Nahum 3:8-19

NINEVEH IS NO BETTER. Nahum 3:8-19

RV. Art thou better than No-amon, that was situated among the rivers, that had the waters round about her; whose rampart was the sea, and her wall was of the sea? Ethiopia and Egypt were her strength, and it was infinite; Put and Lubim were thy helpers. Yet was she carried away, she went into captivity; her young children also were dashed in pieces at the head of all the streets; and they cast lots for her honorable men, and all her great men were bound in chains. Thou also shalt be drunken; thou shalt be hid; thou also shalt seek a stronghold because of the enemy. All thy fortresses shall be like fig-trees with the first ripe figs: if they be shaken, they fall into the mouth of the eater. Behold, thy people in the midst of thee are women; the gates of thy land are set wide open unto thine enemies: the fire hath devoured thy bars. Draw thee water for the siege; strengthen thy fortresses; go into the clay, and tread the mortar; make strong the brickkiln. There shall the fire devour thee; the sword shall cut thee off; it shall devour thee like the cankerworm; make thyself many as the canker-worm; make thyself many as the locust. Thou has multiplied thy merchants above the stars of heaven; the canker-worm ravageth, and fleeth away. Thy princes are as the locusts, and thy marshals as the swarms of grasshoppers, which encamp in the hedges in the cold day, but when the sun ariseth they flee away, and their place is not known they are. Thy shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria; thy nobles are at rest; thy people are scattered upon the mountains, and there is none to gather them. There is no assuaging of thy hurt; thy wound is grievous: all that hear the report of thee clap their hands over thee; for upon whom hath not thy wickedness passed continually?

LXX. Prepare thee a portion, tune the chord, prepare a portion for Ammon: she that dwells among the rivers, water is round about her, whose dominion is the sea, and whose walls are water. And Ethiopia is her strength, and Egypt; and there was no limit of the flight of her enemies; and the Libyans became her helpers. Yet she shall go as a prisoner into captivity, and they shall dash her infants against the ground at the top of all her ways: and they shall cast lots upon all her glorious possessions, and all her nobles shall be bound in chains. And thou shalt be drunken, and shalt be overlooked; and thou shalt seek for thyself strength because of thine enemies. All thy strong-holds are as fig-trees, having watchers: if they be shaken, they shall fall into the mouth of the eater. Behold, thy people within thee are as women: the gates of thy land shall surely be opened to thine enemies: the fire shall devour thy bars. Draw thee water for a siege, and well secure thy strongholds: enter into the clay, and be thou trodden in the chaff, make the fortifications stronger than brick. There the fire shall devour thee; the sword shall utterly destroy thee, it shall devour thee as the locust, and thou shalt be pressed down as a palmerworm. Thou hast multiplied thy merchandise beyond the stars of heaven: the palmerworm has attacked it, and has flown away. Thy mixed multitude has suddenly departed as the grasshopper, as the locust perched on a hedge in a frosty day; the sun arises, and it flies off, and knows not its place: woe to them! Thy shepherds have slumbered, the Assyrian king has laid low thy mighty men: thy people departed to the mountains, and there was none to receive them, There is no healing for thy bruise; thy wound has rankled: all that hear the report of thee shall clap their hands against thee; for upon whom has not thy wickedness passed continually?

COMMENTS

ART THOU BETTER?. Nahum 3:8-10

No-Amon, Karnak, Thebes. all names of one of the proudest cities ever built by man. Capital of the middle kingdom of Egypt, she stood majestically on the Nile and guarded the largest temple complex ever built. anywhere. Every Pharaoh, from the 12th to the 19th dynasty except the heretic, Ikhnaton, added to her glory. Her civilization, in some instances, advanced beyond that of our own day. Even today the visitor stands in silent awe before her columns and oblisks. One cannot but marvel at the sacred lake at Karnak, where the sprinkling of exorcism and the immersion of Christian baptism first became confused in the fourth century A.D.
But No-Amon, Karnak fell! And it was the Assyrians themselves who in 674 B.C. swept down from the north and subjected the proud Egyptians to tribute. and the taunt of the prophet to Nineveh who herself is now to be destroyed is Art thou better than No-Amon?
Art thou better? It is a question that sends chills along the spine of any thinking American who is fortunate enough to stand amidst the ruins of fallen civilizations. Are we better than they, that our international harlotries, our internal immoralities, our worship of false gods should not one day bring down upon our heads the wrath of Jehovah? Is it a strange idea, reserved for crackpots and prophets of doom, that God may one day use a heathen nation to fill the streets of Washington, D.C. and New York and Chicago and our other proud cities with corpses even as He used the Medes and Babylonians to lay Nineveh in the dust for her sins?

THOU ALSO. Nahum 3:11

The words fall like the knell of doom on the proud capital of Assyria. The leaders literally were drunken when the Medes and Babylonians came, but they had been in a stupor of a different kind long before. They were made drunken with the wine of Nineveh's fornication. (Cp. Revelation 17:1-2 and Jeremiah 25:17-27)

ALL THY FORTRESSES. Nahum 3:12-15

All those things in which Nineveh trusted would fail her. Did they trust in bravery and daring? Their hearts would sink and fail them, so that they should abscound for shame, being in disgrace. For fear they will not be able to face invaders because of whose strength they shall sneak to their neighbors to beg assistance.
Did they depend on the garrisons and strongholds? These shall prove to be paper walls. Like the first-ripe figs, if you give the tree a little shake, they will fall in your mouth.
Having seen the vanity of the efforts to defend the doomed city, Nahum nevertheless taunts them to make ready to stand off the invader, They are admonished to lay in quantities of water against a siege. New bricks are to be made to strengthen the fortifications.

THEN SHALL A FIRE DEVOUR THEE. Nahum 3:15

By fire set to buildings and death sown by hand weapons are cities conquered. It is still the same. from Nineveh to My Lai.
Though the defenders of Nineveh are as numerous as canker-worms and as locusts. yet they shall be over-run.
There is a scathing irony in Nahum's choice of vermin to illustrate the multitudes of Nineveh's defenders, Both the cankerworm and the locust leave devastation wherever they go. So had Assyria spread destruction throughout the world. Nowto use a cliche the worm has turned.
The Assyrian merchanrs who once fleeced the populace of surrounding nations will be seen no more, they are like the canker-worm who ravageth and fleeth away.
The princes also, and the marshalls, those who enforced the Assyrian sway over conquered peoples will be seen no more. Like Swarms of grasshoppers which destroy while they are present, but fly away to be seen no more, the Assyrian authorities will, like the merchants, not be seen anymore in lands once ruled as defeated people.

THY WOUND IS GREVIOUS. Nahum 3:18-19

The destruction of Nineveh will prove the mortal wound of the entire empire. It is all in Nahum's future, but he has seen it in a present vision. History has verified his prophetic pronouncement.
In 612 B.C. the alliance between the Medes and Babylonians did indeed march into the city and that which Nahum foresaw became reality. The alliance was short lived and the victors shortly began to war among themselves. But the fatal blow had been struck.
Never again would Nineveh, or Assyria, play an important role in world affairs. Today the location of the city itself is scarcely discernable, rising as two tels on the valley of the Tigris.
God's prophetic word once more is vindicated by history.

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?