Shabbat Shalom, everyone. We are going to seek to conclude today with the prophet Nahum, Nahum, and if you please turn with me to the third chapter of the prophet Nahum, and we are going to read the third chapter together, Nahum chapter three, and I'm reading beginning from verse one. "Woe to the bloody city! It is all full of lies and robbery. The prey departeth not, the noise of a whip, and the noise of rattling of the wheels, and of the prancing horses, and of the jumping chariots. The horseman lifts up both the bright sword and the glittering spear, and there a multitude of slain, and a great number of carcasses, and there is none end of their corpuses.

They stumble upon their corpuses, because of the multitude of the whoredoms of the well-favored harlot, the mistress of witchcraft, that selleth nations through her whoredoms, and families through her witchcraft. "Behold, I am against thee, saith the Lord of hosts, and I will discover thy skirts upon thy face, and I will show the nations thy nakedness, and the kingdoms thy shame. And I will cast abominable filth upon thee, and make thee vile, and I will set thee as a gazing stalk. And it shall come to pass, that all day that look upon thee shall flee from thee, and say, Nineveh is laid waste. Who will bemoan her?

Whence shall I seek comforters for thee? Are thou better than Populus no, that was situate among the rivers, that had the waters round about it, whose rampart was the sea, and her wall was from the sea? Ethiopia and Egypt were her strength, and it was infinite. Put and Lubim were thy helpers. Yet was she carried away. She went into captivity. Her young children also were dashed in pieces at the top of all the streets, and they cast lots for her. Honorable men, and all her great men were bound in chains. Thou also shalt be drunken, thou shalt be hid, thou also shalt seek strength because of the enemy.

All thy strongholds shall be like fig trees, with the first ripe figs. If they be shaken, they shall even fall into the mouth of the eater. Behold thy people in the midst of thee are women. The gates of thy land shall be set wide. Open unto thine enemies; the fire shall devour thy bars. Draw thee waters for the siege. Fortify thy strongholds. Go into clay and tread the mortar. Make strong the brickling. There shall the fire devour thee. The sword shall cut thee off. It shall eat thee up like the canker worm. Make thyself many as the canker worm. Make thyself many as the locusts.

Thou hast multiplied thy merchants above the stars of heaven. The canker worm spoileth and flieth away. Thy crowned are as the locusts. And thy captains as the great grasshoppers. Which camp in the hedge in the cold day. But when the sun arises, they flee away. And their place is not known where they are. Thy shepherd slumbers. O king of Assyria, thy nobles shall dwell in the dust. Thy people is scattered upon the mountains. And no man gathers them. There is no healing of thy bruise. Thy wound is grievous. All that heal the brute of thee shall clap the hands over thee. For upon whom have not thy wickedness passed continually.

Today, beloved brothers and sisters, we are continuing in the subject of the prophecy of a man by the name of Nahum. Who was prophesying to the children of Judah concerning what was going to happen to the city of Nineveh and to the people of Assyria. If I will put a title upon the third chapter of the prophet Nahum, it is a title that is clearly mentioned earlier in the reading that we have read in Hebrews chapter 10. Where we have read in verse 31. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. That's what we learn from the third chapter of the prophet Nahum.

The subject really is a subject that is vast because God is showing the city of Nineveh and the people of Assyria that there is a day coming when he will have to deal with them. Why? Because it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. And the people of Assyria, the people of Nineveh, after they have repented in the past when Jonah was speaking to them. And they took time and they repented from the greatest of them to the least of them. Later on, not too long after, but a hundred years after the preaching of Jonah, the city of Nineveh returned to its own wickedness.

And now we have already covered the first two chapters, how God had promised the destruction of the city of Nineveh. But listen to this brothers and sisters, chapter three really sums it all up. And here it is so interesting that God gives us in chapter three the justification of the destruction of the city of Nineveh. You know, God does not have to give any reason why he does what he does to anybody. He is really not accountable to anybody. We, the human race, are accountable to him. He is not accountable to us, but he gives us an old chapter, chapter three of the prophet Nachum.

And he tells us, here is the reason why I had to judge the city of Nineveh. Here is the justification for the destruction of the city of Nineveh. And so we have here five reasons why the city of Nineveh was destroyed in the third chapter of the book of Nachum. The first thing we find as beloved brothers and sister is that Nineveh was a city that shed so much blood. It was a city which was the capital of Assyria and the Assyrian used to be known in the then known world as a nation that we shed much blood. They caused so much blood to be shed by their wicked behavior, many nations have suffered from the Assyrian.

Many would feel and tremble when they knew that the Assyrians are coming against them. Many have lost their lives because of the wickedness of the Assyrian. And look what the description that God gives them in verse one of Nachum, chapter three. He is calling them. He says, "Woe to the bloody city." In Hebrew, it says, "Hoi er damim." The word for blood is really not singular. It is plural. In fact, he is really saying, "Woe unto the city of blood." Plural. It was a city that out of it went all sorts of things that brought so much death and suffering upon the nations of this world.

And the city was the kind of a city that put so much havoc upon the people of the world. He is calling that in verse one. He says, "It is full of lies. It is full of robbery. And the prey departeth not." In other words, it's just like a lion. When he's looking for a prey. And he's ready. He's lying, waiting for him until he catches him. And then he destroys and devours the prey. In the description of the city of Nineveh. As a bloody city of the city of bloods. Plural. Is a city that was full of lies. It is a city that was full of robbery.

And it is a city that out of it and in it and around it was filled with prey that the prey never departed. There was constantly looking for someone to destroy. For someone to hurt. You know, this is a description of the evil one. This is really a description of Satan. Satan was a liar from the beginning. Satan is a deceiver from the beginning. Satan is the one that is looking for a prey. As a roaring lion the Bible teaches us he seeks whom he may devour. And that's what we see here in the city of Nineveh among the Assyrian kingdom. Where they were seeking always to cause bloodshed and sorrow.

You know, I'm listening to the news today. What's happening in many countries where bloodshed is being shed. When you have a display of pictures of children and women and young ones are suffering. Where they devour them. You look at them. You don't see disfigurement of the bodies. Terrible! What the human heart is capable to do. It is definitely satanic. It's not humane. It is satanic. And so we find out that this city is called by God the city of blood. Ir damim. Plural. There is lies. There is robbery. And the prey never depart from that city. And so God says you see. That's what you are.

Verse 1. Here is the judgment. Verse 2 and 3. And look what he says. Okay. Nineveh, that's who you are. Now verses 2 and 3. First of all in verse 2. Nineveh will experience suffering as their enemies had experienced it before. The noise of the whip. And the noise of the rattling of the wheels. And of the prancing horses. In Hebrew it's like doher. Where the horses are running. They're coming forward. They are marching towards you. And of the jumping of the chariots. The Assyrian now will experience what they have done to so many nations. Where they overtook them. And they sought to destroy them. And now Babylon and the Medes are marching forward to take over the city of Assyria.

And that's what you see. The noise of whip. In other words they were whipping their horses. And they were moving and marching forward. The noise of rattling of the wheels. The wheels were turning fast. And horses were running and jumping. And then the chariots were moving forward. Because Assyria. The Babylonians are coming. The Medes are coming. And you are going to experience what you have done to so many. You are going to experience this now. Notice in verse 3. It's not only talking about the horses and their chariots. In verse 3. We see now what they will experience by the horsemen themselves. Look. Verse 3. The horsemen lift up both the bright sword and the glittering spear.

You know the horses will carry the horsemen on the chariots. And as they are marching towards Assyria. They are going to come with their swords. And with their spears. They were glittering. They were shining and bright. Ready to destroy the city of Nineveh. For what this city have done. Where much blood they have shed throughout their history. It says in verse 3b. And there is a multitude of slain. And a great number of carcasses. And there is none end to their corpse. They stumble upon their corpse. You know it tells us. It's a sad picture. You almost can say. You see that in the movies.

Where you see the chariots rushing. And the horsemen on top of the chariots. And they are marching forward. Running. And moving forward with their horse and buggies. And so on. And they are ready with their spears. And with their swords. Which are glittering from the shining of the sun against it. Ready to be used against the Assyrian. And look what happened. It says here. That the multitude of slain. The number of them are so great. And the word for carcasses here. In Hebrew. The word is gviot. Is dead body. That are laying on the ground. And apparently it says. That they stumble over their corpse.

As they are moving forward. It's a movie story. You might say. It's not real. You might say. But that's the reality. Dear brothers and sisters. That the scripture describe. Before us. Here is what you did. Assyria. Nineveh. Here is what you are going to experience. Because of this type. Of action. In your life. That tells us. As we have began. In our study. Where the Lord says. The Lord will take vengeance. On his adversaries. He is a God. Who is a just God. He is a God. Who is a gracious God. As well. But he will demand justice. And you know. Sometime. You and I demand.

Justice from God. He says. I want to get my right. And God says. Do you want to get your rights? I will show you. What you deserve. You have no rights. And you fail. And you have sinned before me. You want your rights. And you know. We said. The Lord. Lord. I don't want my rights now. I just want your mercy. And your forgiveness. And your grace. And then. On a basis. Of the finished work. Of the Lord. Yeshua. The Messiah. For grace. From the Lord. And he will provide this for us. But only. Not on what we deserve. But on a basis. Of the grace.

That God had provided. Through Yeshua. The Messiah. And so. You see. Beloved brothers and sisters. Nineveh was a city. That shed so much blood. Nineveh will be a city. Which will experience. The bloodshed. Upon herself. Because of what they have done. The carcasses were so many. The corpse. Were multitude. There was no end to them. And they. Stumble. As they move forward. Upon. Their. Corpuses. And here is the first three verses. Here is the first reason. That God show. I am just. When I judge men. I am just. When I am going to judge. The city of Nineveh. I am just. And here. Is the reason.

Reason number one. Verses one to three. Then he moves on. Nachum. Chapter three. And verses four. Five. Six. And seven. He gives us the second reason. Why God is righteous. In destroying the city. Of Nineveh. The second reason. Is that Nineveh. Was a city. That was filled. With. Hudams. And witchcraft. There was so much. Witchcraft. In Assyria. And so much. Hudams. In that city. That God says. I am. Going. To judge you. Because. Of what. Was going on. In your city. Look at this. First of all. Notice verse four. The city. Was filled. With. Prostitution. Secondly. In verse four. The city. Was filled. With. Witchcraft.

With witches. In verse four. Because of. The multitude. Of. The. Hurdams. Of. The. Well. Favored. Harlot. The mistress. Of. Witchcraft. That. Fill. The nation. Through. Her. Hurdams. And. Families. Through. Their. Witchcraft. You know. Apparently. That city. Of. Nineveh. Too much. Filled. With. That. Which. Was. Not. Only. Physical. Prostitution. But. It. Was. Also. A. Spiritual. Prostitution. I. Tell. You. Why. Just. Not. Too. Long. Earlier. After. The. Preaching. Of. Yonah. Hanavi. Yonah. The. Prophet. They. Repented. And. They. Have. Turned. To. The. The. Simple. Preaching. Of. Jonah. Who. Says. Yet. Forty. Days. And. Nineveh. Will. Be. Destroyed. Or. Overthrown. And. God. Forgave. Them. But. They. Turned. Back. They.

Turned. Away. From. What. They. Have. Done. Earlier. About. Hundred. Years. Or. So. And. Now. They. Show. Their. Real. Colors. In. Verse. Four. And. How. They. Were. Doing. It. Notice. It. Says. Here. In. Verse. For. The. Well. Favored. Harlot.

they were influencing others by the appearance by the outward appearance that will draw others to fall into sin and then as it's mentioned here this well-favored harlot is the expression of giving an appearance as if everything is fine you're just being drawn and they end up ultimately causing nations notice that their hoodums and their witchcraft look at that it says that selleth nations many nations were sold by that and it says that not only nations but also families have been destroyed by this appearance and drawing of others through witchcraft and hoodums by so many nations have been drawn into that type of life and ultimately they grab them and they destroy them and so the

lord says okay that's the kind of a city that you are here is what is going to happen to you here's the reason verse 4 and now the judgment coming upon them in verses 5 6 and 7 and look the lord is saying in verses 5 6 and 7 nineveh first of all in verse 5 will be ashamed and seen by the other nations as they have shamed many many other nations behold notice how god is saying it in verse 5 he says i'm against you you remember he repeated what he already said in verse 13 of chapter 2 i'm against you and we mentioned last time you remember because we are believers in yeshua

the messiah if god be for us who can be against us roman chapter 8 but if god is not for us and we have gone away from him god end up to be so he is saying i'm against you says the lord i will discover thy skirts notice what he does the same way as they drew nation through multitude of hoodums the same way as they drew nations through witchcraft it is the same way as god is going to put them to shame among the nations of the world he says i will discover thy skirts upon thy face and i will show the nations thy nakedness and the kingdoms thy shame he's saying in verse

5 you have treated those nations like this and now i'm going to put you to shame publicly before the nations and i'm going to lifting up thy skirt upon thy faith in other words i was going to reveal your emptiness and your nakedness and your shame that's what he's really saying in verse 6 he's saying that neither will be a gazing stock people will look at that and mock that city verse 6 he said i will cast abominable filth upon thee and i will make thee vile and i will set thee as a gazing stock they will be like used by the nations around them that's how they have treated other nations and god is

telling them that that's how they are going to be treated as well in verse 7 Nineveh will have no one to show grief for the city i've heard a story of someone who passed away and he was going to have a funeral and then the one who was going to perform the funeral coming to perform the funeral but there was no one to mourn for the dead no one and they had to call people from around to just come just to be there that there will be a message to be presented about the person who died no one came and so look what he's saying in verse 7 and it should come to pass that

all day that look upon thee shall flee from thee and they say Nineveh is laid waste who will be moan here whence shall i seek comforters for thee now you see Nineveh had been treating all the other nations in such an evil way that when the time that day needed to be judged by the lord the lord say that the people fled and then it says that no one will want to be moan that city and he says where will i find someone to comfort the city and it is interesting here because the word comforters here in verse 7 come from the hebrew word manachamim which is the very same name of the prophet nahum

comforter it is as if god is kind of playing here with the hebrew language he's saying here is nahum the comforter preaching a message against the city that there will not be found anyone to comfort or to mourn against that city and the prophet nahum message against the city of Nineveh it's not a comfort to Nineveh but it is a comfort to judah because judah was fearful because of what they were going to do to judah just like they have done to the northern tribes of israel when they have taken the northern tribes of israel and scattered them took them away to assyria and completely destroyed the people of israel took them away and changed

things in samaria and caused so much havoc upon the children of israel that now when the time of judgment of the city of Nineveh the question is being asked actually really there are two questions as it says here who will be moan here this is question number one and question number two is when shall i seek comforters for thee may i in avakesh menachamim in the hebrew language where will i seek for people to come to comfort you in a custom that we have among our people the jewish people when a person passes away the family will sit for seven days and guests would come friends and relatives and others will come to comfort the

people who have lost their loved one for seven days and here the prophet nahum really speaking for god and he says listen who is going to be moan you know the word be moan is to move their head to nod their head to nod their head lanud in hebrew to move their head to say oh boy look what happened to this city no one will do that why because of the way that the city of Nineveh treated others the way that they have behaved towards other nations no one to be moan her and no one to seek her comfort again i would like beloved brothers and sisters to show us that here even though it

seems to be so awful but yet god is just as he mentioned in the earlier passage in chapter one and verse two that god will serve revenge and the lord will take vengeance upon all his adversary and he reserve wrath for his enemies he will have to judge and think about it if this suffering will be here on earth what's going to happen for someone that will have to be eternally separated from god when the judgment of god will fall upon one who will be eternally separated never accepted yeshua the messiah here on earth they will not only suffer here and now but they will ultimately are going to suffer eternally as they are separated

from god so the second reason beloved brothers and sisters is Nineveh was a city that was filled with hudam and witchcraft that is the righteous judgment that god would pour upon that city because the city was filled with hudam and witchcraft here's the third reason look at this in verse 8 to 12 nachum chapter 3 verses 8 to 12 tells us the third reason why Nineveh will be judged by the lord is because nineveh was a city that had self-trust they trusted in himself it was a huge city with a high wall many towers surrounding the wall the gates and the bars were strong and some suggest that you could never get into that city

you can never enter into the city it was totally safe and secure you might say humanly speaking like somebody might say i am strong i am able to do it on my own i'm going to send i'm the captain of my ship i'm the pilot of my plane i can do it on my own i don't need god that's what they basically said and the lord is showing to them in these verses 8 to 12 that there were even greater cities than them that they end up to be destroyed and look what he's telling them now he's taking an example from a city that he called in the hebrew minoamon or noamon noamon was one

of the cities was the capital city of ancient egypt you and i would not know much about that but we find that here in scripture in verse 8 look nineveh think that she is better than and here's the name of the city and here it's called noamon it's really the city of tibis or thebes t-h-e-b-e-s it is the capital city of ancient egypt upper egypt and so in verse 8 he says are thou better than populous no it's not the word no but no populous no no no amon in hebrew are thou better than no amon as i mentioned here the city is thebes he said are you a better than thebes that was situated

among the rivers that had the waters around about it who rampart was the sea and her wall was from the sea apparently that city of noamon the capital city of ancient egypt this city was situated in such a way that the rivers and the sea protected the city and no one could ever enter into the city and destroy that city so he's asking them and again you can see the pride that nineveh had like the human pride in each and every one of us the pride he says are you a better than populous no that was situated among the rivers this is the river of nile that had the waters round about it whose rampart

was the sea and her wall was from the sea in other words who can enter into the city that the wall is coming from the sea you couldn't it was a protected city look at verse 8 this city of the city of thebes the capital city of ancient egypt had also people who were their strength and their helpers because in verse 9 he's saying ethiopia and egypt were her strength and it was infinite put and lubim were thy helpers so the helpers of thebes noamon were ethiopia the rest of the country of egypt and then put put is really in africa it's samalia and lubim is come from the city the country the country that

we know that called lub libya of today in fact if you will read in genesis chapter 10 and verse 6 you will notice that those people were descendants of the son of ham you remember noah had three sons shem ham and jeffet those countries were descendants or sons of ham and so they had helpers in other words the city of noamon had so many people that supported that city they had help from ethiopia they were strength from there and the rest of the country of egypt they had those to help them like somalia and libya and so they trusted in themselves you know like today many countries trust with their friends and other countries around

them and they say i don't need god in our life we trust in our own strength in our own power in our own military you know god won israel against it he said you remember through the prophet not by might nor by power but by my spirit says the lord god won israel he says listen you don't trust in your power you don't trust in your own might but trust in the lord this is the most important thing trust in the lord with all thine heart and lean not under thine own understanding in all thy ways acknowledge him and he will direct thy path but we sometimes don't trust the lord we trust ourself and

that's was the problem of noamon that they trusted in themselves and god said to nineveh are you better than noamon are you better than thebes let me tell you what happened years earlier why i had to judge this city and he said they might had a lot of help they might have people that were their strength but all their help that we have will not assist us not aid us when we take side against the lord but when we take side with the lord he's our helper he is the one who will sustain us he is the one that he's protecting he's the protected you remember what he said to abraham our father said i

am thy shield and thy great reward he said to father abraham who trusted in him and here is a nation here is a city they didn't trust in god but trusted in themselves and so he said in verse 10 thebes was destroyed in spite of her strength and in spite of her friends he said in verse 10 yet what she carried away she went into captivity her young children also were dashed in pieces at the top of all the streets and they cast lots for her honorable men and all her great men were bound in chain he's taking them back and he's telling them you know what you're trusting yourself do you think that you

are better than this city you think that you are greater than noamon let me tell you she was carried away she went to be captive she had her young one and look at the description here the terrible description here her young children also were dashed in pieces at the top of all the streets apparently the enemies who took noamon and by the way it is interesting that apparently the enemies of noamon was the assyrian themselves they were those wicked one that caused this to happen to this populist no and they were the one that caused this to happen and god saying to them do you think that you are better than them i'm going to

show you that you are not better than them because do you remember assyria do you remember nineveh what happened how they had to be carried away and how the young ones were dashed against against the walls against the streets and now they cast lots for her and for honorable men you know all these honorable men the great men the elders of the city they were priding themselves they were carried away they were cast lots for them people were purchasing them and casting lots to who gonna get them and ultimately the great men were bound in chains and carried away and so brothers and sisters this is showing to us what that god is a just

god who is going to deal righteously with his enemy he's justified in doing so and he gives us the reason you've done that to others here is what's going to happen to you remember what we talked about the golden rule in our previous session together where yeshua said whatsoever you seek that men will do unto you do unto them the golden rule you want people to treat you right you better treat them right and here he's telling them what is going to happen and by the way in verses 11 and 12 here's the judgment of nineveh after he described what happened with the city of no amon he is now showing to them in verses

11 and 12 what's going to happen to the city of nineveh and look what he's saying look how sad and yet just thou this is nineveh verse 11 thou shall be drunken thou shall be hid thou also shall seek strength because of the enemy notice that he's speaking about nineveh he's really saying nineveh you are going to be drunken drunken with what drunken with the wrath of god where god is going to judge them drunken with the wrath of god you shall be hid what is hid you're going to be destroyed totally hid destroyed and then he said you were going to seek for help you also seek strength because of all the enemies who

are going to come against you to destroy you nineveh that is what's going to happen to you and in verse 12 he tells them how it's going to happen it's really amazing because it says in verse 12 that all your stronghold all nineveh's stronghold shall be like fig trees with their first ripe figs if they be shaken they shall even fall into the mouth of the eater now you know i'm not a farmer but those who work with the figs the first ripe figs that are ready to be picked you only need to shake the trees and many of those figs will fall down and the eaters it were will be ready to eat them

because they are ripe and ready to be eaten what is really here is describing the enemies of the city of nineveh the enemies of the assyrian they will shake you they will eat you in other words they will devour you because of your evil doing that's the description that's going to happen to the city of nineveh that is the righteous or the justification of the judgment and destruction that will fall upon the city of nineveh this is reason number three now look at reason number four and that's found in verse 13 in verse 13 he gives them another reason why god is justified in destroying the city of nineveh in verse 13 he's telling us

very interesting expression he says behold thy people in the midst of thee are women the gates of thy land shall be set wide open unto thine enemies the fire shall devour thy bars now there are various ways in which some interpret this first part of verse 13 some suggest that there was much homosexuality there and as we know from other passages of scripture what have happened for example in the city of sodom and gamora and what have happened for example among the tribe of benjamin in the town called giva among the people of israel we have this now in the book of judges chapter 19 and 20 in other words apparently some in the midst

of the city of nineveh were like to dress like women and they had all kind of sexual immorality that have existed in this city there's so much history i didn't read a lot i heard some more but there's so much the behavior of their leadership and the mannerism was such a wicked city that it says you die people in the midst of the are women you know the apostle paul have said to the corinthians in first corinthians chapter 6 he's saying to the corinthians you know corinthians such were some of you another one the corinthians many of them have been saved from this type of lifestyle they've been saved god is gracious he loved mankind

but as far as god's concerned there's a way in which he created the human race and he placed male and female to propagate to have a family to develop a home and a village and a city and a country and and yet he's saying look in this case die people in the midst of the are women and i told you there's more than one way that some interpreted this verse some believe that there was homosexuality some others believe that there was a reversal of the order instead of having the male leadership and order it was reversed and you know the bible teaches us the order in which god have set in this world it was

from adam that eve have been created from his side not from his head nor from his feet but from his side to be his helpmate and the whole teaching that we have in scripture concerning the order that god had placed in creation the head of every man is christ the head of a woman is man the head of christ the messiah is god the order in creation in first corinthians chapter 11 but here it seemed to be that the condition the immoral condition that existed in the city of nineveh demanded the just judgment of god upon the city and so here's the judgment you know that he gives us first of all what they have

done now he tells them what's the result will be in verse 13b says your gate the gate of your land shall be wide open unto thine enemies the fire shall devour thy bars you might have many towers around the city you might have many soldiers to protect you you will have thick gates and strong gates but they will be open and your enemies will come in and the fire shall devour your bars you know men can bar and lock doors you remember what yeshua said and he of course speaks spiritually he's the one who has the key whenever he opened the door it will be opened by him he's the one who opened he's the

one who shut he's the one who able to do because he is the creator he is the one who controls all things and here he says the gates going to be open for your enemies the bars are going to be devoured so they can come in and cause you to judge you because of what you have done and because of your behavior and here is the final verses beloved brothers and sisters in chapter 3 of the prophet nahum verses 14 to 19 we have the fifth reason why god is justified in the destruction of the city of nineveh and here he tells us in verse 14 to 19 that nineveh was a city that placed

a wickedness upon all those that were around that nation and that city their wickedness went around the world and influenced others and was poured upon other nations around them and so here is these verses first of all in verse 14 nineveh may try to protect itself by fortifying itself it will not help look what he says in verse 14 draw the waters for the siege fortify thy stronghold go into clay and tread the mortar make strong the brickling in other words he says get yourself ready try to get yourself ready as bar yourself make strong bricks so you can protect yourself but it will not help you nineveh because final destruction is coming upon you

in verse 15 both nineveh will be devoured by fire and be cut by the edge of the sword notice in verse 15 he's saying to them there shall the fire devour thee the sword shall cut thee off it shall eat thee up as the canker worm make thyself many as the canker worm make thyself many as the locusts this interesting verse because it reminds us of what joel was prophesying when we studied the prophet yoel he was prophesying against the people of israel in a time when israel were in disobedience that the canker worm came and the locusts came and the word for canker worm is those that are licking everything that they found they

are licking it and they're going away they are licking everything they pick up all the crops and they're going away and the locusts they are bay in verse 15 so nineveh will be destroyed in such a way notice now the next verse verse 16 nineveh multiply merchants but they will be the one that will spoil the city of nineveh thou has multiplied thy merchants above the stars of the heavens they can can warm spoil us and flyeth away in other words you know what they have done in the city of nineveh they multiplied so many buyers and sellers merchants so they multiplied and they bought and they sold and they have increased and increased and

set god aside so god is saying to them you know what the very same merchants that you have increased in your own city and you have multiplied them they will be the same one that will spoil the city of nineveh in fact i would like us for a moment to turn to a verse in the book of the revelation chapter 18 if you please turn to revelation chapter 18 i want to read the similarity that we see here in the time of the great tribulation when babylon going to be destroyed in revelation chapter 18 i won't read everything but look what we read here in verse 11 and the merchants of the earth shall weep

and they will mourn over her this is babylon when babylon will be destroyed this is at the end of the tribulation period for no man buys their merchandise anymore the merchandise of gold and of silver and of precious stone and of pearls and of fine linen and purple and silk and scarlet and all thine woods and all manner of vessels of ivory and all manner of vessels of most precious wood and of brass and of iron of a marble and cinnamon and orders it says in verse 13 ointments and frankincense and wine and oil and fine flour and wheat and beasts and sheep and horses and chariot and slaves and souls of men and as

it says here beloved brothers and sisters that the merchants will weep the merchants of the earth verse 11a shall weep and mourn over her see they multiplied merchants and it named for us all what the merchants were buying and selling but right now it will be those merchants who will loot the city of nineveh because of what nineveh have done and so this verse 16 is challenging and showing the reason that they will be suffering the consequences you multiplied merchants here setting god aside here what they are going to do they will spoil you and they will fly away and then as we draw near notice in verse 17 nineveh the governors will flee away

and not going to be able to help the city you know we get governors and leaders you know that's the beautiful thing about the lord yeshua the messiah he is the good shepherd the good shepherd laid his life for the sheep he loves men he's laying down his life for those whom he wanted to save and bring to himself but here look at the leaders look at this thy crowned that means those you put the crown on the head the one that you have crowned them the kings and the leaders they are as the locusts and thy captains as the great grasshoppers which camp in the hedges in a cold day but when the sun

arises they flee away and their place is not known where they are you see what happened brothers and sisters this shows you the difference between the true and living god and the true shepherds you know god also accused the shepherds of israel that had left the sheep and didn't take care of them and the apostle peter also warned the shepherds the one who shepherded the sheep who among the church the body of messiah he said feed the flock of god take care of them he said but here look those who were crowned they were like locals those who were captains they were like grasshoppers and when the time came when the heat came they flee

away they fled and no one know where they were you know i remember the wars that israel have experienced over the years against egypt against syria against lebanon against jordan but it's something that i remember very clearly in 1967 when israel in six day have defeated the militaries of egypt and syria and other countries and i remember one of the things you've seen pictures of the desert filled with shoes and boots that the soldiers have left they were fleeing away but you know why they fled away because their leaders fled away and they've gone away and they went backward because they were not leading their army they were behind them and that's what you would

description here is in the city of nineveh those they were crowned by the people those that were the captains when the heat came they fled away and no one know where they are and this is a description of the nature of men who want to seek a prominent place and then when tests coming they're gone and it is like us it is the way we are capable to do this this is the human heart unless the lord help and here is the judgment that come and notice we are going to conclude in the next verse he's talking about the shepherds in verse 18 nineveh's shepherd will sleep and the ship will be scattered that is

really in connection with verse 17 and 18 the crowned ones the captains and now the shepherds and now the shepherds in verse 18 that thy shepherds slumber they sleep oh king of assyria thy nobles shall dwell in the dust and thy people is scattered upon the mountains and no man gathers them and so you have here those four words crowned ones captains shepherds and nobles all those leaders of the city of nineveh of the assyrian will be either sleeping or running away and no one can find them and the ship are scattered and no one is able to gather them now obviously those sheep or those people that he's speaking about are the assyrian that

he come with judgment upon them that's the life they sought that's the manner of life that they sought and now they get they deserve the wrath of god and the judgment of god is coming upon them and now look brothers and sisters he concluding the message of the destruction of the city of assyria in verse 19 where here we see in verse 19 the nineveh will have no one to heal her bruise and people will clap their hand when they will see the judgment that's going to come upon the assyrian upon the city of nineveh and that's the conclusion of the book of nahum there is no healing of thy bruise thy wound is grievous

all that hear the brute or the hearing of thee shall clap the hands over thee in other words god is saying here's a total destruction of the city of nineveh totally destroyed because the wound will not be able to be healed the bruise will not be able to be healed and people will hear about nineveh destruction and they will clap their hands and you know he closed that book by saying this final statement why all this look at this at the end the end of verse 19 nahum 3 19 he says for upon whom has not die wickedness passed continually nineveh who was the one surrounding nations that all your wickedness and evil doing and

sorrow that you inflicted upon so many people notice he used the word upon whom upon whom has not died wickedness have passed continually the hebrew word here is the word tamid always always that's the kind of a practice that the assyrian head against the nations which were around that nation and the city of nineveh were the capital city of the assyrian that inflicted their wickedness upon all those around and god is saying who were the one who did not experience your wickedness placed upon them and with this the prophet nahum is closing that message and he's giving us those five reasons to justify god in his judgment upon the city of nineveh you know there

is a verse in the book of roman that apostle paul wrote in romans and he said to the romans let god be true and every man a liar god is true god is true god is just god is holy god is pure and man is the one that have to reckon with the lord nineveh had to experience her judgment because they fail to depend upon the grace of god now we can close with that note but i just want to mention in closing that we need always to be reminded of the grace that had been provided for mankind for you and i today and while it is such a sour story that sometimes we say

i'd rather not read it but it is in the bible in god's in god's written holy word it is for our learning that we will learn from that we will come to god and say god help me not to be proud help me not to have self-will help me to depend upon you when i go astray when i go away when i neglect to think of you god please turn me turn me back work in my heart work in my life so i can be restored and live for thee until yeshua will come to take me home can you say amen to that amen