The Assyrians (Zephaniah 2:13-15).
‘And he will stretch out his hand against the north,
And destroy Assyria,
And he will make Nineveh a desolation,
And dry like the wilderness.
And herds will lie down in the midst of her,
All the beasts of the nations,
Both the tawny owl (qa'ath) and the little owl (qippod) will lodge in its lintels,
Their voice will sing in the windows,
Dryness will be in the thresholds,
For he has laid bare the cedar work.'
Having dealt with the far south he quickly moves to the north with which he is more familiar, for there lay Israel's arch-enemy the Assyrians. They too will be caught up in YHWH's judgments. They will be destroyed, and that great city Nineveh be flattened into ruins. It will be the dwellingplace of herds, the beasts of the conquering nations. Birds will lodge in its ruined lintels, and will sing in its window spaces. The wood will go dry having been exposed to the sun.
The words translated tawny owl and little owl probably represent birds, although the type is not certain. The names were probably chosen because both began with q and would go well together. Alternately qippod might indicate something like lizards darting around the ruins.
But Zephaniah's stopping short at Assyria counts against too much emphasis on a world view. He was well aware of nations to the north of Assyria which could have been mentioned.
‘This is the joyous city that dwelt carelessly,
That said in her heart, “I am, and there is no other beside me”.
How she has become a desolation, a place for beasts to lie down in.
Everyone who passes by her will hiss and wag his hand.'
Attention is drawn to the attitude of Nineveh. In a world of poverty and suffering she was a good time city, a roistering city, that grew careless, as great empires do after a time, because they consider themselves invincible (compare Isaiah 10:12), saying ‘I am and there is none beside me' (compare Isaiah 47:8 of Babylon). She was sure that no one could be compared with her. But she would shortly become a scene of destruction occupied by beasts and all who went past her would hiss or shake their heads.
Nineveh would fall to the Babylonians and Medes in 612 BC. For a time its ruins would be a thing to be derided, but in the not too distant future it would become a mound which passers-by simply looked on as a ruin. So quickly would the glory of Nineveh forgotten.
It is a reminder to us how little there is of real, lasting importance in this world. If we wish to achieve anything lasting we should do it by building up the Kingly Rule of God.