700 BC FORECAST OF MESSIAH SECOND VISITATION ADVENT – PART 5
December 31, 2010
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WAR BEFORE 2ND ADVENT AND ISRAEL’S MILLENNIAL LAND GRANT
Micah 5:5,6 – And this man shall be the peace, when the Assyrian shall come into our land: and when he shall tread in our palaces, then shall we raise against him seven shepherds, and eight principal men. [6] And they shall waste the land of Assyria with the sword, and the land of Nimrod in the entrances thereof: thus shall he deliver us from the Assyrian, when he cometh into our land, and when he treadeth within our borders.
I have established, in previous blogs, that “this man” of verse 5 is “the peace” himself because he ends the earthl
y reign of “the Assyrian” at the b
attle of Armageddon, and then brings in “the peace” that lasts for 1000 years on this present planet. It is only Jesus Christ himself who has the power to bring such a thing to pass.
I believe verse 6 to be one of the most interesting verses in the Scriptures that have yet to be fulfilled. Why am I so certain it has never been fulfilled
? Because Israel has not wasted the land of Assyria with the sword, or the land
of Nimrod in its entrances thereof, since Micah wrote these prophecies!
At the time he wrote the borders of the expanding Assyrian Empire covered all of modern day Israel north of Ramallah, all of modern Syria, all of modern Lebanon, and all of modern Iraq north of Baghdad.
The historical settling of this area between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers after the flood in Noah’s day is of great value in the interpretation of Micah 5:6.
Genesis 10:1,6,8,22 – Now these are the generations of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth: and unto them were sons born after the flood.
[6] And the sons of Ham; Cush, and Mizraim, and Phut, and Canaan. [8] And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth. [22] The children of Shem; Elam, and Asshur, and Arphaxad, and Lud, and Aram.
Assyria apparently derived its name from Asshur, the son of Shem. Later in time Asshur was worshipped as the chief God of the Assyrians. Asshur went into the northern area of the fertile plain lying between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers, and his descendants that settled it were eventually called Assyrians. It is certain that Israel never wasted this area. Nimrod was the grandson of Ham through Cush. He founded a great kingdom between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers, south of the area of Asshur’s descendants, that extended south to the Persian Gulf.
The “entrances” into it from the east, which is the direction the Israelis would come to “waste” it, were the shallow sections of the Euphrates River that could be waded to gain entrance.
The Euphrates was, and is, perhaps the greatest carrier of top water silt on this planet. The rapid descent gradient of its waters in the steep mountains of Turkey was able to sustain an enormous quantity of erosion debris cut off
the mountain slopes, but when the water came onto the flat plains of modern day Iraq its speed was abruptly lowered, and the silt deposition rapidly built up lees across the Euphrates, making it possible for some areas to be waded. The long series of dams currently stretching from Turkey, through Syria, and into Iraq have helped to regulate the flow and silt deposition of the Euphrates, but at the time of Micah’s writings there would have been a plurality of wading entrances into the land of Nimrod across the Euphrates.
Now, why have I gone into such detail as to the locations of Assyria and the land
of Nimrod? Because when Israel comes up out of the Negev at the battle of Armageddon, after having been confined there by the Assyrian for 1260 days, it will conquer a specified amount of territory to its north and east.
Revelation 12:6 – And the woman fled into
the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.
Malachi 4:1 – For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.
Zechariah 12:6-9 – In that day will I make the governors of Judah like an hearth of fire among the wood, and like a torch of fire in a sheaf; and they shall devour all the people round about, on the right hand and on the left: and Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place, even in Jerusalem. [7] The Lord also shall save the tents of Judah first, that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem do not magnify themselves against Judah. [8] In that day shall the Lord defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David; and the house of David shall be as God, as the angel of the Lord before them. [9] And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.
Zechariah 14:9 – And the Lord shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one Lord, and his name one.
Micah 5:6 – And they shall waste the land of Assyria with the sword, and the land of Nimrod in the entrances thereof: thus shall he deliver us from the Assyrian, when he cometh into our land, and when he treadeth within our borders.
Israel will claim all the land from the River of Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea to the Euphrates River, with a northern latitudinal border extending to Hamath (Hama) in Syria, and a southern border extending to Kadesh in the Sinai. And all this is not by accident, but by design and promise, for it was God’s ancient land grant promise to Abraham and to Israel. Its periphery is laid out in Genesis and Ezekiel. Its northern limits were to extend to the latitude of Hamath (Hama) in Syria, and its southern limits to the latitude of Kadesh. Its longitudinal limits to the west were to extend to the Mediterranean Sea and the River of Egypt, and its eastern longitudinal limits were to extend to the “entrances thereof” of the Euphrates River. This is the area of Micah 5:6 that Israel will “waste,” and then claim for a thousand years.
Genesis 15:18 – In the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:
Ezekiel 47:17,19 – And the border from the sea shall be Hazar-enan, the border of Damascus, and the north northward, and the border of Hamath.
And this is the north side. [19] And the south side southward, from Tamar even to the waters of strife in Kadesh, the river to the great sea. And this is the south side southward.
After Christ has himself, by himself, defeated the Assyrian at the battle of Armageddon to bring in “the peace” of a thousand years, then Israel will roar north out of the Negev to mop up what is left of a demoralized army that is fleeing north. Israel will take Jerusalem back, then drive north, northeast, and east to claim all the land west of the Euphrates River.
Isaiah 66:15,16 – For, behold, the Lord will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire. [16] For by fire and by his sword will the Lord plead with all flesh: and the slain of the Lord shall be many.
Zechariah 14:12-14 – And this shall be the plague wherewith the Lord will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth. [13] And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the Lord shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour. [14] And Judah also shall fight at Jerusalem; and the wealth of all the heathen round about shall be gathered together, gold, and silver, and apparel, in great abundance.
Micah 4:6,7 – In that day, saith the Lord, will I assemble her that halteth, and I will gather her that is driven out, and her that I have afflicted; [7] And I will make her that halted a remnant, and her that was cast far off a strong nation: and the Lord shall reign over them in mount Zion from henceforth, even for ever.