Nahum

What do you do when your world falls apart? On September 5, 1861, a man who was a successful lawyer and senior partner in a large law firm in Chicago married the love of his life, Anna. They were Christians and became friends with the famous preacher Dwight L. Moody and supported his ministry.

The man invested heavily in real estate north of the city during the early parts of 1871, trying to build a stable financial foundation for his family. What he could not foresee - what no one could foresee - was that in October of that year the Great Fire of Chicago erupted and reduced the city to ash, destroying his investment.

Two short years later, the family decided to take a trip to Europe but at the last moment some business issues forced the man to stay behind while his wife of 12 years and his four daughters went ahead of him to England.

On November 22, 1873, the ship carrying the man’s family was struck by an iron sailing vessel and 226 people died, including all four of his children - Annie (age 12), Maggie (age 7), Elizabeth (called Bessie - age 4), and Tanetta (age 18 months). His wife, Anna, survived and when she got to Cardiff, Wales, she sent a telegraph that read “Saved alone.”

As soon as he could, the man set sail to join his grieving wife and soon he passed by the spot where all his children died. And as he stood on the deck of the ship, his heart ripped out, the words of a song formed in his mind. His name was Horatio Gates Spafford and the song he wrote on that mournful journey across the atlantic was “It is well with my soul.”

The first verse reads,

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way - When sorrows like sea billows roll; Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say, - It is well, it is well with my soul.

Today, as we continue in our series Messengers: The Minor Prophets we are looking at the book of Nahum and it’s written to a people who have lost everything.

Three weeks ago, Tracy taught us about God’s amazing mercy in the book of Jonah. In that book, God sent the prophet Jonah to proclaim repentance to the people of Ninevah, the capital of Assyria. Tracy rightly helped us to understand the book when she had us imagine what it would be like to be a Jewish person and be called to go preach a message of repentance in Berlin during the height of World War two, when Germany is at its strongest. That’s similar to the book of Jonah.

The Assyrians were horrible - they were immoral and were trying to conquer everything. Jonah’s sermon, which was one of the shortest sermons ever - ‘Forty days from now Nineveh will be destroyed!’ - was supernaturally effective. The people and even the animals repented and God spared the city.

Nahum takes place about 140 years later and the Assyrian empire, based out of Ninevah, has utterly returned to it’s immoral roots. They are worshipping false gods, they continue to conquer everything they can and have become the world’s first superpower nation. Their armies destroyed and looted; they buried their enemies alive and even skinned them alive; they impaled people on sharp poles and left them to burn in the sun. They were horrific.

And Nahum prophecies about Yahweh holding them accountable.

Nahum 1:14 NLT

14 And this is what the Lord says concerning the Assyrians in Nineveh: “You will have no more children to carry on your name. I will destroy all the idols in the temples of your gods. I am preparing a grave for you because you are despicable!”

Now, in our pluralistic and “can’t we all just get along” culture we are in, we might ask the question that if Yahweh is the God of Israel, then why did he first offer mercy, and now judgement, upon Assyria, who had their own gods? Although our culture in North America abhors absolutes, the truth is that there is only one God and he reigns over every person in every nation, whether they acknowledge them or not. My belief does not make God real or not. If everyone on earth suddenly ceased to believe in God, it wouldn’t change a thing about him. He would still be the one sovereign Lord over all and we would still all be accountable for our lives to him. And Nahum is written to remind God’s people of that.

The book of Nahum is about God’s punishment of Assyria but it is not written to the Assyrians. It’s not a prophecy to warn Assyria to change it’s ways or else. It’s a declaration not of what might be, but what will be and it’s written to Israel who were being oppressed and conquered by Assyria. Just as Jonah was written to remind Israel that God offers mercy to whomever he wills, Nahum’s writings reminds Israel that God is sovereign over every nation, including their enemies, and that all are held accountable for their actions. And for the Israelites and for us, that’s good news.

It’s good news for three reasons. First…

Because God is sovereign, our future is secure even when our present feels shaky

There are so many things that can rock us and make us feel like we are on shaky ground - job loss, an unknown future, a break-up, the death of a loved one. And those are some of the ones we will most likely experience here in Canada. Add to that what some of our other brothers and sisters around the world are facing. Extreme poverty, war, and even persecution.

When those situations hit us we feel lost and unsure of what to do next. We might feel angry, sad, even numb. But for those of us in Christ, there is good news. We have God on our side so no matter what we go through, we have an ever present help to see us through to the other side. God never promises an easy life - but he does promise to walk with us through the trials and sorrows of this life.

For the Israelites that Nahum is writing to, their world feels so shaky. They have been invaded and conquered by their enemies the Assyrians. The smell of death is everywhere and hope feels like a far-off dream. And into that world Nahum says,

Nahum 1:7–8 NLT

7 The Lord is good, a strong refuge when trouble comes. He is close to those who trust in him. 8 But he will sweep away his enemies in an overwhelming flood. He will pursue his foes into the darkness of night.

Nahum’s prophecy of the destruction of the Assyrians, of Ninevah its capital, is a word of hope and encouragement to this weary and broken people. And it’s a word that comes true. God uses the Medes and Persians, then the Babylonians to overthrow Assyria and reduce it to rubble. According to one commentator, they did such a thorough job, they didn’t discover the ruins of Ninevah until 1862.

God gives this word to his people in order to remind them - to remind us - to hold on during the difficult times. It may look bleak, but God is with you through the pain.

2 Corinthians 4:14–18 NLT

14 We know that God, who raised the Lord Jesus, will also raise us with Jesus and present us to himself together with you. 15 All of this is for your benefit. And as God’s grace reaches more and more people, there will be great thanksgiving, and God will receive more and more glory. 16 That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. 17 For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! 18 So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.

Because our God is sovereign, we can turn our eyes from the circumstances and the problems we are in and fix our gaze upon Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning it’s shame, and who sat down at the right hand of the Father.

The book of Nahum declares God’s sovereignty over every person. That’s good news. Because God is sovereign, our future is secure even when present feels shaky. Another way it’s good news is…

Because God is sovereign, we can trust in his justice

A despondent woman was walking along the beach when she saw a bottle on the sand. She picked it up and pulled out the cork. Whoosh! A big puff of smoke appeared. "You have released me from my prison," the genie told her. "To show my thanks, I grant you three wishes. But take care, for with each wish, your mate will receive double of whatever you request."

"Why?" the woman asked. "That bum left me for another woman."

"That is how it is written," replied the genie.

The woman shrugged and then asked for a billion dollars. There was a flash of light, and a million dollars appeared at her feet. At the same instant, in a far-off place, her wayward husband looked down to see twice that amount at his feet.

"And your second wish?"

"Genie, I want the world's most expensive diamond necklace." Another flash of light, and the woman was holding the precious treasure. And, in that distant place, her husband was suddenly holding two diamond necklaces, wondering how much he could sell them for and marvelling at what was happening to him

"Genie, is it really true that my husband has two billion dollars and more jewels than I do, and that he gets double of whatever I wish for?" The genie said it was indeed true. She paused, thought deeply, then said, "Okay, genie, I'm ready for my last wish," "Scare me half to death."

Naturally, we are a people who are bent on revenge. When someone hurts us, we want to hurt them back, or at least see them hurt. This impulse is tied into the justice part of how we are made in the image of God. But like so many things, our sense of justice is corrupted by our sin nature.

But the good news is that we can trust in God’s true justice.

To the Israelites who were experiencing the evils of Assyria, God promises that…

Nahum 1:9–10 NIV

9 Whatever they plot against the Lord he will bring to an end; trouble will not come a second time. 10 They will be entangled among thorns and drunk from their wine; they will be consumed like dry stubble.

For years and years, they were under the oppression and the evils of Assyria. It would have seemed as if God abandoned them and the idea of the Assyrians experiencing God’s justice would have been a pipe dream. Many would have have died without seeing that justice. But God’s justice always comes. Some get to see it in their lifetime, others have to trust that in the end, God will do what is right.

So what does that mean for you and I? That when we are hurt or sinned against by someone, we don’t have to exact justice for that situation.We don’t have to “teach them a lesson.” We can, and we must, trust God to act in justice on our behalf.

2 Corinthians 5:10 NLT

10 For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body.

I am accountable to God for every time I have hurt someone, for every sin I have ever committed. And God’s justice against those sins should mean my physical and spiritual death. And it would have, if not for Jesus, who took God’s justice against my sins into his body, when he died on the cross.

My hope for every person who has ever hurt me is that they experience the same mercy that I have - that through faith in Christ, all of their sins would be paid for and their hearts would be changed.

Christian forgiveness is not letting someone off the hook so that there is no justice. It’s simply recognizing that we are not the judge over all humanity - God is - and he will do what is right. Because God is sovereign, we are free to forgive people. Because God is sovereign, we can trust his justice. We may not see that justice in our lifetime, but we can trust that one day, God’s justice will be fulfilled, whether it’s through Jesus’ sacrifice applying to people who have put their faith in him, or at the end of days when we all stand before Jesus to give account for our lives.

The book of Nahum declares God’s sovereignty over every person. That’s good news. Because God is sovereign, our future is secure even when the present feels shaky and because God is sovereign, we can trust in his justice. The third way God’s sovereignty is good news is…

Because God is sovereign, we must pursue holiness

That may not seem like it’s good news. It sounds like it’s a burden, doesn’t it? It’s a hardship to live a holy life, isn’t it? Maybe. Or maybe we could choose to look at it a little differently.

The word “holy” in the Bible first and foremost means “set apart for a sacred purpose.” So, to live a holy life is to set yourself apart for a sacred purpose. So, what’s your sacred purpose?

It’s to be a child of God. It’s to be loved by God and to love him in return. And how do we show love to God? Yes, through adoration in worship. But we also show love by obeying God’s commands.

John 14:15 NLT

15 “If you love me, obey my commandments.

Part of pursuing holiness is to live out an ethic of love towards God and other people. That’s why Jesus could summarize the entire Mosaic law with the Great Commandment to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength and to love our neighbour as ourselves. Jesus isn’t saying anything new there - he’s just quoting the Old Testament.

In the book of Jonah, the Assyrians were living immoral lives that did not reflect a love for Yahweh or for others. And so God sent Jonah to preach a message of repentance to them. And it worked.

Jonah 3:7–10 NLT

7 Then the king and his nobles sent this decree throughout the city: “No one, not even the animals from your herds and flocks, may eat or drink anything at all. 8 People and animals alike must wear garments of mourning, and everyone must pray earnestly to God. They must turn from their evil ways and stop all their violence. 9 Who can tell? Perhaps even yet God will change his mind and hold back his fierce anger from destroying us.” 10 When God saw what they had done and how they had put a stop to their evil ways, he changed his mind and did not carry out the destruction he had threatened.

They started to love God and love others. But sometime in the 140 years between Jonah and Nahum, they went back to their old ways. They stopped pursuing holiness and instead pursued power and pleasure.

Because God is sovereign over all, he wants us all to pursue holiness because a holy life is not a lesser life than those who do whatever they want - it’s a richer, more human life. Pursuing holiness - our sense of sacred purpose - is the pathway to our most human selves - to the way we were created to be.

The Apostle Paul writes,

2 Corinthians 7:1 NLT

1 Because we have these promises, dear friends, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that can defile our body or spirit. And let us work toward complete holiness because we fear God.

Conclusion

Most of us here probably knows what it feels like when your world feels like it’s been torn apart. Whether it’s a heartbreak, the death of a loved one, moving countries, a job loss or even a major conflict, we know how shaken those situations leave us. But we are a people of hope and resilience because our God is the sovereign Lord over the universe and he loves us so much, that no matter what we are going through we can say “It is well with my soul.” Because he is sovereign, our future is secure. Because he is sovereign, we can trust in His justice. Because he is sovereign we will pursue holiness because that’s what will make us whole. Our God is sovereign and that’s good news.