Nahum 3:1-7 (2)

Introduction

When John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, he said, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand,” (Matt. 3:1-2). It’s always a good idea to repent of sin but especially when Jesus arrives and the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

When the Pharisees approached, John asked them who had warned them to flee the wrath to come and then told them to “bear fruit in keeping with repentance,” (Matt. 3:8). In other words, one proof of having escaped the wrath of God that will come on unrepentant sinners is to continue in repentance—to continue in turning away from sin and turning toward holiness.

The Apostle Paul preached a similar message of continual repentance. In his defense before Agrippa in Acts 26, Paul said that he preached in Jerusalem, Judea, and even to the Gentiles, “that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds appropriate to repentance,” (Acts 26:20).

The good news of God’s grace in Jesus Christ calls us to turn away from sin by turning to God through faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus took our sins upon Himself as He sacrificed Himself on the cross in our place. And if we believe that He really did die for us, we will turn away from sin—and we will keep turning away from sin.

Nineveh’s problem was that is didn’t keep turning away from sin. No, after a repentant moment in days of Jonah, it turned back to all manner of sin and now judgement was at hand.

God would used a coalition of Babylonians, Medes, and Scythians to destroy Nineveh, which would spell the end of the Assyrian Empire as a whole.

Christ has come. The kingdom of heaven is at hand. We must repent and keep repenting. We must keep performing deeds appropriate to repentance. Because if we don’t—and "we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth,” (Heb. 10:26)—what can await us but “a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire which will consume (God’s) adversaries,” (Heb. 10:27).

This is what we see in Nahum 3.

We began to talk about Nahum 3 last week after our Family Night Supper but I want to revisit vv. 1-7 so that I might do a better job applying it to our lives.

So let’s take a look at this passage in three PARTS...

Major Ideas

PART #1: Woe to Nineveh (v. 1)

Nahum 3:1 NASB95

1 Woe to the bloody city, completely full of lies and pillage; Her prey never departs.

[Exp] ‘Woe’ is the announcement of judgment. Nineveh will judged—is already in the process of being judged—because it is the bloody city, the lying city, and the pillaging city.

The phrase “the bloody city” in v.1 could be translated as “the city of bloods.” The plural for bloods was perhaps used to show just how violent this city was. Just as it had multiple rivers running through it, it had the blood of multiple nations on its hands.

But before Nineveh acted violently toward another nation, it often lied to them. It often spoke peace before it brought down the sword. We have examples of this in Scripture.

In 2 Kings 18:31-32, Assyria attempted to take over Judah during the reign of Hezekiah. The King of Assyria sent a messenger who said to the people of Judah...

2 Kings 18:31–32 NASB95

31 ‘Do not listen to Hezekiah, for thus says the king of Assyria, “Make your peace with me and come out to me, and eat each of his vine and each of his fig tree and drink each of the waters of his own cistern, 32 until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees and honey, that you may live and not die.” But do not listen to Hezekiah when he misleads you, saying, “The Lord will deliver us.”

But the Lord did deliver Judah. And history shows that Assyria and it’s capital city, Nineveh, wasn’t nearly so kind to those nations it conquered.

Another example is in 2 Chronicles 28:20, where Judah, during the reign of Ahaz, called on Assyria for assistance as it was being invaded. Assyria certainly promised to come and help, but 2 Chronicles 28:20 says...

2 Chronicles 28:20 NASB95

20 So Tilgath-pilneser king of Assyria came against him and afflicted him instead of strengthening him.

Nineveh was a liar, a deceiver, and a violent one at that.

But Nineveh was also a pillager. The Assyrians loved violence and often acted violently for the enjoyment they found in it. But they were also after material gain. The stole from other nations to the extent that Nahum 2:9 says, “For there is no limit to the treasure” in Nineveh—Wealth from every kind of desirable object” was found there.

So violent, deceptive, and thieving was Nineveh that no prey escaped her grasped. Once Nineveh locked on to a nation it meant to have, that was it. By deception and violence Nineveh would have it and everything in it.

This is definitely not a nation that continued to bear fruit in keeping with the repentance it experienced in Jonah’s day.

Q: Now, we don’t know for sure, but what might have led Nineveh to turn away from the repentance that it experienced in Jonah’s day?

[App] Perhaps it was a lack of discipleship.

Maybe that repentant generation of Ninevites didn’t disciple the next generation. Who was this God who called them to repentance? Why was repentance necessary in light of who God is? What would happen to them if they did not continue in repentance?

Let us make sure that we are discipling the next generation in the necessity of repentance.

Perhaps it was that the imminent sense of judgment passed.

Jonah came (reluctantly) preaching a message of repentance or else judgment within 40 days, and the people of Nineveh—from the least to the greatest (even the king!)—repented. But what happened after 40 days had past? Did Nineveh go immediately back to its sinful ways?

Whether is 40 minutes, 40 days, or 400 years from now, judgment will come to those who do not continue in repentance.

Perhaps it was a refusal to totally separate from its sinful past.

Maybe Nineveh tried to meld its violence, deception, and pillaging with this God that Jonah spoke of. Maybe they recast their violence in spiritual terms for a bit—calling other nations “enemies of God” or something like that. Maybe after a bit they tried to merge the worship of God with the worship of their former idols.

But if worship God, we must worship Him alone—or else we don’t really worship Him.

Perhaps it was the convenience of sin.

Nineveh has become powerful and wealthy through sinful means. It knew how to do that. That was second nature to Nineveh. But to trust God, follow Him, and depend on Him was much more difficult. It required more patience and who knows if God would allow Nineveh to remain as powerful and wealthy.

Sin might be convenient, but it leads to judgment.

Perhaps it was the enjoyment of sin.

Maybe Nineveh enjoyed the violence, the lying, and the pillaging, but that sinful enjoyment was just a vapor before eternal judgment came.

Sin might be fun in the moment, but is leads to eternal anguish.

[TS] No one escaped from Nineveh, but Nineveh would not escape from God. Judgement had come—that’s what we see in vv. 2-4...

PART #2: Judgement Comes to Nineveh (vv. 2-4)

Nahum 3:2–4 NASB95

2 The noise of the whip, The noise of the rattling of the wheel, Galloping horses And bounding chariots! 3 Horsemen charging, Swords flashing, spears gleaming, Many slain, a mass of corpses, And countless dead bodies— They stumble over the dead bodies! 4 All because of the many harlotries of the harlot, The charming one, the mistress of sorceries, Who sells nations by her harlotries And families by her sorceries.

[Exp] Verses 2-3 describe the sights, sounds, and even the smells of the judgment that is at hand in Nineveh. It had brought these sights, sounds, and smells to other nations and would now experience them within the walls of its own city.

We might read “Many slain, a mass of corpses, And countless dead bodies—they stumble over the dead bodies,” and think that this is a bit harsh. Did Nineveh really need to be visited with this sort of violence?

But remember this is the sort of violence that Nineveh had brought to other cities. As God’s weapon of judgment, the Babylonians, Medes, and Scythians were merely taking an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.

Also, remember that God had not only sent His Word to Nineveh through Jonah, He also had warned Nineveh in the past with a display of His power.

In 2 Kings 19, after the King of Assyria’s messenger promised a better land to Judah if it surrendered, Judah refused because the Lord promised to defend Jerusalem, Judah’s capital city, and defend it for His own sake. Then 2 Kings 19:35 says...

2 Kings 19:35 NASB95

35 Then it happened that night that the angel of the Lord went out and struck 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians; and when men rose early in the morning, behold, all of them were dead.

Nineveh had seen the power of God up close and personal and chose to continue in rebellion rather than continue in repentance.

No, this was not too harsh for Nineveh. It was getting what it deserved, and verse 4 gives us another reason for it.

Nineveh was a harlot.

She was a charming one.

She was the mistress of sorceries.

Proverbs 7 talks about the harlot, the adulteress woman who entices the foolish man. She is cunning. She lurks. She seizes. She kisses. She invites. He follows, but he does not realize that he follows her to his slaughter; he doesn’t understand that the harlot will take his life.

Nineveh is describe like this harlot. She is Delilah to Sampson. She seduces then betrays. She entices then destroys. Many foolish nations followed her to their doom.

But Nineveh was not only a harlot of harlotries but also a mistress of sorceries.

Sorcery is witchcraft, and Nineveh was full of it. Archeologists have found that they prayed to anything and everything in hopes of producing a hex upon their enemies.

[App] But when we look at Nineveh’s sins, we realize that they all were sins against God and neighbor. Jesus said the whole of God’s Law could be summed up as love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself. Nineveh rebelled against God with all its heart, soul, mind, and strength, and it slaughtered its neighbors. Instead of following the two great commandments of righteousness, they followed the two great commandments of wickedness.

Q: Do you think we see this in our day? Do we see violence, lying, pillaging? Do we see seduction, betrayal, sorcery? Where do we see these things in our society?

We see violence and pillaging in politics.

Politicians (at least most of them) lie to the public they supposedly serve. They pillage the American tax-payer. And in some cases incite their supporters to violence. And we see it on both sides of the aisle.

[Illus] Back in 2018—you know, the good ol’ days—Democratic congresswoman Maxine Waters, spoke at rally in Los Angeles about Trump’s cabinet members. She said, “If you see anybody from that Cabinet in a restaurant, in a department store, at a gasoline station, you get out and you create a crowd and you push back on them, and you tell them they’re not welcome anymore, anywhere.”

[Illus] But to be fair, I was also recently reading a chapter in a book about George H. W. Bush, then Republican Vice President to Ronald Reagan, who in 1986 threw out the first pitch at a Houston Astros game. That first pitch cost the American tax payer millions of dollars, and he didn’t even get it across the plate!

We see it in our protests. We of course see violence in our protests today, but we also see witchcraft.

[Illus] Recently a YouTube video has been making the rounds were the founders of Black Lives Matter discuss praying to spirits and using hashtags to call on the spiritual energy of ancestors. Some have even said that the ‘say their name’ chant used by Black Lives Matter is done to raise the spirits of George Floyd or Breonna Taylor.

In February of this year, Patrice Cullors, one of the founders of BLM produced a piece of performance art titled, Prayer to the Iyami. The piece was supposedly a lament for the brother she lost and a testament to her fight for criminal justice reform in the Los Angeles. But ‘the Iyami’ is described like this on wikipedia.com—“a woman of African ancestry who is considered to be … a woman who wields myriad arcane creative biological, spiritual, and cosmic powers.”

But another place we see all the sin of Nineveh in our society is in our entertainment.

We (even we Christians) are entertained with television shows and movies that are filled with the occult, with violence, with adultery, with Godlessness in general.

Brothers and sisters, we ought not be entertained by sin when Christ died to save us from sin.

We cannot be entertained by the two great commandments of wickedness—rebellion against God and violence against neighbor—and continue in repentance.

[TS] If we don’t turn away from these things and keep turning away from these things by continually giving ourselves more and more to Christ, the Lord will come against us just as He came against Nineveh.

That’s we come in to in Nahum 3:5-7...

PART #3: The Lord Against Nineveh (vv. 5-7)

Nahum 3:5–7 NASB95

5 “Behold, I am against you,” declares the Lord of hosts; “And I will lift up your skirts over your face, And show to the nations your nakedness And to the kingdoms your disgrace. 6 “I will throw filth on you And make you vile, And set you up as a spectacle. 7 “And it will come about that all who see you Will shrink from you and say, ‘Nineveh is devastated! Who will grieve for her?’ Where will I seek comforters for you?”

[Exp] God will expose Nineveh’s sinful shame, show the world who Nineveh really is. That’s what’s meant by lifting her skirt over her face and showing the nations her nakedness (v. 5b).

Nineveh will be disgraced.

Nineveh will be desecrated (v. 6).

Nineveh is not a holy place, but it will become even more unholy when pelted with filth. It will be a desecrated, defiled spectacle to the world watching.

The nastiness in Nineveh’s heart will be displayed outwardly for the world to see.

Nineveh will be devastated (v. 7).

Those that see Nineveh will shrink back in horror and none will mourn for her. Even if God where to look for someone to mourn for Nineveh, He could not find someone.

The judgment of God will leave all unrepentant sinners disgraced, desecrated, and devastated.

But we must notice too God’s personal involvement in Nineveh’s judgment.

In v. 5, God says, “Behold, I am against you.”

In v. 5, He also says, “And I will lift up your skirts over your face...”

In v. 6, He says, “I will throw filth on you...”

In v. 7, He says, “Where will I seek comforters for you?”

Sin against God is personal. God takes it personally. And He will personally bring His wrath to bear on every unrepentant sinner.

[App] This judgement against Nineveh is a small picture of the judgement that God will bring upon all those who refuse to repent and receive God’s gracious offer of salvation in Jesus Christ.

Q: What should those who refuse God’s Son learn from this passage?

Just as Nineveh’s judgment was imminent, so is yours if you don’t trust Jesus.

Just as Nineveh’s judgment would be complete, so will be yours if you don’t trust Jesus.

Just as Nineveh’s judgment shame-revealing spectacle, so will be yours if you don’t trust Jesus.

And just as no one mourned for Nineveh when it was judged, so will no one will mourn for you if you don’t trust Jesus.

But God has brought His Word and His Warning to you tonight. His Word warns of His judgment and calls you to faith in His Son, Jesus.

Jesus took the wrath that was to be yours upon Himself when He gave His life for you on the cross. Hebrews 12:2 says...

Hebrews 12:2 NASB95

2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

God disarmed and shamed the spiritual powers of Satan, sin, and death by way of His Son, Jesus. Colossians 2:15 says...

Colossians 2:15 ESV

15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.

This means that Satan, sin, and death have no power over you if you are in Christ Jesus through faith.

Q: But if we have repented of our sin and unbelief by trusting in Jesus for salvation, how should we respond to this passage in Nahum?

We should pray a prayer of thanksgiving.

We should say thank you because we were once all Nineveh at heart until God transformed us with His grace.

We should say thank you because this is a small picture of the wrath that God has saved us from.

We should say thank you because this is a small picture of what will happen to all the enemies of God when Christ returns.

We should pray for the lost.

Sin has seduced them, and apart from the grace of God, it will lead them to eternal ruin.

[TS] ...

Conclusion

But this is what Christ has saved us from, and we ought to praise God for it and bear fruit in keeping with the salvation we have found in Him.

Psalm 34:22 NASB95

22 The Lord redeems the soul of His servants, And none of those who take refuge in Him will be condemned.

John 3:18 NASB95

18 “He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

Romans 8:1 NASB95

1 Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Romans 10:11 NASB95

11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.”