The destruction of the Assyrians in the year 612 B.C… by the Chaldeans and Medians

........GA terrible and reckless form of anti-SemitismG......

The modern designation " Assyrians" is invented by the English missionaries  who gave this name to the East-Aramean Nestorians in order to form a militant youth organisation for their political plan in Iraq . More about this:

A few persons have asked the following questions:

• There are some people among our community, who propagate the Assyriasm, how should we deal with this subject?
• Do the ancient Assyrians still exist today?
• What does the Bible tells us about this issue?

There are some people who attack the Old Testament. They say, among others, that the Jews have changed the Old Testament and therefore the Old Testament is not valid. In my article "The Holy Book the Bible, old-fashioned, outdated? Is the Bible still valid? Why should a Christian study the Bible? How about the Old Testament?" I have refuted all of these attacks on the Holy Book the Bible, including the validity of the Old Testament.

Remark 2:

  Before answering these questions, the opinion of Patriarch Afrem Barsauwm will be presented. Patriarch Afrem Barsauwm (1933-1957) made a research^[1] to the identity of the Syrian Church. In his conclusion, he says about those who propagate the name "Assyrians": "The "Assyrian" name is the English Protestant invention going back to 1900 A.D. It was bequeathed to the Nestorians in the regions of Mosul 1919-1920 A.D. for a malicious, political purpose, so that the English politicians might create for themselves out of the Nestorian youth a militia they named "Assyrian" aiming at the realisation of their political plan in Iraq, a plan which failed in 1933 and resulted in the exile of the Katholikos of the Nestorians and his exile from the country with his followers, the result being that all the nations refused to permit his return to the near East.

The journalist Albert Stol has quoted in his book^[2], a several writers to investigate the origin of the name "Assyrians" by which the Nestorians are named. Albert Stol tells us that the present-day Chaldeans and the Nestortians belong to the same people. After the schism inside the Nestorian Church, the separated part called themselves however Chaldeans to express the difference between them and the other part of the Nestorians. The Chaldeans accepted after the schism, the authority of the Pope of Rome and they became in this way his subjects. Stol tells,, In the seventeenth century the Roman Catholic church decide to call the group, who was acceded to the Catholic Church, henceforth by the name "Chaldeans"; because the name Nestorians was a " heretical" name".

On page 18 he is quoting Professor Joseph en says,, In his book^[3] 'The Nestorians and their Muslim Neighbours' the American Nestorian Professor Joseph has made a successful attempt to put order in confusion which is still caused by books which point out that the present-day Assyrians are the descendants of the historical Assyrians in Nineveh."

On page 20 we read,, The other interesting subject to which Professor Joseph is paying attention is the Assyrian name". Stol quotes Joseph and says,, When in 1842 and 1845 the France consul Botta and the Englishman Layard, opened up the remains of Nineveh with their excavations for the astonished world; the Chaldeans who were living in the neighbourhood of Nineveh became the centre of the excited European attention. They might be the direct descendants of the old Empires of Chaldea and Assyria. Layard, the hero of the Assyrian excavations, shouted from the housetops, that the Chaldeans and the Nestorians indeed are the remains of the Assyria and Nineveh as the destroyed palaces are "

He continues further and quotes Professor Joseph,, While the name "Chaldeans" was related to those who were united with Rome, the twin name "Assyrians" were given to the Nestorians, who began henceforth also to use this name. Like the Roman-Catholic church had popularised the name "Chaldeans", in the same way the Anglican (=English) mission did with the name "Assyrians" "

From the previous, it is clear that the English Protestants gave the name "Assyrians" to the Nestorians. The Nestorians began to appropriate and propagate this name. This is also exactly in accordance with that which is concluded by Patriarch Afrem Barsauwm.

As we have read, Professor Joseph is descendant of the Nestorians. We might say that Joseph actually doesn't agree with those writers who gave his people the name "Assyrians". Those people, among the Nestorians who are glorifying Assyriasm, should follow the example of Joseph and stop with this nonsense.

Albert Stol goes further and says,, The theory that the Nestorians and their, so called Chaldeans brothers, were directly descended from the old Assyrians, was mainly propagated by the Anglican clergyman W. A. Wigram^[4], who made the name known in his books ,, The Assyrians and their Neighbour'' and ,,Our Smallest alley".

From the previous, it is very clear that the Nestorians have nothing to do with the old Assyrians. They got this "strange name" from the English Protestants and were misled by them. They forgot their own Aramean origin and exchanged it for the strange name "Assyrian". The Nestorians got this name from the English people on the basis of their expressions, their way of live and on the basis of their clothing.

Nowadays, we have also to do with exactly the same problem! Some Dutch people say to us,, You are a Turk and so you are a Muslim. You have the same skin colour, the same culture, the same expressions and the same clothing, so, you are a Turk". Many of us cannot convince them, that we are not Turkish. Because they say,, Your face, your walking, everything you have is similar, so you are a Turk"

Such as, we have ethnical nothing to do with the Turks, in the same way the present-day Nestorians and others who call themselves "Assyrians" have no connection whatsoever with the old Assyrians.

After I have discussed the view of Patriarch Afrem Barsauwm and Albert Stol, in the following I would like to explain in detail the destruction of the Assyrians by the Lord, the Creator of heaven and earth, who deserve all honour and dignity, amen.

The holy book, the Bible makes mention of a great and very strong Assyrian Empire. The many kings of the Assyrians even saw themselves as gods. They were always acting in the opposite against the God of Israel. They always showed the strength and the proud of their god (a statue of a half human being and half bull) against the Lord Almighty. They wanted to demonstrate that their god was even more strongly than the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Before telling about the destruction of the Assyrians, first we have to answer these questions:

• What sort of Empire was the Assyrian Empire?
• How was their behaviour against the people of Israel?
• And how was their behaviour against the Lord?

I will give an example to show you that the Assyrian Empire was indeed a Satanic Empire. Yes, it was the Empire of the evil. The example I will discuss, is the struggle between the king Hezekiah of Judaea, with his royal residence in Jerusalem, and King Sennacherib of Asshur. King Hezekiah was a very religious man and he relied only on the Almighty God. In that period the people of Israel were divided in two parts. The strong and solid Empire which was created by King Salomon, had fallen in two groups in the year 931 BC.

The tribes Judah and Benjamin formed one group and they had Jerusalem as their capital city and were called kingdom of Judah, or the southern kingdom. The other ten tribes had Samaria as their capital city. This Northern Kingdom was called Israel. The Assyrians had conquered the kingdom of Israel in 722 BC (2 Kings 17:1-6).

Now they also wanted to conquer the kingdom of Judah. King Sannecherib wanted especially to conquer Jerusalem. When Sannecherib took the power over Assyria, he made the Empire more and more powerful. He was a very famous and dreaded king, because he had conquered a lot of nations in the region. One time he began to take an expedition to Jerusalem to conquer the city. I would like to discuss his attempt to conquer Jerusalem.

In 2 Kings 18:13 we read: "In the fourteenth year of the reign of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib, the emperor of Assyria, attacked the fortified cities of Judah and conquered them."

We know that King Hezekiah ruled the Kingdom Judah between 715-686 B.C. Since Sennacherib in the fourteenth year of the reign of King Hezekiah had attacked Judah, this must happened approximately in the year 701 B.C.

As we can read, Sennacherib had already made some success, because he had conquered the fortified (well defended, very strong) cities of Judah. We could say, that under these circumstances, the Kingdom of Judah had to collapse. But as we shall see later on, the Lord will intervene and help King Hezekiah.

Because King Hezekiah was very afraid of King Sennacherib, he paid him tax in the form of 9000 kilo silver and 900 kilo gold (verse 15). King Hezekiah kept him in this way satisfied. But, unfortunately, King Sennacherib was not satisfied with this offer of Hezekiah and had intention at all costs to conquer Jerusalem.

In 2 Kings 18:17 we read: "The Assyrian emperor sent a large army from Lachish (his headquarters) to attack Hezekiah at Jerusalem; it was commanded by his three highest officials. When they arrived at Jerusalem, they occupied the road where the clothmakers work, by the ditch that brings water from the upper pond."

It was a very large and powerful army, so it probably made a great impression on the people. King Hezekiah was certainly impressed by the power of this large army. This could be compared with the operation "Desert Storm", by which the Americans and their allied liberated Kuwait. It was a very well trained and equipped army. Who was able to stop such army? Nobody would be a match for this army; this was for sure the idea of Sennacherib. He relied for hundred percent on the power of his strong army. But, as we shall see later on, the Lord will destroy this enormous army and the pride of Sennacherib will be broken. The fact that the king of Asshur sent his three highest officials makes it clear that conquering Jerusalem was a ver high priority. It was, so to say, a case of honour for Sennacherib. By conquering Jerusalem, he wanted to show his power and strength to the world.

In 2 Kings 18:18-22 we read: "Then they send for King Hezekiah, and three of his officials went out to meet them: Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who was in charge of the palace; Shebna, the court secretary; and Joah son of Asaph , who was in charge of the records. One of the Assyrian officials told them that the emperor wanted to know what made King Hezekiah so confident. He demanded, ‘Do you think that words can take the place of military skill and might? Who do you think will help you rebel against Assyria? You are expecting Egypt to help you, but that would be like using a reed as a walking stick- it would break and jab your hand. That is what the king of Egypt is like anyone relies on him". The Assyrian official went on, " Or will you tell me that you are relying on the Lord your God?"

We see that King Hezekiah is sending his high officials to hear the message from the King of Asshur. They started the message with: "…that the emperor wanted to know what made King Hezekiah so confident.." In other words, who is strong enough to stop the great king of Asshur? Who is like him?

The behaviour of the Assyrians tells something about their arrogance and proud. They wanted to express that there is nobody who can escape from the power of the King Sennacherib. In other words, how dare you King Hezekiah, to neglect the power of the king of Asshur? There is nobody who can match Sennacherib, the great king of Asshur. That is the message they wanted convey to king Hezekiah and his officials. The officials of Sennacherib went on with their message, "Who do you think will help you rebel against Assyria? You are expecting Egypt to help you, but that would be like using a reed as a walking stick- it would break and jab your hand. That is what the king of Egypt is like anyone relies on him"

In other words, who is a match for me? Who can stop me, the great king of Asshur? (Compare this with Isaiah 44:6-7). Are you expecting help from the King of Egypt? He is nothing compared with me! He will be broken just in a second, if I want to. That is why you, King Hezekiah, should obey me, King Sennacherib, the great King of Asshur, who is the most powerful king. There is and there will be nobody able to save you from me! In this way they speak in a threatening way to King Hezekiah and his officials.

What a terrible mistake the Assyrians have made here! It is the biggest mistake people can make to challenge and insult the Lord Almighty. Here we can see their hatred and contempt for the Lord. They say in a very condescendingly way, "Or will you tell me that you are relying on the Lord your God?"… In other words, your God is nothing in comparison with the King of Asshur. What can he do for you? The great King of Asshur will also punish your God. By this behaviour, the Assyrians are insulting the Majesty and the Holiness of the Lord in a ridiculous and foolish way. They handle in a very conceited and despised way against the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of Israel.

The Bible says,, Worthless wicked people go around telling lies. They wink and make gestures to deceive you, all the while planning evil in their perverted minds, stirring up trouble everywhere. Because of this, disaster will strike them without warning, and they will be fatally wounded" (Proverbs 6:12-15)

The officials of Sennacherib tried to persuade the people of Jerusalem to submit to the King of Asshur. They tried to scare the people of Jerusalem as we can read in 2 Kings 18:28-35 " Then the officials stood up and shouted in Hebrew, ‘Listen to what the emperor of Assyria is telling you! He warns you not to let Hezekiah deceive you. Hezekiah can’t save you. And don’t let him persuade you to rely on the Lord. Don’t think that the Lord will save you, and that he will stop our Assyrian army from capturing your city. Don’t listen to Hezekiah. The emperor of Assyria commands you to come out of the city and surrender. You will all be allowed to eat grapes from your own vines, and figs from your own trees, and to drink water from your own wells-until the emperor resettles you in a country much like your own, where there are vineyards to give wine and there is corn for making bread; it is a land of olives, olive-oil, and honey. If you do what he commands, you will not die, but live. Don’t let Hezekiah fool you into thinking that the Lord will rescue you. Did the gods of any other nations save their countries from the emperor of Assyria? Where are they now, the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah? Did anyone save Samaria? When did any of the gods of all these countries ever save their country from our emperor? Then what makes you think the Lord can save Jerusalem?

The Assyrians make a lot of promises to mislead the people of Jerusalem in order to surrender them. They are doing this by pronouncing lies, slander and falsehood. They distort the truth through which, they hope the people of Jerusalem will listen to them. Their slanderous, treacherous propaganda reaches its climax by telling, ‘Then what makes you think the Lord can save Jerusalem?

It seems that, there is nothing holy to the Assyrians, because they scoff at everything, even at the Majesty of the Lord. But as we shall see later on, the Lord will destroy them because of their immoderate impertinence.

We could say that the officials of Sennacherib are waging a psychological war with the people of Jerusalem. ,,You should not listen to Hezekiah and his nonsense, but listen to us. We promise you a lot of more things then he does. He has nothing to offer you. Besides that, we will give you freedom and you can live whatever you want to".

Why don’t you surrender and obey the authority of the king of Asshur? Do you really believe in the words of Hezekiah who’s promising you false promises? Why are you listening to his absurd inventions? In this way they tried to persuade the people of Jerusalem.

The Bible says,, Those who plan evil are in for a rude surprise, but those who work for good will find happiness" (Proverbs 12:2)

  …. Did the gods of any other nations save their countries from the emperor of Assyria?…

The other nations had also their gods. But those were made out of wood, clay and metal. These nations were idolaters. The envoys of Sennacherib want to convey the imminent message to the people of Jerusalem like, ‘we have defeated al these nations, so we will also defeat you’. To avoid this, it is better for you to surrender.

The important mistake the Assyrians made was that the gods of the other nations were nothing in comparison with the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The God of Israel is the Almighty God. He destroys everything he wants. It is told by the prophet Isaiah, "With whom will you compare me? Says the Lord. Is there anyone else like me?…Remember this, you sinners; consider what I have done. Remember what happened long ago; acknowledge that I alone am God (Isaiah 46:5-9). And in Jeremiah 49:19 the Lord tells, "Who can be compared with me? Who would dare challenge me? What ruler could oppose me?"

Sennacherib is challenging in a ridiculous way the Majesty of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The Lord will not allow this behaviour unpunished. From this is also very clear the hatred, contempt and condescension of the Assyrians for the Lord. It tells something about their satanic spirit.

The officials of Hezekiah made a report of the threats of the Assyrians and reported this to Hezekiah. The reaction of Hezekiah on this is panicky, like we can read in 2 Kings 19:1 "As soon as King Hezekiah heard their report, he tore his clothes in grief, put on sackcloth, and went to the Temple of the Lord."

King Hezekiah is panicky for sure. But he is going to the Almighty God Israel for asking help. He is abasing himself for the Lord by tearing his clothes and is going to the temple of the Lord to pray. We can see here, that King Hezekiah is not relying on people, but on the Almighty God of Israel. Hezekiah knows that the God of Israel is able to destroy King Sennacherib. Further he sends his officials to the prophet Isaiah to discuss the problems with him.

The King of Asshur is performing more pressure on Hezekiah as we read in 2 Kings 19:10-12: " … he (Sennacherib) sent a letter to King Hezekiah of Judah to say him, "The god you are trusting in has told you that you will not fall into my hands, but don’t let that deceive you. You have heard what an Assyrian emperor does with to any country he decides to destroy. Do you think that you can escape? …"

Sennacherib tried another attempt to demoralise Hezekiah. After that he calls the God of Israel a deceiver by saying, "..but don’t let that deceive you. Oh! This is an extremely ridiculous, slandering devilish offending. He is daring the Majesty of the Almighty God. He is trying to demoralise Hezekiah by lying, distorting the truth, manipulations and slandering propaganda. This are typically qualities of the antichrist (Revelation 13:5).

The Bible says,, You (=the Lord) destroy all liars and despise violent, deceitful man" (Psalm 5:6)

This situation was for sure very difficult for Hezekiah. But what should his answer be on all of these intimidation’s? Shall he admit to these intimidation’s? What should Hezekiah do? Well, dear reader, King Hezekiah decided to address oneself to the Lord by a prayer. In chapter 19:15-19 we read: "O Lord, the God of Israel, enthroned above the winged creatures, you alone are God, ruling all the kingdoms of the world. You created the earth and the sky. Now, Lord, look at what is happening to us. Listen to all the things that Sennacherib is saying to insult you, the living God. We all know, Lord, that emperors of Assyria have destroyed many nations, made their lands desolate, and burnt up their gods- which were no gods at all, only images of wood and stone made by human hands. Now, Lord our God, rescue us from the Assyrians, so that all the nations of the world will know that only you, O Lord, are God"

In his prayer, Hezekiah is only relying on God. He knows that the Lord is powerful and Almighty to destroy Sennacherib and his army. The prayer of Hezekiah would not be unanswered!

The Lord has heard the prayer of Hezekiah. In Chapter 19:20- 23, 27 - 28 and 32-34 we read: " Then Isaiah sent a message telling King Hezekiah that in answer to the king’s prayer the Lord had said, "The city of Jerusalem laughs at you, Sennacherib, and despises you. Whom do you think you have been insulting and ridiculing? You have been disrespectful to me, the holy God of Israel. You sent your messengers to boast to me …(verse 20-23)….... But I know everything about you, what you do and where you go. I know how you rage against me. I have received the report of that rage and that pride of yours, and now I will put a hook through your nose and a bit in your mouth, and take you back by the same road you came (verse 27-28)…...This is what the Lord ha said about the Assyrian emperor: ‘He will not enter this city or shoot a single arrow against it. No soldiers with shields will come near the city, and no siege-mounds will be built round it. He will go back by the same road he came, without entering this city. I, the Lord, have spoken. I will defend this city and protect it, for the sake of my own honour and because of the promise I made to my servant David (verse 32-34)"

Dear reader, nobody can mock unpunished at the Almighty God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He punishes always slanderers and cheeky persons. But He takes always care of His children and saves them out of awkward situations. When His children are calling Him, He is always there. Everyone, who goes to the Lord, will for sure, not be disappointed.

The Lord has heard the prayer of King Hezekiah and will now suite the action to the word as we can read in 2 Kings Chapter 19:35 " That night an angle of the Lord went to the Assyrian camp and killed 185.000 soldiers. At dawn the next day, there the lay, all dead! Then the Assyrian emperor Sennacherib withdrew and returned to Nineveh."

This is the solid answer to any boldly, barefaced and pride persons who dare to challenge the Majesty of the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob. They will for sure remain not unpunished. The Lord hates self-assuredly, pride and arrogant persons, but He loves everyone who obeys Him. This event was a foretaste of the real struggle, which I will discuss in a moment. The Assyrians could learn a lesson from their horrible, slander, offending, criminal and contemptuous behaviour against the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. But they didn’t. They even continued on their sinful way.

From the previous story it is clear that the Assyrian Empire was a Satanic /demonic empire. Yes, indeed, it was the Empire of the abyss. The Empire was soaked with occultism, magic, immorality and all bad things, which you can imagine. The Empire was just anti-God. In their calumny propaganda, they called the Lord a deceiver. Because the Empire was through and through bad, the Lord annihilated them from the earth. This is also clear from Proverbs 3:34 where we read: " He has no use for conceited people, but shows favour to those who are humble." And in Jeremiah 30:23-24 we read: " The LORD’S anger is a storm, a furious wind that will rage over the heads of the wicked. It will not end until he has done all that He intends to do.

The same words we hear in Psalms 5:6 " You (= the Lord God) destroy all liars and despise violent, deceitful men."

Yes indeed, nobody can scoff at the Lord without getting punishment. In the end the Lord shall destroy everyone who dares to laugh at Him. Because the Lord says: "I will take revenge, I will repay" ( Hebrews 10:30).

Dear reader, below I will discuss with you the total destruction of the Assyrian Empire, which is annihilated by the Lord.

The Bible says,, The Lord's enemies will be destroyed; He will thunder against them from the heaven,, (1 Samuel 2:10)

We saw in the previous that the Assyrian Empire was a Satanic Empire. They had no respect for anybody. Because of their bad behaviour and their way of living, the Lord decided to destroy them.

The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of Israel loves His children very much. The people, who respect Him, will receive a lot honour and goodness from Him. Before the Lord carries out a punishment, He first warns His children to show them His love and His omnipotence. In Amos 3:7 we read "The Sovereign Lord never does anything without revealing his plan to His servants, the prophets" and in Isaiah 42:9 we read: "The things I predicted have now come true. Now I will tell you of things even before they begin to happen" and in Isaiah 46:10 the Lord tells us : "From the beginning I predicted the outcome; long ago I foretold what would happen. I said that My plans would never fail, that I would do everything I intended to do"

Yes dear reader, our Lord is the Almighty God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. There is nobody who can stop His decisions. Anything He attends to do will for sure happen. Because He loves faithful people, who are worshipping Him, He tells them His future plans. Also the destruction of the Assyrians, He first predicted it to the Prophets and after that He carried out His plans.

The Bible says,, He sends down flaming coals and burning sulphur on the wicked; He punishes them with scorching winds" (Psalms 11:6)

In Zephaniah 2:13-14 we read: "The Lord will use His power to destroy Assyria. He will make the city of Nineveh a deserted ruin, a waterless desert. It will be a place where flocks, herds, and animals of every kind will lie down. Owls will live among its ruins and hoot from the windows (see also Isaiah 10:16-17, 10:25; 30:32-33).

The Prophet Zephaniah was prophesising between the year 640-620 BC in the Kingdom of Judah. So, long before the destruction of the Assyrian Empire, the Prophet knew about this happening. As we read, the Lord first announces His plans and after that he carries them out. The reason for this is of course not because of His dependence on the humans, but because of His love and faithfulness for the humans.

The meaning of this is, that everything will be destroyed including the people, the army, everything they had. Yes, He will destroy everything so that nothing will be left which reminds of the Assyrians. They will be thoroughly destroyed and annihilated of the earth's surface.

The heart of an Empire forms its Capital city. When the Capital City is destroyed, it means that the Empire is destroyed. For this reason an Empire cannot exist anymore. As we read, the Lord is resolute in His decision and He will, for sure, destroy them. His decision is not reversible and nobody is able to prevent that.

The Bible says,, But the wicked will die; the enemies of the Lord will vanish like wild flowers; they will disappear like smoke" (Psalms 37:20)

The destruction of the Assyrian Empire is not only announced by the Prophets Isaiah and Zephaniah, but especially by the Prophet Nahum. Nahum gives a detailed description regarding Gods plan the destruction of the Assyrian Empire. The Assyrian Empire is approximately destroyed in 612 B.C. by the Chaldeans (a tribe of Arameans ) and Median. Nahum was prophesising between 633-640. This means that the Lord announced 51-28 year beforehand the destroying of the Empire to Nahum and 28-18 years to Zephaniah. This is of course in confirmation with Amos 3:7.

In Nahum 1:2-3 we read: "The Lord God tolerates no rivals; He punishes those who oppose him. In his anger he pays them back. The Lord does not easily become angry, but He is powerful and never lets the guilty go unpunished "

As we can understand here, the Lord is very patient with the humans, but those who oppose Him will certainly be punished. The Lord will finally punish the evil! It is extremely important to understand that the Lord will … punishe those who oppose him. He is telling us: "Don’t take revenge, because I will do that (Romans 12:19). The Assyrians were opposing the Lord and for this reason they were destroyed.

In Nahum 1:6 we read: "When He is angry, who can survive? Who can survive His terrible fury? He pours out His flaming anger; rocks crumble to dust before Him."

The Lord God is good for those who worship Him, but He is extremely destructive for those who oppose Him. When the Lord judges this world, who can survive His commands? Can the powerful Americans warplanes survive?, Or satellites?, Or aircraft carriers? Who is able to offer resistance to the Lord God? Who can say that he exist in comparison with the Lord? Our Lord God is very patient and is always prepared to forgive those who are paying regret, but He will always punish the injustice. He punishes the evil on His time and on His occasion. Sometimes we want the Lord to punish the evil immediately, rather yesterday then today. But the Lord is very wise, He knows everything, He is almighty and His ways are unfathomable to us.

In Nahum 1:7-8 we read: "The Lord is good; He protects His people in times of trouble; He takes care of those who turn to Him. Like a great rushing flood He completely destroys His enemies; He sends to their death those who oppose Him."

Yes indeed dear reader, when we are in trouble we can always go to our father in heaven and He will protect us. He is always ready to welcome His children. Yes He loves everyone who worships Him! The question is of course, how much do we love Him, unconditionally? Are we prepared to place our live in his hands? Or will we chase after our selfish longings?

We saw that Sennacherib and his enormous army did not defeat King Hezekiah. Hezekiah went to the Lord and relied on Him, while King Sennacherib was very pride and arrogant on his strong army. He relied on his own power by neglecting the Lord completely. As we have seen, his army was destroyed by the angle of the Lord.

The Bible says,,.. for the Lord loves what is right and does not abandon His faithful people. He protects them for ever, but the descendants of the wicked will be driven out " (Psalms 37:28-29+38)

In Nahum 1:9 and 1:12 we read: " What are you plotting against the Lord? He will destroy you. No one oppose more then once….. Even though the Assyrians are strong and numerous, they will be destroyed and disappear"

This is really dramatic! Because the Assyrians were so anti-God, that they became the enemy of God! It is terrible to be the enemy of the Lord God. You know then that the only way you will go is destroying and annihilation in a such way that there will be nothing left. When the Lord decides to destroy someone, He will always make that nothing is left of him or her. As we just read, the Lord is not joking when He say: "…they will be destroyed and disappear……." . What is the meaning of this? Well, dear reader, this means that the Assyrians as a nations, as people will completely be destroyed out of the world. There will be no recovery in one way ore another! They will be completely exterminated in a way that nothing will be left of them.

The Assyrians were very proud, arrogant and they thought they were invincible. Their excellent military power and organisation gave them such a great self-confidence that they dared to challenge and insult the Lord God.

The prophet went further en tells us: " From you, Nineveh, there came a man full of wicked (= satanic) schemes, who plotted against the Lord (Nahum 1:11)

This quotation makes us very clear that the Assyrian Empire had a satanic origin. From this it is clear that the empire was a demonic, evil, occult and anti-God one. The empire was the empire of the abyss. Al the Kings of Asshur beginning from Pul to Asshurbanipal, were satanic Kings who measured up their power to the Lord and His people Israel. As we have seen, King Sennacherib was one of those satanic Kings.

The reason why the Lord doesn’t mention the name of a specific King, but just a King, is to express the evilness of this Empire. In other words, to make clear, the satanic spirit which influenced this Empire. Although these Kings were humans existing out of flesh and blood, they were actually the reflection of the Devil himself.

In Nahum 1:12-13 we read: " My people, I made you suffer, but I will not do it again. I will now end Assyria’s power over you and break the chains that bind you"

The Assyrians had in that time also conquered the whole country of Israel and send the people into exile to Asshur (partly present day Iraq) because of their unfaithfulness to the Lord. The people of Israel were treated in a terrible way and were abused like slaves by the Assyrians. The Lord tells now to the people of Israel: "…., I made you suffer, but I will not do it again….. ". The humiliation and dishonouring by the Assyrians was a chain that bond Israel. You, the people of Israel, were the prisoners of Asshur. That is why the Lord says: "I shall save you from the humiliation and suffering "

In Nahum 1:14 we read: " This is what the Lord has decreed about the Assyrians: " They will have no descendants to carry on their name. I will destroy the idols that are in the temples of their gods. I am preparing a grave for the Assyrians- they don’t deserve to live!"

Dear reader, this quotation is a very important one! It ensures us that the name, the ethnicity and the Empire will be completely disappeared from the world! Nothing will be left which reminds of the Empire.

Please pay attention to the sentence "… the Lord has decreed about the Assyrians…….." and to the sentence we have read before when the Lord says "..I said that My plans would never fail, that I would do everything I intended to do….(Isaiah 46:6)

The Lord made the decision in such a way that He guarantees the Assyrians will be completely destroyed anyway! Nobody can change this decision.

The Bible says,, As smoke is blown away, so He drives them off; a wax melts in front of the fire; so do the wicked perish in God's presence" (Psalms 68:2)

  ………… They will have no descendants to carry on their name……………

This quotation leaves no doubts about the destruction of the Assyrians. They will be cut off and end to dead. It is done with them, they are finished, nothing will carry on their name, because they are destroyed forever.

There are some people who say: " .. The Lord didn’t destroy all of the Assyrians, some of them survived and so, the present- day Syrians (Nestorians) in Iraq for example are the descendants of those Assyrians who survived"

What thinks those foolish people they are? Do they really believe their own fantastic stories? And do they really believe that some of the ancient Assyrians hid (themselves to escape) from the commands of the Lord? When the Lord says: I am preparing a grave for the Assyrians…, means that He is involving His majesty in the struggle! Who is able to escape from the anger of the Lord? I am telling you nobody can! The Lord tells these foolish people,, I am a God who is everywhere and not in one place only. No one can hide where I cannot see him. Do you not know that I am everywhere in heaven and on earth? (Jeremiah 23:23-24). It is exactly like it is written in Psalms 33:10-11 "The Lord frustrates the purpose of the nations; he keeps them from carrying out their plans. But His plans endure for ever; his purpose last eternally"

  …….The attack on Nineveh, the heart of Asshur……….…

Eusebius Pamphili (265-340 AC), the bishop of Caesarea from Israel, also called “ The father of the Church history” says about the destruction of the Assyrians “On the overthrow of the Assyrian Empire, which was destroyed by thunderbolts from Heaven……"Truly, then, the poisonous race may be said to be extinct. Death himself is extinct, and the truth of the resurrection sealed. Again, the Assyrian race is gone, (His book: "TO THE ASSEMBLY OF THE SAINTS.")

In Nahum 2:1-6 we read: "Nineveh, you are under attack! The power that will shatter you has come. Man defences! Guard the road! Prepare for battle!… The enemy soldiers carry red shields and wear uniforms of red. They are preparing to attack! Their chariots flash like fire! Their horses prance! They flash like torches and dart about like lightning. The officers are summoned; they stumble as they press forward. The attackers rush to the wall and set up the shield for battering-ram. The gates by the river burst open; the palace is filled with terror"

Here we read the announcement of the destruction of Nineveh. The enemy is coming to destroy Nineveh and by that the destroying of the Assyrian Empire. Those enemy soldiers are actually the soldiers of God.

Those soldiers are servants of God, because the Lord Himself has sent the enemies to destroy the Empire of Asshur. The question is of course who are those soldiers?

Dear reader, this is something spectacular, because of the fact that those soldiers of the Lord were the Chaldeans= Babylonians (= a tribe of Arameans) and Medians (= a tribe from Iran).

In connection with the previous, we read about the Chaldean King Nebuchadnezzar, among those who destroyed the Assyrians Empire, in Jeremiah 27: 6: " I am the one who has placed all these nations under the power of My servant, King Nebuchadnezzar ….."

The servant of The Lord, the Chaldeans ( = a tribe of Arameans), has destroyed the Assyrian Empire.

In the year 612 BC was Nineveh, the heart of Asshur, demolished. The Assyrians were destroyed as the Lord had announced before. After destroying the Assyrian Empire, the Chaldeans Empire was established by Nebuchadnezzar.

The Lord God had exactly told in detail to the prophet Nahum the destruction of Asshur. When in a war a city or part of a country is conquered, usually a lot of victims and damage is made.

In such chaotic situation people run away, women’s and children are crying, there is debris everywhere and the people are frightened and suffering.

The prophet Nahum tells a similar situation, like been described above. We read in Nahum 2:8-10: " Like water from a broken dam the people rush from Nineveh! "Stop! Stop!" the cry rings out- but no one turns back. Plunder the silver! Plunder the Gold! The city is full of treasure! Nineveh is destroyed, deserted, desolate! Hearts smelt with fear; knees tremble strength is gone; faces grow pale.

Before the execution of the commands of God, everything was in detail beforehand announced to the prophet. It is well known from the history, that Nineveh was a very famous trade centre. The heart of the Assyrian Empire was the most important economic centre. Tremendously good building, beautiful centre’s etc..

Nothing is left of al these things! Like the Lord had announced, the Empire is destroyed.

The Bible says,, The Lord hates and cannot tolerate: 1. A proud look, 2. A lying tongue, 3. Hands that kill innocent people, 4. A mind that thinks wicked plans 5. Feet that hurry off to do evil, 7. And a man who stirs up trouble among friends (Proverbs 6:16-19)

 By the destruction of Nineveh the pride of Asshur was in a crushed way broken. The prophet Nahum continues further: "Where now is the city that was like a den of lions, the place where young lions were fed, where the lion and lioness would go and their cubs would be safe? The lion killed his prey and tore it to pieces for his mate and her cubs; he filled his den with torn flesh "

The Assyrians acted like lions by conquering a country. They dismembered, killed, raped and took always the booty. Their army was a terrible killing machine. When a lion catches his prey, then it deals in a merciless way with the prey and tears it apart. That is why the Lord compares the behaviour of the Assyrians with lions. It means inhuman and terrible.

The Assyrians had, for example, plundered the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem. They took all holy objects, belonging to the temple, with them to Asshur. Those object were all made of silver and gold. The Assyrians had also gods (of wood and stone) which they worshipped. They placed the holy objects of the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem in temples of their own gods, the gods of Asshur. In this way they wanted to celebrate their victory over the God of Israel.

This is one of the reasons why the Assyrians were very proud, self-assured and arrogant. The Lord has broken, however, their self-assure and proud.

In Nahum 2:13 we read: "I am your enemy!" says the Lord almighty. "I will burn up your chariots. Your soldiers will be killed in war, and I will take away everything that you took from others. The demands of your envoys will no longer be heard"

When the Lord repeats His commands in de Bible then it means that he is determined to carry out and there is no turning back! By doing this, the Lord wants to express that nobody can mock him without punishment.

What terrible if you have God as your enemy! Because the punishment you will get is horrifying. We read in Hebrew 10:31: "It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God! " The Lord will take care that there will be nothing left of you, yes everything will be demolished and destroyed. Those who dare to insult and libel with His Majesty and Holiness have to know that their only way is destruction! Yes, dear reader, liars and pride people are waiting a terrible punishment, because of the fact that, our God is indeed a destroying fire (Hebrew 12:29)

Nobody who commits a crime stay’s unpunished! Sometimes we are asking why God does not punish this or that person? Yes, often this question is asked. The people in the time of Nahum may have also asked this question! But, dear reader, our Lord God works only in His way and manner. He works only in His scheme and nobody can stop Him from doing that! We must rely on Him that He will, for sure, punish the evil.

Mor Afrem the Syrian sings about the destruction of the Assyrian Empire and says,, , Sheol is full of the men of  Sodom, and the Assyrians: and the giants who were in the flood….. (Nisibine Hyms, LIII (8) CONCERNING SATAN AND DEATH)

The statement … I am your enemy!… is extremely important! Because the Lord involve by this Himself in the struggle. It is now the matter between God and the Assyrians and indeed, He will destroy them forever.

This sentence also is very important! From this we can gather that the role of Assyrians also politically is ended. Envoys are the representatives of a country, for example an ambassador, minister of state etc. When we read.. your envoys will no longer be heard…, means they are completely wiped out, they are forever annihilated, nobody shall hear them anymore, they don’t exist anymore, it is out and over with them!

Both politically as well as militarily they have nothing to contribute. Their role is for once and for all cancelled out.

We read in the Bible: ,, God Himself will fight against the Assyrians. Long ago a place was prepared where a huge fire will burn the emperor of Assyria. It is deep and wide, and piled high with wood. The Lord will breath out a stream of flame to set it on fire"(Isaiah 30: 33).. . Assyria will be destroyed in war, but not by human power" (Isaiah 31:8 )

In Nahum 3:1-7 we read: "Doomed is the lying, murderous city, full of wealth to be looted and plundered! Listen! The crack of the whip, the rattle of the wheels, the gallop of horses, the jolting of chariots! Horsemen charge, swords flash, spear gleam! Corpses are piled high, deed bodies without number- men stumble over them! Nineveh the whore is being punished. Attractive and full of deadly charms, she enchanted nations and enslaved them. The Lord almighty says, I will punish you, Nineveh! I will strip you naked and let the nations see you, see you in all your shame. I will treat you with contempt and cover you with filth. People will stare at you in horror. All who see you will shrink back. They will say, Nineveh lies in ruins! Who has any sympathy for her? "

Nineveh was not only an economic city, but also a city full of moral decay, fornication, lawlessness, idols etc. The Lord will make an end to all these things! Please pay attention to the sentence … the whore is being punished…. This tells something about immorality in the city of Nineveh and also something about the sexual decay of the Assyrians.

Yes, it is the Lord Himself Who will take care of the destruction of the Assyrians. He will exterminate them forever.

In Nahum 3:18-19 we read: "Emperor of Assyria, your governors are dead, and your noblemen are asleep for ever! Your people are scattered on the mountains, and there is no one to bring them home again. There is no remedy for your injuries, and your wounds cannot be healed. All those who hear the news of your destruction clap their hands for joy. Did anyone escape your endless cruelty?"

Yes, dear reader, the Assyrians don’t exist any more. Recovery is not possible anymore it is out of the question. The nation is destroyed by the intervention of the Lord God and will never be restored.

We saw that the Assyrian Empire was an anti-God Empire. The origin of the Empire was the evil himself. Due to this the Empire is annihilated. The Empire is crushed in the year 612 BC by the Medians and Chaldeans. We can say therefore, that it is out of the question, that the Empire will be restored. They were destroyed by personal intervention of God and He says:…… There is no remedy for your injuries…..

As far as today there are still some people who identify themselves with the Assyrians, those people have to know that they believe in the lie. It is a great nonsense to suggest the existing of the Assyrians, because the Assyrians don’t exist anymore. Those people who are making propaganda fore the Assyrism, or encourage, or stimulate and glorify; have to know that they are rebelling against the Majesty, the Authority, the Celebrity and the Holiness of the Lord God; the Creator of the heaven and the earth, who deserve all honour and dignity, Amen!

Do they really think that they can defeat the Lord God? That was also the foolish idea of King Sennacherib. We know that many of those who identify themselves with the Assyrians are doing this because of their lack of knowledge. However, it is foolish and silly to identify oneself with an Empire, that through and through was a Satanic Empire.

---------------Anti-Semitism----Adolf Hitler---------------

Dear reader, I hope, that from the previous, something became clear about the Assyrian empire. About their attitude towards the Lord God, against the people of Israel and against other nations. It was the empire of the evil itself, full with death and destruction, injustice and demoralisation.

Like I have mentioned in the beginning, there are some people in our community who, in imitation of the Syrian-Aramean Nestorians, identify themselves with this occultist, objectionable and anti-Semitic empire of the abyss. They seem to find it important to represent themselves as "Assyrians". They do that frequently by bringing the situation under the attention of the press. What these people often "forget" to mention, is that no serious person of the Syrian-Aramean community takes them serious. If a person wants to present himself as an Assyrian, to express like they call it "their true origin", so be it! But to call the whole Syrian-Aramean community "Assyrian" isn’t right and that’s out of place. For God sakes, on who's authority they do such a thing! The glorification and the imitation of the ancient Assyrians, brings along, that they turn themselves against the people of Israel in a way that they are not inferior to the anti-Semitism.

An important feature of this anti-Semitism attitude is that they even turn themselves against the Old Testament. They don’t reject the Old Testament as a book, but explicitly as the book of the Jews. In other words, because Jews wrote the Old Testament it can’t be true. People like them find biblical books as Nahum and other prophets, who proclaimed the destruction of Assyria, very annoying and shocking. That’s why these people created and developed an anti-Semitism ideology, which they poisoned a lot of the new generation of the youth. They often say, for example, that "the evil Jews" changed the Old Testament so that they could annex the land Israel and even to injure other nations, because "only the Jews had the law of the Lord". So the Jews, according them, took advantage of the Word’s of god, the Old Testament. The Jews wrote those (bad) things that are recorded in the Bible about the Assyrians with an evil purpose. They often quote the next sentence: "the evil Jews ‘forged’ the Old Testament". Everything and every word that has to do with the people of Israel and everything that has to do with Jewish or is called Jewish, they find it objectionable and not right. They accuse the Jewish people of the problems in the world, the instability in some countries and a lot of other ugly things. They say that the Jewish people have done a lot of unjust to the "Assyrian people" and the reason that the world does not acknowledge the "Assyrian people" are the fault of Jewish people. This terrible, frightful and anti-Semitic ideology is in deeply secret taught to the many young people, without that anyone notice something about it. And many of them are brainwashed and became very extremists full with hatred and contempt towards the Old Testament and the Jewish people. Adolf Hitler and his NAZI regime also proclaimed this ideology. We all know the terrible result of this inhuman, racist and anti-Semitic ideology.

So what we can see, is a parallel between the ancient Assyrians and those who want to identify themselves today with them. It is the very same hatred and disdaining of the people of Israel, it is the one and the same cruelty and disobedience against the Lord God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Ex.3:6/Mt.22:36), the God of Israel. Their low contempt of the Old Testament, their far-reaching hatred of the people of Israel, that manifests itself in a anti-Semitism ideology, could be compared with the hatred and despise of the ancient Assyrians they had against the people of Israel and the Lord. It is the one and same satanic spirit that lives through the whole history.

Besides the developing and propagation of an anti-Semitism ideology, which they poisoned many people with it, these people even make fool of the Syrian-Orthodox Church of Antioch, in a shameless, objectionable and despicable way. They created such an atmosphere by which outsiders, e.g. news reporters, with a despicable eye look at the Syrian-Orthodox Church. In this milieu, of course, some anti-Christian, racist news reporters of the local press gave them a hand with many endeavours. The attitude of some reporters makes clear that they, with a high standard of reliability, are terrible anti-Christian racists. Their way of reporting bear witness to a deep hatred and despise against the Syrian-Orthodox community.

What is the origin of this hatred and despise that those people have against the people of Israel and against the Old Testament? What spirit lies behind this all? To get more insight in the attitude of these people against the people of Israel and the Old Testament, it is perhaps important to study the judgement of Assur further. The Lord Says,,… have no descendants to carry on their name. I will destroy the idols that are in the temples of their gods (Nahum 1:14)

That the Assyrians, as a result of Gods judgment, are destroyed becomes clear in the quotation of Nahum. But the remarkable thing here is that the Lord says… I will destroy the idols that are in the temples of their gods …How do we have to understand this? These gods were images cut of would and stone. Why did the Lord God wanted to destroy these gods? What function had these cut of images?

To understand this, we have to go back in the very beginning of the history of humanity. In Deutronomy. 32:8-9 we read,, The Most High assigned nations their lands; He determined where people should live. He assigned to each nation a god, but Jakob's descendants He chose for Himself"

This verse shows us, that the Lord God in the very beginning trusted the nations of this world, with their own area to live, to angels. All the nations had their own angels who could rule over them. The purpose of this was that these angels should teach the nations, which were in their "territory", like God told them to teach. It’s very important to become aware of the fact, that each nation has its own angel. It is very interesting too, when we read ‘that the Lord God chooses the people of Israel for Himself". Yes dear reader, the people of Israel were under His own guidance. The lord Himself was ruling this nation. Later, the Lord trusted His people to the archangel Michael. This Michael is one of the mightiest angels.

In reality the angels are not always obedient to God, sometimes they turn themselves against the Lord and sometimes the Lord even forces them to obey Him. For example, in Daniel 10:13 we read the following ,,The angel prince of the Kingdom Persia opposed me for twenty- one days. Then Michael, one of the chief angles came to help me…."

The prophet observed the fast and prayed to the Lord. God sent him a messenger to explain him one and another. This messenger, an angel, was hold up for 21 days, on his trip to Daniel, by the powerful angel of the Persian Empire. It seems that this powerful angel wanted to prevent that Daniel would receive the information of the Lord Almighty. We have read that this messenger got himself backup by the Archangel of Israel to overcome the powerful angel of Persia. At the end of the conversation with Daniel the angel tells him,, Now I have to go back and fight the guardian angle of Persia. After that, the guardian angle of Greece will appear. (Daniel 10:20-12)

Thus, in the heavenly regions there is mention of a war and a fight between the angels of the Lord God and the angels of the nations. Sometimes the angels of the nations are forced to obey God, because He wants to use them to achieve His goal(s). The powerful angels are sometimes divided among themselves and they are even in mutual fights too. A result of this is a mutual fight of the nations. For example, a fight between Egypt and Babylon is, behind the scene and in reality, a fight between the powerful angels of these nations. However, in spite of that, all these angels have a common enemy, The Lord God and His people Israel. Perhaps an example would clarify this. Some Arabic countries are very hostile against each other. But these countries have one common enemy and that’s the people of Israel. Sometimes this is logical too, because when people have no common enemy to fight with, they attack each other.

Now we turn back to our subject, that’s the judgement of Asshur. An important pronunciation of king Sennacherib was ……Did the gods of any other nations save their countries from the emperor of Assyria? Where are they now, the gods of Hamath and Arpad? ….(2 Kings18:35). We have to pay attention to the words of Sennacherib, when he talks about the "gods" of other nations instead of armies or generals, colonels or commanders. He brings the situation and the well fare in direct relation with their "gods". In other words, Sennacherib brings them in relation with the powerful angels in the, for us invisible, heavenly regions. With his words, he put an accent on the fact, that the gods, the powerful angels of Assur, are much stronger than the gods, the powerful angels of the other nations. This means that the visible governments, rulers, commanders, etc. are the reflection of their powerful angels behind the scene. The visible, the flesh and blood, is the manifestation of the invisible. So, when the Lord says, …..I will destroy the idols that are in the temples of their gods …it means the crush of the power of the powerful angel of Assur, behind the scenes.

The Empire of Assur, the visible, was crushed down and destroyed and at the same time the invisible, the powerful angel of Assur, was defeated by the Lord in public, by smashing the images of these gods (powerful angel) of Assur. In short, the visible was destroyed and the invisible was humiliated!

After the Assyrians were wiped out, the powerful angels had undoubtedly, got other nations under their influence. The hatred and despise of the nations towards the people of Israel tells something about the behavior of the powerful angels who have the nations in their power. About the people of Israel God says,, The Lord provides the sun for light by day, the moon and the stars to shine at night. He stirs up the sea and makes it roar; His name is the Lord Almighty. He promisese that as long as the natural order lasts, so long will Israel be a nation. If one day the sky could be measured and the foundations of the earth explored, only then would be reject the people of Israel because of all they have done. The Lord has spoken "(Jeremiah 31:35-37).

The behavior of the nations towards the Lord God is measured with their behavior towards Israel. The behavior of the hostile nations, in fact the behavior of their angels, against the people of Israel is described in Psalms 83:4 where we read,, Come, they say, "let us destroy their nation, so that Israel will be forgotten for ever"

The Assyrians wanted to destroy Israel, Adolf Hitler wanted to destroy all the Jewish people and still some other countries nowadays wants to destroy the people and the land of Israel. The satanic spirit that kept the Assyrian Empire under his control, is the one and the same spirit who kept Adolf Hitler in his power. It is one and the same spirit that today keeps a lot of nations under its rule and sets nations up against Israel. This spirit (or angel) is the cause of all the anti-Semitic thoughts and anti-Israel organizations too.

The Bible says in this context,, For we are not fighting against human beings but against the wicked spiritual forces in the heavenly world, the rulers, authorities, and cosmic powers this dark age" (Ephesians 6:12)