Nahum 2:1-13--The Destruction of Nineveh

Nahum 2
English Standard Version

The Destruction of Nineveh
2 The scatterer has come up against you.
    Man the ramparts;
    watch the road;
dress for battle;
    collect all your strength.

2 For the LORD  is restoring the majesty of Jacob
    as the majesty of Israel,
for plunderers have plundered them
    and ruined their branches.

3 The shield of his mighty men is red;
    his soldiers are clothed in scarlet.
The chariots come with flashing metal
    on the day he musters them;
    the cypress spears are brandished.
4 The chariots race madly through the streets;
    they rush to and fro through the squares;
they gleam like torches;
    they dart like lightning.
5 He remembers his officers;
    they stumble as they go,
they hasten to the wall;
    the siege tower is set up.
6 The river gates are opened;
    the palace melts away;
7 its mistress is stripped; she is carried off,
    her slave girls lamenting,
moaning like doves
    and beating their breasts.
8 Nineveh is like a pool
    whose waters run away.
“Halt! Halt!” they cry,
    but none turns back.
9 Plunder the silver,
    plunder the gold!
There is no end of the treasure
    or of the wealth of all precious things.

10 Desolate! Desolation and ruin!
    Hearts melt and knees tremble;
anguish is in all loins;
    all faces grow pale!
11 Where is the lions' den,
    the feeding place of the young lions,
where the lion and lioness went,
    where his cubs were, with none to disturb?
12 The lion tore enough for his cubs
    and strangled prey for his lionesses;
he filled his caves with prey
    and his dens with torn flesh.

13 Behold, I am against you, declares 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 longer be heard.

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The LORD is sending judgment on Nineveh so that the majority of the people of Israel will be restored.  The wording here is interesting because it too is exactly what happened.  Though the Israelites are offered the opportunity to return to the Land, not all of them do (even today, some still choose to remain in the foreign lands to where they were exiles).  It will not be until the Lord comes to rule from the throne of David that all of Israel will once again come together to live as a united people and a single nation with a single king.

The LORD describes the men that would come to conquer Nineveh--men dressed in red with red shields.  Note, this is not a warning to Nineveh about the coming judgment (that already happened in the book of Jonah, the people repented, and they were given a reprieve, but now, about 150 years later, they are even more wicked than before and judgment is being declared so that all the nations will know that it is the LORD who acted to destroy them--He alone should get the glory when it happens).

This invading army will have lots of chariots and lots of spears made of cypress wood (not cheap).  Remember how large we said this city was when we talked about it in Jonah?  It would take three days just to walk through it from one end to the other.  However, these fast-moving chariots made quick work of the city, despite its vastness.  They set up siegeworks to tear down the wall of Nineveh and "the river gates are opened" (this sounds like there was a dam that was destroyed that caused the city to flood--which is what we have archeological evidence of).

All the people great and small were carried away screaming in the flood.  The palace was completely destroyed and all that remains is a pool of water where the once great city used to stand.  Those who do survive run away never to return and the conquering army plunders their silver and gold and everything valuable that they can get to.  All the wealth they accumulated for themselves was worthless when it came to the salvation they needed and it became the wealth of those who conquered them.

The people of Nineveh used to be seen as fierce apex predators like lions and lionesses.  Now where have they gone?  Where is their den (their home) that they have run off to for shelter?  Their great city has been destroyed, and the LORD has made it clear that there is nowhere safe for them to run and hide.  As He said in chapter 1, He is destroying them completely and leaving them with no descendants.  Though they had more than enough provisions to endure a siege, they were not prepared for the flood that was unleashed upon them.

We are not given the identity of the invading army because their identity is not important.  It is the LORD that is against them (remember in the past books how the LORD said He was against Israel and Judah, but now He is once again against their enemies and for His people, this is a great turning point for them).  The LORD will destroy all the mighty weapons of war of Nineveh and destroy all of its men, women and children.  Its reign of terror has come to an end (that is a fair label for them--terrorists), and no one will even again need to live in fear of them.