
Nahum 2:1-13
2:1-13 | The devastation of Nineveh would be so great that all the city’s defenses could not deter it. Meanwhile, Judah would be restored. The Lord Himself intended to reduce Nineveh to rubbish.
2:3-7 | The prophet vividly describes the invading army as if he were actually seeing the tumult and terror that would overtake Nineveh. The soldiers dressed in scarlet symbolized the blood they would shed. The raging of the chariots pictures the Assyrians’ frantic yet futile efforts to defend their city. Readers may shy away from such a violent scene, but all these details drive home the theme of divine justice: Assyria would receive the devastation it had inflicted on others.
2:11-13 | Nahum writes some of the most frightening words in Scripture: I am against you, says the LORD of hosts. The Assyrians would not merely be left to wander and find a new land; the Lord of heaven’s armies would actively oppose and utterly destroy them.
2:13 | Although Assyria trusted in its military might, in the end God would reveal that He is the Mighty One: Nineveh’s chariots would be burned, the sword would devour its soldiers (lions), no conquered prey would be brought back to Nineveh, and the voice of its messengers would be stilled, with no king to issue commands and no one left to heart the words.