Nahum: Will God's Patience Last Forever?

Holy, Holy, Holy

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Isaiah 6:3—Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!

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In just a moment we’ll hear a reading from the text for today’s sermon in the book of Nahum. Turn there now.

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Special Members Meeting today after the worship service

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Bring your own dinner and/or a game to play afterwards

Now direct your attention to Nahum 1:1 as Elizabeth Wells comes to read for us...

Scripture Reading (Nahum 1:1-8)

Prayer of Praise (Elizabeth Wells)

Behold He Comes

Your Mercy

Prayer of Confession (Joel Whitcomb)

All I Have is Christ

NCC #23 & Pastoral Prayer (John Rogers)

SERMON

"One of these days I’m going to destroy that television with an axe.”

I was around 6 years old when I first heard my mother say those words. But of course I didn’t believe her. Who would? That’s just the kind of crazy thing that tired moms with a bunch of kids sometimes say.

Until one fateful day. My mom wasn’t feeling well. I can’t remember all the details, but she was probably recovering from one of her eleven pregnancies.

Whatever was going on, she had told me and my siblings we couldn’t watch TV until we did our chores.

But she was sleeping! Who would know?

So we watched Looney Tunes!

Until my mom woke up and lectured us for disobeying.

But then she went back into her room.

So we watched more cartoons!

This happened several times until finally, my mom caught us watching TV again and silently went into the garage, grabbed my dad’s hatchet and destroyed that television with an axe.

I still remember picking up the pieces and taking them out to the road with the trash.

I learned two very important lessons that day.

1) Never underestimate the temper of an Irish-blooded, red-headed, postpartum woman.

2) Even in the best of moms, patience doesn’t last forever.

What about God?

The Bible tells us that God is “slow to anger,” “longsuffering,” “steadfast,” and “patient.”

Most of us could tell stories of how God has been patient with us.

But we also see so many examples when God’s patience seems to wear thin, where we read of His wrath against sin.

Will God’s patience last forever?

Few books of Scripture answer this question better than the book of Nahum.

Turn to Nahum 1

If I say “Nineveh,” what book of the Bible immediately come to mind?

The book of Jonah!

So too should Nahum!

The book of Nahum is kind of like a sequel to the book of Jonah.

Both about the city of Nineveh

SHOW NAHUM TIMELINE

About 120 years after the prophet Jonah preached against Nineveh, the prophet Nahum is preaching against Nineveh.

But unlike the story of Jonah, Nahum’s prophecy doesn’t lead to a happy ending for Nineveh.

As we study the book of Nahum, we’ll find an answer to our question: will God’s patience last forever?

With God’s help we’ll learn that God’s patience is perfect, but it isn’t permanent. It’s lasting, but not everlasting. God’s patience has an expiration date.

Three Questions:

What Happened to NINEVEH?

Nahum 1:1—An oracle concerning Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum of Elkosh.

What we know about Nineveh:

A massive city

The capital city of Assyria

120 years before, Jonah 4:11 tells us 120,000 people lived there who didn’t know their right from their left

Historians believe in these days was probably the largest city in the world

A marvelous city

During the reign of King Sennacherib the city was transformed with new temples, roads, avenues, bridges, canals and parks.

Built the world’s first aqueduct

A well-fortified city

SHOW NINEVEH MAP

“Nineveh was an almost impregnable fortress.”[1]

Forts guarded the approaches to the city

Surrounded by a system of moats and canals, and the mighty Tigris river

A once repentant city

In 760 B.C. Nineveh repented after Jonah's preaching

SHOW NINEVEH TIMELINE

After Jonah’s preaching… Jonah 3:5— “...the people of Nineveh believed God...”

The book of Jonah isn’t some sort of parable about what could happen if a people repent. It’s about what did happen in Nineveh.

Even though their repentance was legitimate, it was not lasting.

One generation later the Assyrian people are back to their old ways. . .

In 740 B.C., some Northern tribes were exiled by Assyria (1 Chron. 5:25-26)

SHOW NINEVEH TIMELINE

It only takes one generation for a people to turn their backs on God.

Parents, are your teaching your children? Older, are you teaching the younger?

In 722 B.C. the Northern Kingdom falls to Assyria (2 Kings 17)

SHOW NINEVEH TIMELINE

God uses Nineveh and the Assyrians as a tool to discipline His sinful people

But Nineveh became proud of her military success

Isaiah 10:5-7—Woe to Assyria, the rod of my anger; the staff in their hands is my fury! Against a godless nation I send him, and against the people of my wrath I command him, to take spoil and seize plunder, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets. 7 But he does not so intend, and his heart does not so think; but it is in his heart to destroy, and to cut off nations not a few.

In 701 B.C., Assyria tries to destroy the Southern Kingdom but God protects His people (2 Chronicles 32)

SHOW NINEVEH TIMELINE

This is such an important story the Bible devotes 5 chapters in 3 different books to telling it

The miraculous defeat of the Assyrians in 701 may have slowed them down for a while, but not forever.

We know from historical records that. . .

In 663 B.C., Assyria conquers Thebes in Egypt

SHOW NINEVEH TIMELINE

Archaeological discoveries in Nineveh have discovered a massive library with over 30,000 clay tablets and fragments that give us a wealth of historical knowledge about Assyria and Nineveh.

SHOW ASHURBANIPAL’S LIBRARY

King Ashurbanipal, the last great king of the Assyrian empire, wrote this about the destruction of the once mighty city of Thebes—“This city, the whole of it, I conquered it with the help of Ashur and Ishtar. [two main Assyrian gods] … I have lifted my spear and shown my power. With full hands I have returned to Nineveh, in good health."

Nahum writes in the past tense about the gruesome destruction of Thebes in Nahum 3:8-10

Over the next 25 years, Nineveh enjoyed unrivaled strength.

Assyrians are the world’s greatest superpower!

Around 639 B.C. (at the peak of Assyrian strength) Nahum prophecies against Nineveh

SHOW NINEVEH TIMELINE

Two specific prophecies:

God promises to destroy Nineveh with a flood...

1:8—with an overflowing flood He will make a complete end of the adversaries...

2:6—The river gates are opened; the palace melts away.

God promises Nineveh will not rise again

1:8—...a complete end...

1:9—...He will make a complete end; trouble will not rise up a second time.

1:14—…“No more shall your name be perpetuated”

1:15—…[Nineveh will be] “utterly cut off.”

2:13—...the voice of [Nineveh’s] messengers shall no longer be heard.

Unlike other threats of judgment. No promises to relent if they repent! God’s patience has run out.

612 B.C. -- Nineveh is destroyed by Babylon

SHOW NINEVEH TIMELINE

Nahum’s prophecies were fulfilled with precision!

THE FLOOD...

At least one ancient historian reports that Nineveh was under siege by the Babylonians when the Tigris River rose up and flooded, allowing Babylon to breach the walls

Archeologists have discovered that about 1200 feet of the city’s walls were missing on the side of the Tigris River

UTTER DESTRUCTION

The former President of the British School of Archaeology and an renowned expert in Middle Easter history wrote, “Fourteen years after the death of Ashurbanipal... Nineveh suffered a defeat from which it never recovered. Extensive traces of ash, representing the sack of the city ... have been found in many parts of the Acropolis. After 612 BCE the city ceased to be important.”[2]

One commentator writes, “The great buildings of Egypt, Babylon, Greece, and Rome remain. Many of their greatest cities still exist. Not so with Assyria. The destruction of Assyria was so complete that until [a British archaeologist named] Austen Henry Layard discovered the buried remains of Nineveh in 1845, much of the world considered the Bible’s accounts of Assyrian greatness to be exaggerated. Before then, the location of what had been the greatest city in the world was a mystery. God did indeed root out their cities so that the memory of them faded.”[3]

605 B.C. -- Assyria completely destroyed by Babylon

SHOW NINEVEH TIMELINE

All of this happened because God’s patience isn’t permanent. His patience with Nineveh and the Assyrians had an expiration date.

But why did God destroy Nineveh?

Nahum 3:1-4—Woe to the bloody city, all full of lies and plunder—no end to the prey! 2 The crack of the whip, and rumble of the wheel, galloping horse and bounding chariot! 3 Horsemen charging, flashing sword and glittering spear, hosts of slain, heaps of corpses, dead bodies without end—they stumble over the bodies! 4 And all for the countless whorings of the prostitute, graceful and of deadly charms, who betrays nations with her whorings, and peoples with her charms.

Nineveh’s Injustice (vv. 1-3)

“Of all the oppressive imperial powers that have stained the pages of human history from the past to the present, Assyria claims a place of pre-eminence among evil nations. It was a nation with a long history, but during the first millennium B.C. it embarked upon a path of imperial expansion which knew no limitations of human decency and kindness.”[4]

“The Assyrians were perhaps the most brutal and cruel society in history.” [5]

“The Assyrians were what [Joseph] Stalin aspired to be.”[6]

Nineveh’s Idolatry (v. 4)

She’s like a pimp, capturing and trafficking nations, enslaving them in spiritual adultery through the worship of her pagan gods

If you’ve learned anything about God in the Minor Prophets so far, you know He hates injustice and idolatry. So look at what He’ll do. . .

Nahum 3:5-7—Behold, I am against you, declares the Lord of hosts, and will lift up your skirts over your face; and I will make nations look at your nakedness and kingdoms at your shame. 6 I will throw filth at you and treat you with contempt and make you a spectacle. 7 And all who look at you will shrink from you and say, “Wasted is Nineveh; who will grieve for her?” Where shall I seek comforters for you?

This is a troubling passage. What is God saying?

He’s going to help the nations see the truth about Nineveh. They may look appealing on the outside, but underneath they’re filthy. He’s going to break the spell. He’s going to help people see the truth about their evil.

We should be grateful for the many ways America is different from ancient Assyria. But we should shudder for any ways we are similar.

One day, God will do the same thing for every violent and evil nation. He will lift up the pretty curtains that hide the filth and violence of the evils of abortion and sexual immorality. On that day we will be disgusted at what we’ve tolerated.

Will God’s patience last forever? No, His patience has an expiration date. We need to ask a second question. . .

What Happened to GOD’S PEOPLE?

When we talk about God’s patience having an expiration date, that often feels scary. But the fact that God’s patience has an expiration date should encourage you if you belong to Jesus.

God’s patience with His children is like the patience a doctor has with a cancer patient undergoing chemotherapy. The doctor is willing to wait until the treatments achieve their desired effect. But he’s not going to keep ordering chemotherapy once the patient is in remission. Eventually he’s going to order the treatments stop.

So too with God. Like a surgeon, He’ll slowly and carefully cut the cancer of sin out of the hearts of His people. He’ll discipline them for their good. He’ll ordain pain and suffering. He’ll harm, but only in order to heal. But He won’t do that forever. His patience is perfect, but it isn’t permanent. His patience has an expiration date.

God promises relief for His people

Nahum 1:12-13—Thus says the Lord, “Though they [the Assyrians] are at full strength and many, they will be cut down and pass away. Though I have afflicted you, [Judah] I will afflict you no more. 13 And now I will break his yoke from off you and will burst your bonds apart.”

53 years after Nahum prophecies, the Babylonian army destroys Jerusalem and sends the people of Judah into exile

Nevertheless, the prophet Jeremiah says...

Lamentations 3:31-33—For the Lord will not cast off forever, but, though He cause grief, He will have compassion according to the abundance of His steadfast love; for He does not afflict from His heart or grieve the children of men.

Yes, God sometimes afflicts His children to discipline them. But His heart is to do you good, to restore you. He will not cast off forever.

But God cannot deliver His people without destroying those who are harming them

The doctor who truly loves his patients cannot simultaneously love the cancer that’s killing them. He can only demonstrate his love for his patients if he’s willing to make war against the cancer.

So too with God. He pours out wrath on Nineveh and the Assyrians because their violence and idolatry is threatening His people!

Nahum 3:19—There is no easing your hurt; your wound is grievous. All who hear the news about you clap their hands over you. For upon whom has not come your unceasing evil?

But what about the innocent Assyrians?

Did God wipe out every Assyrian? Did none survive?

Assyria is destroyed, but not necessarily every Assyrian

Isaiah 19:23-25—In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and Assyria will come into Egypt, and Egypt into Assyria, and the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians. In that day Israel will be the third with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth, whom the Lord of hosts has blessed, saying, “Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel my inheritance.”

How?!?

Remember that horrible passage in Nahum 3:5-6?

That wrath that Nineveh endured was ultimately and more fully endured by Jesus Himself

The Father was against Him

He was stripped naked

He was despised and mocked

He was made a spectacle and treated with contempt

IN YOUR PLACE!!!!

If you believe, you are grafted into the people of God through repentance and faith in Christ!! (Romans 11)

Will God’s patience last forever? No, His patience has an expiration date. We need to ask a final question. . .

What Will Happen to YOU?

What have the Assyrians done to you lately? Probably nothing.

Yet when Paul writes in 2 Timothy 3:16 that “all Scripture is profitable” he was including Nahum. So how do we apply the message of this book to our lives?

Four Applications:

Don’t assume you have more time

Are you assuming you have more time? Have fun now, get right with God later.

There is one deathbed conversion in scripture (the thief on the cross) so we will not despair; but there is only one lest we presume upon God's grace.

Unbeliever: repent and believe (white flag)

Nahum 1:3—The Lord is slow to anger and great in power, and the Lord will by no means clear the guilty.

Don’t fear those who threaten you

Remember that scene in the first Avengers film? Loki forces a crowd in Stuttgart [shtoot-gart], Germany to kneel before him.

He smiles at the crowd and says, "Is not this simpler? Is this not your natural state? It's the unspoken truth of humanity, that you crave subjugation. The bright lure of freedom diminishes your life's joy in a mad scramble for power, for identity. You were made to be ruled. In the end, you will always kneel.”

At that moment an old German man slowly rises to his feet and says, “Not to men like you.”

Loki smiles and says, “There are no men like me.”

The old man replies, “There are always men like you."

Until the King of Kings returns, there will always be men like that. From Ashurbanipal to Hitler to Kim Jong Un.

Don’t be afraid, Christian.

Nahum 1:7—The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; He knows those who take refuge in Him.

Don’t avenge those who harm you

On October 2, 2019, a young African-American man named Brandt Jean looked into the eyes of the Amber Guyger, a white police officer who had just been convicted of killing his brother.

“If you truly are sorry,” he said. “I know I can speak for myself, I forgive you.”

The prosecution had asked for 28 years — the age his brother would have been had the officer not shot him.

Instead, Brandt told Guyger that he wanted what Botham would have wanted.

“I think giving your life to Christ would be the best thing that Botham would want for you,” he told her. “I love you as a person, and I don’t wish anything bad on you.”

And then he stunned the judge and the world when he said, “Can I give her a hug, please? Please.”

Guyger hesitated for just a moment, and then she rushed toward Jean and wrapped her arms around his neck. He wrapped his arms around her, his hands spread across her back. Both were in tears when they finally broke away.

Most of us will never face the murderer of a family member in court. But we’ll face hundreds of minor annoyances and hurts that tempt us to take vengeance.

Nahum 1:2—The Lord is a jealous and avenging God; the Lord is avenging and wrathful; the Lord takes vengeance on His adversaries and keeps wrath for His enemies.

Don’t hide the Good News

After the infamous Axe Adventure the Boutot family went several years without a television. Until another fateful day.

My dad had just got a new job with a significant pay raise so my parents went out on a date to celebrate.

They returned with one of those massive 200-pound rear-projection televisions.

And this new device called a “DVD player”!

And a bunch of discs called DVDs!

And a subscription to Direct TV!!!

This was a day of good news!!! Television was back in the Boutot home! I remember telling all my friends the good news at church on Sunday! I couldn’t keep my mouth shut about it if I wanted to!!!

All of us can think of wonderful things that have happened to us that we couldn’t keep quiet about. The book of Nahum points us to the best news!

Nahum 1:15—Behold, upon the mountains, the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace!

Our greatest enemy is God. Jesus died to restore us to Him! That’s GOOD NEWS!!!

Because God’s patience has an expiration date, we shouldn’t wait to share the good news!

Carl F. H. Henry — “The gospel is only good news if it gets there in time.”

In just a moment we’re going to celebrate this Good News by taking communion, remembering Jesus’ death in our place.

But first, I want us to take a moment to examine ourselves and pray

BOW HEADS.

Not a Christian? Don’t presume!!! Repent and believe! [WHITE FLAG]

Christian. . .

Are you living in fear of those who threaten you?

Are you holding onto bitterness, attempting to avenge those who’ve hurt you?

Are you hiding the Good News that God has called you to share?

If answer to any of those questions is yes, confess and receive His forgiveness. Then ask for His help to be faithful.

PAUSE THEN PRAY

LORD’S SUPPER

1 Cor. 11:26—For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.

Didn’t receive a communion cup when you came in and you want to take communion with us, hold your hand up.

But before you prepare to take, let’s remind ourselves what the Lord’s Supper is and who it’s for.

Bread—represents the body of Jesus

Cup—represents the blood of Jesus

Because the Lord’s Supper is pointing to Jesus and the Gospel, it’s for those who have trusted Him!

Not a Christian? Don’t take (even if we gave you cup). Receive Christ! If you’ve done that, talk with us about baptism and then take communion the next time we take together.

Christian? Take with joy! Yes, confess sin but don’t forget the point of the meal is that you’re not good enough. But you’re trusting in the One who is.

Peel back the layer of plastic covering the bread. Thank Jesus for giving His body for you.

For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

Peel back the layer of plastic covering the cup. Thank Jesus for shedding His blood for you.

In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

Let’s sing together

I Stand In Awe

Benediction (1 Timothy 6:15b-16)

Special Members Meeting