Nahum 2:1-13

“Be sure your sins will find you out.”  We say this warning because we know that even though sins are not always immediately revealed, experience tells us that they will be eventually revealed.  Nineveh had long been a city known for its violence and perversion.  At the preaching of Jonah they repented but the generations that followed did not walk in repentance and ended up returning to their sinful lives.  God used the Assyrian people to judge the sinfulness of Israel but their pride over this conquest led them to a path of destruction from which they would not recover.  God was well aware of their sin and they were about to pay the price for this sin.  The sobering part of all of this is that the earthy judgment of God on sin is only an appetizer of God’s eternal judgment.  It is meant to demonstrate God’s hatred of sin in hopes of convincing men to turn from sin to Him in order to be reconciled to Him through repentance and faith.

THE ARMIES OF NINEVEH WILL BE DEFEATED: The Assyrians boasted of a large and powerful army that brought down many nations.  They thought that they were invincible and believed that they would never fall.  They were very wrong.  When God decided to judge the nation there was nothing that this powerful army could do to stand.  God calls them to be ready for battle because He is about to avenge the cruelty with which Nineveh attacked Israel.  The mighty warriors of Assyria would be covered with blood as the invading army would come against them.  Chariots would be flashing through the streets as the officers of Nineveh fall under the sword and their blood flows like a river through the streets.

THE PEOPLE OF NINEVEH WILL BE DEPORTED: The people who live in this city will be taken as captives to other nations.  The women will become sad as they see their daughters taken away as servant gilts and slaves to other families.  They cry for the pain to end but there is no relief from this judgment.  All of the gold and silver they cherished so much was plundered and taken away just like the people who were taken away as slaves or slaughtered in the streets.  The pleasures of sin can be tantalizing, but the pain of the consequences are always excruciating. 


THE CITY OF NINEVEH WILL BE DESTROYED:  This once great and powerful city will be destroyed, ruined and left in a heap.  The hearts of the people melt and their knees tremble as they see utter destruction all around them.  They are as a prey of a lion who tears them apart and drags them away as plunder for its cubs.  Their bones are crushed their flesh is consumed and the city is left desolate.  When God is against a city it cannot stand against Him.  The people will be left silent and their destruction will be complete.  No man   can stand against the judgment of God.

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