Where are the leaders? Where did the people go? Nahum 3:17-19

Good morning my dear friends!  God is good all the time, all the time God is good.  TOO BLESSED TO BE STRESSED!!
   We are looking at the end of Nahum.  Just a history note - what would your reaction be, or how would you feel if you were gone from your home area for a short time and when you returned -- IT WAS NO MORE!?
   1992Cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev returned to Earth from the Mir space station after a 10-month stay, during which his native country, the Soviet Union, ceased to exist.  Wow!  No more Soviet Union - how would you feel had this been you?
    This is what Nahum is telling Nineveh is going to happen - they will cease to exist.  They don't believe him.  If I told you America was going to cease to exist -- would you believe me?  Probably not!  Same type of situation and reaction.   

    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.

    The leaders of the day in Nineveh were concerned only about their own wealth and not the needs of the people. Hmm - sound familiar? This is compared to locusts and grasshoppers - who ravage at night and go away in the day.  Can you spell A P A T H Y ?
   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.
    This is simply saying the nobles, the officials are experiencing death and the people are fleeing to the mountains and Nineveh is captured by the invaders.  No one to stand tall and fight.  
    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?
  Nineveh is receiving the death blow and no one will come to her aid. They hear the "bruit" (Heb Sheima meaning report) and all will rejoice.  Remember, Nineveh was an evil Assyrian city of 600,000+ and were cruel, even to their own people.
    If you do not take anything away from this study please remember a couple of things.  God is always faithful to His own people (today's Christians); any nation that oppresses God's people seals its own death warrant.  God promised Abraham that He would bless the one who blessed him and would curse the one who cursed him.  Nineveh was a great oppressor of God's people, judged and condemned.  Look around today -- do you see this happening not just in America, but al over the world?  IN GOD WE TRUST!!  Love you all.
In Christ's Love and Grace
    Johnny