Prophet Nahum brings the questions of the Lord in Nahum 2:11. God questions “Where is the dwelling of the lions?”, “Where is the devouring (feeding) place of the young lions?”, “Where is the lion, the old lion and the lion’s whelp (young)?” Nahum 2:12 states that lions tore their prey for their young and choked the life out of (strangled) their prey for their lionesses, filling their holes and dens with prey. The lions here refer to the Assyrian kings (rulers) (Jeremiah 50:17) and their whelps refers to the princes, who oppressed and afflicted many nations (prey) before their queens (lionesses) and their young ones (whelps), filling their own homes (holes) and palaces (dens) with their conquests. The identity of the lion (the old lion) is not explicitly stated, but some scholars think that it is a reference to the Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar who is likened to a lion (Jeremiah 50:17), but a more plausible reference, as some other scholars feel, is that the reference to the lion (old lion) is to Nimrod (which means – the rebel), the great hunter of ancient (old) times, who built the city of Nineveh (Genesis 10:8-12). When the Assyrian rulers (Tiglathpileser (2Kings 15:29), Shalmaneser (2 Kings 18:9), Sargon (Isaiah 20:1), Sennacherib (2 Kings 18:13) , Esarhaddon (Ezra 4:2)) were in power, as the king of their pride, there was no one to make them afraid (Nahum 2:11). But it was decreed (Huzzab) that Nineveh will be like a pool that is being drained and the dwelling and feeding place of these lions (rulers) and their young (princes) will being laid waste, bare and desolate (Nahum 2:7-8; Nahum 2:11), for the Lord God was against them (Nahum 2:13). The devouring lions shall be devoured themselves by the sword of the Spirit of the Lord (Nahum 2:13), which is His Word, his Decree (Ephesians 6:17).
Points to ponder:
The devil is the ancient (old) Assyrian who rebelled against the Lord (Isaiah 14:25; Revelation 12:9). As God’s adversary and rebel, the devil is like a roaring lion, roaming about, seeking whom he may devour (1 Peter 5:8). The devil was vanquished and defeated by Jesus Christ (1 John 3:8), the Lion of the tribe of Judah (Revelation 5:5), on the Cross, once and for all. The devil’s dwelling and devouring place, which is this world (2 Corinthians 4:4), wherein he has dominion presently, shall one day be replaced by the new heaven and new earth (Revelation 21:1), in which only the Lion of the tribe of Judah shall reign forever. God shall then ask – Where is the lion?
What are the lions in your life that intimidate and afflict you? Trust in the Lion of the Tribe of Judah and believe in him to become adopted into his pride, for He can vanquish and completely destroy all the lions in your life. Do you belong to the pride of the One True Lion – Jesus Christ?
Nahum 2:11-13 (KJV)
11 Where is the dwelling of the lions, and the feedingplace of the young lions, where the lion, even the old lion, walked, and the lion’s whelp, and none made them afraid?
12 The lion did tear in pieces enough for his whelps, and strangled for his lionesses, and filled his holes with prey, and his dens with ravin.
13 Behold, I am against thee, saith the Lord of hosts, and I will burn her chariots in the smoke, and the sword shall devour thy young lions: and I will cut off thy prey from the earth, and the voice of thy messengers shall no more be heard.
