Zephaniah Chapter Two, Desolation At The Door

Zephaniah 2:14 The herds shall lie down in her midst, every beast of the nation. Both the pelican and the bittern shall lodge on the capitals of her pillars; their voice shall sing in the windows; desolation shall be at the threshold; for He will lay bare the cedar work. [15] This is the rejoicing city that dwelt securely, that said in her heart, “I am it, and there is none besides me.” How has she become a desolation, a place for beasts to lie down! Everyone who passes by her shall hiss and shake the fist.

The description of Nineveh continues in this passage. Nineveh was a great city in Assyria, and a city that no less than two Biblical writers focused upon in the OT: Jonah and Nahum. Jonah was sent to Nineveh to preach repentance in the face of impending destruction. Nahum, however, preached against the city as a cesspool of corruption that valued trade more than human life; in fact it bartered human life for material gain.

The prophet wrote, “Woe to the bloody city! It is full of lies and robbery. Its victim never departs,” Nahum 3:1. Earlier in Nahum’s prophecy it is written, “God is jealous, and the Lord avenges; the Lord avenges and is furious. The Lord will take vengeance on His adversaries, and He reserves wrath for His enemies; The Lord is slow to anger and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked,” Nahum 1:2, 3. Nineveh is the bloody city wherein iniquity dwells in abundance. Like future Babylon in the book of Revelation, its people think very highly of their culture and economic influence, as Zephaniah attests. Like mystery Babylon, the mother of harlots, the slain are found in grotesque abundance within, Nahum 3:2, Revelation 17:5, 6. Furthermore, like the mother of harlots, Nineveh sells nations and families through her harlotry and sorcery, Nahum 3:3, Revelation 18:23, 24.

Like mystery Babylon, Nineveh becomes a representative for something greater than the city itself. Though Nineveh may be a hub through which this wickedness expressed itself, it was a part of the mighty Assyrian empire: a nation marked for its cruelty and war-mongering. The city was a figurehead for the godless politics and military advancement that devoured the land and its peoples all around them. Likewise, while some scholars want to point to Rome (the seat of Roman Catholicism's power) as mystery Babylon, and indeed the city is a hub for this terrible spiritual system (see Revelation 17:9), the city is merely a figurehead for a despicable world system that values material acquisition over the physical and spiritual welfare of humanity. Satanism is purely expressed here with the fixation of self and advancing one’s interests at any cost; it is religion simply expressed in commercial terms: the aggrandizement of self with everything (and everyone) else seen as offerings for the sacrificial fire.

The demonic spirit or influence that settled in Assyria and influenced Nineveh’s politics finds its perfect home in future Babylon, which seems to be the city of Rome in days to come. But I digress. Rather than bloody military expansion and godless commercialism we find wild beasts wandering where armies once strode. Include the pelican and the bittern, and one finds a grouping of unclean animals occupying an unclean, now desolate city due to its spiritual filthiness.

The threshold is the doorway that permits entrance, and the prophet speaks of desolation’s proximity, and how God will strip bare the finery of every home, exposing the underlying cedar work that was used to build. God describes Nineveh as a city that rejoices in itself; there is a swelling national pride. They dwelt securely, sure in their own power and influence. The prophet reveals the thoughts of the hearts of the people by saying “I am it.” More modern lingo would rephrase this as, “It’s all about me,” or “I’m all that.” Again echoing the inner monologue of Lucifer, the Ninevites, representing Assyrian pride over their neighbors, boasted in being singularly incredible. They were the pinnacle of civilization, above the savages they conquered. Nahum wrote of their military arrogance, “Where is the dwelling place of the lions, and the feeding place of the young lions, where the lions walked, the lioness and lion’s cub, and no one made them afraid? The lion tore in pieces enough for his cubs, killed for his lionesses, filled his caves with prey and his dens with flesh,” Nahum 2:11, 12.

Juxtaposed to this is the utter desolation God predicts for the bloody city, where now in her empty streets wild beasts find rest where great men of renown once walked or debated. Those outside the Assyrian pail will look upon her ruin and both hiss and shake their fists: ancient signs of derision or mockery. Unlike mystery Babylon where the men of the earth grievously mourn her passing because this spiritual system that seduced nations made them filthy rich, the nations beyond Assyria’s borders will relish her downfall for the miseries she inflicted upon her neighbors. The jewel of Assyria’s crown collapses, and the nations deride her once magnificent power, a judgment from God for her arrogance due to the brutal treatment of His people, see Zechariah 1:15 for example.