Nahum 3:4-7

CAUSE OF THE CARNAGE. Nahum 3:4-7

RV. because of the multitude of the whoredoms of the well-favored harlot, the mistress of witchcrafts, that selleth nations through her whoredoms, and families through her witchcrafts. Behold, I am against thee, saith Jehovah of hosts, and I will uncover thy skirts upon thy face; and I will show the nations thy nakedness, and the kingdoms thy shame, And I will cast abominable filth upon thee, and make thee vile, and will set thee as a gazing-stock. And it shall come to pass, that all they that look upon thee shall flee from thee, and say, Nineveh is laid waste: who will bemoan her? whence shall I seek comforters for thee?
LXX. because of the abundance of fornication: she is a fair harlot, and well-favoured, skilled in sorcery, that sells the nations by her fornication and peoples by her sorceries. Behold, I am against thee, saith the Lord God Almighty, and I will uncover thy skirts in thy presence, and I will shew thy nations thy shame, and the kingdoms thy disgrace. And I will cast abominable filth upon thee according to thine unclean ways, and will make thee a public example. And it shall be that every one that sees thee shall go down from thee, and shall say, Wretched Nineve! who shall lament for her? whence shall I seek comfort for her?

COMMENTS

The cry of the modern social revolutionist is if there is a god, why does he not halt or prevent war? The paragraph before us deserves serious study in answer to this questioning. The God Who declares Himself against Nineveh has not changed in His righteous wrath upon wicked nations.

BECAUSE OF THE MULTITUDE OF WHOREDOMS. Nahum 3:4

Here is a listing, brief and to the point, of the sins of Nineveh. No doubt the term whoredoms of the well-fovored harlot could be a literal description of the immorality of the Assyrian capital. Such corruption always preceeds the downfall of an empire, just as it now eats the fibre out of the strength of the United States.

However, it is more likely Nahum intends here the more profound harlotry that brought on war. Nineveh had courted neighboring nations with the design to ruin their liberties and property.
Nor must we omit from the multitude of her whoredoms her mystery religion. (See chapter on Baal worship.) In her heyday, Assyria was one of the most brutal empires ever to cross the pages of history. Will Durant points out that her religion did nothing to modify this tendancy to violence. Ashur was the name of the national version of the sun god. He was warlike, merciless and was believed to take a divine satisfaction in the sacrifice of captured enemies before his shrine.

The worship of Ashur was largely one of omens and exorcism. These Nahum calls witchcrafts. The world was pictured as full of a host of demons to be warded off by charms and long incantations.

I WILL UNCOVER. Nahum 3:5

The foreign policy of Assyria, as we have seen, was one of ambitious deceit. This stood first in the list of her harlotries. Now her proud pretentions are to be baffled by Jehovah. Her shame is discovered to her neighbor nations. Her vain hope of universal domination is first revealed and then dashed to pieces.

I WILL. SET THEE AS A GAZING STOCK. Nahum 3:6-7

That great city to which all nations had made court, with which they had coveted alliances, is made a laughing stock.
Abominable filth and vileness is always the aftermath of war. I can still smell the stench of death in the blasted rubble of European cities during World War II. The disease which rises from such putridity causes many to flee. and to marvel at the destruction of Nineveh.

No one is left to mourn the passing of Nineveh. Nahum takes delight in it and taunts her with an offer to hire mourners. One cannot but wonder if the Spirit Who inspired Nahum's prophecy approved of the poet's almost sadistic delight in the calamity that befell his enemies. I personally doubt it. More likely God's attitude toward Jonah, when that prophet pouted because Nineveh had been spared, was the same toward Nahum. (Jonah 4:9 -ff) We do not know.

Chapter XIVQuestions

The Epitaph of Nineveh

1.

Why does Nahum say Nineveh is full of lies?

2.

In Nahum's vision of fallen Nineveh, the silence is broken only by __________.

3.

Discuss Nahum 3:4-7 in light of the modern question, If there is a God, why does He not halt or prevent war?

4.

What are the sins of Nineveh as listed in this paragraph?

5.

What is indicated by Nahum's term witchcrafts?

6.

How does God intend to make Nineveh a gazing stock?

7.

Who are No-Amon, Karnak, Thebes?

8.

Where did the sprinkling of exorcism first become confused with the immersion of Christian baptism? When did this occur?

9.

Compare the fate of No-Amon with that of Nineveh.

10.

Who defeated No-Amon in 674 B.C.?

11.

Discuss Nahum's question art thou better? as applied to modern America.

12.

In what physical condition were the leaders of Nineveh when the Medes and Babylonians fell upon them?

13.

What were all thy fortresses in Nahum 3:12-15?

14.

What is the irony of Nahum's choice of vermin to illustrate the multitudes of Nineveh's defenders?

15.

The destruction of the city of Nineveh was the mortal wound of __________.

16.

How is God's word in Nahum vindicated by history in the destruction of the Assyrian Empire?