Some of you watch, or read, the news more than others. You keep up on current events in the world; you know the hot spots around the world; you can talk about tensions, and wars. You also know how we, as a nation, are relating to other nations. You keep on news about trade wars, and treaties, and alliances.
When you do all of this, how do you evaluate the news you hear? How do you decide who is acting rightly, and wrongly, on a global scale? More importantly, how do you think God evaluates the news? What do you suppose God think of nations like the U.S., and Russia, and China?
In our passage today, Nahum 3, Yahweh is angry with Ninevah, the capital of Assyria. He announces, again, that He will judge Ninevah-- He will humiliate her, and destroy her. This will the end of the superpower.
Now, one of the (many) things that's interesting about Nahum 3 is that Judah isn't mentioned, even one time, anywhere in the chapter. This chapter, at a surface level, is just about two "persons"-- God, and Ninevah.
Imagine that you're back in elementary school, and the playground bully was beating up on you at recess. Both you and the bully get called to the principal's office. The principal calls the bully into the office first, while you sit and wait out in hallway. But the principal deliberately leaves the door cracked open, so you can hear everything. And then the principal unloads on the student. He condemns him for his violence, and shames him for his behavior. Then, he expels the bully. The bully will never bother you again. He's done.
This, basically, is Nahum 3. Except in Nahum 3, the bully isn't expelled. That's not enough. Here, the bully is publicly shamed, and then killed. That's enough.
So as we read Nahum 3, imagine that you are Judah-- you're the little kid waiting in the hallway. You get to overhear Yahweh's words of judgment against Assyria, and take comfort in that. This is a chapter that's supposed to give you hope, and encouragement, and help you trust in God's power and love.
I say all of this, but at the same time, what Yahweh is about to do to Ninevah, He is not doing just for Judah. God evaluates, and judges, nations on the basis of a particular ethical framework-- and this framework isn't exactly what we'd expect.
So let's work our way through the chapter, and then come back to answer this question: "How does God evaluate the nations?"
Verse 1:
(3:1) Hey, city of blood!
All of her is lies;
Deception, full of.
The prey doesn't depart.
Nahum begins by getting Ninevah's attention. HEY! But notice how Ninevah is described. Ninevah has two main qualities-- violence, and deception. Each of these qualities, by itself, is a terrible thing to find in cities. No one wants to live in dangerous cities, where you risk getting mugged, or murdered. Where you can't let your children play out on the front lawn because you worry about them getting shot. Where you put steel bars over your windows, and a gun in your nightstand, and you still worry you won't be safe.
But the other quality, deception, only makes it worse. Imagine living in a city where you can't trust anyone-- where everyone rips you off. You pay for 10 gallons of gas, but only get 9. You buy 5 lbs of apples, but only get 4. You get your car fixed, but the mechanic didn't really fix it the right way-- he cut some corners that shouldn't be cut, and you won't realize it for 5k miles. You go to work, and your boss shorts your pay. You have customers, and they write bad checks, and skip town.
When you live in a city that's full of deception, inevitably, you become prey. And Nahum says, Ninevah is a city where the prey can't escape.
Normally, some prey always gets away from the predator. A lion kills the older, slower, weaker animals in the herd. And while he's busy doing predator things to the carcass, the rest of the herd gets away.
Ninevah isn't like that. Lions hunt, and hunt, until there's nothing left.
In verses 2-3, Nahum shifts topics. Here, he's going to paint a picture of the future invasion, and destruction, of Ninevah. Now, this has already been described in chapter 2. So this is a good reminder that prophetic books aren't necessarily in chronological/sequential order. This is more like a second picture of the same invasion-- because sometimes, people need to hear something more than once for it to sink in. As I read this, try to picture it. It's important that you visualize this:
(2) The sound of a whip!,
and the sound of the rattling wheel!,
and a horse galloping,
and a chariot bouncing.
(3) Horsemen are leading up [into battle],
and a flash of a sword,
and a flash of a spear,
and a multitude of the slain,
and a heaviness of corpses,
and there is no end to the dead bodies.
They stumble over their dead bodies.
Why do you think Nahum paints this picture of Ninevah's destruction?
Sometimes, there are things in life that are genuinely scary. But they don't seem scary, because you don't have the imagination to visualize how horribly something can go wrong.
Take a brand new driver, for example. Brand new drivers go flying past kids, because they can't imagine the kids being distracted, and stepping out on the road in front of them. New drivers blow through blind, uncontrolled intersections, because they don't think about how another 15 year old might be hitting the intersection at the same time. New drivers are happy to go the speed limit on icy roads, and slow down like they normally do, because they think their tires are going to work.
The basic problem with new drivers is that they lack imagination. They can't picture bad things happening to them.
Now, some of you have no problems imagining bad things happening to you. You go through life, in constant fear. You get sick, and assume this is probably it for you. You have a slow week at work, and imagine losing your job, and try to figure out what you'll do instead. Your car makes a bad noise, or a bad smell, and you assume it's time for the junkyard (points to self).
When it comes to bad things in life, you have a great imagination. You can picture all sorts of evil coming against you. Where you struggle, maybe, is in imagining good things happening to you. More specifically, you struggle to imagine God doing good things for you.
When Nahum is prophesying, Assyria stands as the all-powerful Superpower. If you looked at its armies, and the breadth of his territory, and the defensive anchor of it all-- the capital city of Ninevah-- you'd know that this is a kingdom that will rule forever.
How does God/Nahum fight this sense of resignation, and hopelessness? Nahum paints a picture here to build up their imagination. Everyone in Judah knew that violence was something done by Assyria-- not done to them. And everyone would struggle to really hear these words, and accept them as possible. But if Nahum can get you to picture people being cut down in the streets, and fleeing from chariots... he can get you to place your faith in God.
God is able to do far more than we can think, or imagine (Eph. 3:20). He is the "God of the Possible." And God wants to stretch your imagination, so that you can picture what He is willing and able to do for his people. [Signs, and healings, and wonders, happen at the intersection of faith and imagination.]
In verses 4-6, Nahum expands on why God's judgment is coming. The "because" comes first, in verse 4, and we have to work a little to understand it:
(4) Because of the multitudes of the fornications of the whore--
beautiful of charm,
a mistress of sorcery,
the one betraying/selling off nations through her fornications,
and clans/families through her sorceries--
Here, Ninevah is called a prostitute. She's charming, and beautiful. She's seduced the nations, and then sold them off.
What exactly does this mean, concretely?
Every nation has to make decisions about how it will relate to other nations. Will you live in peace with your neighbor, or at war? Will you open your borders to trade, and to immigration, or will you try to shut them?
Part of how you make these decisions, is based on your own strength, and needs. When you eye the neighboring cities and nations, how does your army stack up? Can you resist an invasion? Can you defend yourself? Do you need your neighbor?
On your own, your army may not be able to protect you from every possible threat-- especially if your neighbors join forces against you.
And so what you might do, is go to your neighbors, and ask them if they want to create a defensive pact. "If someone attacks you, I'll fight for you. Some attacks me, you'll fight for me. The two of us, militarily, will become one-- at least on defense."
The catch is that sometimes, when you make these decisions, you do so from a position of weakness. Think about modern day Syria, for instance. Syria was fighting Western trained and supported "rebels" (mercenaries) across its territory. It was being hit with airstrikes on a regular basis from Israel. Its economy was in shambles because of sanctions.
What President Assad needed, very badly, was allies. He needed AA weapons, and tanks, and jets, and oil, and food, and medicine. He needed everything. When Assad went to other countries seeking help, he was negotiating from a position of weakness. Was he thrilled about it? I'm not sure not. But you make whatever concessions you have to, in order to ensure your survival.
Now, five years down the road, Assad may bitterly regret aspects of whatever alliances he's made with Iran, or Russia, or whoever. And he may find himself wanting to change the terms of the deal.
God is not okay with this. This is what He accuses Ninevah of doing in Nahum 3-- of seducing other nations into making alliances, and pacts, and deals, when it was convenient for them. And then breaking them, when it was inconvenient, or when it benefited them in some way.
To take another example from today's news:
Right now, Armenia and Azerbaijan are fighting a somewhat limited war over a contested border. Azerbaijan has invaded Armenia, and Armenia, from all accounts, isn't doing very well. Thousands of soldiers have been killed. Hundreds of vehicles have been destroyed. Azerbaijan is being given some support from Turkey, and seems to have the upper hand.
But Armenia has mutual defensive pact with Russia, and Russia has a military base in that country. And that, by all rights, should change everything. Everyone involved knows that if Azerbaijan pushes too far, the Russian Bear is going to mess them up. Everyone assumes Russia will honor their defensive pact.
Now, if you were President Putin, you'd maybe be tempted in this situation to close your eyes, and let your ally get wiped out. You're not going to gain much from defending Armenia. And if Turkey came to you with a few tons of gold, and asked you to look the other way... ?
Assyria had a long history of doing basically this. It would make alliances when it was convenient for them, and break them when it was inconvenient, or when something better came along. So when Nahum calls Ninevah "a seducing prostitute", I think this, basically, is why.
So, because Ninevah has been doing this, God will do what? Verse 5-6:
(5) LOOK! I am against you --utterance of Yahweh of Armies,
and I will lift your skirts over your face,
and I will show the nations your nakedness,
and the kingdoms, your shame,
(6) and I will throw upon you detestable things,
and I will treat you with contempt,
and I will make you like a spectacle,
In Ancient Israel, when a woman was revealed to be a prostitute, she was stripped naked, and publicly shamed (Isaiah 47:3; Jeremiah 13:22, 26; Ezekiel 16:37–39; Hosea 2:3, 9).
God says, Ninevah has been prostituting herself, and she will receive a prostitute's punishment.
God expects nations to honor their commitments, and keep their word. What God expects of us as individuals, He also expects of nations.
Verse 7:
(7) and then , all of the ones seeing you will flee from you,
and they will say,
"She has been destroyed-- Ninevah!"
Who will show grief for her?
From where shall I seek comforters for her?"
On the day that Ninevah is destroyed, no one will be sad. Yahweh asks-- where would I find someone to show grief over her, or comfort her? Who would show up when she suffers (Job 2:11)? No one should have to die alone, and be buried alone, without mourners. But God looks around the world, and He says, "Who would I even invite? Who would shed a tear for Ninevah?"
Verses 8-16 I'm just going to read:
(8) Are you better than Thebes-- the one sitting on the Nile,
waters all around her,
whose strength was the sea,
from water, her wall [was]?
(9) Cush, her strength [was], and Egypt,
And there was no end [to her strength].
Put and the Libyans were your helpers.
(10) What's more, she into exile went,
Into captivity.
What's more, her children were dashed to pieces at the corner of every street,
while over the honored ones, they cast the lot,
while her great ones were bound with chains.
(11) What's more, you shall be drunk.
You shall pass out/hide yourself.
What's more, you shall seek refuge from the enemy.
(12) All your fortifications are fig trees with first fruits.
If they are shaken, they fall into the mouth of the eater.
(13) LOOK! Your army is women in your midst!
To your enemies, surely, the gates of your land are opened.
Fire has consumed your bars.
(14) Waters for a siege, draw water for yourself.
Strengthen your fortifications!
Step in the mud,
and trample on the clay.
Seize the brick mold!
(15) There, it shall consume you-- fire.
It shall cut you off-- the sword.
It shall consume you like the locust.
Multiply yourselves like the locust!
(16) You have increased your merchants more than the stars of the heavens.
The locust raids/strips,
and it flies away.
Let's pause here. Ninevah had multiplied merchants like locusts. Stores, and dealers, were everywhere. And we tend to think of that as a good thing. Merchants increase people's standard of living. It gives people access to things, they otherwise wouldn't have. And you end up better off than you otherwise would.
But Nahum says that merchants are like locusts. They take the fruit of your hard work-- your cash, silver, and gold, and they leave what? Nothing of value. You've been stripped clean.
And if you walk through the average American's home, it's hard to disagree with him. People are happy to exchange their work for stuff that turns into junk after a year. And you think to yourself, "I've made all this money, and all I have to show for it is this? Along with credit card debt? And I did this voluntarily, of my own free will?"
[Don't let merchants strip you clean. Use your money wisely.]
Verse 17:
(17) Your royal officials are like locusts,
while your officials like a swarm of grasshoppers.
Settling on the walls on a cold day,
when the sun has risen, it flees,
and its place isn't known, where they are.
Assyria hasn't just multiplied its merchants. It also multiplied its bureaucracy. There's more and more government officials feeding on the working class. And on the day the heat comes-- on that rare day, when you actually need their help-- where are they? Where's the help when you need it?
Who knows?
In verse 18, Nahum (imaginatively) directly addresses the Assyrian king:
(18) Your shepherds have fallen asleep, O King of Assyria.
Your nobles dwell/slumber.
They are scattered-- your people-- on the mountains,
and there is no one gathering.
(19) There is no healing for your injury.
Incurable, Your wound is.
All of the ones hearing your news have clapped their hands over you,
because over whom, has your cruelty not endlessly passed?
Savage. On the day the king is mortally wounded, and won't recover, and his people are scattered, what will everyone do?
They'll rejoice. They'll clap their hands, and celebrate.
Because every single person has felt the king's cruelty. No one will miss this king.
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The Bible has a lot to say, about topics we don't usually think about. And part of that might be because we only read like a quarter of it, and books like Nahum just get set aside.
I said at the beginning of today's sermon I wanted to answer a question. And that question, is this: "On what basis does God evaluate the nations?"
What sins does God not tolerate, for nations as a whole? What types of behavior really bother him? (In what follows, G. Bridger, The Message of Obadiah, Nahum and Zephaniah, was extremely helpful.)
(1) Violence ("Full of violence and blood")
(A) At an international level:
When God looks at nations as a whole, one of the things he focuses on, is whether or not that nation is full of violence and blood. Historically, there have often been one or two nations in the world at a time who are trigger happy. They know they have the biggest, most powerful armies. They can bully other nations, and invade weaker nations, and they know that no one can touch them. They run up a body count that stretches across the world. Today, they can safely kill innocent people with drones, from a thousand miles away.
The blood those nations shed, cries out for justice.
(B) At a national/regional/individual level:
Some nations are torn apart on a daily basis by violence. There is gang warfare, rioting. Murders are counted in the dozens, every week-- and the murderers, for the most part, go free.
In many nations, abortions are just a way of life. Unborn babies are murdered, because they are an inconvenience.
Nations that are violent, both domestically and internationally, are always judged eventually by God. God will only tolerate violence for so long.
(2) Deceitfulness.
(a) At an international level, God expects nations to speak and act truthfully toward each other. If you make a treaty with another nation, honor that treaty. If you sign a trade pact, keep that trade pact. You don't make treaties when it's convenient, and then break them when it's not. You keep your word.
Sometimes, one nation will find itself wanting, very badly, to invade its neighbor. Maybe its neighbor has valuable natural resources-- oil, or water, or gold. Maybe its neighbor has a leader who is difficult, and doesn't do what you want. But how can you justify invading it?
The easiest solution, is to use deceit. Lie to your people. Tell them their neighbor is planning to invade them. Tell them they are hiding terrible weapons, that could wipe them out. Tell them the only practical defense, is to kill them before they kill you.
Deceit is a seductive tool. It's the simplest solution to the problem, of how to justify wickedness. But God has a huge problem with nations that do this, at an international level.
(b) At the regional/individual level
God expects honesty and integrity at regional and individual levels as well. Maybe 10 years ago, I took my Mercury Sable into the shop, and the mechanic told me the transmission was starting to fail. He wasn't ripping me off-- there were maybe a dozen long, curly, metal shavings in the pan. And so, the next day, I traded my car in for a Buick LeSabre, without telling them about the tranny. I tried to rip them off.
Now, they, for their part, sold me a car that every time it rained, water flowed down the windshield, through a hole by the brake pedal, and through the carpet before pooling by the backseat. And that car has been a nightmare of electrical problems since I bought it. Water and electronics don't mix.
Both of us did our best to be deceitful. Both of us sinned. And both of us got what we deserved.
God expects all people-- but especially his people-- to be honest. To have integrity. To not be deceitful.
(3) Cruelty
Let's reread verse 19, because I kind of glossed over this:
(19) There is no healing for your injury.
Incurable, Your wound is.
All of the ones hearing your news have clapped their hands over you,
because over whom, has your cruelty not endlessly passed?
Assyrian kings bragged about how they used torture, and cruelty, on their victims. I don't remember the specific details-- and the details aren't important, or something I want to spend any time talking about.
But when you conquer other nations, or capture prisoners, you have an obligation to treat them as human beings, made in God's image. You can't torture them-- no waterboarding, no sleep deprivation, no loud music 24 hours a day. Be victorious; win the battles you need to win. But don't be cruel. And if/when you think about the Geneva Conventions, understand that the protections put in place for prisoners, are biblical.
So what sins does God not tolerate? What sins will make God rise up, and come in judgment against people?
The three this passage describes, again, are this:
(1) Violence.
(2) Deceitfulness.
(3) Cruelty.
I read this list, and I think two things:
(1) Christians need to be vocal about condemning these sins, in particular, in society. These sins would be tolerated less, if Christians tolerated them less.
And these sins would be less common in society, if Christians stopped doing them (points to self).
(2) Christians who live in countries where sins like this are the norm, should be on their knees, repenting of these sins, and asking God to be merciful toward them, and toward their countries. And they should be challenging politicians to close places like Guantanamo Bay.
Translation:
(3:1) Hey, city of blood!
All of her is lies;
Deception, full of.
The prey doesn't depart.
(2) The sound of a whip!,
and the sound of the rattling wheel!,
and a horse galloping,
and a chariot bouncing.
(3) Horsemen are leading up [into battle],
and a flash of a sword,
and a flash of a spear,
and a multitude of the slain,
and a heaviness of corpses,
and there is no end to the dead bodies.
They stumble over their dead bodies.
(4) Because of the multitudes of the fornications of the whore--
beautiful of charm,
a mistress of sorcery,
the one betraying/selling off nations through her fornications,
and clans/families through her sorceries--
(5) LOOK! I am against you --utterance of Yahweh of Armies,
and I will lift your skirts over your face,
and I will show the nations your nakedness,
and the kingdoms, your shame,
(6) and I will throw upon you detestable things,
and I will treat you with contempt,
and I will make you like a spectacle,
(7) and then , all of the ones seeing you will flee from you,
and they will say,
"She has been destroyed-- Ninevah!"
Who will show grief for her?
From where shall I seek comforters for her?"
(8) Are you better than Thebes-- the one sitting on the Nile,
waters all around her,
whose strength was the sea,
from water, her wall [was]?
(9) Cush, her strength [was], and Egypt,
And there was no end [to her strength].
Put and the Libyans were your helpers.
(10) What's more, she into exile went,
Into captivity.
What's more, her children were dashed to pieces at the corner of every street,
while over the honored ones, they cast the lot,
while her great ones were bound with chains.
(11) What's more, you shall be drunk.
You shall pass out/hide yourself.
What's more, you shall seek refuge from the enemy.
(12) All your fortifications are fig trees with first fruits.
If they are shaken, they fall into the mouth of the eater.
(13) LOOK! Your army is women in your midst!
To your enemies, surely, the gates of your land are opened.
Fire has consumed your bars.
(14) Waters for a siege, draw water for yourself.
Strengthen your fortifications!
Step in the mud,
and trample on the clay.
Seize the brick mold!
(15) There, it shall consume you-- fire.
It shall cut you off-- the sword.
It shall consume you like the locust.
Multiply yourselves like the locust!
(16) You have increased your merchants more than the stars of the heavens.
The locust raids/strips,
and it flies away.
(17) Your royal officials are like locusts,
while your officials like a swarm of grasshoppers.
Settling on the walls on a cold day,
when the sun has risen, it flees,
and its place isn't known, where they are.
(18) Your shepherds have fallen asleep, O King of Assyria.
Your nobles dwell/slumber.
They are scattered-- your people-- on the mountains,
and there is no one gathering.
(19) There is no healing for your injury.
Incurable, Your wound is.
All of the ones hearing your news have clapped their hands over you,
because over whom, has your cruelty not endlessly passed?
