The City of Nineveh is Captured (Nahum 2:5-10)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/22/2016 11:52 PM

My Worship Time                                                                              Focus:  The city is Captured

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Nahum 2:5-10

Message of the verses:  “5 He remembers his nobles; They stumble in their march, They hurry to her wall, And the mantelet is set up. 6 The gates of the rivers are opened And the palace is dissolved. 7 It is fixed: She is stripped, she is carried away, And her handmaids are moaning like the sound of doves, Beating on their breasts. 8 Though Nineveh was like a pool of water throughout her days, Now they are fleeing; "Stop, stop," But no one turns back. 9 Plunder the silver! Plunder the gold! For there is no limit to the treasure-Wealth from every kind of desirable object. 10 She is emptied! Yes, she is desolate and waste! Hearts are melting and knees knocking! Also anguish is in the whole body And all their faces are grown pale!”

5 The Assyrian king rallies his men, but they stagger and stumble. They run to the ramparts to stem the tide, but it’s too late. 6 Soldiers pour through the gates. The palace is demolished. 7 Soon it’s all over: Nineveh stripped, Nineveh doomed, Maids and slaves moaning like doves, beating their breasts. 8 Nineveh is a tub from which they’ve pulled the plug. Cries go up, "Do something! Do something!" but it’s too late. Nineveh’s soon empty—nothing. 9 Other cries come: "Plunder the silver! Plunder the gold! A bonanza of plunder! Take everything you want!" 10 Doom! Damnation! Desolation! Hearts sink, knees fold, stomachs retch, faces blanch (Message).”

There are times when I like to look at the Message to help me understand better what the verses are saying, and this is the case for this section.

In the NASB the word he is used in verse five to begin it, and in the Message they correctly call this “he” the Assyrian king.  The Assyrian king has plotted against the Lord and his people as seen in 1:9 “9 Whatever you devise against the LORD, He will make a complete end of it. Distress will not rise up twice.”  The king gets his best officers to stand at the wall and they act as if they are drunk instead of marching like they were trained to march. 

Dr. Wiersbe writes “The Khoser River flowed through the city, so the invaders damned it up and then released the water so that it destroyed part of the wall and some of the buildings.  It was a simple matter for the Medes and Babylonians to enter the city and take control.  But they can’t take credit for the victory; it was decreed by God that the city be destroyed and the inhabitants be killed or taken captive (2:7).  The invaders were but God instruments to execute His will.”  Now if you look at the quote I put into our last SD on Nahum chapter two you will understand what Dr. Wiersbe says at the end of his quote.  The quote from yesterday’s came from a message from John MacArthur made on the 3^rd chapter of John verses 11-21.

The enemy soldiers lined up the prisoners and took them to their land to become slaves for them and then the looted what they found in the city of Nineveh which was a lot according to Nahum’s report in this section. 

Remember that God invented time, but He does not wear a watch, for God will always do what He has decreed He will do but there are times when we do not know when He will do what He says He will do.

1/23/2016 12:09 AM