Nahum 2
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He that dasheth in pieces is come up before thy face: keep the munition, watch the way, make thy loins strong, fortify thy power mightily.
2 For the Lord hath turned away the excellency of Jacob, as the excellency of Israel: for the emptiers have emptied them out, and marred their vine branches.
3 The shield of his mighty men is made red, the valiant men are in scarlet: the chariots shall be with flaming torches in the day of his preparation, and the fir trees shall be terribly shaken.
4 The chariots shall rage in the streets, they shall justle one against another in the broad ways: they shall seem like torches, they shall run like the lightnings.
5 He shall recount his worthies: they shall stumble in their walk; they shall make haste to the wall thereof, and the defence shall be prepared.
6 The gates of the rivers shall be opened, and the palace shall be dissolved.
7 And Huzzab shall be led away captive, she shall be brought up, and her maids shall lead her as with the voice of doves, tabering upon their breasts.
8 But Nineveh is of old like a pool of water: yet they shall flee away. Stand, stand, shall they cry; but none shall look back.
9 Take ye the spoil of silver, take the spoil of gold: for there is none end of the store and glory out of all the pleasant furniture.
10 She is empty, and void, and waste: and the heart melteth, and the knees smite together, and much pain is in all loins, and the faces of them all gather blackness.
11 Where is the dwelling of the lions, and the feedingplace of the young lions, where the lion, even the old lion, walked, and the lion's whelp, and none made them afraid?
12 The lion did tear in pieces enough for his whelps, and strangled for his lionesses, and filled his holes with prey, and his dens with ravin.
13 Behold, I am against thee, saith the Lord of hosts, and I will burn her chariots in the smoke, and the sword shall devour thy young lions: and I will cut off thy prey from the earth, and the voice of thy messengers shall no more be heard.
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Commentary
Like the proud Ashurbanipal and Sennacherib, numbers of arrogant leaders have asserted that their kingdom would last forever. Nebuchadnezzar made himself to be the “head of gold.” Hitler declared his Third Reich would last a thousand years, but it barely lasted a thousand days and wrought untold misery and death on the world. Khrushchev promised to “bury Christianity” but is himself buried instead in a rather common grave.
Nahum’s prophecies about the destruction of Assyrian power and Nineveh could have a secondary application describing the end of all earthly kingdoms, cities and wealth. They will lie “empty, and void and wasted” (Nahum 2:10) during the millennial period following the Second Coming of Christ.
How easily men trust in alliances, military might and wealth for security. Yet, in all this, they exhibit a sense of insecurity and erect towers of Babel for safety, ignoring the One who gave them the intellect and strength to accomplish great things (Deuteronomy 8:11-20). When men rely on achievements, false gods, governments, military strength, riches or technology for “peace and safety”, rather than the Lord, beware: “sudden destruction comes… and they shall not escape” (I Thessalonians 5:3).
Gary Councell
Chaplain (Colonel) U.S. Army (Retired)
Gen. Conf. Chaplaincy Ministries Dept.
