Assyria was an ancient empire whose demise was prophesied by Zephaniah: “And He will stretch out His hand against the north, and destroy Assyria; and will make Nineveh a desolation, and dry like a wilderness” (Zephaniah 2:13). As Nahum said: “Nineveh is laid waste” (Nahum 3:7). Nineveh was burnt and captured by a combination of Babylonians, Medes and Scythians in 612 B.C. The Assyrian Empire thus came to an end and consequently is a not a power in its own right at the return of Christ. It is not mentioned, for example, in Ezekiel 38.
The invasion of Israel by Assyria during the reign of Hezekiah provides a type of the invasion by Gog in the latter days. This can be seen in Isaiah 30. Verse 8 shows that this prophecy applies to the latter days: “Now go, write it before them in a table, and note it in a book, that it may be for the time to come [mg. latter days] for ever and ever”. The Assyrian overthrow is described in verse 30: “And the LORD shall cause His glorious voice to be heard, and shall shew the lighting down of His arm, with the indignation of His anger, and with the flame of a devouring fire, with scattering, and tempest, and hailstones”.
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Author: The Testimony
Keywords: Assyria, Assyrian, Assur
Bible reference(s): Genesis 2:14, Genesis 10:11, Genesis 25:18, 2 Kings 15:19, 2 Kings 15:20, 2 Kings 15:29, 2 Kings 16:7, 2 Kings 16:8, 2 Kings 16:9, 2 Kings 16:10, 2 Kings 16:18, 2 Kings 17:3, 2 Kings 17:4, 2 Kings 17:5, 2 Kings 17:6, 2 Kings 17:23, 2 Kings 17:24, 2 Kings 17:26, 2 Kings 17:27, 2 Kings 18:7, 2 Kings 18:9, 2 Kings 18:11, 2 Kings 18:13, 2 Kings 18:14, 2 Kings 18:16, 2 Kings 18:17, 2 Kings 18:19, 2 Kings 18:23, 2 Kings 18:28, 2 Kings 18:30, 2 Kings 18:31, 2 Kings 18:33, 2 Kings 19:4, 2 Kings 19:6, 2 Kings 19:8, 2 Kings 19:10, 2 Kings 19:11, 2 Kings 19:17, 2 Kings 19:20, 2 Kings 19:32, 2 Kings 19:36, 2 Kings 20:6, 2 Kings 23:29, 1 Chronicles 5:6, 1 Chronicles 5:26, 2 Chronicles 28:16, 2 Chronicles 28:20, 2 Chronicles 28:21, 2 Chronicles 30:6, 2 Chronicles 32:1, 2 Chronicles 32:4, 2 Chronicles 32:7, 2 Chronicles 32:9, 2 Chronicles 32:10, 2 Chronicles 32:11, 2 Chronicles 32:21, 2 Chronicles 32:22, 2 Chronicles 33:11, Ezra 4:2, Ezra 6:22, Nehemiah 9:32, Psalms 83:8, Isaiah 7:17, Isaiah 7:18, Isaiah 7:20, Isaiah 8:4, Isaiah 8:7, Isaiah 10:5, Isaiah 10:12, Isaiah 11:11, Isaiah 11:16, Isaiah 14:25, Isaiah 19:23, Isaiah 19:24, Isaiah 19:25, Isaiah 20:1, Isaiah 20:4, Isaiah 20:6, Isaiah 23:13, Isaiah 27:13, Isaiah 31:8, Isaiah 36:1, Isaiah 36:2, Isaiah 36:4, Isaiah 36:8, Isaiah 36:13, Isaiah 36:15, Isaiah 36:16, Isaiah 36:18, Isaiah 37:4, Isaiah 37:6, Isaiah 37:8, Isaiah 37:10, Isaiah 37:11, Isaiah 37:18, Isaiah 37:21, Isaiah 37:33, Isaiah 37:37, Isaiah 38:6, Isaiah 52:4, Jeremiah 2:18, Jeremiah 2:36, Jeremiah 50:17, Jeremiah 50:18, Lamentations 5:6, Ezekiel 23:7, Ezekiel 32:22, Hosea 5:13, Hosea 7:11, Hosea 8:9, Hosea 9:3, Hosea 9:6, Hosea 10:6, Hosea 11:5, Hosea 11:11, Hosea 12:1, Hosea 14:3, Amos 3:9, Micah 5:5, Micah 5:6, Micah 7:12, Nahum 3:18, Zephaniah 2:13, Zechariah 10:10, Zechariah 10:11, Judith 2:14, Judith 5:1, Judith 6:1, Judith 6:17, Judith 7:18, Judith 7:20, Judith 10:11, Judith 13:15, Judith 14:2, Judith 14:3, Judith 14:19, Judith 15:6, Judith 16:4, 4 Maccabees 13:9, 2 Esdras 2:8
Source: “A-Z,” The Testimony, Vol. 74, No. 881, May 2004, pg. 159.
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