3:4Nineveh had used its beauty, prestige, and power to seduce other nations. Like a harlot, she had enticed them into false friendships. Then when the other nations relaxed, thinking Assyria was a friend, Assyria destroyed and plundered them. Beautiful and impressive on the outside, Nineveh was vicious and deceitful on the inside. Beneath attractive facades sometimes lie seduction and death. Don’t let an institution, company, movement, or person seduce you into lowering your standards or compromising your moral principles.
Life Application Study BibleNahumChapter 3
Nahum 3
New Living Translation · Life Application Study Bible · Original pages: 1480, 1481
3Nahum 3
1and is never without victims.
2Hear the crack of whips,the rumble of wheels!Horses’ hooves pound,and chariots clatter wildly.
3See the flashing swords and glittering spearsas the charioteers charge past!There are countless casualties,heaps of bodies—so many bodies thatpeople stumble over them.
4All this because Nineveh,the beautiful and faithless city,mistress of deadly charms,enticed the nations with her beauty.She taught them all her magic,enchanting people everywhere.
5“Tam your enemy!”says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies.“And now I will lift your skirtsand show all the earth your nakedness and shame.
6I will cover you with filthand show the world how vile you really are.
7All who see you will shrink back and say,‘Nineveh lies in ruins.Where are the mourners?’Does anyone regret your destruction?”
8Are you any better than the city of Thebes,*situated on the Nile River, surrounded by water?She was protected by the river on all sides,walled in by water.
9Ethiopia* and the land of Egyptgave unlimited assistance.The nations of Put and Libyawere among her allies.
10Yet Thebes fell,and her people were led away as captives.Her babies were dashed to deathagainst the stones of the streets.Soldiers cast lots to get Egyptian officers as servants.All their leaders were bound in chains.
11And you, Nineveh, will also stagger like a drunkard. IYou will hide for fear of the attacking enemy.
12All your fortresses will fall.They will be devoured like the ripe figsthat fall into the mouthsof those who shake the trees.
13Your troops will be as weakand helpless as women.The gates of your land will be opened wide to the enemyand set on fire and burned.
14Get ready for the siege!Store up water!Strengthen the defenses!Go into the pits to trample clay,and pack it into molds,making bricks to repair the walls.
15But the fire will devour you;the sword will cut you down.The enemy will consume you like locusts,devouring everything they see.There will be no escape,even if you multiply like swarming locusts.
16Your merchants have multiplieduntil they outnumber the stars.But like a swarm of locusts,they strip the land and fly away.
17Your guards* and officials are also like swarming locuststhat crowd together in the hedges ona cold day.But like locusts that fly away when the sun comes up,all of them will fly away and disappear.
18Your shepherds are asleep, O Assyrian king;your princes lie dead in the dust.Your people are scattered across the mountainswith no one to gather them together.
19There is no healing for your wound;your injury is fatal.All who hear of your destructionwill clap their hands for joy.Where can anyone be foundwho has not suffered from your continual cruelty?
Textual footnotes
- 3:8 Hebrew No-amon; also in 3:10.
- 3:9 Hebrew Cush.
- 3:17 Or princes.
Life Application Notes 5 notes
3:8-10Thebes was a city in Egypt, the previous world power, that had stood in the path of Assyria’s expansion in the south. The Assyrians had conquered Thebes 51 years before this prophecy was given. To Judah, surrounded to the north and south by Assyria, the situation appeared hopeless. But God said that the same atrocities done in Thebes would happen in Nineveh.
3:8-10No power on earth can protect us from God's judgment or be a suitable substitute for his power in our lives. Thebes and Assyria put their trust in alliances and military power, but history would show that these were inadequate. Don’t insist on learning through personal experience; instead, learn the lessons history has already taught. Put your trust in God above all else.
4:11The one “who plots evil against the LORD” could have been (1) Ashurbanipal (669-627 B.C.), king of Assyria during much of Nahum’s life and the one who brought Assyria to the zenith of its power; (2) Sennacherib (705-681), who openly defied God (2 Kings 18:13-35), epitomizing rebellion against God; (3) no one king in particular but the entire evil monarchy. The point is that Nineveh would be destroyed for rebelling against God.
3:19All the nations hated to be ruled by the merciless Assyrians, but the nations wanted to be like Assyria—powerful, wealthy, prestigious—and they courted Assyria’s friendship. In the same way, we don’t like the idea of being ruled harshly, so we do what we can to stay on good terms with a powerful leader. And deep down, we would like to have that power. But power is seductive, so we should not try to get or hold on to it. Those who just after power will be powerfully destrayed, as was the mighty Assyrian Empire.