308. "And in the greatness of Your excellency You have overthrown them that rose up against You" (Shemot 15:7). Rabbi Chizkiyah opened the discussion, saying: "Why stand You afar off, Hashem? Why hide You Yourself in times of trouble?" (Tehilim 10:1). At the time that the inequities of the world cause it, the Holy One, blessed be He, ascends higher and higher and people shed tears and cry, yet there is no one to pay attention to them. What is the reason? Because the Holy One, blessed be He, ascends higher and higher and repentance is withheld from them. Then it is written, "And in the greatness of Your excellency You have overthrown them that rose up against You."
309. Rabbi Yitzchak said, This verse refers to the time when The Holy One, blessed be He, will attire Himself with majesty over the nations that shall gather against Him, as it is written, "And the princes take counsel together, against Hashem, and against His anointed" (Tehilim 2:2). As we have learned, seventy generals of armies shall gather from every side at that time with the hosts of the entire world to wage war against Jerusalem, the Holy City, and to plan against the Holy One, blessed be He. What do they say? 'Let us rise against the protector first, and then against His people and His sanctuary.'
310. Then the Holy One, blessed be He, will laugh at them, as it is written, "He who sits in the heavens laughs, Hashem has them in derision" (Ibid. 4). At that time, the Holy One, blessed be He, will don majesty against them and will destroy them from the world, as it is written, "And this shall be the plague with which Hashem will smite all the peoples that have fought against Jerusalem; their flesh shall be consumed while they stand upon their feet" (Zecharyah 14:12).
311. Rabbi Aba said, quoting Rabbi Yesa Saba (the elder), and also Rabbi Shimon said, The Holy One, blessed be He, shall resurrect those kings that distressed Yisrael and Jerusalem, NAMELY Adrianus and Lupinus, Nebuchadnezzar and Sancheriv, and all the other kings of the world that took part in the destruction of His House. Then He will provide them with a governing dominion as before, and the rest of the nations will gather with them, AND THEY WILL WAR AGAINST JERUSALEM. The Holy One, blessed be He, will take revenge on them openly around Jerusalem. This is the meaning of, "And this shall be the plague with which Hashem will smite all the peoples that have fought against Jerusalem." It is not written, 'that will fight' but rather, "that have fought" IN THE PAST TENSE, BECAUSE IT REFERS TO NEBUCHADNEZZAR, WHO HAD ALREADY FOUGHT. Then it is written, "And in the greatness of Your excellency You have overthrown them that rose up against You." This is written about the time when Messiah will come, and this song is a never-ending song.
312. "And with the blast of Your nostrils the waters piled up" (Shemot 15:8), namely, at that time. Therefore, THIS shall happen at that time, in the time of King Messiah, and in the time of Gog and Magog (Armageddon). "The flood stood upright like a heap," refers to the World to Come, which is the joy of all the worlds.