Nineveh will be Stripped Naked - Assyria and Bible Prophecy

Index to Assyria and Bible Prophecy

Nahum 3

1 Woe to the bloody city! It is all full of lies and robbery. Its victim never departs.

2 The noise of a whip And the noise of rattling wheels, Of galloping horses, Of clattering chariots!

3 Horsemen charge with bright sword and glittering spear. There is a multitude of slain, A great number of bodies, Countless corpses -- They stumble over the corpses --

4 Because of the multitude of harlotries of the seductive harlot, The mistress of sorceries, Who sells nations through her harlotries, And families through her sorceries.

5 "Behold, I am against you," says the LORD of hosts; " I will lift your skirts over your face, I will show the nations your nakedness, And the kingdoms your shame.

6 I will cast abominable filth upon you, Make you vile, And make you a spectacle.

7 It shall come to pass that all who look upon you Will flee from you, and say, 'Nineveh is laid waste! Who will bemoan her?' Where shall I seek comforters for you?"

8 Are you better than No Amon That was situated by the River, That had the waters around her, Whose rampart was the sea, Whose wall was the sea?

9 Ethiopia and Egypt were her strength, And it was boundless; Put and Lubim were your helpers.

10 Yet she was carried away, She went into captivity; Her young children also were dashed to pieces At the head of every street; They cast lots for her honorable men, And all her great men were bound in chains.

11 You also will be drunk; You will be hidden; You also will seek refuge from the enemy.

12 All your strongholds are fig trees with ripened figs: If they are shaken, They fall into the mouth of the eater.

13 Surely, your people in your midst are women! The gates of your land are wide open for your enemies; Fire shall devour the bars of your gates.

14 Draw your water for the siege! Fortify your strongholds! Go into the clay and tread the mortar! Make strong the brick kiln!

15 There the fire will devour you, The sword will cut you off; It will eat you up like a locust. Make yourself many -- like the locust! Make yourself many -- like the swarming locusts!

16 You have multiplied your merchants more than the stars of heaven. The locust plunders and flies away.

17 Your commanders are like swarming locusts, And your generals like great grasshoppers, Which camp in the hedges on a cold day; When the sun rises they flee away, And the place where they are is not known.

18 Your shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria; Your nobles rest in the dust. Your people are scattered on the mountains, And no one gathers them.

19 Your injury has no healing, Your wound is severe. All who hear news of you Will clap their hands over you, For upon whom has not your wickedness passed continually?

? The Assyrians were known as the "murderous" people and Nineveh was known as the "bloody city" because this is what they did. Their kingdom was built upon violence, murder, warfare, broken promises, extortion, plundering and rape.

? The history of Assyria is one of almost uninterrupted warfare.

? Nahum describes Assyria?s desolation in very gruesome detail, "The noise of a whip And the noise of rattling wheels, Of galloping horses, Of clattering chariots", he can almost see flashing swords, and the glittering spears; and then death everywhere. Unlimited corpses in every direction.

? God would uncover Nineveh?s disgrace and disgust. Everyone passing by will flee in utter disgust because of the abominable filth. Assyria would die naked and friendless.

? Nineveh had failed to discern God's warning in the doom of No-amon. It was not that she would be overtaken in the midst of drunk orgy, but she would drink to the full the cup of God's wrath. The prophecy was fulfilledexactly as described. Nineveh disappeared from the scene of history - until 1842, when the French Botta and the English Layard and Rawlinson uncovered the site of the once mighty city.

? Nahum describes the people of Nineveh as a horde of locusts. Even if they were as numerous as a horde of locusts, they could not escape the snare.

? Everyone who would hear the news of the destruction would rejoice over the fate of the wicked empire. Everyone would applaud the judgment, because everyone was affected by their wickedness.

? The rule of the tyrant came to an inglorious end in 612 BC, according to the Bible and the Babylonian Chronicle.