We believe the foe, of whom Isaiah speaks as the Assyrian, foreshadows this one coming with his hordes from the North. The Assyrian in the days of Isaiah, who threatened to cover the land like a cloud, was Sennacherib. How the Lord dealt with him by wiping out his proud army with a single stroke is known to every reader of the Bible. But he also foreshadows the final Assyrian, the last King of the North. He is described in Isaiah x. A significant statement is made in that chapter as to the time when the Lord will deal with this Assyrian of the future. It is this "Wherefore it shall come to pass that when the Lord has performed His whole work upon Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the stout heart of the King of Assyria and the glory of his high looks" (verse 12). When the Lord has performed His work in judgment and in mercy upon Mount Zion and in behalf of Israel and their enemies, then He will also punish the last invader and spoiler of His people, the one foreshadowed by the Assyrian. The Antichrist, who opposed the heavenly rights and glory of Christ, has then already been overthrown by the brightness of His coming; and next this last enemy who opposeth the earthly rights of the King of kings will also meet his defeat. Notice that in the same chapter of Isaiah the Lord comforts His people in view of the invader, showing thereby that He is with them and on their side. "Therefore, thus saith the Lord God of hosts, O my people that dwelleth in Zion, be not afraid of the Assyrian" (Isa. x:24). The prophet Micah bears a similar testimony to the same person. In chapter v we have a prophetic announcement of the birth of Christ in Bethlehem Ephrata. We also read of His rejection: "they shall smite the judge of Israel with a rod upon the cheek." Then the nation is seen as rejected--given up, set aside--till Israel brings forth in travail pains a godly remnant during the end of the age. Then the Lord returns. "And He shall stand and rule in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord His God; and they shall abide, for now shall He be great unto the ends of the earth" (verse 4). When this has come to pass then the Assyrian appears on the scene, invading the land. But Micah tells us: "And this man (Christ) shall be the peace when the Assyrian shall come into the land" (verse 5). All this confirms the story of Ezekiel xxxviii. The reader may also turn to Isaiah xxxiii, to Joel and find there a description of the same invading forces which Ezekiel describes and their judgment.