As we consider the prophecy we must remember that Assyria had cruelly downtrodden Judah and Israel for long periods, and equally cruelly had destroyed Samaria, the capital city of Israel (the Northern kingdom) carrying away into captivity, with great harshness, the cream of the nation. Judah had been impoverished by the burden of its demands, and the worship of the Lord had suffered because of the requirement to honour Assyria’s gods. Neither had any cause to pity Assyria the Arrogant. Now the Lord has determined an end to its cruel activities. It has run its course.

The prophecy is a warning to all despots and men of violence that they will reap what they sow.

Chapter 1. Declaration of Judgment on Assyria and Deliverance for God’s People

“The Burden of Nineveh” - prophecy was not easy, it came as a burden on the prophets as they had to speak of dreadful events. The burden came by way of vision.

The Might and Character of God

“Jahweh is a jealous and revenging God” - as always the jealousy of God refers to His overall concern for His people. They have been badly illtreated, and now God will make it right. His wrath comes on those who have earned it.

“The Lord is slow to anger and great in power” - He does not act hastily. He does not lose His temper. His wrath is revealed only when it is fully deserved. They should have remembered how powerful He was (from the way He delivered Jerusalem (Isaiah 36 - 38)). But they thought they could mock at the Lord.

“The Lord’s path is in the whirlwind and the storm, and the clouds are the dust of His feet” - a vivid picture of God, as it were, striding on the pathway of a great storm causing dust to rise up in the form of swirling clouds. He is Lord over the elements.

“He rebukes the sea and makes it dry, He dries up all the rivers” - He is Lord over sea and river, the world’s prosperity and fruitfulness is dependent on His beneficence. Even the fertile places are dependent on His provision, and when it is withdrawn they wither.

“The mountains quake at Him, the hills melt, the earth is laid waste before Him, the world and all who dwell in it” - He is Lord of the mountains, and when He wills can devastate the earth and all in it.

“Who can stand before His indignation” - watch out, Assyria.

Yet “the Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble” - despite His might and power, and anger at the way His people have been treated, the Lord is essentially good. For those who trust Him He is a refuge when needed, but this should not make those Who oppose Him think that He is a soft touch.

Assyria has plotted against the Lord and His People

“What do you imagine against the Lord? He will make a full end. Affliction will not rise up a second time”. - Assyria had not learned its lesson, and continued to plot against the Lord and His people. Now they will finally be dealt with. It will not require a second attempt.

“One came out of you who plotted evil against the Lord and counselled villainy” - this is why they are being dealt with, because they have plotted against the Lord, with evil plans. Their strength will not save them. He will not easily forgive those who ill-treat His people.

The Lord will now act on Behalf of His People

“Though I have afflicted you, I will afflict you no more. And now I will break his yoke from off you, and will burst your bonds asunder” - God has allowed Assyria to act as an affliction. But that time has now gone. God’s people will be freed from its tyrrany.

The Final Denunciation on Assyria “The Lord has given commandment concerning you, ‘No more shall your name be perpetuated’.” - Assyria is to become a nonentity. Her gods humiliated. Assyria is dead.

The Glad News is brought to God’s People

“Behold on the mountains the feet of him who brings good tidings, who proclaims peace.” - The messenger is seen as on his way, he will soon be there with the good news. Judah can now worship in the purity of their religion, “Keep your feast, Oh Judah. Perform your vows”. The one who stood in the way is about to be removed totally.

So the prophet reveals the power and might of the Lord, as well as His compassion and goodness. None can prevent His will. What is to happen to Assyria they have brought upon themselves, but they will not be able to prevent it. They have plotted against the Lord and His people and must now face the consequences. There is a time when mercy ends.

Meanwhile it is good news for His people. They will be able to worship as they wish and will no longer be afflicted by outsiders.

Chapter 2. The Sack of Nineveh - What she has done to others is now done to her.

The prophet sees in vision the ravage of Nineveh. The sight was one that had been seen many times with Assyria as the invader (the prophet may have witnessed it himself). Now the tables were turned.

“The shatterer has come up against you. Man the ramparts; watch the road; gird your loins; collect all your strength.” - What Assyria has done to others is about to be done to her. Now it is her turn to feel afraid.

“For the LORD is restoring the majesty of Jacob as the majesty of Israel, for plunderers have stripped them and ruined their branches.” - There is a positive purpose in this. Judah (and the remnants of Israel who had fled there) is being restored to her true potential and given chance to recover from past devastations. This happens under King Josiah who restores the true religion and enjoys a prosperous reign. (He is able to begin this because Assyria is weakened and then taken up with far more important matters. The final death blow to Nineveh seals his position).

“The shield of his mighty men is red, his soldiers are clothed in scarlet” - the attackers are covered in the blood of the besieged, a sight God’s people had often seen to their cost. Now Assyria have a taste of their own medicine.

“The chariots flash like flame when mustered in array; the chargers prance. The chariots rage in the streets, they rush to and fro through the squares; they gleam like torches, they dart like lightning” - a vivid picture of the attack.

“ The officers are summoned, they stumble as they go, they hasten to the wall, the mantelet is set up” - panic-stricken Assyrian officers try to stem the tide, but in vain. Nothing can now save Assyria from its fate.

“ The river gates are opened” - the enemy open the sluice gates so that the river Khasr, which flowed through the city, is flooded.

“ The palace is in dismay” - they who rested content in the riches of conquered nations now share some of the anguish they had known.

“ Its mistress is stripped, she is carried off, her maidens lamenting, moaning like doves, and beating their breasts” - she never thought it could happen to her, although her husband had done it to others time and again, and she had enjoyed the fruit of his conquests. Those who sow the wind will reap the whirlwind.

“ Nineveh is like a pool whose waters run away. "Halt! Halt!" they cry; but none turns back. Plunder the silver, plunder the gold! There is no end of treasure, or wealth of every precious thing” - the abundant riches that poured into Nineveh are now pouring out. What use are they now?

“Desolate! Desolation and ruin! Hearts faint and knees tremble, anguish is on all loins, all faces grow pale!” - How often this had happened to other nations under the might of Assyrian attack. Now they begin to know what it was like. They have sown and now reap.

“Where is the lions' den, the cave of the young lions, where the lion brought his prey, where his cubs were, with none to disturb? The lion tore enough for his whelps and strangled prey for his lionesses; he filled his caves with prey and his dens with torn flesh” - the lion who savaged others to provide luxury for his family, bringing home the bloody evidence of his savagery in the form of slaves and booty, confident in the security provided by his gods, now finds his gods have failed.

“Behold, I am against you, says the LORD of hosts, and I will burn your chariots in smoke, and the sword shall devour your young lions; I will cut off your prey from the earth, and the voice of your messengers shall no more be heard” - all this has happened, not because of the Medes but because God has ordained it. Therefore it is final and complete. It is no doubt symbolic that it was among the Medes that many of the captured Israelites had been settled.

Chapter 3 Why Nineveh Deserves Its Fate

The prophet explains why this is to happen to Assyria

“Woe to the bloody city, all full of lies and booty--no end to the plunder! The crack of whip, and rumble of wheel, galloping horse and bounding chariot! Horsemen charging, flashing sword and glittering spear, hosts of slain, heaps of corpses, dead bodies without end--they stumble over the bodies! - this is the fate of Nineveh, but why?

“And all for the countless harlotries of the harlot, graceful and of deadly charms, who betrays nations with her harlotries, and peoples with her charms. Behold, I am against you, says the LORD of hosts, and will lift up your skirts over your face; and I will let nations look on your nakedness and kingdoms on your shame. I will throw filth at you and treat you with contempt, and make you a gazingstock. And all who look on you will shrink from you and say, Wasted is Nineveh; who will bemoan her? whence shall I seek comforters for her?” - Nineveh is pictured as a prostitute, who has beguiled nations with false promises (including seeking to turn Israel and Judah from the Lord). She has offered them a delusion, now she is exposed, and the same nations look at her in horror. If you lead people into sin they will not thank you in the end.

“Are you better than No-Amon (Thebes) that sat by the Nile, with water around her, her rampart a sea, and water her wall? Ethiopia was her strength, Egypt too, and that without limit; Put and the Libyans were her helpers.Yet she was carried away, she went into captivity; her little ones were dashed in pieces at the head of every street; for her honored men lots were cast, and all her great men were bound in chains” - Assyria destroyed mighty Thebes with her usual cruelty. Now she learns that she deserves the same. What you do to others will finally be done to you.

“You also will be drunken, you will be dazed; you will seek a refuge from the enemy. All your fortresses are like fig trees with first-ripe figs--if shaken they fall into the mouth of the eater. Behold, your troops are women in your midst. The gates of your land are wide open to your foes; fire has devoured your bars” - proud Assyria is promised that this time her mighty armies will fail to help her. God has determined it. She will reel before her foes, her fortresses will fall like ripe figs into the hands of the enemy to be devoured, and her troops will behave like fainting women.

“Draw water for the siege, strengthen your forts; go into the clay, tread the mortar, take hold of the brick mold! There will the fire devour you, the sword will cut you off. It will devour you like the locust.” - All her efforts to save herself will be in vain. Even while she makes the attempt she will perish.

“Multiply yourselves like the locust, multiply like the grasshopper! You increased your merchants more than the stars of the heavens. The locust spreads its wings and flies away. Your princes are like grasshoppers, your scribes like clouds of locusts settling on the fences in a day of cold--when the sun rises, they fly away; no one knows where they are” - Assyria had expanded and grown rich, boasting at the huge numbers of her merchants (multiplying like locusts and grasshoppers) and her prosperous economy. Now like locusts and grasshoppers they will disappear completely. Nothing lasts for ever. We must therefore ensure we make the most of what we have.

“Your shepherds are asleep, O king of Assyria; your nobles slumber. Your people are scattered on the mountains with none to gather them. There is no assuaging your hurt, your wound is grievous. All who hear the news of you clap their hands over you. For upon whom has not come your unceasing evil?” - Assyria now finds herself helpless. There is no hope of recovery, for this is the act of God. Nor will anyone lament her fate. They have suffered too much at her hands.

The prophecy is a warning to all nations, and all people, that in the end they must account to God.

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FREE Scholarly verse by verse commentaries on the Bible.

THE PENTATEUCH

GENESIS ---EXODUS--- LEVITICUS 1.1-7.38 --- 8.1-11.47 --- 12.1-16.34--- 17.1-27.34--- NUMBERS 1-10--- 11-19--- 20-36--- DEUTERONOMY 1.1-4.44 --- 4.45-11.32 --- 12.1-29.1--- 29.2-34.12 --- THE BOOK OF JOSHUA --- THE BOOK OF JUDGES --- PSALMS 1-17--- ECCLESIASTES --- ISAIAH 1-5 --- 6-12 --- 13-23 --- 24-27 --- 28-35 --- 36-39 --- 40-48 --- 49-55--- 56-66--- EZEKIEL --- DANIEL 1-7 ---DANIEL 8-12 ---

NAHUM--- HABAKKUK---ZEPHANIAH ---ZECHARIAH --- THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW ---THE GOSPEL OF MARK--- THE GOSPEL OF LUKE --- THE GOSPEL OF JOHN --- THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES --- 1 CORINTHIANS 1-7 --- 8-16 --- 2 CORINTHIANS 1-7 --- 8-13 -- -GALATIANS --- EPHESIANS --- COLOSSIANS --- 1 THESSALONIANS --- 2 THESSALONIANS --- 1 TIMOTHY --- 2 TIMOTHY --- TITUS --- HEBREWS 1-6 --- 7-10 --- 11-13 --- JAMES --- JOHN'S LETTERS --- REVELATION

--- THE GOSPELS

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