18
Tes Pasteurs se sont endormis, ô Roi d'Assyrie ! tes hommes illustres se sont tenus dans leurs tentes; ton peuple est dispersé par les montagnes, et il n'[y a] personne qui le rassemble.
Nahum 3:18
Exploring the Meaning of Nahum 3
Napsal(a) New Christian Bible Study Staff
In Nahum 3, the inner meaning is mostly teaching us about the need to reason from a sound spiritual foundation -- to root out false ideas, adopt true ones, and genuinely live by them.
In Nahum 3:1-4, All those who would like to destroy the truths of the Lord’s church will be gathered in the spiritual world; they gravitate towards each other, and essentially form hellish societies.
This is explained further, in Nahum 3:5-7: In the spiritual world it becomes impossible for evil people to hide their true loves behind a pretense of being good.
In Nahum 3:8-17, the inner meaning is that any doctrinal truths will be forgotten by those people, because they have lost all desire to know them, and certainly all desire to use them as a guide to behavior.
Nahum 3:18 makes the point that human reason isn't a reliable foundation. Assyria stands for the ability to reason, but if it starts from an unsound framework, it's not useful.
Nahum 3:19 hammers the point home: There is nothing of any soundness left in them.
Nahum 3:8-17
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.
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.
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.
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.
