Crowned and Captains Fleeing and Unknown Nahum 3:17

The prophet Nahum continued to pronounce the destruction that was to come upon the people of Nineveh. He told them though they “have multiplied” their “merchants above the stars of heaven: the cankerworm” would “spoil” them and they would “fly away”. In chapter three and verse seventeen of his prophesy, Nahum shared concerning “the crowned and the captains” fleeing away to where their “place is not known”. We read:

Your crowned are as the locusts, and your captains as the great grasshoppers, which camp in the hedges in the cold day, but when the sun arises they flee away, and their place is not known where they are.

The verse begins, “Your crowned are as the locusts, and your captains as the great grasshoppers, which camp in the hedges in the cold day,.” Nahum began with the words, “Your crowned” which refers to “the princes, anointed and consecrated ones” “are as the locusts” which means “are like grasshoppers which are insignificant and have sudden disappearance”, “and you captains” which refers to “the scribes, officials and marshals” “as the great grasshoppers” or “the locust from it grubbing as a larvae” “which camp” or “encamp, pitch tents, abide dwell, lie and rest” “in the hedges” which means “walls and sheepfold” “in the cold day” or “in the cool division of time defined by evening and morning”. Those who were “the princes, scribes, officials and consecrated ones” were like the hidden “locusts and grasshoppers” within the “sheepfolds” of the city.

The verse goes on to say, “but when the sun arises they flee away, and their place is not known where they are.” Nahum added, “but” which is a disassociation conjunction that means what is about to be stated takes precedence over what was just written, “when the sun arises” or “at the time of the sun-rising or breaking forth” “they flee away” which means “depart, move, wander abroad, stray and flutter”, “and their place” or “standing place, station, post, office, city, land and region” “is not known” which means “perceive, find out and discern” “where they are” or “their location and place”. Once the “morning light” came forth, the “crowned and captains” run away to “unknown” places.

When we consider these words of Nahum, we see how the ranking people and hierarchy within the city of Nineveh positioned themselves in high places until the “heat of the battle”. At that point, they run, and no one can find them. Thus is the case with everyone who enjoys great positions among men and does not know Jesus Christ as Savior and LORD. No position, authority or exalted one will be able to use their station as a defense against the battlement and judgment of God. The time for humility and repentance is now, and no matter what place we hold among men let us allow the LORD Jesus to be our defense before we seek to “run and hide”.

Next time Nahum shares about “the shepherds, the nobles and the people”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.