Nahum Chapter 3

Bible Study at Gospel Light Christian Church, Singapore
by Pastor Dr Paul Choo
on 25 April 2001 Mid-Week Teaching Service

v.1 Woe to the bloody city! it is all full of lies and robbery; the prey departeth not - After years of great prosperity, God's woe (ie, judgment with many great calamities) is finally pronounced upon Nineveh. It is called "the bloody city" because of its unsurpassed violence against its victims. It was common for Assyrian kings to pile up mountains of body parts of their enemies outside the gates of a conquered city, to impale them or to burn them - as a warning to those who dared to defy them in the future. They were constantly at war against their neighbors (ie, "the prey departeth not").

The Assyrians were also great deceivers, using all types of lies and treachery to deceive their victims (eg. making false promises to them) and then rob them of their freedom and goods. These characteristics were common to all Ninevites (ie, "it is all full of lies and robbery").

v.2 The noise of a whip, and the noise of the rattling of the wheels, and of the pransing horses, and of the jumping chariots - This verse describes the ferocity and speed of the Babylonians and their allies as they attacked Nineveh.

v.3 The horsemen lifteth up both the bright sword and the glittering spear: and there is a multitude of slain, and great number of carcases; and there is none end of their corpses; they stumble upon their corpses - The slaughter of the Ninevites was so great that the corpses piled upon each other and caused the attackers to "stumble upon their corpses."

v.4 Because of the multitude of the whoredoms and of the wellfavoured harlot, the mistress of witchcrafts, that selleth nations through her whoredoms, and the families through her witchcrafts - The previous two verses seem to picture God as a cruel God. Therefore, this verse begins with "because" - God has a good reason for all that He does, though we often do not understand it. Nineveh, was like a harlot, seducing nations and peoples (ie, families) by her charms - of power, trade, prosperity, pomp, luxury and idolatry (ie, witchcrafts). These seducing charms were well developed (ie, "wellfavoured"). She used all of these attractions (ie, "the multitude of the whoredoms") to seduce them and then "sell" them (ie, abuse them for their own good). Nineveh aimed to be the great capital of the world, served by the resources of the rest of the world.

v.5 Behold, I am against thee, saith the LORD of hosts; and I will discover thy skirts upon thy face, and I will shew the nations thy nakedness, and the kingdoms thy shame - Three times in this verse God says "I" am against thee, reminding them that the Babylonians were mere instruments of His. A whore or adulteress was shamed by uncovering (ie, discovering) her skirts upon her face. Arrogant Nineveh boasted of her greatness, therefore God was going to shame her by exposing her nakedness (ie, her deceitfulness, weaknesses and empty boasts).

v.6 And I will cast abominable filth upon thee, and make thee vile, and will set thee as a gazingstock - Arrogant Nineveh will be thoroughly humiliated and made a universal spectacle of shame. She had humiliated others, so God would now humiliate her.

v.7 And it shall come to pass, that all they that look upon thee shall flee from thee, and say, Nineveh is laid waste: who will bemoan her? whence shall I seek comforters for thee? - When Nineveh was in power, all tried to win her favor but when she is humiliated they shall flee from her. Most earthly "friends" are "fair-weather" friends. None of her so-called friends would bemoan her nor comfort her. She had shown no mercy to others, and now she would be shown no mercy.

v.8 Art thou better than populous No, that was situate among the rivers, that had the waters round about it, whose rampart was the sea, and her wall was from the sea - The Ninevites disbelieved Nahum's prophecy of their destruction, because they believed that they were indestructible. Therefore, Nahum warns them that power, impregnable defense and wealth did not guarantee success by reminding them of the city of No - which the Assyrians had recently conquered. "No," or more accurately "No-Amon," is probably the city called by the Greeks "Thebes" and presently known as "Luxor." It was the situated along the Upper Nile and was the favorite burial place of the Pharaohs. For about five hundred years, the treasures of Asia and Africa poured into this great city. It was one of the most magnificent cities of the ancient world. It was naturally defended by the Nile on one side and by a great defensive wall. The word "sea" probably refers to a large body of water. It is good for us to consider how "greater" men have fallen - this will humble us greatly.

v.9 Ethiopia and Egypt were her strength, and it was infinite; Put and Lubim were thy helpers - The city of No was supported by the these four surrounding great nations, thus making her "unconquerable."

v.10 Yet was she carried away, she went into captivity: her young children also were dashed in pieces at the top of all the streets: and they cast lots for her honourable men, and all her great men were bound in chains - There is nothing unconquerable nor secure in this world. The so-called mighty often collapse incredibly swiftly. The young children of No, who probably felt secure and expected a great future, were dashed in pieces. The conquering Assyrians cast lots for the rich and powerful men, to decide who would have them for slaves. These great men, who wore gold chains, ended up bound in iron chains. Assyrian captives were sometimes bound in dog chains and left in a kennel in the city.

v.11 Thou also shall be drunken: thou shalt be hid, thou also shalt seek strength because of the enemy - The Ninevites would be made to drink of God's wrath. During the Babylonian attack, the Ninevites tried to hide from their enemies and to seek strength from other nations.

v.12 All thy strong holds shall be like fig trees with the firstripe figs: if they be shaken, they shall even fall into the mouth of the eater - Firstripe figs are very easily shaken off from fig trees. The Ninevites believed that they had built impregnable defenses but they were so easily breached by the enemy (with the help God's "shaking" of the walls). They were so easily devoured by their enemies (ie, "fall into the mouth of the eater").

v.13 Behold, thy people in the midst of thee are women: the gates of thy land shall be set wide open unto thine enemies: the fire shall devour thy bars - The Ninevites prided themselves as brave warriors but in the face of the Babylonian attackers they were like cowardly women. Bullies are extremely brave when they fight weaker opponents but lose their courage when they face stronger ones. Furthermore, the "king's heart is in the hand of the LORD" (PRO 21:1) - to make brave or cowardly. The Assyrian soldiers fled leaving the gates of the land wide open. The enemy burned the bars that bolted the gates.

v.14 Draw the waters for the seige, fortify thy strong holds: go into clay, and tread the morter, make strong the brickkiln - One of the first things to do in a seige was to fill up the city cisterns with water. It was also important to repair the breaches in the city walls (with clay bricks and mortar). Nahum was sarcastically mocking them to prepare for the attack - because Nineveh's fall would be so swift that they would not have time to make these preparations.

v.15 There shall the fire devour thee; the sword shall cut thee off, it shall eat thee up like the cankerworm: make thyself many as the cankerworm, make thyself many as the locusts - Cankerworm (ie, caterpillar) and locusts come in great numbers, eat up the vegetation swiftly and disappear swiftly. As the swarms of caterpillars completely destroyed the leaves of a plant swiftly, so their enemies would also destroy them and strip them swiftly. And even if the Ninevites were as many as the locusts, they could not fight against God's judgment.

v.16 Thou hast multiplied thy merchants above the stars of heaven: the cankerworm spoileth, and fleeth away - Nineveh was a great metropolis and trading center and attracted so many merchants - that they were innumerable like the "stars of heaven." Their prosperity helped finance Assyria's war efforts. However, at the first sign of trouble they, like the swarms of caterpillars, all fled away taking their wealth with them and spoiling the Assyrian economy. The last Asian economic crisis was sparked off when investors withdrew their money from Asia, at the first sign of economic trouble. Caterpillars and locusts (and investors) only stay when there is something to be gained, and then leave immediately.

v.17 Thy crowned are as the locusts, and thy captains as the great grasshoppers, which camp in the hedges in the cold day, but when the sun ariseth they flee away, and their place is not known where they are - There were many (like swarms of great grasshoppers) rich and wealthy (ie, "crowned") and many military officers (ie, "captains") in Nineveh. Locusts descend as one huge swarm and devour the hedges in the cold day, but when the sun ariseth they flee away as one huge swarm - and disappear completely. The elite of Nineveh also disappeared en masse at the first sign of trouble.

v.18 Thy shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria: thy nobles shall dwell in the dust: thy people is scattered upon the mountains, and no man gathereth them - The rulers (ie, "shepherds") were not about their duties (ie, "slumber") at the time when they were needed most. During Nineveh's fall, many nobles were killed (ie, "dwell in the dust") or scattered upon the mountains as hopeless refugees (ie, "no man gathereth them").

v.19 There is no healing of thy bruise; thy wound is grievous: all that hear the bruit of thee shall clap the hands over thee: for upon whom hath not thy wickedness passed continually? - Nineveh's fall is grievous and incurable - she would never recover from this destruction. Within a few centuries of her destruction, her ruins were covered with windblown sand and her location was not known until recently. When news (ie, "bruit") of Nineveh's destruction was received, all cheered (ie, "shall clap the hands over thee") because all had suffered from her deceit and violence for a long time. Even those who pretended to be her allies, cheered her doom! Nineveh's fall pictures the eternal destruction of proud sinners!