Comfort for Israel

Ukraine

Towards the end of January this year, reports started emerging of significant Russian troops on the edge of Ukraine - which according the Russia, were there to carry out some military exercises. Yet tensions started to grow, and this tension was felt around the world.

In February, the world watched in horror as we saw missiles fly. We gasped when we saw communities destroyed.

We saw families fleeing the country, but men of fighting age being required to stay.

The body toll rose. Those left behind with the grim reality of identifying the bodies of loved ones.

We felt the pain here. What must it have been like for those living it? We can hardly comprehend.

Our horror then turned to anger. Why has the senseless attacks being carried out?

Into the gaze steps Putin. The man who had always seemed a bit eccentric… a bit, well… different. But this attack on the Ukraine has risen it to new levels.

He tries to explain how he is actually liberating the Ukraine. But even when you take into consideration the historical context of the situation, nothing can justify this level of cruel violence.

This is an unjustified attack.

But as much as we cried foul - the missiles kept crashing into buildings. And with what felt like an unrelenting frequency.

Will justice ever be done?

In recent times, evidence seems to be emerging that maybe.... just maybe, Russia’s resources may be waning, but they don’t seem to be backing down.

Will there be comfort for the Ukraine?

Link with Nahum

This morning as we come to the book of Nahum, while the specifics are very different, we do however find Israel in a similar place. A place where they are feeling a constant bombardment from a much more powerful nation. A nation that is acting in a very unjustified way. And Israel would be asking - will we ever find comfort?

We will have to put up with this treatment forever?

Nahum is able to step into this situation and say - well, actually, yes, there is comfort. And in the process is able to point us to a much bigger comfort that we will find.

Our context

But before I get into the book itself, it’s worth noting that our situation is very different to both that of the Ukraine and that of Old Testament Israel.

We of course do not face an opposition of military strength. We don’t even face the sort of persecution that many other Christians in other nations currently face. I’m talking the type of persecution where if you’re not careful you can actually be killed or tortured for your faith. Something which is a very real threat for many in our world.

But yet, we do face opposition. We face a society which is becoming more and more opposed to the ways of God.

For example, many of you might be aware of the recent case of Andrew Thorburn. Andrew had been the CEO of the NAB, and had recently accepted the role of CEO of the Essendon football club. But on the very day this appointment was announced, splashed across the papers was the fact that Andrew also happened to be the chairman of a particular church in Melbourne which had the audacity to call homosexuality a sin. Well, Andrew was given a choice - the church, or the club.

He chose the church.

Of course, I’m sure Andrew will be fine in this situation. I’m sure someone of his skill will manage to find a new position - but I raise the matter because of the dangerous precedent that it sets.

A precedent that says, if you have a perceived bias against certain people, you will be disregarded with no opportunity to put your side of the story forward.

Now I don’t want to pretend that this is the same as having bombs literally smash into the sides of our buildings, but yet, sometimes we too can wonder - will there ever be any comfort for us? Will the attacks ever stop?

Well, let’s look at the book of Nahum and see what he has to say, before we consider what it might mean for our situation.

Context

Well, the opening verse gives us the context. It tells us its a prophecy concerning Nineveh and that it’s a book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite.

Now, like quite a number of the other prophets, our knowledge of this particular prophet is pretty much limited to what we read in this book and pretty much all it tells us is that he is an Elkoshite - which just means he came from a town or region called Elkosh. Problem being, scholars aren’t entirely sure where Elkosh is, although they do have some guesses.

The name of the prophet is however significant. The name means “comfort” or “reassurance”. And though on first reading it might seem a little odd, after all, what does comfort have to do with a book that is all about the destruction of a place.

But, as I’ve already alluded to, and as we’ll explore more as we go, the comfort is actually for Israel who will feel some relief as their enemy is put in their place.

Well, this of course calls for some context to the whole situation.

So let me start by putting up the time line that I’ve been using throughout this series.

The book itself doesn’t specifically tell us when it was written, however we have some very strong clues such that we can be pretty confident about the rough point in time.

You see, I pointed out just a moment ago, that it starts by telling us that it is a prophecy concerning Nineveh. Nineveh being the capital of the world super power - Assyria.

It was Assyria that had come down and completely wiped out the Northern Kingdom. And if you remember my message from two weeks ago when I spoke about the book of Micah, where the predominant event was Assyria surrounding Jerusalem with an immense battle line.

Well, in Nahum, Assyria are about to taste some of their own medicine. And from sources outside the Bible, we can actually know with a good level of certainty when Assyria eventually falls.

You see, Assyria eventually falls to the Babylonians - the nation that will become the next world super power - and will also feature in some of the upcoming minor prophet books. We can also date what is generally thought of as the pivotal moment of their defeat to 612 BC.

So given that Nahum is prophesying that this is about to take place, we can assume we are somewhere around the mid-600’s BC. So we’re coming probably about a generation or two after the Micah’s prophecy that I looked at two weeks ago.

A Message for Assyria

So let’s take a quick look at this prophecy concerning Nineveh.

The message actually starts with a description of Yahweh - the one true God.

I’m actually going to come back to this, because this description is vital to understanding this whole message. But I want to skip down to see what is in store for Assyria.

And we get the first glimpse of this when we come to verse 8. Here it is said, that with an overwhelming flood, Nineveh will be brought to an end. And pretty much, from this point, to the end of the book, in other words, for the remaining two and a half chapters, we get this overwhelming flood, describing Assyria’s downfall.

Let me just bring out a few highlights.

In chapter 1 verse 14 - we find the Lord commanding that they will have no descendants to bear their name.

In chapter 2 starting at verse 3 - the description becomes quite graphic.

Do you remember that opening sequence in the movie Saving Private Ryan when the army first land on the beach. The scene feels like it goes almost forever.

If you watched it in the cinema, it was quite confronting. Gun shots going off in all directions. People getting shot.

Well, it’s almost like we get this sort of vibe here.

Nahum 2:3–4 NIV 2011

The shields of the soldiers are red; the warriors are clad in scarlet. The metal on the chariots flashes on the day they are made ready; the spears of juniper are brandished. The chariots storm through the streets, rushing back and forth through the squares. They look like flaming torches; they dart about like lightning.

The description keeps going.

In verse 5, the city walls are dashed.

In verse 6 the palace collapses.

In verse 7 they’re taken in exile.

And on it goes.

In verse 11 - this once proud lion - this nation of great strength that would terrorise those around them - has lost it’s ability to bring fear.

In chapter 3, it’s a pronouncement of woe. Woe to the city of blood.

In verse 4 (chapter 3), Nineveh is likened to a prostitute - which is an image that that we will see expanded in the book of Revelation - but more on that in a moment.

The very last verse says: “Nothing can heal you; your wound is fatal”

But then concludes with the words: “All who hear the news about you clap their hands at your fall, for who has not felt your endless cruelty?”

And this reminds us why we’ve just had the vast majority of a book dedicated to the downfall of a single nation.

You might think - that was a bit excessive, wasn’t it?

Did we really need all of that graphic imagery?

It almost feels a bit like gloating over someone else’s misery.

But this would be to miss the bigger point of what God is doing here.

What this book is trying to tell us is that God sees the horrific ways of Assyria. He knows that they have treated nations poorly. But this book is saying: don’t for a minute think that this poor behaviour is continuing only because God has no power to stop it. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth.

God does see, and he will make a difference.

This is a message that I’m sure the people of the Ukraine would be happy to hear - God sees the injustice of what Russia is doing - and he has the power to do something - and he will.

This is a message that we too should hear when we face various forms of opposition, no matter how big or small. God sees the injustice of the situation. He has the power to do something. And he will.

The Nature of God

But this of course throws up a huge question. If God can do something and God will do something, why does the opposition still persist?

Well, to get us started on this answer, I’m going to take us now back to chapter 1, to the section I skipped over earlier.

You might remember that it was this first half of chapter 1 that explored the nature of God.

Verse 2 describes him as being jealous and full of wrath. Attributes, which when applied to humanity, generally carries negative connotations, but when applied to God is a very legitimate expression.

But it is actually verse 3 gives us a hint at why opposition is allowed to persist.

You see, it says: “The Lord is slow to anger but great in power”

It is this slow to anger that we so often struggle with.

If God is all knowing - then why doesn’t he just deal with injustices as the arise?

We might never really know the full answer to that question, other then to accept that as part of God’s nature, he is slow to anger.

I think it’s actually got to do with his love. In being slow, he is constantly giving people a chance to change.

In fact, you might recall a previous prophecy against Nineveh where God did relent. I’m of course talking about the prophet Jonah, and on that occasion, which would have been over a hundred years before this prophecy, Nineveh did change.

Now I’m reluctant to be over simplistic about his idea. I’m sure God has many reasons to be slow to anger.

But his slowness should never be confused with his inability to act, or his unwillingness to act.

This opening section in the first half of chapter 1, goes on to describe the power of God. It describes his power over all things.

But it is verse 7 that we really need to remember. It says: “The Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in him”

Application

So what does this mean for us today?

Well on a simple level, it’s to say, don’t fret when you see evil that seemingly is going unchecked.It might seem that way, but you can hold your ground.

And in doing so you can find comfort. We find comfort because the Lord is good and in him we find refuge.

Now the type of comfort I’m talking about here is best illustrated with a small child.

Now there is something really special about this. A small child senses some sort of danger, whether real or perceived. They get anxious and they fret.

But then they see their father. They jump in his arms, and suddenly their breathing slows. A calmness comes over them. Because they know that their dad will protect them.

This is what we find with us and God.

We might look at the world and go - what is going on with the crazy world? Is there any hope?

But it is as we draw close to God that we realise - actually, there is hope, and we can actually find comfort in knowing that there is a God who is powerful to change.

the final end

In a final and complete sense, this will find an ultimate conclusion when Jesus returns. We see a picture reminiscent of Nahum in the book of Revelation. In Revelation, they actually use Babylon as the symbol of the world domineering power - but you might recall I drew your attention to that image in Nahum 3 of Assyria being likened to a prostitute. What it’s this same imagery that John in the book of Revelation expands upon.

In this way, even if all else seems to fail, we know that at the last day, evil will be wiped out.

comfort now

But the comfort doesn’t have to wait just to that final time.

The comfort starts now because God is good, and the refuge starts now.

The people of the Ukraine can take comfort now. Not because the might of Russia will necessarily be quashed next week or even next year. But because God will provide a refuge for those who trust him, and at some point, there will be change.

clarifications

Now, before I bring this to a close, I want to make a few clarifications just so we don’t misuse this book.

Firstly, we should be very careful about taking vengence on wrong doers ourselves.

There is a time to stand up for ourselves, but we need to be very careful how we go about doing this.

For the most part, I’d suggest: leave venegance for the Lord.

But the other clarification I want to make is that while this book is here to give us comfort in a difficult world, just be very careful. This book comes directly after the book of Micah, and they should be read together.

While Nahum is directed at Nineveh. Micah was directed at Judah. In other words, my warning is to say, don’t think that just because others are acting unjustly that you’ve got it all together. Nineveh was deserving of God’s judgement, but so is Israel.

If you trust in God, he will protect you, but this is not an excuse to act as we want, rather, like we explored in Micah, we need to be careful that we don’t become like them, which we so naturally are inclined to do.

Conclusion

But let the book of Nahum today be a comfort to you and whatever situation you find yourself in.

When you look around and see opposition, know that God is good and in him we will find refuge. Know that God is willing to make a difference, and he has to power and willingness to do so.

Let me pray...