Nahum 2:8-13

Nahum 2:8 (KJB)

But Nineveh is of old like a pool of water: yet they shall flee away. Stand, stand, shall they cry; but none shall look back.

 

Nineveh is now compared to a standing pool of water which is another way of saying that they are in a flood of bewilderment.  Just as pools of water are emptied, Nineveh shall be just like those pools as the people will flee leaving Nineveh an empty shell ripe for total destruction.  The fear will be so great that none of those who were able to escape will even look back at the city.  The officers will command the troops to stand their ground but they will not listen and will also commence fleeing from Nineveh.  They too will not look back as their only thoughts are self-preservation.

 

Nahum 2:9 (KJB)

Take ye the spoil of silver, take the spoil of gold: for there is none end of the store and glory out of all the pleasant furniture.

 

The Medes and Babylonians are being encouraged to completely pillage the treasury of the king and all the spoils they can bring back to Babylon.  After hundreds of years of pillaging other countries and regions, the vast store of treasure seemed endless so the invaders were for a long time continuing to empty out the treasury and not only the treasury but they were taking all the royal furniture which was top of the line goods.  They would also take the furniture from houses and businesses, wherever quality goods were found.  The plundering would be complete since all their goods were used both for official use and for recreational usage.

 

Nahum 2:10 (KJB)

She is empty, and void, and waste: and the heart melteth, and the knees smite together, and much pain is in all loins, and the faces of them all gather blackness.

 

Nineveh has now been defeated and is fallen by the Medes and Babylonians.  After the plundering, the city sits there as a void and wasted site.  When one of the Ninevites look back at it and see the condition it is in compared to what it used to be, their heart will be like melting in their chest.  The fear of the invading armies was so great that it caused much fear to the point that the knees would hit against each other.  The pains they suffered not only were bodily in nature but was emotional as well since the Ninevites had lost everything.  The faces that once sported a proud look are now dejected because of the destruction of Nineveh.  They no longer can walk around proud since they now have been brought down to destruction and are no longer a threat to their neighbors or anyone else, especially Judah. 

 

Nahum 2:11 (KJB)

Where is the dwelling of the lions, and the feedingplace of the young lions, where the lion, even the old lion, walked, and the lion's whelp, and none made them afraid?

 

The Lord now gives a railing discourse against Assyria itself.  He asks where the dwelling place of the lions are, that is, the kings of Assyria from the past such as Pul, Shalmaneser, and Tiglath-Pileser?  Then he approaches the subject of the feeding place of the young lions, that is, the princes which are the children of the kings who would be trained to take over when their fathers would die.  The old lion would be the king of Assyria who walked around without a care because he knew that he was safe since no one was powerful enough to attack Assyria and win.  The children of the kings, no matter how young they were would walk around the palace having no fear since they saw the power of Assyria and because of this they feared no enemy.

 

Nahum 2:12 (KJB)

The lion did tear in pieces enough for his whelps, and strangled for his lionesses, and filled his holes with prey, and his dens with ravin.

 

The discourse continues as Assyria being the lion had ravaged its neighbors and conquered them and stole their wealth and then after stealing everything they broke down the storehouses.  They plundered to give great expensive gifts to the queen and to the concubines of the king and those women who also served in the court.  The holes and dens would refer to the storehouses and treasuries of Assyria that they would fill up with every conquest.  The word “ravin” carries with it the meaning of “tearing in pieces, devour, pillage, or rob.”  Ravin comes from the French word “ravine” which means “to rob or rapine.”  Rapine means “to plunder.”  Whenever Assyria attacked a nation, they would plunder all of its wealth so there would be no way that nation could ever rise against Assyria.

 

Nahum 2:13 (KJB)

Behold, I am against thee, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will burn her chariots in the smoke, and the sword shall devour thy young lions: and I will cut off thy prey from the earth, and the voice of thy messengers shall no more be heard.

 

The Lord now states that he is against Assyria and her judgment is coming.  He will burn them or destroy all the chariots that were so feared by so many which were used in a blitzkrieg assault on their enemies.   Blitzkrieg means “flash war” which signifies that Assyrian chariots would mow down the enemy before the enemy had a chance to respond.  The young lions will also be killed in the judgment, that is, the royal seed will cease to exist because Assyria will cease to exist as a world power.  God will also cut off all the prey they captured from other nations and the stolen wealth will not be able to help them when the judgment of God falls on them.  Then God also mentions the voice of the messengers which would reference those that were sent to Judah from Rabshakeh to Hezekiah trying to build fear in them that the gods of Assyria were stronger than the God of Israel.  They were about to find out how false those words were.

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