"An attacker advances against you, Nineveh. Guard the fortress, watch the road, brace yourselves, marshal all your strength! The Lord will restore the splendor of Jacob like the splendor of Israel, though destroyers have laid them waste and have ruined their vines."
Nahum 2:1-2
Nahum’s opening verse may sound like an alarm – ‘An attacker advances against you’ – and a call to defensive action (v. 1). Unlike in Jonah’s time, however, when Nineveh received a 40-day grace period within which to repent, now the gavel comes down hard, with a note of finality, as God’s judgment is pronounced in favor of Judah (v. 2) and against Nineveh (v. 7). The prophet envisions the executioners storming the city (vv. 3, 4) to carry out God’s sentence (vv. 5–13).
Assyria was the fierce and feared hunter of the ancient Near East; the nations were its terrified prey; and Nineveh was its ‘den’ (v. 11) – stronghold of the Assyrian army, a safe place for its people, the storehouse for its plundered treasures. But when the ‘Lord Almighty’ intervenes (v. 13) this lion king will fall prey to the wrath of the King of kings! A taunting song mocks Nineveh: ‘Where now is the lions’ den?’ (v. 11). The tables will be turned as the oppressor is overthrown, the hunter hunted down, the predator preyed upon. With their sophisticated machinery of war (‘chariots’) and skilled warriors (‘young lions’) destroyed, Assyria will no longer ‘prey’ on the nations and its ‘messengers’ will be silenced (v. 13): there will be no more threats of war, no more victory shouts, no more demands for taxes and tributes. The theme of bad news/good news continues: no news (from Assyria) is indeed good news (for Judah)! As post-resurrection believers, we have received the best news of all: the Lamb has been slain; the Lion has roared; and we now await his return!
APPLY
‘Wrong will be right, when Aslan comes in sight, / At the sound of his roar, sorrows will be no more, / When he bares his teeth, winter meets its death, / And when he shakes his mane, we shall have spring again’ (CS Lewis, The Chronicles of Narnia, HarperCollins, 2002, p146Closing Prayer).
CLOSING PRAYER
Lord Jesus, no matter what goes on around me, no matter what is happening in the world, help me to live as one knowing that you will return triumphant, with power and great glory.
(from Encounter with God)