THE GLORIOUS CONSUMMATION 519
the confederated hosts, which had all but succeeded in utterly exterminating the remnant of His people.
While their foes are consumed by the " plague " and engaged in fighting with one another in consequence of the " confusion " or tumult sent among them by the Lord, the remnant of Judah, " also " conscious now that the Captain of the Lord s host is with them, and that Almighty power is now on their side, are suddenly stirred up to do valiantly and have a share in utterly destroying them.
One consequence of the utter discomfiture of these hosts around Jerusalem is that" the wealth of all the nations round about shall be gathered together, gold and silver and apparel in great abundance " ; where again we have an allusion by the prophet to historical incidents in the past history of the nation as foreshadowments of the future.
Thus, in 2 Chron. xx., to which reference has already been made, after the overthrow of the hosts of Ammon and Moab and the inhabitants of Mount Seir, we read that Jehoshaphat and his people gathered into Jerusalem " spoil in abundance, both riches and garments and precious jewels " ; and thus also, when the hosts of Syrians, who were besieg ing Samaria, were suddenly seized with panic, fled because the Lord had made them " hear a noise of chariots and horses and of a great host " they left behind abundance of silver and gold and raiment. 1
And inasmuch as these hosts, by their enmity against God and His people, have brought themselves under His ban for utter destruction, the animals which they have brought with them for this campaign against the holy land and city, will also be overtaken with the same fate as their masters.
" And so shall be the plague of the horse, of the mule, and oj the camel, and of the ass, and of all the beasts that shall be in those camps as their masters"
This, as Hengstenberg points out, is in accord with the Mosaic law in reference to the cJierem, or " ban." When a whole city had committed the crime of idolatry, not only
1 2 Kings vii. 2-8.
