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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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<h3><a href="http://www.biblesnet.com" target="_blank">Back to Biblesnet.com Home Page</a>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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<TD ALIGN="RIGHT" VALIGN="TOP">
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1712)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>N A H U M.</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. II.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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</CENTER>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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We now come closer to Nineveh, that great city; she took, not warning
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by the destruction of her armies and the fall of her king, and
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therefore may expect, since she persists in her enmity to God, that he
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will proceed in his controversy with her. Here is foretold,
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I. The approach of the enemy that should destroy Nineveh, and the
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terror of his military preparations,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Na+2:1-5">ver. 1-5</A>.
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II. The taking of the city,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Na+2:6">ver. 6</A>.
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III. The captivity of the queen, the flight of the inhabitants, the
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seizing of all its wealth, and the great consternation it should be in,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Na+2:7-10">ver. 7-10</A>.
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IV. All this is traced up to its true causes--their sinning against God
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and God's appearing against them,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Na+2:11-13">ver. 11-13</A>.
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All this was fulfilled when Nebuchadnezzar, in the first year of his
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reign, in conjunction with Cyaxares, or Ahasuerus, king of the Medes,
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conquered Nineveh, and made himself master of the Assyrian
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monarchy.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Na2_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Na2_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Na2_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Na2_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Na2_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Na2_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Na2_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Na2_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Na2_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Na2_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Judgment of Nineveh.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 710.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 He that dasheth in pieces is come up before thy face: keep
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the munition, watch the way, make <I>thy</I> loins strong, fortify
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<I>thy</I> power mightily.
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2 For the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> hath turned away the excellency of Jacob, as the
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excellency of Israel: for the emptiers have emptied them out, and
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marred their vine branches.
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3 The shield of his mighty men is made red, the valiant men
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<I>are</I> in scarlet: the chariots <I>shall be</I> with flaming torches in
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the day of his preparation, and the fir trees shall be terribly
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shaken.
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4 The chariots shall rage in the streets, they shall justle one
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against another in the broad ways: they shall seem like torches,
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they shall run like the lightnings.
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5 He shall recount his worthies: they shall stumble in their
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walk; they shall make haste to the wall thereof, and the defence
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shall be prepared.
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6 The gates of the rivers shall be opened, and the palace shall
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be dissolved.
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7 And Huzzab shall be led away captive, she shall be brought
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up, and her maids shall lead <I>her</I> as with the voice of doves,
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tabering upon their breasts.
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8 But Nineveh <I>is</I> of old like a pool of water: yet they shall
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flee away. Stand, stand, <I>shall they cry;</I> but none shall look
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back.
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9 Take ye the spoil of silver, take the spoil of gold: for
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<I>there is</I> none end of the store <I>and</I> glory out of all the
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pleasant furniture.
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10 She is empty, and void, and waste: and the heart melteth,
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and the knees smite together, and much pain <I>is</I> in all loins,
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and the faces of them all gather blackness.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Here is,
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I. An alarm of war sent to Nineveh,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Na+2:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>.
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The prophet speaks of it as just at hand, for it is neither doubtful
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nor far distant: "Look about thee, and see, <I>he that dashes in pieces
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has come up before thy face.</I> Nebuchadnezzar, who is noted, and will
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be yet more so, for dashing nations in pieces, begins with thee, and
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will dissipate and disperse thee;" so some render the word. Babylon is
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called the <I>hammer of the whole earth,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+50:23">Jer. l. 23</A>.
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The attempt of Nebuchadnezzar upon Nineveh is public, bold, and daring:
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"He <I>has come up before thy face,</I> avowing his design to ruin
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thee; and therefore stand to thy arms, <I>O Nineveh! keep the
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munition;</I> secure thy towers and magazines: <I>watch the way;</I>
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set guards upon all the avenues to the city; <I>make thy loins
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strong;</I> encourage thy soldiers; animate thyself and them;
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<I>fortify thy power mightily,</I> as cities do when an enemy is
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advancing against them" (this is spoken ironically); "do the utmost
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thou canst, yet thou shalt not be able to put by the stroke of this
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judgment, for <I>there is no counsel or strength against the
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Lord.</I>"</P>
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<P>
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II. A manifesto published, showing the causes of the war
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Na+2:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>):
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<I>The Lord has turned away the excellency of Jacob, as the excellency
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of Israel,</I> that is,
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1. The Assyrians have been abusive to Jacob, the two tribes (have
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humbled and mortified them), as well as to Israel, the ten tribes,
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<I>have emptied them, and marred their vine-branches.</I> For this God
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will reckon with them; though done long since, it shall come into the
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account now against that kingdom, and Nineveh the head-city of it.
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God's quarrel with them is <I>for the violence done to Jacob.</I> Or,
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(2.) God is now by Nebuchadnezzar about <I>to turn away the pride of
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Jacob</I> by the captivity of the two tribes, as he did the pride of
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Israel by their captivity; He has determined to do it, to bring
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<I>emptiers</I> upon them, and the enemy that is to do it must begin
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with Nineveh, and reduce that first, and humble the pride of that. God
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is looking upon proud cities, and abasing them, even those that are
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nearest to him. Samaria is humbled, and Jerusalem is to be humbled, and
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their pride brought low; and shall not Nineveh, that proud city, be
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brought down too? <I>Emptiers have emptied</I> the cities, <I>and
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marred the vine-branches</I> in the country of Jacob and Israel; and
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must not the excellency of Nineveh, that is so much her pride, be
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turned away too?</P>
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<P>
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III. A particular account given in of the terrors wherein the invading
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enemy shall appear against Nineveh; every thing shall contribute to
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make him formidable.
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1. <I>The shields of his mighty men are made red,</I> and probably
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their other arms and array, as if they were already tinctured with the
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blood they had shed, or intended hereby to signify they would put all
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to the sword; they hung out a red flag, in token that they would give
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no quarter.
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2. <I>The valiant men are in scarlet;</I> not only red clothes, to
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intimate what bloody work they designed to make, but rich clothes, to
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intimate the wealth of the army, and that is the sinews of war.
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3. <I>The chariots shall be with flaming torches in the day of his
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preparation;</I> when they are making their approaches, they shall fly
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as swiftly as lightning; the wheels shall strike fire upon the stones,
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and those that drive them shall drive furiously with a flaming
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indignation, as Jehu drove. Or they carried flaming torches with them
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in the open chariots, when they made their approach in the night, as
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Gideon's soldiers carried lamps in their pitchers, to be both a guide
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to themselves and a terror to their enemies, and with them to set all
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on fire wherever they went.
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4. <I>The fir-trees shall be terribly shaken;</I> the great men of
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Nineveh, that overtop their neighbours, as the stately firs do the
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shrubs; or the very standing trees shall be made to shake by the
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violent concussions of the earth, which that great army shall cause.
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5. The chariots of war shall be very terrible
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Na+2:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>):
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<I>They shall rage in the streets,</I> that is, those that drive them
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shall rage; you would think the chariots themselves raged; they shall
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be so numerous, and drive with so much fury, that even <I>in the broad
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ways,</I> where, one would think, there should be room enough, they
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shall <I>jostle one another;</I> and these iron chariots shall be made
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so bright that in the beams of the sun <I>they shall seem like
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torches</I> in the night; they shall <I>run like the lightnings,</I> so
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swiftly, so furiously. Nebuchadnezzar's commanders are here called his
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<I>worthies,</I> his <I>gallants</I> (so the margin reads it), his
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<I>heroes;</I> those <I>he shall recount,</I> and order them
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immediately and without fail to render themselves at their respective
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posts, for he is entering upon action, is resolved to take the field
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immediately, and to open the campaign with the siege of Nineveh. <I>His
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worthies shall remember</I> (so some read it); they shall be mindful of
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the duty of their place, and the charge they have received, and shall
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thereby be made so intent upon their business that they <I>shall
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stumble in their walks,</I> shall make more haste than good speed; they
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stumble, but shall not fall; for <I>they shall make haste to the wall
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thereof,</I> shall open the trenches; and the defence, or the covered
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way, shall be prepared (something to shelter them from the darts of the
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besieged), and they shall so closely carry on the siege, and with so
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much vigour, that at length the <I>gates of the rivers shall be
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opened</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Na+2:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>);
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those gates of Nineveh which open upon the river Tigris (on which
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Nineveh was built) shall be first forced by, or betrayed to, the enemy,
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and by those gates they shall enter. And then the <I>palace shall be
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dissolved,</I> either the king's house or the house of Nisroch his god;
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the same word signifies both a palace and a temple. When the God of
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heaven goes forth to contend with a people, neither the palaces nor
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their kings, neither the temples nor their gods, can protect and
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shelter them, but must all inevitably fall with them.</P>
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<P>
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IV. A prediction of the consequences of this; and it is easy to guess
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how dismal those will be.
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1. The queen shall fall into the hands of the enemy
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Na+2:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>):
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<I>Huzzab shall be led away captive;</I> she that was
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<I>established</I> (so some read it), thought herself safe because she
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was concealed and shut up in secret, shall be <I>discovered</I> (so the
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margin reads it) and shall be led <I>away captive,</I> in greater
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disgrace than that of common prisoners; she shall be <I>brought up</I>
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in a mock state, <I>and her maids</I> of honour <I>shall lead her,</I>
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because she is weak and faint, not able to bear such frights and
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hardships, which are doubly hard and frightful to those that have not
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been used to them; they shall attend her, not to speak cheerfully to
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her and to encourage her, but murmuring and moaning themselves, as
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<I>with the voice of doves,</I> the <I>doves of the valleys</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+7:16">Ezek. vii. 16</A>),
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noted for their <I>mourning,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+38:14,59:11">Isa. xxxviii. 14; lix. 11</A>.
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They shall be <I>tabering upon their breasts,</I> beating their own
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breasts in grief and vexation, as if they were <I>drumming</I> upon
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them, for so the word signifies.
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2. The inhabitants, though numerous, shall none of them be able to
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make head against the invaders, or stand their ground
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Na+2:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>):
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<I>Nineveh is of old like a pool of water,</I> replenished with people
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as a pool with water (and <I>waters</I> signify <I>multitudes,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Re+17:15">Rev. xvii. 15</A>),
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or as those waters with fish; it was long ago a populous city; in
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Jonah's time there were 120,000 little children in it
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jon+4:11">Jonah iv. 11</A>),
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and, ordinarily, cities and countries are increasing in their number
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every year; but, though they have so many hands to be employed in the
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public service, yet they shall not be able to inspire one another with
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courage, but <I>they shall flee away like cowards.</I> Their commanders
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shall do what they can to animate them; they shall cry, "<I>Stand,
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stand,</I> have a good heart on it, and we shall do well enough;"
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<I>but none shall</I> so much as <I>look back;</I> they shall not have
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the least spark of courage remaining, but every one shall think it is
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his wisest course to make his best of the opportunity to escape; they
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shall not so much as look back to see who calls for them. Note, God can
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dispirit the strongest and boldest, in the day of distress, so that
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they shall not be what one would expect from them, but <I>like a pool
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of water,</I> the water whereof is dried up and gone.
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3. The wealth of the city shall become a prey, and all its rich
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furniture shall fall into the hands of the victorious enemy
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Na+2:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>);
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they shall thus animate and excite one another to plunder: <I>Take the
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spoil of silver; take the spoil of gold;</I> thus the officers shall
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stir up the soldiers to improve their opportunity; here are silver and
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gold enough for them, for <I>there is no end of the store of money and
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plate.</I> Nineveh, having been <I>of old like a pool of water,</I> has
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gathered a vast deal of mud; and abundance of glory it has <I>out of
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all the pleasant furniture,</I> all the <I>vessels of desire,</I> which
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they have gloried in and which shall now be a prey and a pride to the
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conquerors. Note, Those who prepare raiment as the clay, and heap up
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silver as the dust, know not who may put on the raiment and divide the
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silver,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+27:16,17">Job xxvii. 16, 17</A>.
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Thus this rich city is empty, and void, and waste,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Na+2:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>.
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See the vanity of worldly wealth; instead of defending its owners, it
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does but expose them, and enable their enemies to do them so much the
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more mischief.
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4. The soldiers and people shall have no heart to appear for the
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defence of the city. Their spirits shall <I>melt</I> away like wax
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before the fire; their <I>knees shall smite together</I> (as
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Belshazzar's did, in his agony,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+5:6">Dan. v. 6</A>),
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so that they shall not be able to stand their ground, no, nor to make
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their escape; <I>much pain</I> shall be <I>in all loins,</I> as is the
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case in extreme frights, so that they shall not be able to hold up
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their backs. And the <I>faces of them all shall gather blackness,</I>
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like that of a pot that is every day over the fire; so the word
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signifies. Note, Guilt in the conscience will fill men with terror in
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an evil day, and those who place their happiness in the wealth of this
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world and set their hearts upon it think themselves undone when their
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silver, and their gold, and their pleasant furniture are taken from
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them.</P>
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<A NAME="Na2_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="Na2_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="Na2_13"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Judgment of Nineveh.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 710.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>11 Where <I>is</I> the dwelling of the lions, and the feeding-place
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of the young lions, where the lion, <I>even</I> the old lion, walked,
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<I>and</I> the lion's whelp, and none made <I>them</I> afraid?
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12 The lion did tear in pieces enough for his whelps, and
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strangled for his lionesses, and filled his holes with prey, and
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his dens with ravin.
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13 Behold, I <I>am</I> against thee, saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> of hosts, and I
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will burn her chariots in the smoke, and the sword shall devour
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thy young lions: and I will cut off thy prey from the earth, and
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the voice of thy messengers shall no more be heard.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Here we have Nineveh's ruin,
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1. Triumphed in by its neighbours, who now remember against it all the
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oppressions and abuse of power it had been guilty of in its pomp and
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prosperity
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Na+2:11,12"><I>v.</I> 11, 12</A>):
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<I>Where is the dwelling of the lions?</I> It is gone; there appear no
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remnants, no footsteps, of it. <I>Where is the feeding place of the
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young lions,</I> where they glutted themselves with prey? The princes
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of Nineveh had been as lions, as beasts of prey; cruel tyrants are no
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better, nay, in this respect much worse--that, being men, humanity is
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expected from them; nay, if they were indeed lions, they would not prey
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upon those of their own kind. <I>Savis inter se convenit
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ursæ--Fierce bears agree together.</I> But in the shape of men
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they had the cruelty of lions: they walked in Nineveh as a lion in the
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woods, and <I>none made them afraid;</I> every one stood in awe of
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them, and they were under no apprehensions of danger from any; though
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nobody loved them, every body feared them, and that was all they
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desired. <I>Oderint, dum metuant--Let them hate, so that they do but
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fear.</I> The king himself, as well as every prince, made it his
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business, by all the arts of violence and extortion, to enrich himself
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and raise his family; he did <I>tear in pieces enough for his
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whelps</I> (and no little would be enough for them) and he <I>strangled
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for his lioness,</I> killed all that came near him, and seized what
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they had for his children, for his wives and concubines, and <I>filled
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his holes with prey and his dens with ravin,</I> as lions are wont to
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do. Note, Many make it an excuse for their rapine and injustice that
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they have wives and children to provide for, whereas what is so got
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will never do them any good; those that <I>fear the Lord,</I> and get
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what they have honestly, shall not want a competency for themselves and
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theirs; <I>verily they shall be fed,</I> when <I>the young lions,</I>
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though dens and holes were <I>filled with prey and ravin</I> for them,
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<I>shall lack, and suffer hunger,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+34:10">Ps. xxxiv. 10</A>.
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2. It is avowed by the righteous Judge of heaven and earth; it is his
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doing, and let all the world take notice that it is so
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Na+2:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>):
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<I>Behold, I am against thee, saith the Lord of hosts.</I> And what
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good can hosts do for her in her defence, when <I>the Lord of hosts</I>
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is against her for her destruction? The oppressors in Nineveh thought
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they only set their neighbours against them, who were not a match for
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them, and whom they could easily overpower; but it proved they set God
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|
against them, who is, and will be, the asserter of right and the
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avenger of wrong. God is against the princes of Nineveh, and then,
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(1.) These military preparations will stand them in no stead: <I>I will
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burn their chariots in the smoke;</I> he does not say <I>in the
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fire,</I> but, in contempt of them, the very <I>smoke</I> of God's
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indignation shall serve to burn their chariots; they shall be consumed
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as soon as the fire of his indignation is kindled, while as yet it does
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but smoke, and not flame out. Or, The drivers of the chariots shall be
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smothered and stifled with the smoke; then the <I>chariots of their
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glory</I> shall be the shame of their families,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+22:18">Isa. xxii. 18</A>.
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(2.) Their children, the hopes of their families, shall be cut off:
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<I>The sword shall devour the young lions,</I> whom they were so
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|
solicitous to provide for by oppression and extortion. Note, It is
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|
just with God to deprive those of their children, or (which is all one)
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|
of comfort in them, that take sinful courses to enrich them, and (as
|
|
has been said of some) damn their souls to make their sons gentlemen.
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(3.) The wealth they have heaped up by fraud and violence shall neither
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be enjoyed by them nor employed for them: <I>I will cut off thy prey
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|
from the earth;</I> not only thou shalt not be the better for it, but
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|
no one else shall. Some understand it of the disabling of them for the
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|
future to prey upon their neighbours.
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(4.) Their agents abroad shall not have that respect from their
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neighbours and that influence upon them which sometimes they had had:
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<I>The voice of thy messengers shall no more be heard,</I> no more be
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heeded, which some think refers to Rabshakeh, one of Nineveh's
|
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messengers, that had blasphemed the living God, an iniquity which was
|
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remembered against Nineveh long after. Those are not worthy to be heard
|
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again that have once spoken reproachfully of God.</P>
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