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"Your shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria"

Text: Nahum 3:18

THE DEFEAT OF THE ASSYRIAN EMPIRE

A final word had to be uttered against the Assyrians. Nahum directed his last word to the Assyrian rulers.

“Your shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria;
Your nobles rest in the dust.
Your people are scattered on the mountains,
And no one gathers them.
Your injury has no healing, your wound is severe.
All who hear news of you
Will clap their hands over you,
For upon whom has not your wickedness passed continually?”
Nahum 3:18-19

1. “O king of Assyria”

a) He was assisted by his nobles.

b) They were called “shepherds”.

c) They helped rule the sprawling Assyrian empire.

d) But what kind of shepherd-rulers were they?

i) Some were slumbering.

ii) Some others had been overly wicked.

iii) All these nobles would one day die.

Where were the rulers who were supposed to govern the Empire?

2. The people

a) They became scattered when the Babylonians attacked.

b) They fled their strongholds.

c) They could not withstand the attacks of the Babylonians.

d) They fled to the mountains and there they perished.

e) The Assyrians were so hated that no one wanted to give them decent burials. Their corpses were left to rot in the mountains!

3. The wound of the Assyrians

a) They were dealt severe blows by the Babylonians.

b) The wound inflicted was too severe to be healed.

4. Rejoicing at the defeat of the Assyrian Empire

a) The nations that had suffered terribly under the cruelty and barbarism of the Assyrians rejoiced.

b) They were clapping their hands in glee when they learned of the defeat of the Assyrian Empire!