In The Word
Read: Nahum 2-3
The Overthrow of Nineveh
2 The one who scatters has come up against you.
Keep watch over the fortress, watch the road;
Bind up your waist, summon all your strength.
2 For the Lord will restore the splendor of Jacob
Like the splendor of Israel,
Even though destroyers have laid waste to them
And ruined their vines.
3 The shields of his warriors are dyed red,
The warriors are dressed in scarlet,
The chariots are fitted with flashing steel
When he is prepared to march,
And the juniper spears are brandished.
4 The chariots drive wildly in the streets,
They rush around in the public squares;
Their appearance is like torches,
They drive back and forth like lightning flashes.
5 He remembers his officers;
They stumble in their advance,
They hurry to her wall,
And the mantelet is set up.
6 The gates of the rivers are opened
And the palace sways back and forth.
7 It is set:
She is stripped, she is led away,
And her slave women are sobbing like the sound of doves,
Beating their breasts.
8 Though Nineveh was like a pool of water throughout her days,
Yet they are fleeing;
“Stop, stop,”
But no one turns back.
9 Plunder the silver,
Plunder the gold!
For there is no end to the treasure—
Wealth from every kind of desirable object.
10 She is emptied! Yes, she is desolate and waste!
Hearts are melting and knees wobbling!
Also trembling is in the entire body,
And all their faces have become pale!
11 Where is the den of the lions
And the feeding place of the young lions,
Where the lion, lioness, and lion’s cub went
With nothing to disturb them?
12 The lion tore enough for his cubs,
Killed enough prey for his lionesses,
And filled his lairs with prey
And his dens with torn flesh.
13 “Behold, I am against you,” declares the Lord of armies. “I will burn up her chariots in smoke, and a sword will devour your young lions; I will eliminate your prey from the land, and no longer will the voice of your messengers be heard.”
Nineveh’s Complete Ruin
3 Woe to the bloody city, completely full of lies and pillage;
Her prey does not leave.
2 The sound of the whip,
The sound of the roar of the wheel,
Galloping horses
And bounding chariots!
3 Horsemen charging,
Swords flashing, spears gleaming,
Many killed, a mass of corpses,
And there is no end to the dead bodies—
They stumble over the dead bodies!
4 All because of the many sexual acts of the prostitute,
The charming one, the mistress of sorceries,
Who sells nations by her sexual acts,
And families by her sorceries.
5 “Behold, I am against you,” declares the Lord of armies;
“And I will lift up your skirts over your face,
And show the nations your nakedness,
And the kingdoms your shame.
6 I will throw filth on you
And declare you worthless,
And set you up as a spectacle.
7 And it will come about that all who see you
Will shrink from you and say,
‘Nineveh is devastated!
Who will have sympathy for her?’
Where shall I seek comforters for you?”
8 Are you better than No-amon,
Which was situated by the canals of the Nile,
With water surrounding her,
Whose rampart was the sea,
Whose wall consisted of the sea?
9 Ethiopia was her might,
Egypt too, without limits.
Put and Lubim were among her helpers.
10 Yet she became an exile,
She went into captivity;
Also her small children were smashed to pieces
At the head of every street;
They cast lots for her honorable men,
And all her great men were bound with shackles.
11 You too will become drunk,
You will be hidden.
You too will search for a refuge from the enemy.
12 All your fortifications are fig trees with ripe fruit—
When shaken, they fall into the eater’s mouth.
13 Behold, your people are women in your midst!
The gates of your land are opened wide to your enemies;
Fire consumes your gate bars.
14 Draw for yourself water for a siege!
Strengthen your fortifications!
Go into the clay and tread the mortar!
Take hold of the brick mold!
15 There fire will consume you,
The sword will cut you down;
It will consume you as the creeping locust consumes a crop.
Multiply yourself like the creeping locust,
Multiply yourself like the migratory locust.
16 You have made your traders more numerous than the stars of heaven—
The creeping locust sheds its skin and flies away.
17 Your courtiers are like the migratory locust.
Your officials are like a swarm of locusts
Settling in the stone shelters on a cold day.
The sun rises and they flee,
And the place where they are is not known.
18 Your shepherds are sleeping, O king of Assyria;
Your officers are lying down.
Your people are scattered on the mountains
And there is no one to gather them.
19 There is no relief for your collapse,
Your wound is incurable.
All who hear about you
Will clap their hands over you,
For upon whom has your evil not come continually?
New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation
Walking In The Word
The words of Jonah 3:4 are echoed here, “Nineveh will be overthrown.” The city and the people would be emptied, desolated, and laid waste. The Lord declared that He was against them; their chariots and warriors would be no match for His judgment. No fortifications would stand. The harlotries of the nation resulted in their devastation. The gates of the nation would be opened wide to their enemies, and they would be consumed. There would be no relief, no cure, no one left to grieve.
Nineveh was in this same condition generations ago, but that generation called on God earnestly. They turned from their wicked ways and from the violence that was on their hands. When God saw their actions and their hearts, He relented and did not destroy them. That generation was alive for that very reason.
Even God’s chosen people lived in a cycle of faithfulness, unfaithfulness, chastisement, judgment, repentance, and then back to faithfulness. Each generation and, ultimately, each individual makes their own choice. What about our country? Have our gates been opened wide to the enemy by our actions as a nation? What about us as individuals? This nation is made of individuals. We must individually decide to stay faithful to Him and His teachings and to stay on the ancient paths. “Therefore, let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall” (1 Corinthians 10:12).