“When Assyria comes into our land / And when he treads in our palaces, / We will raise up against him seven shepherds / And eight princes of men. / And they will waste the land of Assyria with the sword / And the land of Nimrod at its entrances. / And He will save us from Assyria, / When he comes into our land / And when he treads in our border” (vv. 5b-6). These verses reveal that Christ also will save Israel after they are invaded by Assyria. The coming Christ will take the full responsibility to deal with all of human government, represented by Assyria and Nimrod.
The mentioning of Assyria and Nimrod in these verses is a reminder of the beginning of the locusts, a reminder of when and how the locusts were produced. For the Lord to deal with the Assyrians means that He deals with the first group of the locusts, and this indicates that He will go on to deal with all the locusts.
Here we need to consider once again the great human image in Daniel 2, with its head of gold (Babylon), its breast and its arms of silver (Medo-Persia), its abdomen and its thighs of bronze (Greece), its legs of iron (Rome), and its feet partly of iron and partly of clay (vv. 32-33). The smashing of this image by the stone cut out without hands (Christ) begins not with the head but with the feet. According to verse 34, this stone will strike the image at its feet and crush them. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold will be crushed all at once, and the stone will become a great mountain and fill the whole earth (v. 35). The point here is that the smashing of the feet, which signify Antichrist, involves the smashing of the entire image, signifying the destruction of human government from Assyria and Babylon to Rome. It is significant that Micah speaks of Assyria and Nimrod, the founder of Nineveh (the capital of Assyria) and Babel (Gen. 10:8-11). Actually, Assyria equals Rome, and Nimrod equals Antichrist.
Eventually, Israel will be invaded by Antichrist and his armies. Having collected his evil world powers, Antichrist will besiege the city of Jerusalem, with the intention of putting it to an end. At this juncture Christ will come to destroy Antichrist and his armies and to save Israel. At that time, the great image will be crushed by the stone cut out without hands; Assyria, Nimrod, the empires of Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome, and Antichrist will be no more; and the entire earth will become the kingdom of God for eternity. Then all of Jehovah’s elect will enjoy Him. This is His comfort to Israel, a comfort that is a matter of restoration.
After Christ deals with all the enemies, the remnant of Jacob will be blessed by Jehovah, and they also will be victorious among the nations. Concerning this, Micah 5:7 and 8 say that the remnant of Jacob will be in the midst of many peoples like dew from Jehovah, like abundant showers, like a lion among the beasts of the forest, and like a young lion among the flocks of sheep. Regarding the remnant of Jacob, the prophet goes on to say, “Your hand will be raised up against your adversaries, / And all your enemies will be cut off” (v. 9). Some may find it hard to believe that the small nation of Israel will be victorious among the nations, but this is clearly prophesied in the Bible.
Eventually, Jehovah will clear up the armies, cities, strongholds, witchcraft, idols, and idol worship from Israel, and He will execute vengeance in anger and wrath upon the nations, in the day of restoration (vv. 10-15).