“What Goes Around Comes Around”

Series: The Minor Prophets

Text: Nahum 2:1-13; Ps 73

Introduction: (What?)

God has used the king of Assyria to discipline His people Israel (Jacob). However, the king of Assyria got puffed up with pride and bragged about how he was the one to devastated Israel and took the people into exile. That was not a good idea. 100-150 years after the revival in Nineveh under the preaching of Jonah, Nineveh had lapsed back into paganism. Just as America can’t live on the coattails of the Great Awakening in 1800’s without stoking the fires of revival, neither could Nineveh thrive on the basis of a revival 100+ years earlier

Examination: (Why?)

1. Buckle up Buttercup!

Nah 2:1-2 “1 One who scatters is coming up against you. Man the fortifications! Watch the road! Brace yourself! Summon all your strength! 2 For the Lord will restore the majesty of Jacob, yes, the majesty of Israel, though ravagers have ravaged them and ruined their vine branches.”

Nahum evidently had the gift of sarcasm or irony. In these first two verses of chapter 2 he taunted the Assyrians with these warnings.

One who scatters is coming up against you. The Assyrians loved to disperse those they defeated to various other cities or nations so that they could not group together and conspire to escape. Nahum warned them that what they had done to countless others was about to happen to them. He was referring to the Medo-Babylonians and their overthrow of Nineveh that would take place in BC 612. History shows that this is exactly what happened 56 years after Nahum’s warning. The Assyrians never considered this to be a possibility…yet it happened.

Man the fortifications. The city of Nineveh had 1500 watch towers around the city that stood some 200 feet tall and enabled them to see enemies approaching while they were still a great distance away. Nahum, with his tongue firmly planted in his cheek, said “You’d better man those watchtowers because an enemy is on the way.”

Summon all your strength. Get you army ready for battle. Assyria had become complacent because of their earlier victories. They considered their military to be without equal. That is somewhat the position that America is in today. While we still talk about having the greatest military in the world, our enemies have rapidly closed the gap while we have eased up on our building, preparing and maintaining a strong military. We have also lost our lead in development of weapons and equipment of war. We put money and manpower and effort into legislating so called “rights” for those who flaunt the commands of God. We have decided that it won’t be God that ends the world, but it will be man through their destruction of the environment. Thus we spend millions of dollars and man hours devising ways to spare the environment rather than in maintaining our military might. We may find ourselves in the position of Samson when he thought he could overcome the enemy but didn’t realize that his strength had left him.

Watch the road! Brace yourself! Summon all your strength! 56 years before it happened, Nahum warned Assyria to be vigilant, prepared, and at full strength against what was coming. Like Nineveh we can’t afford to depend on past victories. The warnings are being ignored by our leaders and we are being led to believe we’re OK. Pay attention to the message of Nahum.

2. As You Give, You will Receive ( vv 3-7)

Nah 2:3-7 “3 The shields of his warriors are dyed red; the valiant men are dressed in scarlet. The fittings of the chariot flash like fire on the day of its battle preparations, and the spears are brandished. 4 The chariots dash madly through the streets; they rush around in the plazas. They look like torches; they dart back and forth like lightning. 5 He gives orders to his officers; they stumble as they advance. They race to its wall; the protective shield is set in place. 6 The river gates are opened, and the palace erodes away. 7 Beauty is stripped; she is carried away; her ladies-in-waiting moan like the sound of doves and beat their breasts.”

A time honored method used in war is to seek to frighten the enemy into submission. Before the US dropped the A bomb, they flooded the area with leaflets warning the people of Japan to surrender. (read)

This type of warning is precisely what Nahum issued to the Assyrians. He went on to describe the destructive capabilities of the Medes and Babylonians. He did this by describing the tactics that the Assyrians had used against Judah.

Red Shields and scarlet uniforms. Assyrian artwork shows that they had a love affair with the color red. These shields and uniforms were used to strike fear into those who saw them swarming toward their city. The shields were made of bronze and when the sun was reflected off them it made the number of soldiers appear to be greater. The red uniforms would hide and blood that was shed by the attacking force. Interestingly enough the Chinese Army is referred to as the Red Army. Red is the national color of China. The recent proliferation of tests of rockets and warheads that can easily reach our coasts could be their version of “leaflets” that were dropped in Japan prior to the Atomic Bombs being deployed.

The formidable weapons deployed by the Assyrians were their chariots. They were made of metal while most other armies used wood. Extending from the axles of their chariots were long sharp blades. When they came alongside the wooden chariot of their adversary, those blades would cut the spokes of the wheels rendering the chariot useless and throwing their drivers headlong into the path of horses and chariots. (remember Ben Hur?)

We must recognize the reality that in our complacency as a nation we have become like Nineveh. We are relying on the past blessings of God, the past revivals and Godly leaders from the past and have ignored the need to stay alert both spiritually and militarily. When God led Israel into the Promised Land they had to fight their way in. We must sharpen our spiritual and our military weapons as we repent of our turning away from God as a nation. Otherwise we will find ourselves in the position of Nineveh. Although Nineveh thought that her 1500 watchtowers and her high walls would protect her, the LORD caused the Tigris river to overflow and the floods took out a portion of the wall and flooded the city. Enemies could then just come in on the riverbed.

Two scriptures come to mind. In

Gal 6:7-9 Paul issued a warning. “7 Don’t be deceived: God is not mocked. For whatever a person sows he will also reap, 8 because the one who sows to his flesh will reap destruction from the flesh, but the one who sows to the Spirit will reap eternal life from the Spirit. 9 Let us not get tired of doing good, for we will reap at the proper time if we don’t give up.”

In Heb. 6:4-6 We find; “4 For it is impossible to renew to repentance those who were once enlightened, who tasted the heavenly gift, who shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 who tasted God’s good word and the powers of the coming age, 6 and who have fallen away. This is because, to their own harm, they are recrucifying the Son of God and holding him up to contempt.”

The only recourse we have as a nation is repentance and return to the LORD. Just because we were once a “nation under God” and blessed by God doesn’t mean that we can sin without repentance and bank of our past to save us.

3. No more Glory (vv 8-13)

Nah 2:8-13 “8 Nineveh has been like a pool of water from her first days, but they are fleeing. “Stop! Stop!” they cry, but no one turns back. 9 “Plunder the silver! Plunder the gold!” There is no end to the treasure, an abundance of every precious thing. 10 Desolation, decimation, devastation! Hearts melt, knees tremble, insides churn, every face grows pale! 11 Where is the lions’ lair, or the feeding ground of the young lions, where the lion and lioness prowled, and the lion’s cub, with nothing to frighten them away? 12 The lion mauled whatever its cubs needed and strangled prey for its lionesses. It filled up its dens with the kill, and its lairs with mauled prey. 13 Beware, I am against you. This is the declaration of the Lord of Armies. I will make your chariots go up in smoke, and the sword will devour your young lions. I will cut off your prey from the earth, and the sound of your messengers will never be heard again.”

Nineveh had been a glorious place. Something like an oasis in the desert where people would go to get away from the pressures of the world. But now it was Nineveh’s turn to be devastated. Those who looked upon her devastation would shake with terror and fear. Although once Nineveh had been fearless as a lion chasing its prey, she was now the prey. Because of her backsliding Nineveh was not only abandoned by God, but God actually became her enemy.

13 Beware, I am against you. This is the declaration of the Lord of Armies. I will make your chariots go up in smoke, and the sword will devour your young lions. I will cut off your prey from the earth, and the sound of your messengers will never be heard again.”

Unless America repents and returns to God we will soon find that not only has God rejected us, but He is actually fighting against us.

Application: (How should I respond to this message?)

We must return to God with weeping and mourning because of our sins.

Joel 2:12 “12 Even now— this is the Lord’s declaration— turn to me with all your heart, with fasting, weeping, and mourning.”

We must renew our surrender to God.

Joel 2:13-14 “13 Tear your hearts, not just your clothes, and return to the Lord your God. For he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in faithful love, and he relents from sending disaster. 14 Who knows? He may turn and relent and leave a blessing behind him, so you can offer a grain offering and a drink offering to the Lord your God.”