Deliverance From Assyria
237
“The noise of a whip, and the noise of the rattling
of the wheels,
And of the prancing horses, and of the jumping
chariots.
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The horseman lifteth up both the bright sword
and the glittering spear:
And there is a multitude of slain....
“Behold, I am against thee,
Saith the Lord of hosts.”
Nahum 3:1-5
.
With unerring accuracy the Infinite One still keeps account with
the nations. While His mercy is tendered, with calls to repentance, this
account remains open; but when the figures reach a certain amount
which God has fixed, the ministry of His wrath begins. The account is
closed. Divine patience ceases. Mercy no longer pleads in their behalf.
“The Lord is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all
acquit the wicked: the Lord hath His way in the whirlwind and in the
storm, and the clouds are the dust of His feet. He rebuketh the sea,
and maketh it dry, and drieth up all the rivers: Bashan languisheth, and
Carmel, and the flower of Lebanon languisheth. The mountains quake
at Him, and the hills melt, and the earth is burned at His presence,
yea, the world, and all that dwell therein. Who can stand before His
indignation? and who can abide in the fierceness of His anger? His
fury is poured out like fire, and the rocks are thrown down by Him.”
Nahum 1:3-6
.
It was thus that Nineveh, “the rejoicing city that dwelt carelessly,
that said in her heart, I am, and there is none beside me,” became a
desolation, “empty, and void, and waste,” “the dwelling of the lions,
and the feeding place of the young lions, where the lion, even the
old lion, walked, and the lion’s whelp, and none made them afraid.”
Zephaniah 2:15
;
Nahum 2:10, 11
.
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Looking forward to the time when the pride of Assyria should be
brought low, Zephaniah prophesied of Nineveh: “Flocks shall lie down
in the midst of her, all the beasts of the nations: both the cormorant