Nahum 3:7

In the last part of Nahum chapter 3 God emphasizes the judgment that will come upon the city of Nineveh. The Bible says in Nahum 3:7-10, “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?[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?[9] Ethiopia and Egypt were her strength, and it was infinite; Put and Lubim were thy helpers.[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.” In verse 7 God says that the destruction will be so complete that there will not be anyone left to even mourn the destruction: “who will bemoan her?” In verses 8, 9, and 10 God uses an example of a city in Egypt that He had destroyed in order to remind the Ninevites that they have an example in history of what can happen to them. We know that it is important to learn from history. Some people say that history repeats itself. Learn the lessons of history or be doomed to repeat its mistakes. The lesson to learn from Nineveh is the same lesson that can be learned from what has happened to many nations: there is no escape from God’s judgment once God decides that such a nation has gone on too long in sin, and the people of that nation have hardened their hearts. The law is a terrible task-master for those who break its commandments. Thank God that we have the Lord Jesus Christ who took our punishments upon Himself so that we can find forgiveness and mercy through Him.

Any nation that God decides to judge will never be strong enough to ensure its own safety: not even if it has many allies and not even if it has strong natural borders. There is no more dangerous place to be than to be without help from the King of Kings. Listen to the politicians of all persuasions and parties, and you will find one common failing: they do not emphasize the need more than anything else to rely upon the Lord’s help. The Egyptian city of No had several advantages: they were “populous,” they had natural barriers: “that had the waters round about it, whose rampart was the sea, and her wall was from the sea,” and they had allies to help them: “Ethiopia and Egypt were her strength, and it was infinite; Put and Lubim were thy helpers.” Because God decided that it was time for judgment, none of her strengths or defenses were of help. Nahum 3:10 says, “Yet was she carried away, she went into captivity.”

We need to notice another circumstance in the destruction of these cities that is recorded in Nahum 3:10. It says, “her young children also were dashed in pieces at the top of all the streets.” These times in the Old Testament were very violent times. When these cities were conquered, the young children were killed in this violent and horrific way by dashing them into the street. Because of Christianity and the grace and mercy that were brought by Jesus Christ, the civilized modern world has departed from such treatment of children. Sadly, there are exceptions. There is the exception that takes place when individuals go berserk such as happens with some family and custody disputes, and then crazy adults turn on innocent children to hurt the other adults. They will burn in hell. Sadly, there has arisen a murderous group of people that we cal Islamic extremists or terrorists. They also are willing to perform barbaric and horrific murder of children as if these Jihadists are from another age, an age of barbarism. The Jihadists will also burn in hell. Jesus loves children. Only concerning those who are a bad influence on children, Jesus said in Mark 9:42, “And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea.” Jesus did mention hell in the same context because Jesus said in Mark 9:43-48, “And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched:[44] Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.[45] And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched:[46] Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.[47] And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire:[48] Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.”

The Bible says in Nahum 3:11-18, “Thou also shalt be drunken: thou shalt be hid, thou also shalt seek strength because of the enemy.[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.[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.[14] Draw thee waters for the siege, fortify thy strong holds: go into clay, and tread the morter, make strong the brickkiln.[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.[16] Thou hast multiplied thy merchants above the stars of heaven: the cankerworm spoileth, and flieth away.[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.[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.”

In this judgment that is pronounced against the Ninevites, we can see that God goes into a lot of detail using examples from nature to describe how thorough their destruction will be. And their destruction was thorough. Nineveh went from being the largest city in the world at that time to being so totally destroyed that it was never even rebuilt. There is no city at all in the place where Nineveh once stood. Archaeologists have found the ruins, but Nineveh was never rebuilt. In other words Nineveh had a demise similar to that of Sodom and Gomorrah. They would be “drunken,” and they would not be strong enough to face their enemies. They would be like figs falling from a fig tree into the mouths of those waiting to eat them. In a time when wars were fought by hand-to-hand combat the strength of the strongest men was needed. In verse 13 to say that they would be as “women” was to say that they were definitely going to lose in the combat and the war that was coming. Also, their gates “shall be set wide open unto thine enemies.” More words that symbolize destruction are used: “fire,” “the sword, “siege,” “cankerworm,” “locusts,” and “grasshoppers.” One of the primary responsibility of national leaders is to protect the people from dangers and from enemies. But the leaders of the Ninevites would “slumber,” and thus the leadership would be totally unaware and unprepared to fulfill their responsibilities to protect the people.

The final statement about the judgment on the city of Nineveh is given in Nahum 3:19, “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?” This is the last statement made about Nineveh, and it is a very sad statement. It says in the first part of verse 19, “There is no healing of thy bruise.” Of course, healing symbolizes forgiveness. There can be no sadder spiritual state than to be un-forgiven. If the last thing said about you is that you are not forgiven, then you will have the worse of the two possible eternal destinies. Thankfully, there is healing from sin through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, but woe to those who never receive it. The book of Nahum spends a lot of time talking about the judgment on Nineveh, the capital of Assyria. Many of the other books of the prophets spend a lot of time talking about the judgment that would come on Israel. In most of those prophecies about Israel, the book ends on a positive note about the wonderful long-range future that God has planned for Israel. For example, at the end of the book of Micah in Micah 7:19-20, “He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham, which thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old.” Also, it says at the end of the book of Joel in Joel 3:20-21, “But Judah shall dwell forever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation. For I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed: for the Lord dwelleth in Zion.”

And so once again we see that the Bible teaches eternal security of the believer. Salvation is of God. Salvation is the gift of God through faith in Jesus Christ. God is not an Indian-giver. Once you have the gift, you will always have it. That is why Jesus said in John 10:27-29, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.” Salvation is based upon unconditional promises from God. Once you believe in Jesus, there are no conditions to meet and there are no works to perform to keep that salvation. Salvation is guaranteed because of the promise and the gift of God. Salvation is guaranteed because Jesus paid for it when He bled and died on the cross of Calvary. Once a person is saved by Christ, the Spirit of God has entered into that person, and he or she is changed forever. That is why it says in Second Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” You cannot lose your salvation, but you can lose your rewards; and you can lose your opportunities to bear fruit for the glory of the Savior if you do not learn to walk in fellowship with Jesus every day.

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