Nahum 2:8-10

It is a frightening thing to be on the wrong side of God. He controls everything…every.little.thing. Money can become an idol and give a false sense of security in our lives personally and as a nation. 

Nothing good comes from taking advantage of others to line our own pockets.

The Babylonian Chronicles—which are tablets that record the history of Babylon—state that the amount of treasure in Nineveh was “a quantity beyond counting.” The Assyrians had collected a massive amount of wealth from looting cities like Susa, Babylon, Damascus, Samaria, Memphis, and Thebes.

Nahum’s object was to inspire his countrymen, the Jews, with the assurance that, however alarming their position might seem, exposed to the attacks of the mighty Assyrian, who had already carried away the ten tribes, yet that not only should the Assyrian (Sennacherib) fail in his attack on Jerusalem, but Nineveh, his own capital, be taken and his empire overthrown; and this, not by an arbitrary exercise of Jehovah’s power, but for the iniquities of the city and its people.  Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

Assyria had despoiled many nations, including Samaria and the cities of Israel. There seemed to be no end to the loot that could be found within its walls. Nonetheless, even Nineveh was exhausted of its treasures. At long last, it was empty.

The city will be empty of people just like a reservoir that has been drained. No one heeds the call to halt the retreat. Faithlife Bible.

The nation that had made so much of taking captives would be made a captive by others. NKJ Bible.

Nahum 2:8–10 (NKJV)

⁸ Though Nineveh of old was like a pool of water,

Now they flee away.

“Halt! Halt!” they cry;

But no one turns back.

⁹ Take spoil of silver!

Take spoil of gold!

There is no end of treasure,

Or wealth of every desirable prize.

¹⁰ She is empty, desolate, and waste!

The heart melts, and the knees shake;

Much pain is in every side,

And all their faces are drained of color.

Ezekiel 7:19 (NKJV)

¹⁹ ‘They will throw their silver into the streets,

And their gold will be like refuse;

Their silver and their gold will not be able to deliver them

In the day of the wrath of the Lord;

They will not satisfy their souls,

Nor fill their stomachs,

Because it became their stumbling block of iniquity.

Zephaniah 1:18 (NKJV)

¹⁸ Neither their silver nor their gold

Shall be able to deliver them

In the day of the Lord’s wrath;

But the whole land shall be devoured

By the fire of His jealousy,

For He will make speedy riddance

Of all those who dwell in the land.