Last
week we reflected on how the Lord is a jealous God whose desire is
for his people to have a relationship with only him and no other gods. He’s
allowed them to be punished for loving other gods, but now their time of
punishment is over and God is coming to save his people. Yahweh is going to
break the yoke of slavery from Israel and uses a battle image of a watchmen on
the heights bringing the good news of their enemies’ defeat. This chapter now
begins with the Lord warning Nineveh through the prophet that an attacker is
coming up against them. This is a shocking warning against the most powerful
empire in the world at that time. One commentator suggests that there is a
sense of mocking going on here; Yahweh is telling Nineveh to get ready for an
attack when they’re the most powerful empire in the world and no-one would ever
dare to go up against them!
How
is Nineveh going to respond? Years ago, in the time of Jonah, when
Nineveh was warned of God’s warning of judgement, they repented and God
withheld his punishment. Nineveh had responded with humility, sorrow, and
repentance, but as we mentioned last week, Nineveh quickly returned to its
barbaric and wicked ways and it seems as if God had no response at all, at
least until now. Nahum’s vision began with showing why God is moving again
against Nineveh, and this part of the vision shows how God is going to move
against Nineveh. Yet Judah must be wondering, what if Nineveh repents again,
will God let them off the hook again? Then there’s Nineveh, because God
withheld his judgement last time, how do they see Judah’s God, do they see
Yahweh as a weak and ineffective God filled with feeble threats?
The
Lord promises to restore the splendor of Jacob, reminding us
that this vision of Nahum is as much about comforting Judah as it is a warning
to Nineveh. In a vision filled with war-like images and destruction, comes
words of restoration, hope, and glory. In its own way, the vision is reminding
the people of the coming Messiah who will defend his people. At the end of the
previous chapter, the vision pointed to the one who is
bringing good news, a reference to the promised Messiah. Judah has been
oppressed for generations now, their destroyers have laid them waste and ruined
their vines, an image of the devastation the tribute Judah has been paying to
Nineveh since the time of King Hezekiah.
As
we saw last week, 2 Kings 18:14-16 shows the tribute Hezekiah paid to Assyria, “The king of Assyria exacted from Hezekiah king of Judah three
hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold. So Hezekiah gave him all
the silver that was found in the temple of the Lord and in the treasuries of
the royal palace. At this time Hezekiah king of Judah stripped off the gold
with which he had covered the doors and doorposts of the temple of the Lord,
and gave it to the king of Assyria.” Nahum’s vision is given to give
God’s people hope again, to give them the strength to trust that God is coming
to restore them again, to bring them freedom, even if things look dark right
now.
Jesus
warns us we will face persecution and suffering for following him.
People who don’t acknowledge Jesus as their Lord aren’t afraid to reject Jesus
and his followers. Yet we also need to admit, that like Israel and Judah, we
don’t always live up to being who we should be as followers of Jesus. We
continually fail to live with grace with those around us, living out Jesus’
kingdom values and ways, failing to recognize the image of God in each person
and showing them that respect, no matter who they may be. We need to be humble
enough to examine ourselves when we experience mocking or rejection for
following Jesus and ask: are we are going through this because the Holy Spirit
is using it to get us to turn our hearts back to Jesus and be the people whom
he’s calling us to be.
Jesus
will allow our suffering or persecution for only a time; we trust this since we
know that he’s returning one day to raise up his people in splendor and take
his place as King of kings. Nahum’s vision goes on, “The
shields of the soldiers are red; the warriors are clad in scarlet. The metal on
the chariots flashes on the day they are made ready; the spears of juniper are
brandished.” R. Jamieson writes in his commentary on Nahum, quoting John
Calvin, “The ancients dyed their bull’s-hide shields red, partly to strike
terror into the enemy, chiefly lest the blood from wounds which they might
receive should be perceived and give confidence to the foe. G. V. Smith
conjectures that the reference is to the red reflection of the sun’s rays from
shields of bronze or copper, such as are found among the Assyrian remains.”
The attackers the Lord is sending used both might and psychology to intimidate
and overwhelm their enemies and red hid their own wounds in battle, giving the
impression that they could not be killed or defeated. These attackers have made
their way into the city areas. In history, we discover that these are the
Babylonians who will overthrow the Assyrian empire.
In
the vision, when the might of Nineveh moves against the attackers, “they stumble in their way. They dash to the city wall; the
protective shield is put in place. The river gates are thrown open and the
palace collapses.” The might of Nineveh is reacting after the attackers
are already in the city, putting in place their defenses after their enemies
are already past the defenses. This is an image of futility when the Lord goes
up against you. In the culture of the time, it shows the Assyrian people and leaders
that Nineveh’s gods will fail to protect her. Yahweh, Judah’s God is more
powerful, no earthly empire can stand against Judah’s God. Yahweh’s so powerful
that he uses other powerful nations to protect and save his people; there is
nothing or no-one that’s not under Yahweh’s control or power. It echoes back to
years earlier when Assyria was right at Jerusalem’s gates. 2 Chronicles 32
tells of when King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah cry out to God to save them.
God sends an angel who annihilates all the fighting men and leaders and
officers in the camp of the Assyrian king. It used to surprise me how often he
uses people or nations that don’t follow or acknowledge him to draw his people
back to him, then I remember that he’s the creator of all things and all people
and realize that I shouldn’t be surprised.
The
Lord declares to Nineveh, “I am against you. 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.” The Lord wins, that’s the big message in Nahum, “I
will break the yoke of the oppressors of my people, I will battle the evil that
stands against my people, I will bring renewal and hope and defeat evil.” Joni
Eareckson Tada writes, “I need a battlefield Jesus at my side down here is the
dangerous, often messy trenches of daily life. I need Jesus the rescuer, ready
to wade through pain, death, and hell itself to find me, grasp my hand, and
bring me safely through.” In Ephesians 6:12, Paul writes, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against
the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and
against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”
There
are still places in the world today where the church is facing violent
persecution. While on the board of the former World Missions, I had the
opportunity to get to know missionaries in some of these places, and the
prayers of those Jesus followers was always for Jesus to come, and until then,
for strength to remain true to him, for the Spirit to guide them and help them
remain strong in their faith. Our battle is that battle Paul and Joni are
talking about, that battle for our souls, minds, and hearts where Jesus brings
us through the temptations, the doubts, the fears, and helps us remain true to
Jesus, strong in our faith and witness. This is a battle where we need the Holy
Spirit to strengthen and guide, it’s a battle on a completely different level
that we’re often not even aware of.
Paul
goes on in Ephesians to call us to put on the armour of God, “Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day
of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done
everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around
your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet
fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to
all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the
flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of
the Spirit, which is the word of God.” Truth, righteousness, the gospel
of peace, faith, salvation, and the word of God all remind us that what we’re
doing is putting on Jesus and what he accomplished in defeating Satan through
his death and resurrection, bringing us new life.
We
don’t battle the powers by ourselves, the Lord battles for and with us. As
William Plumer writes, “The death of Christ was the most dreadful blow ever
given to the empire of darkness.” There are battles still to be fought for
the hearts and minds of others for Jesus; this is why we’re given the Holy
Spirit, to help us resist Satan and his minions, but also to equip us to win
others over to Jesus. We live forward with hope and in strength with the
assurance that Jesus is returning and God’s peace will rule over all.
