The Ninevites Lose Everything
August 11, 2021
Commentary
Nineveh fell in 612. B.C. to a combined force of Babylonians, Medes, and Scythians who pillaged the city of its vast treasures and then burned it to the ground. Once the dam blocking the Tigris River was released, there was nothing the Ninevites could do to stop the destruction and loss. They cried to the water “Stop! Stop!”, but the water would not stop (v. 8). Nineveh’s wealth came from centuries of conquest, taxation, and trade. Their wealth seemed endless, but their enemies took all of it for themselves: all the gold, silver, and other precious things (v. 9).
More the just material loss, the people of Nineveh experienced personal loss. They lost their homes, their places of safety and nurture. Nineveh is compared to a lion’s den (v. 11-12). This was a fitting analogy as the Assyrians often identified with Lions in the same way Americans might identify with the bald eagle. Once the young lion cubs lived in safety, being fed by their parents, with no fear of being disturbed. The Adult Lions killed their prey and brought the flesh back to the den. But they took more than they needed, filling the den with dead animals. The Lord of hosts announces that he is against the Assyrians (v. 13). The young lions would be killed with the sword and there would be no more prey for the lions to hunt. Lastly, the Lord promises that Assyria’s messengers would be silenced. This reminds me of Rabshakeh in 2nd Kings 18:19-37.
Application
There is no real security in wealth as people often think. Everything that I have of this world’s goods can be taken from me overnight. It is only the things of Christ that last. I must not find myself depending too much on the things of this world.
Nahum 2:8– 13 (NET)
8 Nineveh was like a pool of water throughout her days, but now her people are running away; she cries out: “Stop! Stop!”— but no one turns back.
9 Her conquerors cry out: “Plunder the silver! Plunder the gold!” There is no end to the treasure; riches of every kind of precious thing.
10 Destruction, devastation, and desolation! Hearts faint, knees tremble; every stomach churns, all their faces have turned pale!
11 Where now is the den of the lions and the feeding place of the young lions, where the lion, lioness, and lion cub once prowled and no one disturbed them?
12 The lion tore apart as much prey as his cubs needed and strangled prey for his lionesses; he filled his lairs with prey and his dens with torn flesh.
13 “I am against you!” declares the Lord of Heaven’s Armies: “I will burn your chariots with fire; the sword will devour your young lions. You will no longer prey upon the land; the voices of your messengers will no longer be heard.”