] and Lebanon [Labanown]
shall fall [naphal] by a mighty one. ['addiyr] KJV-Interlinear
34 And He will
cut down the thickets of the forest with an iron axe, And Lebanon will fall by
the Mighty One. NASB
The finality of the
invasion will result in the ultimate and total annihilation of the northern
invading army.
The army of the north is
described as a forest, dense and thick.
That makes it massive to the point beyond counting.
If you have ever been
flying over a forest or driving down a highway through a forested area, then
you have some idea as the massive magnitude of these invading armies. Huge numbers of people, spread in all
directions over miles and miles and miles of territory.
Its demise will be as a
forest being cut down with an axe, as trees are generally cut down with an axe. When an axe is used, there is nothing left
but a stump.
Where once you could only
see a short distance between trees, then after the use of an axe which cuts
down all of the trees, then there is no forest and nothing to see, for many
miles. It is all gone.
He, is singular. It does not refer to the defenders of
Jerusalem, or any other invading army, such as the army of the west or the army
of the east, which will be a part of this last and final great battle. Each counter attacking on the respective
flanks of the northern army.
By this time, if you remember
the study of the Armageddon campaign, the southern army which will begin this
whole war, has already been defeated when the northern army double crosses it.
To fall by a mighty one, ‘addiyr,’
means a glorious one, and this is an epithet of Jehovah, a personal reference to
Jesus Christ.
Lebanon, has not been
referred to until now, and even though it is a reference to a geographical
area, it does not describe the empire of Assyria, because that nation was
spread out over what is present day Syria and Iraq.
Lebanon is a direction
relative from Jerusalem, or the north.
The finality of this
battle, the reference to the general direction, the use of final days of
history references, in that day, all point not to the upcoming Assyrian
invasion, nor even the Babylonian invasion that would follow, nor any other
invasion after that, but is a reference to the final great battle of history.
In the battle of Armageddon,
Satan is the ultimate commander over all of the invasion forces, north, south,
east and west. They are all there to
destroy Jerusalem. They will all fail.
This chapter outlines the
final results of the northern invasion component of that battle. Not only will they fail, but they will be
totally destroyed, with not one single survivor.
