Sunday Service
Notes
Transcript
Nahum is now turning the focus on the vision the LORD has given him regarding the divine judgment that will fall— the destruction of Nineveh, the capital of the powerful Assyrian Empire in the seventh century BC. Nahum tells the story of the fall of Nineveh in a poetic and vivid way. The message is clear: The LORD is behind these events in history. He is sovereign over all nations. Nahum describes what the LORD will do, and in his sovereignty what He has decreed. This is a classic illustration of divine judgment and retribution, and of the sovereignty of God in human history.
In the Hebrew Bible, Nahum 1:15 is the first verse of chapter 2. In this bridge to what follows, Nahum calls on Judah, God’s people, to respond to what the LORD in His goodness has accomplished for them. He will take vengeance on His foes, yet He will be a refuge in times of trouble and He cares for those who trust in Him. His foes, all those who oppose Him, will be defeated, yet in His goodness He disciplines those He has afflicted and sets free those who are in bondage. So with the divine judgment to fall upon Nineveh, God calls on His people to respond by rejoicing in good news, celebrating in worship, and fulfilling their promise. Isaiah 52:4-7
Isaiah 52:4–7 (NASB95)
For thus says the Lord God, “My people went down at the first into Egypt to reside there; then the Assyrian oppressed them without cause.
“Now therefore, what do I have here,” declares the Lord, “seeing that My people have been taken away without cause?” Again the Lord declares, “Those who rule over them howl, and My name is continually blasphemed all day long.
“Therefore My people shall know My name; therefore in that day I am the one who is speaking, ‘Here I am.’ ”
How lovely on the mountains Are the feet of him who brings good news, Who announces peace And brings good news of happiness, Who announces salvation, And says to Zion, “Your God reigns!”
In this prophecy of Isaiah regarding the deliverance of Israel from the Babylonians, he uses the word “beautiful” to describe the feet of the messenger, because it is a beautiful and privileged ministry to bring good news to those in captivity; and no matter who God’s people are delivered from, they are called to rejoice in God’s mighty saving power.
All these acts of God’s redemption in history point to Christ’s mighty act of redemption in His life, death, resurrection, and exaltation. Paul quotes these words from Isaiah and Nahum to promote the work of evangelism for the Gentile as well as the Jew, reminding the Christians in Rome: Romans 10:13-15
for “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher?
How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things!”
Now as we continue in chapter 2 and the verses describing the destruction of Nineveh, there are some lessons we can learn.
1. God’s purposes will be fulfilled, however puzzling His actions, 2:1.
1. God’s purposes will be fulfilled, however puzzling His actions, 2:1.
We must remember that Nahum wrote this book before the fall of Nineveh in 612 BC. Normally, we would expect that the citizens of Nineveh would be able to defend their city without much effort. Note the commands in verse 1, which would have been sufficient in most cases to stave off any enemy threat. However Nahum warns them, “The one who scatters has come up against you.” Historically, this refers to the combined forces of the Babylonians, Medes, and Scythians, who were to sweep through Mesopotamia, and eventually attack and destroy Nineveh in 612 BC. These nations are but the tools that the LORD will use as His instruments of judgment. Here is a warning to those who face certain destruction unless they repent. Unlike the time of Jonah’s ministry where from the king down to the lowest servant (and even animals!) wore sackcloth and ashes to show their repentant heart, God relented of the judgment He was to bring upon them; now, even though warning Nineveh of what was to come, the nation did not heed the warnings.
But in Nahum’s description of the destruction of Nineveh as part of the purpose of God, there arises some puzzling questions:
(i) Has not God already chosen Assyria to be His servant and His instrument to judge Israel? The answer is ‘yes’. The sovereign LORD is free to choose any nation to be His instrument to fulfill His purposes.
In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrians will come into Egypt and the Egyptians into Assyria, and the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians.
In that day Israel will be the third party with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth,
whom the Lord of hosts has blessed, saying, “Blessed is Egypt My people, and Assyria the work of My hands, and Israel My inheritance.”
Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger And the staff in whose hands is My indignation,
(ii) If Assyria is God’s instrument to fulfill His purposes, why does God promise to destroy Assyria? The answer is Assyria clearly went beyond the mandate God had given her. Isaiah explained what happened, starting with verse 5 of chapter 10 and continuing…
Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger And the staff in whose hands is My indignation,
I send it against a godless nation And commission it against the people of My fury To capture booty and to seize plunder, And to trample them down like mud in the streets.
Yet it does not so intend, Nor does it plan so in its heart, But rather it is its purpose to destroy And to cut off many nations.
Isaiah recognizes the tension between the will of the LORD, using Assyria as a just punishment, and the will of Assyria, acting out her own imperial ambitions. God declares,
So it will be that when the Lord has completed all His work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, He will say, “I will punish the fruit of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria and the pomp of his haughtiness.”
For he has said, “By the power of my hand and by my wisdom I did this, For I have understanding; And I removed the boundaries of the peoples And plundered their treasures, And like a mighty man I brought down their inhabitants,
Is the axe to boast itself over the one who chops with it? Is the saw to exalt itself over the one who wields it? That would be like a club wielding those who lift it, Or like a rod lifting him who is not wood.
‘There is only one Agent and he does all things well. Under him, history is the outworking of moral providences. The Assyrian holocaust was not “let loose” on the world. It was sent, directed where it was merited [Isa. 10:6], kept within heaven’s limits; and in the end Assyria was punished for its excesses [Isa. 10:12]. — Alex Motyer, The Prophecy of Isaiah, pg. 113.
The LORD used Assyria to discipline Israel, and judges Assyria because she exceeded the mandate God gave her and acted with arrogance and greed.
(iii) Does this make the LORD, in His sovereign acts, harsh and unloving? Nahum describes the attack on Nineveh; in so doing, he reminds us of the horrors of warfare, both then and now. This time it is the Assyrians who are the victims of war here. The LORD was against them (2:13), but did He love them? Did He care about them? Yes, as demonstrated by the book of Jonah. However, when Nineveh no longer repented of her sins, went beyond the mandate that the LORD gave her, acting arrogantly and brutally against her enemies, the LORD could no longer bless her. God was against her; and Nineveh received the just reward of hers sins and her war crimes.
Then Nahum links the sovereign LORD’s righteous acts of judgment with His merciful acts of restoration for those who put their trust in Him. This promise of restoration given by Nahum teaches us that
2. God’s people will be restored, however much they have suffered, 2:2.
2. God’s people will be restored, however much they have suffered, 2:2.
The people of God in Nahum’s day have experienced deprivation and suffering due to enemy occupation and fighting. Town were destroyed, livelihoods were ruined, crops devastated. But Nahum has good news: God’s judgment on Israel’s enemies means deliverance for His people. Jacob/Israel will be restored...
“Say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I will take the sons of Israel from among the nations where they have gone, and I will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land;
and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king will be king for all of them; and they will no longer be two nations and no longer be divided into two kingdoms.
“They will no longer defile themselves with their idols, or with their detestable things, or with any of their transgressions; but I will deliver them from all their dwelling places in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them. And they will be My people, and I will be their God.
3. God’s enemies will be destroyed, however great their resources, 2:3-10.
3. God’s enemies will be destroyed, however great their resources, 2:3-10.
What we see in these verses is a vivid description of the attack on Nineveh. Nahum claims this is his vision from the LORD. He is describing what the LORD has revealed to him.
Verse 3 describes the the attack of foot soldiers and chariots on Nineveh. The shields are red, possibly from previous battles where blood has stained the shields. This plus the scarlet color of the uniforms gave a visual picture of possible bloodshed. The description of the metal of the chariots reflecting both torchlight and sunlight, while the cypress spears are lowered in preparation to attack, are as if Nahum was on site.
Verse 4 speaks of those chariots storming through the streets of the city in a mad dash is a vivid picture, adding drama to the scene. Who can stop them. How will Nineveh cope with such invaders? They cannot, they are incapable of saving themselves from these invaders, these instruments of the LORD’s judgment and retribution.
In verse 5, the select troops of the invaders rush forward stumbling in their haste to get to the wall and set up the protective shield (mantelet) to help ward off the arrows, spears and other objects thrown down at them from the walls’ heights.
Verse 6, The strategy of these invaders is not to throw up a siege wall, but seems to be to divert waters from the river defense system, along with the flooding waters of the Tigris. That which was meant to help defend Nineveh turned out to be the weak spot in their defense, enabling the invaders to enter the city, having eroded parts of the wall and leading to the collapse of the palace and effective leadership of the city.
Verse 7, Nahum says the “it is fixed;” the city will be exiled and the captives taken away. Nineveh was ripe for judgment and retribution. Military strength won’t save Nineveh; now Nahum reveals that idols and money won’t save her either. The moaning of Nineveh’s handmaidens was not because of loss of financial gain, but the failure of the ‘gods’ they had devoted themselves to. They mourn, being overwhelmingly disappointed in their idols who could not save them from ultimate destruction.
Verse 8 describes Nineveh a a peaceful place, full of good things and rich in resources. This pool, however was draining away. The people knew it, trying to escape from the enemy on their doorstep while the leaders struggled to stop the exodus by shouting out, ‘Stop! Stop!’ No one turned back.
Verse 9, Now the very wealth of Nineveh stolen from others is mow taken from them, so that what once was thought of as wealth having no limit, will
Verse 10 …disappear. Just as money could not save Nineveh, nor solve its problems, the very same is true of us. Jesus said,
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.
“But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal;
for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Paul, along similar lines, writes words that never seemed more relevant in the times we live in:
Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy.
The people of Nineveh, once responsive to the preaching of Jonah, have in the intervening years become complacent, trusting in idols and in the wealth seized from other nations. The vision Nahum received shows a certain end to such complacency and arrogance. Nineveh is emptied! Desolate! Waste! Her people are terrified. ‘Hearts are melting, and knees knocking! Also anguish is in the whole body and all their faces are grown pale!’
God judges based on the hearts of people, not on the outward appearance. Where God sees evil, He will punish it. The present activity of judgment is where God gives people over to their sinful desires, with all the consequences that inevitably follow. Paul describes this aspect of corrupting behavior to the Christians in Rome, a description they were all too familiar with:
Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them.
For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
There is also a future judgment when evil will finally be destroyed. Jesus will come again this time to claim victory over all evil. John describes it this way:
And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war.
His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems; and He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself.
He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God.
And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses.
From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty.
And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”
In the end God’s enemies will be destroyed, however great their resources. Jesus’ victory is certain.
4. God’s Word will be vindicated, however confident human boasting, 2:11-13.
4. God’s Word will be vindicated, however confident human boasting, 2:11-13.
The description of Nahum’s vision with its imagery of the lions appropriately describes the cruelty of the Assyrians. Nineveh is likened to a lions den, suggesting the strength and security of its citizens, provided by the might of the Assyrian army. How was that strength and security obtained? By great cruelty. Cf. lions who tore enough meat to feed his cubs, strangled enough prey for his lioness, filled his lairs with prey and his dens with torn flesh. Assyrian army savaged their foes, exploited their lands for loot, making themselves rich at the expense of more vulnerable nations.
Lions were an appropriate imagery to depict Assyria, seen even in the stone reliefs commissioned by the Assyrian kings. These kings often described their actions in terms of a lion’s behavior. King Sennacherib boasted, “Like a lion I raged.” And they were cruel, not hesitating to boast of their cruelties, like King Ashurbanipal who wrote, “They suspended their corpses from poles, tore their skin off and affixed it to the city walls. I let dogs, swine, wolves, vultures, the birds of the heavens and the sweet-water fish devour their cut off limbs … the people who lived in the city, and had not come out, and had not acknowledged my rule, I slew … I chopped off their heads and cut off their lips.” The tragedy is the humankind is so infected by sin and wickedness that every generation repeats these kinds of inhuman acts in war and in times of peace.
Nahum , whose vision looks ahead to the fall of Nineveh and the defeat of the Assyrian army, asks”Where has all the strength and savagery of the Assyrians gone?” as if the events he has seen have already happened. Who has brought it about?
The word of the Lord of Hosts has ended them, because He is the One who is against them. What God says, He will accomplish. The LORD promises Nineveh:
(i) “I will burn up your chariots in smoke,”
(ii) “a sword will devour your young lions;”
(iii) “I will cut off your prey from the land,” — This is exactly what happened. God spoke it and it was done.
(iv) “No longer will the voice of your messengers be heard.” The mocking voices of Assyria would be silenced. But God’s Word will be vindicated, then, now and in the days to come.
