Nineveh’s Comeuppance
September 17, 2021
Commentary
The prophet declares that Nineveh’s fate is as certain at that of the Egyptian city of Thebes, which Assyria had conquered in 663 B.C. Both cities depended on their rivers: Thebes had the Nile, and Nineveh had the Tigris. Unlike Nineveh, Thebes had many allies: (1) Cush refers to Southern Egypt, or as they called it, Upper Egypt (because to get there, you had to go up the Nile River), as well as Sudan, Northern Ethiopia, and Eritrea on the Red Sea. (2) Egypt refers to Northern or Lower Egypt, including the Nile delta extending to the Mediterranean Sea. (3) Put was even further south, reaching as far as present-day Somalia. (4) Libya was to the west of Egypt, just as it is today. But despite all these allies, Thebes was destroyed. When Assyria invaded Thebes, she was subdued and her children were slaughtered, her leaders humiliated and bound in chains.
Nineveh’s treatment of Thebes would be turned back on her. The predators would become the prey as the Assyrians fled, looking for a safe place to hide (v. 11). Ripe figs fall off the tree easily. Assyria’s fortresses are compared to figs, easily shaken off and gobbled up by their enemies (v. 12). Assyria’s mighty warriors were no more. There’s evidence to suggest Assyria was experiencing a cultural shift toward “effeminate degeneracy” before its fall (v. 13).
Application
Paul tells us in Galatians 6:7, “Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.” The Ninevites sowed destruction and decades later they reaped destruction. What am I sowing today?
Nahum 3:8– 13 (NET)
8 You are no more secure than Thebes — she was located on the banks of the Nile; the waters surrounded her— her rampart was the sea, the water was her wall.
9 Cush and Egypt had limitless strength; Put and the Libyans were among her allies.
10 Yet she went into captivity as an exile; even her infants were smashed to pieces at the head of every street. They cast lots for her nobility; all her dignitaries were bound with chains.
11 You too will act like drunkards; you will go into hiding; you too will seek refuge from the enemy.
12 All your fortifications will be like fig trees with first-ripe fruit: If they are shaken, their figs will fall into the mouth of the eater.
13 Your warriors will be like women in your midst; the gates of your land will be wide open to your enemies; fire will consume the bars of your gates.
Illustration: Israel Won The “Shortest War in History”
Between June 5 to 10, 1967, Israel won the “shortest war in history.” All three “confrontation states” of Egypt, Syria and Jordan were defeated. Israeli troops captured over $1 billion worth of Soviet-supplied armaments. Israeli army seized most of the Sinai Peninsula, the Jordanian sector of Jerusalem and all the West Bank region, plus the Golan Heights and the Gaza Strip. Its war booty is tabulated below: Ten thousand trucks and other vehicles, some brand-new, straight from Russia; 100 immediately usable Russian T-54 tanks, and perhaps 200 others; hundreds of field guns and more than 70,000 tons of ammunition; a complete missile base with Soviet surface-to air rockets. Add to that the supplies and food of seven shattered Egyptian divisions. Add also arms and stores at a half-dozen abandoned military bases. The result is that Israel emerges by far the best armed country in the Mideast, with an arsenal it will take months to sort out. (Encyclopedia of Illustrations # 2010).