Nahum

Early one November morning in 2019, as I rolled out of bed to seek the Lord, I heard Him say “Nahum, Nahum, Nahum.” Our nation is currently under attack from within. Certain parts of the nation’s leadership have sold out our country to foreign gods. There is a shaking coming from this and it is parallel to the account described in the book of Nahum.

Nahum was a prophet during the 7th century BC and this book was likely written around 615 BC. Nahum’s prophetic words were written about the coming downfall of Nineveh. At this time, Assyria was the largest empire in the world and it’s capitol, Nineveh, was likely the largest city on earth. Nineveh was considered to be the center of civilization and commerce in the natural world. In 612 BC, Nineveh was sacked by a coalition of states under its rule including the Babylonians, Medes, Persians, Scythians, and Cimmerians. It was eventually completely destroyed and the ruins discovered in the 1800’s.

Nineveh had been spared approximately 120 years prior to this time period when the prophet Jonah came to visit. The city of Nineveh and it’s leadership repented through fasting, prayer, and wearing sackcloth. The animals even fasted during this time. Jonah sat in anger after the Lord spared the city of Nineveh. The Lord demonstrated His mercy and compassion in the last verse of Jonah:

“Should I not have compassion on Nineveh, the great city in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know the difference between their right and left hand, as well as many animals?” Jonah 4:11

The 120,000 seems to indicate the young, innocent children. This verse demonstrates the mercy and the weight the Lord puts into decisions of bringing judgement upon a nation’s leadership. The judgment of a nation requires the leadership be absolved of their power. Unfortunately, this often requires the shaking of the foundations the leadership has become engrained into.

Turning back to Nahum, his prophecy in this book include the following verses:

The Lord is a jealous God and avenging; the Lord avenges and He is full of wrath. The Lord takes vengeance on His adversaries and reserves wrath for His enemies. Nahum 1:2 AMPC

God is good,
    a hiding place in tough times.
He recognizes and welcomes
    anyone looking for help,
No matter how desperate the trouble.
    But cozy islands of escape
He wipes right off the map.
    No one gets away from God.
Why waste time conniving against God?
    He’s putting an end to all such scheming.
For troublemakers, no second chances.
    Like a pile of dry brush,
Soaked in oil,
    they’ll go up in flames Nahum 1:7-10 MSG

The focus on grace and the New Testament in today’s church seems to have drowned out the importance of God’s history of handing judgments down. Reading the verses above show God’s heart and a stopping point where His mercy ends. Some Christians will state with their mouths they believe in an omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent God until it comes to serving justice. As often stated by wise leaders, there is a ditch on both sides of the road. Hyper-grace and hyper-hell are the ditches on this road of understanding judgment. Our perfect Father has a balance of discipline and grace.

From the above history in Nineveh, it indicates both the mercy and justice God can bring and the weight He puts into those decisions. In society, the word judgment has often come to be associated in the Bible with the total annihilation of something. Sodom and Gomorrah and the flood in Noah’s time come to mind. There are still smaller scale judgments, all the way down to the cleansing of each individual person. Judgment is the cleansing fire of the Lord. We should see God’s judgements as similar to a court case in our criminal justice system that we “hope” will bring righteous and corrective justice to the situation. The difference between our “hope” with criminal justice and the “reality” with God is when His judgment comes, it will be perfect and appropriate to the level of the infraction. A repentant, obedient heart, despite the severity of the offense, will incur God’s mercy.

In the account of Nahum, the Lord spoke through Nahum of numerous acts of evil that came from the nation of Assyria. This included the destruction of the northern kingdom of Israel in the previous century. Judah and Benjamin were preserved, however, the rest of Israel was lost to the Assyrians. The 10 lost tribes of Israel were gone, lost forever to foreign gods and the Assyrian empire.

The 3rd and final chapter of Nahum spoke of the acts cruelty, pride, and greed the leaders of Assyria had committed upon their neighbors that would be revealed to the world. This very clearly spells out the Lord’s strong reasons for judgement of Assyria. The Assyrians of that era were known for their cruel torture including beheadings and other very evil deeds. They were the original terrorists.

This account fits neatly with the word “We are proud, we will rebuild.” Nineveh is representative of certain members of the United States leadership that have refused to repent of their cruel, prideful, and greedy acts. They are going to be brought to justice. Each time the Lord attempted to absorb them into His grace, they rejected the warning signs and pressed forth to build back stronger in defiance of the Lord. As so often depicted in ancient Israel, certain United States leadership has introduced foreign gods into the capitol. The judgment of a nation comes with the shaking of the nations core. The government, diplomatic relations with other nations, military leadership, physical health, and economic health of the United States all seem to be faltering at once. New York City fits the mold of the financial capitol of the world. Washington DC fits the mold of the capitol of the free world. Both were targets of the 9/11 hijackers.

God’s word in the last part of Nahum sums up what season the nation’s leadership is in:

King of Assyria! Your shepherd-leaders,
    in charge of caring for your people,
Are busy doing everything else but.
    They’re not doing their job,
And your people are scattered and lost.
    There’s no one to look after them.
You’re past the point of no return.
    Your wound is fatal.
When the story of your fate gets out,
    the whole world will applaud and cry “Encore!”
Your cruel evil has seeped
    into every nook and cranny of the world.
    Everyone has felt it and suffered. Nahum 3:18-19 MSG

Pray grace and mercy over the shepherd-leaders’ families who are coming to judgment for their evil deeds.

Pray for a quick restoration of our nation’s core when the judgments arrive.

Pray for the great awakening on our horizon.