Defending an Undefendable City

Nahum 2:1–13 ESV

The scatterer has come up against you. Man the ramparts; watch the road; dress for battle; collect all your strength. For the Lord is restoring the majesty of Jacob as the majesty of Israel, for plunderers have plundered them and ruined their branches. The shield of his mighty men is red; his soldiers are clothed in scarlet. The chariots come with flashing metal on the day he musters them; the cypress spears are brandished. The chariots race madly through the streets; they rush to and fro through the squares; they gleam like torches; they dart like lightning. He remembers his officers; they stumble as they go, they hasten to the wall; the siege tower is set up. The river gates are opened; the palace melts away; its mistress is stripped; she is carried off, her slave girls lamenting, moaning like doves and beating their breasts. Nineveh is like a pool whose waters run away. “Halt! Halt!” they cry, but none turns back. Plunder the silver, plunder the gold! There is no end of the treasure or of the wealth of all precious things. Desolate! Desolation and ruin! Hearts melt and knees tremble; anguish is in all loins; all faces grow pale! Where is the lions’ den, the feeding place of the young lions, where the lion and lioness went, where his cubs were, with none to disturb? The lion tore enough for his cubs and strangled prey for his lionesses; he filled his caves with prey and his dens with torn flesh. Behold, I am against you, declares the Lord of hosts, and I will burn your chariots in smoke, and the sword shall devour your young lions. I will cut off your prey from the earth, and the voice of your messengers shall no longer be heard.

Scripture: Nahum 2:1-13

Sermon Title: Defending an Undefendable City

           If you weren’t here last week, we started a series through this book. We started with chapter 1, and next week, we’ll finish in chapter 3. Nahum contains God’s judgment against Nineveh, which was accomplished over 2,600 years ago. Historians mark the year of their fall in 612 BC. I’m preaching on this because all of God’s Word is useful for us, even these small prophet books that sometimes seem like they don’t apply much to us. There are still ways for us to grow in our knowledge and understanding and love of the Lord in our lives today with Nahum.

           Before we read, I want to give you an outline from the late Rev. James M. Boice. Reading through once or even a couple times, it can be hard to follow exactly who is who, who is doing what, who is seeing what. Here’s his breakdown: verse 1 is Nineveh’s preparation for the coming invasion, verse 3 is the first sighting of the armies—that would be Nineveh seeing their enemy, verse 4 is the overrunning of the city’s suburbs by enemy chariots, verse 5 is Nineveh’s defense of the walls, verse 6 is the use of the river to undermine the city’s foundation, verses 7-12 are the plunder verses—Nineveh has fallen and now the victors raid and take their spoils. This is a narrative of the battle that was to take place. Two verses that are different from the rest are verses 2 and 13, which hold direct statements from God.

           Brothers and sisters in Christ, in modern warfare, battles and missions don’t involve just the soldiers on the ground. There are communications going from where soldiers are staged or where an operation will take place back to some kind of war room. In the past, it could be done by radio, now it can involve video streams. When someone gives the command, “Execute, execute, execute” or “go, go, go,” it’s time for the soldiers to act. When it comes to interviews or books on Special Ops missions, we’re told those soldiers go through a ton of training. Hollywood films sometimes show them having a layout that they practice on, getting a feel of what their surroundings will be wherever they go. Infantrymen and women don’t go through as detailed of training, but they’re still trained and informed as best as possible. While their presence may be noticed by enemy forces, their strategy and the timing of their attack hopefully surprises the enemy.

           In ancient times, there were no electronics—no radios, no radars, no satellites, no GoPro cameras, no reconnaissance airplanes. That doesn’t mean there never could be surprise or ambush attacks; we read elsewhere in the Bible that there those did happen. But when it comes to Nahum 2, even untrained people can imagine what this all would look like.

Assumedly, a large army was marching and riding up to the outskirts of the city. The Ninevite rulers and military and citizens would’ve all known they were coming. As the enemy exerted their force, they got nearer and nearer to the wall, to the more fortified interior. This kind of warfare focuses on who exerts the most power and skill, who could move forward or protect versus who had to retreat. Maybe you can picture being up on a city wall, looking down, and you see your opponent edging closer, clearly winning, and, with that, fear would’ve grown. Nineveh, a great city with a powerful army, was not going to be the strongest on this day. Yet this battle wasn’t just for who got to claim victory, who killed how many soldiers. No, this was to completely destroy the city. This battle was to plunder and take all its people and resources and treasures.

           Last time we looked at the character of God—we looked at how he is justly angry toward sin and wickedness, while also being merciful and loving and slow to anger. Let’s begin this morning by turning our attention to Nineveh. God’s word is true, which means this was an undefendable city; Nineveh would surely fall. But did they really deserve this? I don’t ask that to question God’s actions, but for us to be aware of what this city and her leaders and people were about. Perhaps when we look at ourselves and the world around us, maybe we do some comparing.

Back in chapter 1, we heard about God’s vengeance, and wrath. The Lord promised “with an overwhelming flood [to] make an end of Nineveh,” because of “one… who plots evil against the LORD and counsels wickedness.” He commanded, “‘You will have no descendants to bear your name. I will destroy the carved images and cast idols that are in the temple of your gods. I will prepare your grave, for you are vile.’” We already know Nineveh was guilty of blatant opposition to the Lord. They were guilty of idolatry—which doesn’t just mean someone worships the wrong god, a false god or gods, but they aren’t worshiping the true God, and they were “vile.”  

What does that look like, though? If we go back to 2 Kings 19, we read how Sennacherib, an Assyrian king—Nineveh was a major Assyrian city—Sennacherib sent word to King Hezekiah in Jerusalem, saying, “‘…Do not let the god you depend on deceive you when he says, “Jerusalem will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.” Surely you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the countries, destroying them completely. And will you be delivered? Did the gods of the nations that were destroyed by my forefathers deliver them…?’” This was a people whose rulers belittled God; they put him at the level of any other believed in deity. They questioned his abilities, his sovereignty, his strength to protect the people who called on him.

But that’s not all. Theologian Walter A. Maier, who studied the history of Nineveh in relation to Nahum, found, “…Rebel leaders [were] paraded in fetters [ankle-shakles], distant and deceitful kings [were] tied with dog chains and made to live in kennels. To Nineveh were sent gifts of far-off tribute, heads of vanquished enemies, crown princes as hostages, beautiful princesses as concubines…Recalcitrant captives were flayed, obstinate opponents crushed to death by their own sons. The Nineveh against which the prophet thunders divine denunciation had become the concentrated center of evil, the capital of crushing tyranny, the epitome of cruelest torture.”

We’re not talking about a city or a country or a governing body who was just a little messed up, who really wasn’t that bad. Their disregard for human life and dignity and respect were likely some of the worst that have ever been seen in any civilization. They found pleasure in humiliating their foes, in being this cruel. As long as they were victorious and could boast to be the strongest and among the richest in the world, they weren’t going to stop these practices. Did they deserve the kind of defeat—the kind of destruction, pillaging and plundering, that we find in Nahum 2? Given how they acted towards God and other people, without turning to the Lord in repentance and changing their ways, Nineveh and the Ninevites absolutely deserved his wrath.

Let’s turn our attention back to God as move on to our second point: God can be against people—not just with hell in the future, but in judgment right now. In my preaching hear, I don’t think I often preach on the topic of hell. Let’s be clear, though: hell is real. According to Scripture, it is a place of eternal punishment for sinners. Without a Savior sent by God, no person, no man and woman, young or old, could have hope for anything after this life but hell. Because of our sin, God could justly punish every person with that.

While I may not preach about hell very often, it’s not something that I’m scared to preach about or think is unimportant. What I feel like I preach more often about is sin, is about our need for redemption, how that’s accomplished. That is the good news: in his mercy, God has given a substitute, a sacrifice, one who has taken our place, Jesus Christ, who was fully obedient and without sin. By faith, we are given his righteousness. But those who are lost, who do not believe, who have not repented, they don’t have this hope. Heaven, eternity with God, is a gift we who are believers are given. Part of our ministry is to share the hope of forgiveness and salvation for eternal life with others in this world. By the power and help of the Holy Spirit, we join God in offering the lifeline, the light, the hope that Jesus alone can save people from the judgment deserved in hell.

Yet God’s judgment is not reserved only for the future, after the resurrection of every person and judgment day. No, God is able to declare and act in the present as he did with Nineveh. We hear many pieces of what his judgment will allow. I’ll repeat just the direct statement in verse 13, “‘I am against you,’ declares the LORD Almighty. ‘I will burn up your chariots in smoke, and the sword will devour your young lions. I will leave you no prey on the earth. The voices of your messengers will no longer be heard.’”  

God was going to have his way, his punishment, his judgment against Nineveh when he saw fit. We read in chapter 1 verse 8 about “an overwhelming flood” and again in chapter 2 verses 6 and 8, “The river gates are thrown open and the palace collapses...Nineveh is like a pool, and its water is draining away.” Boice writes and others agreed, “[This] has been interpreted as an invading military force, but it may actually mean what it says. According to secular accounts, during the final siege of Nineveh by a rebel army of Persians, Medes, Arabians, and Babylonians, unusually heavy rains caused the rivers to flood and undermine the city’s walls, which then collapsed over a length of twenty-one furlongs. The invading armies entered the city through this breach in its defenses.” Also in chapter 1 verse 10, we read, “They will be consumed like dry stubble,” and chapter 2:13 referenced the Lord burning up “your chariots in smoke.” Boice writes, “After the city was overrun, due to the destruction of part of the wall by flood, the armies burned the city thoroughly. The excavators of Nineveh have remarked on the large deposits of ash, which are evidence of a gigantic conflagration.”

The Lord allowed for all of these things to happen as part of his judgment on this people. He allowed their defeat to continue, the plundering to continue. We wouldn’t send them help because he was against them. If God could do this over 2,600 years ago, he is able to accomplish these kinds of things in the present. He’s able to accomplish divine purposes, including judgment. His hands are not tied from doing what he wants; he doesn’t have to wait only until judgment day.

It’s a lot easier to look at the history recorded in Scripture and see it stated that certain actions were ordained by God. When Nineveh fell, it wasn’t just their military lost because they weren’t prepared or that their enemy was stronger than them. We know this was God’s will. So too, there are accounts when Israel was sent to battle severely outmanned, and God gave them victories. There are also times when they thought they should easily win, they thought the Lord was with them and on their side, and yet for his purposes, they lost.

While God can still act in the present, we have to be careful about placing the label of God’s judgment on actions apart from Scripture. We have to be careful about claiming the ability to consistently and correctly recognize that. Was God at work in the fall of Nazi Germany, bringing an end to the Holocaust, through the Allies’ forces? He may very well have been. When dictators fall, when corrupt and oppressive regimes are destroyed and brought to justice, when criminals are sentenced, God may be intervening. Yet that doesn’t mean God only always works through those specific countries, only with those specific rulers or judges, only with certain individuals or groups or organizations. We must be aware of God’s ability to act, always for good, whether through success or judgment.

           With that we come to our final point. It’s a question intended for each of us to reflect on in our own lives. Are we defending undefendable things? The soldiers of Nineveh didn’t stand a chance in this battle. In their roles and duties, they were defending an undefendable city. Are there groups or organizations or parties or other labels that we might associate with or claim, which God may be intending to judge, condemn, destroy, or plunder because of their sinfulness?

           When we look at political parties, at church denominations, at businesses and places of work are there things which we pledge such an allegiance to, that we say I will always support or identify with this group, no matter what. Yet if we stop and look at what they stand for or what they’re doing, we realize it contradicts our faith. Let’s be absolutely clear—everyone of us is a fallen, sinful person; neither we nor any group or body will ever be perfect on this side of eternity. Maybe you’ve heard the line, “You will never find a perfect church. If you do, when you join it, it will no longer be perfect.” Yet there are situations when we literally name something as “the better of two evils,” or we recognize something is wrong and yet we ignore it because change is hard or the opposite—we’ll fight from within, we’ll right the sinking ship. Many people don’t want to be seen as disloyal, as flip-floppers, and yet if the ship is sinking, what do we do? Are we supposed to abandon it or go down with it, as least trying to give hope? If the battle is lost, are we supposed to endure punishment to death or exile, or are we supposed to drop our sword and flee?

           These questions don’t have easy answers, but they’re necessary for us to think about. If we are to be people of integrity, it’s important that we don’t say we agree with every decision and action of a certain body. It’s important to acknowledge there are flaws in every single system—that can be very difficult to admit. If we have the ability to rebuke a sinful action, then we should. If someone is lying or cheating or stealing—we shouldn’t just ignore that and allow it to continue, but to recognize it for what it is. When we are at odds with other people, whether within an organization or against an organization, we should still pray for them. We can pray for their repentance and change. We can pray for our own humility to love in thought, speech, and deed.

           As we take care to rebuke what is wrong, to be faithful to what is right, to hope and pursue change in others, we take this call from 1 Peter 3, “Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble. Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing. For, ‘Whoever would love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from deceitful speech. He must turn from evil and do good; he must seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.’ Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear what they fear; do not be frightened.” But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. It is better, if it is God’s will to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.”              

           So, brothers and sisters, let us be careful in what we defend and cling to, and to what end. Let us not be ignorant towards sin. Do not disregard righteousness. When things that we are a part of tempt us to sin, cause us to fall, to reject or turn away from what God has called us to in his Word, let us be willing to live and act in him first. Let us not shy away from trusting the Lord or from suffering for his sake. As we’ll sing in a few moments: “By Thy call of mercy, by Thy grace divine…By Thy love constraining…By Thy grand redemption…Master, wilt Thou keep us…Always on the Lord’s side.” Let us claim and be able to defend above all other things, “Savior, [we are] always Thine!” Amen.