CRITICAL NOTES.
Nahum 2:11. Where] is the site on which the mighty city once stood? Its warriors crushed the nations like lions in their lust and power. “To fill up the picture, the epithets applied to the lions are grouped together according to the difference of sex and age” [Keil].
Nahum 2:12.] Description of tyranny and predatory lust of Assyrian kings.
Nahum 2:13.] The destruction is certain I against thee; God has proclaimed, and will fulfil it. Her war-chariots, i.e. the whole apparatus of war [Calvin], will be consumed like smoke; imperial might shall no longer prey upon the nations, and emissaries, with the king’s commands or exacting tribute, shall be seen no more (Ezekiel 19:9).
HOMILETICS
NINEVEH EFFACED.—Nahum 2:11-13
The Prophet, beholding the destruction in spirit as having already taken place, looks round for the site on which the mighty city once stood, and sees it no more. This is the meaning of the question in Nahum 2:11. He describes it as the dwelling-place of lions. The point of comparison is the predatory lust of its rulers and their warriors, who crushed the nations like lions, plundering their treasures, and bringing them together in Nineveh [Keil].
I. Its site was obliterated. “Where is the dwelling of the lions,” &c. Great must be the desolation to call forth such an expression. Where indeed is the proud city? Its place was unknown for ages, and is only just discovered by the ruins which have been dug up. It was secure, the dwelling of the lions; spacious walked; and wealthy, the feeding-place of the young lions; but its battlements were destroyed and its glory departed. The dust of Nineveh is a witness for the truth of God, and a warning to the nations of the earth. “Assyria lies buried there with all its people; round about are their graves, all of them are slain and fallen by the sword; they have made their graves deep there below.”
II. Its rulers were overcome. Over 500 years this great city of God (cf. Jonah 1:3; Jonah 3:2) was, under its powerful rulers, the terror of Western Asia. Dynasty after dynasty had transmitted its dreaded name to age after age.
1. Its rulers were strong. Like lions in power and purpose, bent on plunder and mischief. They were greedy, ravenous beasts, which could never be satisfied (Isaiah 66:11).
2. Its rulers were a terror to others. They tore others, and were not touched themselves. Exempt from fear, they were a dread to surrounding peoples, “and none made them afraid.” But the Lord of hosts was against them, and raised up one stronger than they. “The lion is come up from his thicket, and the destroyer of the Gentiles is on his way; he is gone forth from his place to make thy land desolate; and thy cities shall be laid waste, without an inhabitant.”
III. Its resources were destroyed. Nahum 2:13 expresses her complete destruction.
1. Its military defences were destroyed. “I will burn her chariots in the smoke.” Their chariots remarkable for speed and lightness, their horses noted for fierceness and power, were fuel for the fire. All their warlike preparations vanished into smoke, and not a brand was plucked from the burning.
2. Their offspring were cut off. “The sword shall devour thy young lions.” The flower of youth, their hope for the future, was cut down. The whole race of oppressors was taken away. God in justice may cut off those whom we seek to enrich, and for whom we are so anxious to provide.
3. Their wealth was taken away. “I will cut off thy prey from the earth.” The immense booty they had gathered by fraud and violence was robbed by the enemy.
4. Their agents were no longer seen. “The voice of thy messengers shall no more be heard.” Emissaries exacting tribute or conveying the edicts of the king; heralds and delegates travelling the provinces; messengers, uttering blasphemy and publishing victory, “should no more be heard upon the mountains of Israel.” God had hushed them to silence, and the stillness of death prevailed.
IV. Its destiny was sealed. “Behold, I come,” are words which seal and confirm the threat. God had endured long, but came at last. The city was captured and destroyed. Its ruins have never been revived, and Moslem tribes rear their hamlets on its barren stones. “Desolation meets desolation,” says Layard; “a feeling of awe succeeds to wonder, for there is nothing to relieve the mind; to lead to hope, or to tell of what has gone by. These high mounds of Assyria made a deeper impression upon me, gave rise to more serious thought and more earnest reflection, than either the temples of Baalbec or the theatres of Ionia.”
Conquerors proud, to seal her doom,
Swept her to ruin’s all-engulfing tomb.
Long ages past, and turf o’ergrew the walls,
And silence reigned in Ninus’ buried halls.
HOMILETIC HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS
Nahum 2:11-12. The lions. Oppression is brutish conduct. It turns palaces into dens, and princes into lions. “As a roaring lion and a raging bear; so is a wicked ruler over the poor people.” Unrighteous gain is a risky bargain. “The robbery of the wicked shall destroy them.”
Nahum 2:13. God against the sinner.
1. God is declared to be against him. “Behold,” &c.
2. God has power to fulfil his threats. “The Lord of Hosts.”
3. The results will be unmistakeable if the opposition continues. Seek to be reconciled to God. From the whole chapter we may learn—
1. God’ s hand in destructive warfare. The wealth and haughty bearing of Nineveh drew forth the conquering army. The passions and efforts of men were concerned, but they only performed the pleasure of the Most High.
2. The vanity of human greatness. Heaps of gold and silver are not real possessions. A royal palace and an imperial throne will crumble into dust. “Empty and void and waste,” may be inscribed on every earthly glory.
“They are but beggars that can count their wealth” [Shakespeare].