Want Peace?

Nahum  •  Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented   •  43:32
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Nahum 1:9-15

Turn with me in your Bibles to the book of Nahum, remember that it is a prophecy of Nahum given to the people living in Judah sometime before 612 BC. This prophecy written in poetic form is essentially a prediction that God would destroy the capital city of Nineveh.

Orient to the passage, 9-11, 14. 12-13, 15.

Read: Nahum 1:9-15

pray:

Illustrate: Safety, security, Peace, stability. World, external, internal

People are not more or less religious, they just pour themselves into different religions and different religious experiences, such as diet, therapy is thinly disguised form of spirituality. Silicon valley believed they would save the world. tech workers felt confident tech will save us. Therapy is the high church of the modern culture of the psychotherapeutic. Apps that will make them happy and whole and maybe even rich. They are going to therapy for issues like climate change and dictators. We don’t have to look far to see that our culture is searching for something. Something for helping with depression, anxiety, anger management. We are looking for some kind of peace, peace however is pretty elusive, this world offers us all sorts of solutions for peace and that peace is usually an illusion.

In the Old Testament solutions to life problems were found in many different ways. The ancient world attributed many things to gods, that is why their was a god for every natural phenomenon. Storms, sun, crops, moon, war...

The Assyrians worshiped a god of war named Ashur. When they would write their histories they would say we went to war against so and so as Ashur commanded. In order to appease this god of war and keep being victorious they would destroy and deface the temples of the gods of other countries. For Judah they had to keep Ashur as their god, offering sacrifices and having its graven image in their place of worship, if not then the Assyrians would come and destroy the people of Judah for the sake of the honor of Ashur. Now we look back in history and laugh at this type of superstition. Yet we are not that unlike ancient people. I know nobody in here does this, but when our favorite sports team is playing how many rituals develop? I must wear this shirt or my team will lose, I have to sit in this spot on the couch because in 98 I moved and my team lost. We develop silly rituals trying to appease the gods of sports so our team can win. Pretty silly?

In the end, we like the Israelites, want peace, the direction we seek peace often becomes our bondage, tale as old as time we need peace and security we become enslaved to it. Think of alcohol, people make excuses as to why they become drunk, I am under so much stress I just need to take the edge off and it becomes a slave master. Social media has a similar effect I just need so many followers and so many likes and ill feel better. It becomes a time consuming activity. Go to a restaurant and see how many people are actually talking to each other verses holding their phones in their faces bowing down in worship to the fear of missing out, if I don’t look at everyones facebook post, Ill miss out on something that everyone else is seeing. But at least we don’t make human sacrifices right?

Only we do, abortion factories planned parenthood and the like are temples to the god of self. We sacrifice babies on the altar to get pornography and uninhibited sex. We pay the price of our idol worship. Modern society worships self, just like ancient society worshiped idols only our idols are mostly in the heart. We wont find peace if we worship ourselves.

Nahum helps answer the question to do you want true peace?

You can have true peace only when you see God as The Divine Warrior who destroys His enemies and rescues His people.

True peace is found in God alone. Therefore all the previous hopes and trust that we have put ourselves in must be destroyed. God has to destroy His enemies.

I) True peace is found when God destroys His enemies (9-11, 14).

A) We see that rebellion is Futile (9-11)

Remember that when you read poetry in the Bible it follows the same patter as literary interpretation. When we read that the David says that he meditates on the law day and night in Psalm 1 we are not to think that he never sleeps and only thinks about the law, no we understand it to mean he spends his time thinking and dwelling on the law. When Jesus say I am the vine and you are the branches it does not mean that He turned Himself into a plant that we also are plants, we have to understand what we read in its literary context. We will see this at play in vs 10 but lets start with verse 9 which is a transition from the previous hymn of God’s greatness to the start of prophecy.

In verse 9: we see Nahum addressing Nineveh. (Read vs 9). God is promising that nothing the people of Nineveh plan against Yahweh will stand. God stand with His people here, see how God places Himself in the place of the Israelites. Plots to oppress Judah will come to nothing when God is with them. Rebellion against God and His plan is futile.

Let us (read vs 10) here we see a confusing image of three disparate things, entangled thorns, drunkards, and stubble. several translations have various ways of expressing this Hebrew in order for us to understand it. The key theme is that all three are going to be consumed. Some think that these are indicators of the strength and prosperity of the Assyrians. The are a strong fence of entangled thorns, they are rich with money and can afford strong drink to get drunk and they have vast food stores that are all eaten. Others think that it is an indicator as to how fall morally they have fallen, they are like a worthless thorn vine all twisted up and thrown into the fire to be disposed of, they are a bunch of degenerate drunks consumed with wine and they are nothing but stubble of a field that just needs to be burnt up. Either way we look at it, it is clear that God is going to consume them completely.

VS 11 can be seen as addressing the king of Assyria or possibly a personification of their false god Ashur. Regardless of who is being addressed it is obvious that God is contrasting Himself, the Wonderful Counselor with this worthless person, this wicked counselor, who leads people astray and against God Himself.

We are going to jump to vs 14 because of how Nahum has organized this it contains contrasting elements, addressing Nineveh then Judah and back again. So we will continue with the address to Nineveh in vs 14.

B) We see that rebellion will End (14)

Read vs 14, The Lord will make an end to you. Notice the language used.

No more should your name be perpetuated, for a king, his lifeblood the legacy of that king was in his male heirs. God was going to end that. Do you rely on having a future monarchy from your family, forget about it ill cut you off. Think about the obsession that some people have with the royal family in England, that fame and fortune drives much of their actions. Not only will the Assyrian line be cut off, but also the temple gods that they worshiped for for wealth, power and descendants. Archeologists have discovered that the temples of the Assyrians were completely destroyed when they were conquered by the coalition of Babylonians and Medes destroyed Nineveh in 612.

Illustration

Application

II) True peace is found when God delivers His people (12-13, 15).

Time and time again God reminds His people that He cares for them. For Judah things seemed pretty hopeless, if they continued to follow through with the reforms Josiah had started as kind of Judah it is likely the Assyrians were going to notice and come and punish Judah for not worshiping Ashur. The only solution is if God were to deliver His people. The peace that they experienced under the Assyrians was not really peace. They needed to be saved.

A) God is the author of Salvation (12-13).

Read vs 12 with me, God reminds Judah that even though the enemies appear to be great right now they will be cut down. Kingdoms rise and fall, great empires arise and are removed, God shows His hand in this, look at the second part of verse 12. (read 12b). God is the one that used Assyria to rebuke Israel for its rebellion and idol worship. Now God is going to remove that affliction. God is very serious about His worship.

VS 13, has this fascinating image, the breaking of the yoke.

Assyrian imagery

New Testament Imagery

B) God is the author of Shalom (15)

This may be the most powerful point in the entire book of Nahum. As we read it I expect some of you will recognize the words, in fact we read a passage that sounds just like it for our call to worship. (read vs 15). It harkens back to Isaiah, but it also reflects the future hope in John 14:27.

Illustration:

Application:

Conclusion:

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