Nahum 3:1-19 |
Rudyard Kipling is a name that most of you will recognise - he was the Bard of Britain around the turn of the 19th century. His poem If is one of his most widely known, and certainly one of his most often quoted. During the course of his life, the poet declined many prestigious honours - but, in 1907, he accepted the Nobel Prize for Literature.
In the same year (1897) that Queen Victoria was celebrating her diamond jubilee on the throne, Kipling published his poem Recessional. Needless to say, it didn't go down too well; some folks felt it punctured national pride at a time when the empire was at its peak.
The poem was a stern warning that other empires had vanished from the stage of history, and that Britain could follow in their train. For Mr Kipling, God was still the Judge of the nations. In one verse, he wrote: 'Far-called, our navies melt away; On dune and headland sinks the fire: Lo, all our pomp of yesterday Is one with Nineveh and Tyre! Judge of the Nations, spare us yet, Lest we forget-lest we forget!'
I reckon if Nahum had been around, he would have applauded the poem - Kipling had learned the lesson from history, when a vast number of his peers were still living in cloud-cuckoo land.
We've seen it already in our previous two studies, it is Nahum who describes in graphic detail the total destruction of the city of Nineveh - it was sensational and spectacular; without doubt, that was a pivotal event in global history - in a sense, it marked the beginning of the end for the Assyrian Empire.
So far we have seen that God is jealous in chapter 1; then last week we discovered that God is judge in chapter 2; tonight we are introduced to the Lord as one who is a just God . in this section, Nahum spells out the reasons why Nineveh will fall. And, as we sometimes say, great was the fall thereof.
A look at the language used in chapter 3 is enough to send the shivers down the spine - every word is a picture; it's poetic and it's colourful, but it's so chilling.
Our God is a God of remarkable patience, but there comes a point when enough is enough; God drew a line in the sand and Nineveh went one step too far. So far as God was concerned, he could do no more: he had sent them a preacher called Jonah, he had stayed his hand in days gone past, he had given them so many opportunities to repent, all to no avail. The Assyrians did it their way; they left God out of the equation, not just once or twice, but every time. The bottom line is, God didn't feature in their thinking at all.
For you and me, the name of the Lord is a strong tower; for them, it was no more than a swear word, it was only a means of punctuation in their conversation. Some things never change, do they! We see it and hear it all around us in today's world.
The people of Nineveh have no one to blame but themselves; it was their brazen and brutal arrogance that led them to this point - for them, it's full time, God has blown the final whistle!
In a few short, snappy sentences, we see how it all came about . To make life easier, let me break the chapter down into five portions - one, the fierceness of Nineveh in verses 1-3; two, the filthiness of Nineveh in verses 4-7; three, the folly of Nineveh in verses 8-10; four, the fear of Nineveh in verses 11-13; five, the fall of Nineveh in verses 14-19.
This final chapter in the book is a powerful reminder that God misses nothing - he sees everything that goes on; he keeps his finger on the pulse of world affairs; he's never caught off guard - you never see him batting on the back foot. For us, that is so very comforting; at the same time, it is immensely challenging. It's a pity the folks in Nineveh hadn't realised it - it might have changed their way of life. None of us can turn the clock back, we can't rewrite history - there is no playback button.
The first few verses remind us, they have it coming to them! And there's nowhere to hide, no place to run, and no way of escape. The city was a hive of corruption; it was completely devoid of truth; it was stunningly beautiful in location; it was a place of unbelievable inhumanity - their barbaric cruelty was legendary; the people had two legs but they acted like animals.
It's clear from verses 2-3 that God gives Nahum a preview of what will happen when the Babylonian war machine marches on Nineveh. You can hear it, you can see it - the outcome is inevitable, it's a scene of horrendous carnage: 'many casualties, piles of dead, bodies without number, people stumbling over the corpses.' I tell you, it's grim, and it's ghastly.
You're maybe wondering, what place does an incident like this have in the Bible? What's the point of it? Why is it included in the inspired Word of God? It's there for our benefit; it's so that we are left in no doubt at all that God is God. When the Lord deals in this way with Nineveh, justice isn't only done, it is seen to be done! And that's hugely important.
God never has to explain himself, he doesn't have to give us a reason why he does this or that - yet, right here in verse 4, he takes the bull by the horns and spells it out so clearly. No one can say that God is vindictive when you read a verse like this.
These guys were guilty of dancing in the dark with the devil; it seems that they were fooling around with the spirit world in a big way; they were up to their neck in witchcraft and the black arts - the Bible makes it crystal clear that this is forbidden, it's something that God will not tolerate - if you're dabbling in the occult, he'll come down on you like a ton of bricks. That's the outcome for Nineveh - now you see them, now you don't. It really was as quick as that!
It's obvious that the tables are turned in verses 5-6, what they dished out to others is now being dished out to them. And they don't like it one little bit! None of us does - but if you give it, you have to be ready to take it! They were guilty of religious prostitution - Nineveh used the tactics of a street woman, she used her glamour to seduce nations to their destruction. Now, says Nahum, God will strip her of everything; she will be laid bare for every one to see; she will be exposed for who and what she is. God will disgrace her!
Back then Assyria would have paraded its captives through the streets, they often forced them to do it in their birthday suit. It was a party atmosphere, people taunted them, they pelted them with stones and garbage - they dehumanised people; God says, that's what I will do to you - you will be treated like a naked harlot, fastened to stocks in the public square, and pelted with human excrement. Talk about a nation being degraded and disgraced before the world. It proves the point that you reap what you sow - if you sow to the wind, you're sure to reap a whirlwind!
Their plight is even more unpleasant when they are left on their own - see verse 7. People see what's happening to them, then they walk away; basically, they don't want to know - Nineveh is getting her just desserts. The nations round about have little or no sympathy for her at all. At last she has met her Waterloo.
It's clear from verses 8-9 that God is one who communicates - he is the speaking God; right here he takes the initiative and asks a leading question: 'Are you better than Thebes?' God wants to jog their memory by reminding them of an event from their recent history. Why should the people of Nineveh expect preferential treatment? Why should they be treated different to the folks in Egypt?
If you've ever been to Luxor or Karnak in Egypt, you will have seen many of the outstanding ruins of Thebes - it is fantastic to see. The place is rich in history; in the ancient world it was like a Mecca. It was the most powerful city in Upper Egypt - she had a number of key allies in the surrounding nations; even that couldn't prevent her falling to the might of the Assyrians in 663 BC. Nahum refers to it in verse 10. Their cruelty is despicable and well documented - 'her infants were dashed to pieces at the head of every street' - that's what the Assyrians did to the boys and girls of Thebes. They are evil thugs!
Nahum pulls no punches when he says in verse 11 that the folks in Nineveh will suffer the same fate - they will drink the same cup of terror. We see how disorientated, confused, and really frightened they are; they are stung and stunned by the severity of Babylon's military might. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, they're getting a taste of their own medicine. Measure for measure.
The rest of the chapter describes the process of Nineveh's end - I can sum it up in a series of one-liners: we see in verse 12 that her defences will be so weak - like new figs shaken from a tree, she is ripe for the taking. The resistance is virtually nil; for the advancing army, it is pretty much a walkover. In verse 13 it's obvious that many of the soldiers have done a runner, they have left their post unmanned - that means the Babylonians only had to walk through, there was no fight to the finish, never mind a skirmish at the start. The men were like cowards, they left the women to get on with it - and those who stayed were no better than women! An old timer would call them 'a bunch of Nancy boys!'
The next couple of verses suggest that Nineveh's workmen had their work cut out for them, but it was all to no avail. They had a huge job on their hands, but there was no point in them trying to plug the gaping holes in their defences; the fact is, the enemy gave them a real trouncing. The Babylonians were too fast and too good for them. They were overrun within days; that's why Nahum compares the invading army to a swarm of locusts.
It's amazing how quickly Nineveh's wealth disappears in verse 16 - she had accumulated so much over the years, the place was fabulously rich, it was at the crossroads for business and commerce - we're talking big money! Mega bucks! When the Babylonians came, they didn't ask any questions, they simply took what they wanted, and burned the rest. You can see the evidence of that in some of the artefacts in the British Museum, in Room 9.
There's a superb analogy painted by Nahum in verse 17; that's where he says some of Nineveh's people are like locusts. They hide in hedges for protection in the cold weather, but they quickly fly away when warmed by the sun. In other words, the folks in Nineveh are just like them - they can't stand the red hot heat of battle. To quote C T Studd, they're like 'chocolate soldiers' - they melt when the sun comes up.
Many Assyrian monarchs were called 'Great Shepherd of the people' - they boasted of their power to protect their people; in reality, they looked after Number One and preserved their own skin! It's a touch ironic that one of the ruins of Nineveh is even called 'the mound of many sheep' - in the place of kings are shepherds, and in the place of people are sheep! That's verse 18. Thankfully, the Good Shepherd is so different! He cares for his sheep, and he knows them each one by name!
The last verse in the book shows how lethal a blow God dealt them - there had gone well beyond the point of no return, there was no possibility of recovery, there's not even a hint of revival or restoration - they have blown it big time, and that's it! They are history and Nineveh today is an archaeologist's dream! No one sat on the scorched ruins of Nineveh to write a lament over its passing. People round about were not sad or distressed at her downfall - if the truth be told, they are delirious with joy; they are elated; for them, it's a cause for celebration. There is spontaneous applause around the world!
I think there is a very important principle to learn from this sad and sorry saga - it's summed up in the words of the poet: 'The mills of God grind slowly, but they grind, exceedingly small.' You see, when God finally settles accounts, he settles them in full!
Back then, Nineveh was a big fish in a relatively small sea of nations - its importance can't be downplayed; let's face it, two Bible prophets have a lot to say about it. Jonah has a lot to say on the subject of God's incomprehensible mercy - and Nahum focuses on God's unimaginable wrath.
Times haven't changed and God certainly hasn't changed - such a stance may not be politically correct in today's world, but that's the way it is. We make no apology for telling it like it is. God is God. He is a jealous God; he is the judge; and he is just. The theme is, our God reigns! Yes, he runs the show, he super-rules the world in 2005. He always keeps his word, if he says it, he'll do it. Nineveh is no more, Assyria is no more - kingdoms rise and fall, empires come and go - but our God, he goes on, for ever and ever!
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