Nahum Explained | Judgement Fallsគំរូ

Day 2 | Nahum 2 

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Welcome back to Through the Word, Nahum chapter 2 today. If you were in the Middle East around the time of Nahum’s vision, you could be forgiven for being a little skeptical of what you were hearing. How was it possible that Nineveh would ever fall? The city was the largest in the world, and up to that point was stronger than any other in history! But Nineveh’s time had come. Verse 1:

“An attacker advances against you, Nineveh.

    Guard the fortress,

    watch the road,

    brace yourselves,

    marshal all your strength!

The Lord will restore the splendor of Jacob

    like the splendor of Israel,

though destroyers have laid them waste

    and have ruined their vines” (Nahum 2:1-2).

An attacker was coming against Nineveh, and Nahum is giving Nineveh warning, even though it wouldn’t really help. Nahum could see the armies approaching the city, and see the Assyrian kings withdraw to their lofty fortress city. Assyria had attacked Judah for too long, now they would suffer judgment at the hand of God. Verse 3:

“The shields of the soldiers are red;

    the warriors are clad in scarlet.

The metal on the chariots flashes

    on the day they are made ready;

    the spears of juniper are brandished.

The chariots storm through the streets,

    rushing back and forth through the squares.

They look like flaming torches;

    they dart about like lightning” (Nahum 2:3-4).

Shortly after the vision of Nahum, the Assyrian Empire began to suffer from internal conflicts. The Babylonians, led by Nabopolassar, and the Medes, led by Cyaxares, rebelled against Nineveh, and forged an alliance to destroy the empire. Over the next 12 years, the Medes and Babylonians fought regular campaigns against Assyria, finally conquering the suburbs of Nineveh in 612 BC. But the impenetrable fortress city still remained. The city was surrounded by a moat, had seven and a half miles of walls, with 1500 towers rising 18 stories above the surrounding plains. Babylon may have given chase to the lion of Assyria, but the lion had retreated to its den, where it trusted it could outlast the armies outside its walls.

But the armies of Nineveh were no match for the forces of Babylon and the Medes, at least when God had already declared the destruction of the ancient lion. Verse 5:

“Nineveh summons her picked troops,

    yet they stumble on their way.

They dash to the city wall;

    the protective shield is put in place.

The river gates are thrown open

    and the palace collapses.

It is decreed that Nineveh

    be exiled and carried away” (Nahum 2:5-7).

The siege lasted only three months. The attackers had built dams across the Tigris and Khoser Rivers, storing up the water that usually flowed through the city of Nineveh. The dams were then broken, causing torrents of water to flow down to the river gates, where the walls crumbled under the force of the mighty river. Mighty Nineveh was breached, and the Babylonian and Medes rushed in to plunder the great city. Verse 9:

“Plunder the silver!

Plunder the gold!

The supply is endless,

    the wealth from all its treasures!

She is pillaged, plundered, stripped!

Hearts melt, knees give way,

    bodies tremble, every face grows pale” (Nahum 2:9-10).

Sitting alongside major trade routes, the city of Nineveh had collected tariffs and tribute from across the entire region. The spoils of over 200 years of war had flowed into the city, but would now be carried off to Babylon. Verse 11:

“Where now is the lions’ den,

    the place where they fed their young,

where the lion and lioness went,

    and the cubs, with nothing to fear?

The lion killed enough for his cubs

    and strangled the prey for his mate,

filling his lairs with the kill

    and his dens with the prey.

‘I am against you,’

    declares the Lord Almighty.

‘I will burn up your chariots in smoke,

    and the sword will devour your young lions.

I will leave you no prey on the earth.

The voices of your messengers

    will no longer be heard’” (Nahum 2:11-13).

The entire region had cowered under the lion of Assyria’s threat of destruction. Where Assyria marched, death and destruction followed. Its pride was clearly seen in 2 Kings 18, where Assyrian forces surrounded Jerusalem:

“Do not listen to Hezekiah, for he is misleading you when he says, ‘The Lord will deliver us.’ Has the god of any nation ever delivered his land from the hand of the king of Assyria? Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena and Ivvah? Have they rescued Samaria from my hand? Who of all the gods of these countries has been able to save his land from me? How then can the Lord deliver Jerusalem from my hand?” (2 Kings 18:32-35).

"Where is your God, Judah?" the Assyrians asked. "How can he deliver you from our might?" But the Assyrian lion was no match for the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Nineveh was left pillaged, plundered, and stripped. Within a few years, the rest of the Assyrian army had fallen. Never again would Nineveh bother the people of Judah. Left in ruins, the city did carry on for some time, but never in the manner in which it had ruled the nations.

"I am against you," declares the Lord Almighty. Are there any scarier words in the entire world? The Lord had proclaimed judgment against Assyria, and destruction had come swiftly. In the same way, the Lord has promised a coming day of judgement for the entire world. He has waited, and he has warned us. In 2nd Peter 3, Peter warns his readers that:

“By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly” (2 Peter 3:7).

But God has shown the world mercy, waiting for the day of judgement. In the same chapter, Peter reminds us that:

“The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).

God will judge the world, but he is waiting. Waiting for every last people to have the chance to turn to Him in repentance. So, let us turn to him now, and trust in his mercy, so that we might escape the coming day of judgement.  

That’s it for Nahum 2, join us tomorrow for the last part of Nahum’s vision, on Through the Word.

Read Nahum 2

All verses are quoted from the NIV unless otherwise noted.