Woe to the bloody city,
all full of lies and plunder—
no end to the prey!
2 The crack of the whip, and rumble of the wheel,
galloping horse and bounding chariot!
3 Horsemen charging,
flashing sword and glittering spear,
hosts of slain,
heaps of corpses,
dead bodies without end—
they stumble over the bodies!
4 And all for the countless whorings of the prostitute,
graceful and of deadly charms,
who betrays nations with her whorings,
and peoples with her charms.
5 Behold, I am against you,
declares the Lord of hosts,
and will lift up your skirts over your face;
and I will make nations look at your nakedness
and kingdoms at your shame.
6 I will throw filth at you
and treat you with contempt
and make you a spectacle.
7 And all who look at you will shrink from you and say,
“Wasted is Nineveh; who will grieve for her?”
Where shall I seek comforters for you?
8 Are you better than Thebes
that sat by the Nile,
with water around her,
her rampart a sea,
and water her wall?
9 Cush was her strength;
Egypt too, and that without limit;
Put and the Libyans were her helpers.
10 Yet she became an exile;
she went into captivity;
her infants were dashed in pieces
at the head of every street;
for her honored men lots were cast,
and all her great men were bound in chains.
11 You also will be drunken;
you will go into hiding;
you will seek a refuge from the enemy.
12 All your fortresses are like fig trees
with first-ripe figs—
if shaken they fall
into the mouth of the eater.
13 Behold, your troops
are women in your midst.
The gates of your land
are wide open to your enemies;
fire has devoured your bars.
14 Draw water for the siege;
strengthen your forts;
go into the clay;
tread the mortar;
take hold of the brick mold!
15 There will the fire devour you;
the sword will cut you off.
It will devour you like the locust.
Multiply yourselves like the locust;
multiply like the grasshopper!
16 You increased your merchants
more than the stars of the heavens.
The locust spreads its wings and flies away.
17 Your princes are like grasshoppers,
your scribes like clouds of locusts
settling on the fences
in a day of cold—
when the sun rises, they fly away;
no one knows where they are.
18 Your shepherds are asleep,
O king of Assyria;
your nobles slumber.
Your people are scattered on the mountains
with none to gather them.
19 There is no easing your hurt;
your wound is grievous.
All who hear the news about you
clap their hands over you.
For upon whom has not come
your unceasing evil? Nahum 3 ESV
Nahum 3
Woe to the bloody city - The Assyrians were known and feared for their cruelty. It is not as though they were in complete ignorance on this, as they had had a revival in the land some 100 years before, and they were all from Noah, everyone on the earth. What was not passed down well, that men were made in the image of God, or certainly not respected, yet we are still without excuse, for we loathe it when the tables are turned. I cry, "wrong", when it is my face at the end of your punch, or by back at the end of your whip. People love to hold the power, to wield it, and sin looks for those who are least likely to fight back, the most weak and innocent among us.
…10And Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. 11Now the earth was corrupt in the sight of God, and full of violence. 12And God looked upon the earth and saw that it was corrupt; for all living creatures on the earth had corrupted their ways.… Genesis 6: 10-12
Not only were the rulers of Assyria terribly cruel, they boasted of their cruelty on monuments that exist in museums to this day. Boice quotes some of the boasts from various monuments:
· “I cut off their heads and formed them into pillars.”
· “Bubo, son of Buba, I flayed in the city of Arbela and I spread his skin upon the city wall.”
· “I flayed all the chief men who had revolted, and I covered the pillar with their skins.”
· “Many within the border of my own land I flayed, and spread their skins upon the walls.”
· “I cut off the limbs of the officers, the royal officers who had rebelled.”
· “3,000 captives I burned with fire.”
· “Their corpses I formed into pillars.”
· “From some I cut off their hands and their fingers, and from other I cut off their noses, their ears, and their fingers, of many I put out their eyes.”
· “I made one pillar of the living, and another of heads, I bound their heads to posts round about the city.” - E Word
And all for the countless whorings of the prostitute - She looked for other nations, allies, and brought them into her idolatries, but also betrayed those who paid her royalties. Ahaz was a king who fell in love with the size, riches and false religions of Assyria, and he became a vassal to her.
Wasted is Nineveh...Where shall I seek comforters for you - Who will shed a tear for this place? Who hasn't a grievance against her, has not lost the life of a loved one, or property, or dignity at her hands? It is an empty viewing, no one came to her wake, yet many parties were thrown that day.
For her honored men lots were cast - This is the same way she led away those nations she destroyed. History stands as a witness against us, against every nation, that we see the humility brought upon others, yet we choose to raise our necks against the yoke, to not humble ourselves before God, Who is our only true refuge.
…3Then the LORD said, “Just as My servant Isaiah has gone naked and barefoot for three years as a sign and omen against Egypt and Cush, 4so the king of Assyria will lead away the captives of Egypt and the exiles of Cush, young and old alike, naked and barefoot, with bared buttocks— to Egypt’s shame. 5Those who made Cush their hope and Egypt their boast will be dismayed and ashamed.… Isaiah 20: 3-5
Fortresses are like fig trees - Figs are great for a little shade and their sweet fruit, but they are no fortress of strength. This is how easy Nineveh will be taken, like first fruits that fall easily from a shaken tree.
Merchants...princes...scribes - Those good with money and trade can't save you, though you have many. Your princes (shepherds) are of great number, but useless, and your scribes, their knowledge, worthless. The wisdom of this world is foolishness to God and that is He with Whom you actually contend. We know what God has said to the shepherds of Israel, and He will deal with every wicked ruler, in every place, and from every time.
The Lord’s message came to me: 2 “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds[a] of Israel; prophesy, and say to them—to the shepherds: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Woe to the shepherds of Israel who have been feeding themselves! Should not shepherds feed the flock? 3 You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the choice animals, but you do not feed the sheep! 4 You have not strengthened the weak, healed the sick, bandaged the injured, brought back the strays, or sought the lost, but with force and harshness[b] you have ruled over them. 5 They were scattered because they had no shepherd, and they became food for every wild beast.[c] 6 My sheep wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. My sheep were scattered over the entire face of the earth with no one looking or searching for them. Ezekiel 34: 1-6
Your wound is grievous - It's in a bad place, darkness is settling in, you will not recover from this.
For upon whom has not come your unceasing evil - Everyone claps at your demise, for you have been a thorn to all, for your greed, for your "greatness", your kings hoping to have their names remembered for all time. What actually becomes of us? Think what we will, but God alone holds the beginning and the end at once and from a place we cannot comprehend.
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