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Devotional thoughts (Monday through Thursday mornings) from the pastor of Exeter Presbyterian Church in Exeter, NH // Sunday Worship 10:30am // 73 Winter Street

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Nahum 3

When a great city is at the pinnacle of her power she may give herself proud names by which she expects to be known. Now the Lord of cities who has the final word on these matters calls Nineveh the bloody city.

The Assyrians had many accomplishments. They were used to being the head rather than the tail. They expected to inspire fear in lesser powers, and they frequently had the might that permitted them to dictate the rules of acceptable living to other nations. They told their captives that everything would go well with them if they just followed the plan of their new Assyrian rulers. God’s assessment: Nineveh is “full of lies.” The empire moved captives far from their homes and extended their reach by forcing foreign men to fight for the expansion of the motherland. Everywhere they went they plundered the land, and soon moved on to seek the next target in their hunt for more prey to devour.

What would it feel like for Nineveh if the whip cracked against her? What if some foreign power set the terms of life and enforced their will as an oppressor over the Assyrians? The Lord looks to the day when there will be mounds of dead bodies in Nineveh. Their lies win the Assyrians the title of “prostitute.” Like many powers throughout history, they betrayed nations with many promises, but their actions proved very deadly to those they ruled.

The Lord has an answer for the strongman nation. “I am against you.” It is a frightening thing to have God as an enemy. He has countless weapons that He can use at will. He can destroy a people slowly or swiftly. He can humble an empire quietly or publicly. In this case it will be swiftly and publicly. It will be embarrassing to this city to be exposed before the world. She will be a spectacle of the Lord’s judgment against an evil nation.

When that day comes, who will grieve for Nineveh? She has made so many enemies, that there will be no loyal allies to mourn her swift demise. There will be no helpers to fight on her side in the day of disaster.

Looking at the matter objectively, we should not be surprised that the Lord has any number of ways to destroy an empire whenever He wishes to do so. Great nations to the south and west provide obvious examples of places of defeat and captivity. There is no nation that can ultimately stand against Almighty God.

Proud leaders, if they were even aware of the words of Nahum, might have brushed off such arguments. Were they not far superior to all those other lands? How often had they proven their greatness? Yet when the Lord fights against a strong nation, He can make them seem like drunken men running for cover. He can make them like a nation that sends their women out to fight, because the men are somehow out of the picture. He can open up the gates very wide so that a conquering foe can come right in.

Though Assyria had seemed to multiply like locusts, the hoards of flying insects have spread their wings and taken off. Where are their soldiers? Where are their merchants? Where are their leaders? Apparently they are sleeping. The people will be scattered on the mountains, and the Babylonians will capture Nineveh, dealing the Assyrian empire a fatal blow. Every nation will celebrate their fall, for they have brutalized so many lands with their continuous evil.

The Lord is a mighty warrior against His adversaries. The God of creation and providence has sovereign control over any proud foe. The fool says in his heart that there is no God. Yet the Lord Almighty has so many arrows in His quiver. He can remove the courage of soldiers. He can fill kings with fear. He can withdraw His restraining hand across a society and watch as the evil of men destroys the fabric of life among a powerful people. He controls all the forces of nature. He is the supreme Judge, and the King over men and angels. With all the weapons that He can use in every kind of warfare, it is unwise to take up arms against Him. He will execute His justice against His adversaries when His Son returns at the end of this age.

All of this power was in evidence in the cross-work of Christ. Here was the battle of the ages against our fiercest enemies. Our biggest problem is not any empire of men, though they may be proud and brutal. Our most difficult challenge comes from sin and death. In fact, our biggest problem is the just wrath of God Himself. That battle could only have been won for us by the God-Man Jesus Christ. He has achieved victory by facing the supreme humiliation of the cross. By that cross, our God has defeated the vicious enemies that were against us, paying the debt for our sins, and demolishing death through the power of an indestructible life. The resurrection age that Christ has won for us is not some Assyrian-like empire in a world of scarcity where we are the abusive rulers who have our way over weaker neighbors. The victory that God has for us is instead a world of love, where the Lord is our marvelously abundant provision, and sin is a thing of the past.

posted by Pastor Magee @ 12:00 AM

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