Zephaniah 2:15

"This is the joyous city that dwelt carelessly, that said in her heart, I am, and there is none besides me: how is she become a desolation, a place for beasts to lie down in! Every one that passeth by her shall hiss, and wag his head."

"Shall hiss, and wag his head ..." That such scornful and deprecatory conduct really occurred during the generations that knew the proud Nineveh would appear to have been certain, as attested by the traditions that survived into the times of Xenophon. (See quotation from Smith under Zephaniah 2:13, above.)

"I am, and there is none besides me ..." "Thus, in effect, Nineveh claimed for herself the attributes of Almighty God. In this, she stands alone, mistress among nations, a type of the powers of this world which deify themselves and defy the Lord."<32a> This is also revealed as the attitude of the great whore depicted in the prophecy of Revelation (Revelation 18:7). "These words also echo Isaiah (Isaiah 47:8)."[33]

In our study of Nahum, above, it was pointed out that Assyria, the second head of the scarlet Sea Beast of Revelation 13, was for centuries a focal point of the world's rebellion against God. In her judgment and destruction, therefore, there is contained the prophecy of the ultimate overthrow of all successive crystallizations of human opposition to the will of God. It is in this context that the prophecy exhibits such striking echoes of eternal judgment. Assyria was preceded by Egypt and followed by Babylon in the progression of the Scarlet Beast throughout history, one head after another rising to oppose God and then falling under his judgment.

Note on Zephaniah 2:11. Before leaving this chapter, we wish to call attention once more to the prophecy in Zephaniah 2:11, that "God will famish all the gods of earth." This never happened until the times of the Messiah. It is true, of course, that Israel no longer worshipped the pagan gods of Canaan after the Babylonian captivity; but the whole world lay in idolatry until the times of Jesus and for nearly four centuries afterwards. The entire Pantheon of the pagan deities was very much alive and in business during the first century when the savage persecutions were mounted against Christianity.

And yet the prophecy was indeed fulfilled. The Emperor Theodosius in 389 A.D. outlawed the pagan temples and proscribed the worship of pagan deities. As Hailey expressed it, "Men would see God's glory and worship him. The idols are long since gone."[34] Yes, there are still idols that are worshipped by men; but, as for that great Pantheon of the gods of Greece and Rome, no vestige of them whatever may be found in the whole world.