CHAPTER 3

1 Woe to the bloody city! it is all full of lies and robbery; the prey departeth not; 2 The noise of a whip, and the noise of the rattling of the wheels, and of the pransing horses, and of the jumping chariots. 3 The horseman lifteth up both the bright sword and the glittering spear: and there is a multitude of slain, and a great number of carcases; and there is none end of their corpses; they stumble upon their corpses: 4 Because of the multitude of the whoredoms of the well-favoured harlot, the mistress of witchcrafts, that selleth nations through her whoredoms, and families through her witchcrafts.

It is called a "bloody city"! Bloody because of so much sin. It is so full of lies and robbery that the "prey" of the wicked (vs 1) cannot escape!

Pridefilled owners "whip" slaves and workers (vs 2). The army is vicious and slaughters without concern (vs 3).

The country is led by "witchcraft" - or sorcery (vs 4).

Many nations have arisen which fit this description. But God has destroyed them ALL!

5 Behold, I am against thee, saith the LORD of hosts; and I will discover thy skirts upon thy face, and I will shew the nations thy nakedness, and the kingdoms thy shame. 6 And I will cast abominable filth upon thee, and make thee vile, and will set thee as a gazingstock.

God is HOLY, JUST and COMPASSIONATE. He holds people and nations alike to the same "Plumbline."

Those who refuse Christ will have their sin made open and naked. They will be exposed and brought to eternal condemnation.

Oh! Reader, do not refuse CHRIST!! We are sinners all. But He is the SAVIOR from our sins! He shall "cover" those sins of the redeemed. He shall lay them aside in the deepest of the sea, and they shall never be brought up again. He shall acquit all those who come to Him in surrender to His Lordship.

7 And it shall come to pass, that all they 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?

When those who have refused Christ come to judgment day, who will MOURN for them?

I was talking to a young man about being saved. He was in the presence of some of his friends, and was being flippant about God's eternal salvation. Trying to bring a more serious note to the conversation, I asked him if he died today, did he know where he would go. He said, "Yup! I'd bust hell wide open! But that's all right; 'cause all my friends will be there."

There'll be NO FRIENDS in hell!! ALL will be drenched in the stench of sin! All will be bitterly wailing and mourning the loss of salvation! Jesus said, "..there shall be WEEPING and GNASHING OF TEETH." (Matthew 13:50)

Who shall mourn for the lost? The saved will not; they will be rejoicing for the merciful salvation they have received. They will be leaping with joy and praising the Savior. The lost will not; they will be mournfully and bitterly weeping over the loss of their own salvation. None shall care about the other!

8 Art thou better than populous 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? 9 Ethiopia and Egypt were her strength, and it was infinite; Put and Lubim were thy helpers. 10 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 honourable men, and all her great men were bound in chains.

"NO" was a large city in Egypt (possibly "Thebes"). It was known for evil, just as Nineveh. But God prophesied that Nebuchadnezzar would come and destroy it. And God's prophecy was TRUE!

The example of "NO" is for all the world to see. And the example of Nineveh is for all the world to see. GOD IS! God is JUST, RIGHTEOUS, HOLY! And, yes, GOd is COMPASSIONATE! He prophesied those cities would be destroyed BEFORE it happened, offering opportunity for repentance!

There are some "ostrich head in the sand" people today that say God is NOT! They think that God, if He were truly GOOD, would not allow such destruction. But that's just the point: God IS GOOD! He is TOO good to allow evil sinners to wage war against Him. Those who live in refusal of God, live also in ENMITY with Him.

Remember: Sodom and Gomorrha, Jericho, Ai, No, Nineveh, Babylon, and yes, even Israel and Judah. "God is LOVE" and God is also JUSTICE! Sin makes SLAVES of strong men!

11 Thou also shalt be drunken: thou shalt be hid, thou also shalt seek strength because of the enemy. 12 All thy strong holds shall be like fig trees with the firstripe figs: if they be shaken, they shall even fall into the mouth of the eater. 13 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.

When TRUTH (see John 14:6) comes, men will be "drunken" with it! They shall reel and hide!

No place will be strong enough to hide from He Who, by His WORD, formed the universe! And for all their hiding, the ones who have refused Christ, will fall into His "mouth." By His WORD He created. By His WORD He upholds. By His WORD men shall be judged!

14 Draw thee waters for the siege, fortify thy strong holds: go into clay, and tread the morter, make strong the brickkiln. 15 There shall the fire devour thee; the sword shall cut thee off, it shall eat thee up like the cankerworm: make thyself many as the cankerworm, make thyself many as the locusts. 16 Thou hast multiplied thy merchants above the stars of heaven: the cankerworm spoileth, and flieth away.

Notice how God continues to pour out prophecy that Nineveh's defenses are USELESS against His power! No matter how the unbeliever mounts up defenses, God is still God. The power to judge is still His! It is USELESS to try and escape it. It is BEST to repent and surrender to Him now, while there is time!

Nineveh would need water to endure the siege, but it would do no good. They would also need brick to repair broken walls during the siege, but it would do no good. They would be destroyed by "sword" AND by "fire." Archaelogical digs have proven that this is exactly how Ninevah was destroyed.

Though they were among the richest of cities ("Thou hast multiplied thy merchants"), their riches would not help.

17 Thy crowned are as the locusts, and thy captains as the great grasshoppers, which camp in the hedges in the cold day, but when the sun ariseth they flee away, and their place is not known where they are. 18 Thy shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria: thy nobles shall dwell in the dust: thy people is scattered upon the mountains, and no man gathereth them. 19 There is no healing of thy bruise; thy wound is grievous: all that hear the bruit of thee shall clap the hands over thee: for upon whom hath not thy wickedness passed continually?

The elite of social standing (the "crowned") would flee when the heat of battle came against them. One historian has said that the city was under siege, and could not be taken. But then, the river flooded the city and took away a part of the wall, allowing entrance by invading forces. The king took his closest associates and concubines, climbed upon a funeral pyre (pile of wood) and set it on fire. He, and they, perished in the flames.

The "wickedness" of the people of Nineveh had been "great" upon her rivals. When these Assyrians invaded a land, they viciously murdered, and took captives for slavery.

But God brought their own "wickedness" upon them!

So shall it be when Christ comes to judge the world. Those who have refused Him and lived in the "wickedness" of their own sin shall find horror in judgment. They shall be given an eternal inheritance of the ABSENCE of God and the PRESENCE of evil!

OH! If you have not surrendered to Christ, do so TODAY!

PLEASE CONTINUE WITH US IN BIBLE STUDY TOMORROW.