# will wield a whip against them "will punish the Assyrians severely as if with a whip" # as when he defeated Midian at the rock of Oreb This refers to when God helped a man named Gideon defeat the army of Midian. # He will raise his rod over the sea and lift it up as he did in Egypt "He will help you escape from the army of Assyria as he helped your ancestors escape the army of Egypt"