God Judges
Notes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
Introduction
Introduction
Last week as we opened the book of Nahum we were confronted with some of the characteristics of God that we had to deal with and could not ignore. We looked at the jealousy of God, and His vengeance as well as His wrath; and through those attributes Gods care and comfort for His people comes through in way that is impossible without those characteristics because of the goodness and holiness of God. This morning the “comforting” prophet Nahum brings the message of God’s pronounced judgment for Nineveh. 140 years after the prophecy of Jonah and also of Nineveh’s initial repentance, they are back to their sin. God sends Nahum to give the message of warning for God has never poured out wrath without warning and opportunity.
God’s warning to Nineveh and to all who persist in sin is strong and clear. If you refuse to turn from evil you will perish because God judges sin. As strong as His warning is so also is His willingness to forgive and restore those who seek Him. Hear the warning that God judges and this reminds us He cares because it means one day God will make everything right.
1 One who scatters is coming up against you. Man the fortifications! Watch the road! Brace yourself! Summon all your strength! 2 For the Lord will restore the majesty of Jacob, yes, the majesty of Israel, though ravagers have ravaged them and ruined their vine branches.
3 The shields of his warriors are dyed red; the valiant men are dressed in scarlet. The fittings of the chariot flash like fire on the day of its battle preparations, and the spears are brandished. 4 The chariots dash madly through the streets; they rush around in the plazas. They look like torches; they dart back and forth like lightning.
5 He gives orders to his officers; they stumble as they advance. They race to its wall; the protective shield is set in place. 6 The river gates are opened, and the palace erodes away. 7 Beauty is stripped; she is carried away; her ladies-in-waiting moan like the sound of doves and beat their breasts.
8 Nineveh has been like a pool of water from her first days, but they are fleeing. “Stop! Stop!” they cry, but no one turns back. 9 “Plunder the silver! Plunder the gold!” There is no end to the treasure, an abundance of every precious thing.
10 Desolation, decimation, devastation! Hearts melt, knees tremble, insides churn, every face grows pale! 11 Where is the lions’ lair, or the feeding ground of the young lions, where the lion and lioness prowled, and the lion’s cub, with nothing to frighten them away?
12 The lion mauled whatever its cubs needed and strangled prey for its lionesses. It filled up its dens with the kill, and its lairs with mauled prey.
13 Beware, I am against you. This is the declaration of the Lord of Armies. I will make your chariots go up in smoke, and the sword will devour your young lions. I will cut off your prey from the earth, and the sound of your messengers will never be heard again.
Challenge Issued
Challenge Issued
1 One who scatters is coming up against you. Man the fortifications! Watch the road! Brace yourself! Summon all your strength! 2 For the Lord will restore the majesty of Jacob, yes, the majesty of Israel, though ravagers have ravaged them and ruined their vine branches.
Nahum declares to Nineveh that the One who scatters is coming up against you. The advance of an unnamed attacker is so certain we see that Nahum speaks in the present tense. This scatterer is coming up against and this speaks of hostile military campaign and operations. Immediately after this announcement of this coming campaign of military might Nahum then issues four terse commands. Man the fortifications, watch the road, brace yourself and summon all your strength. There is a sense of irony as Nahum urges the city to prepare for approaching siege. Nahum knows that these precautions would not hold back siege nor change its outcome. All of Nineveh’s efforts would be futile as God said.
15 Look to the mountains— the feet of the herald, who proclaims peace. Celebrate your festivals, Judah; fulfill your vows. For the wicked one will never again march through you; he will be entirely wiped out.
The urging for this preparations seems ridiculous as they hear it for Sennacherib has spent six years building an armory covering 40 acres of the city. Esarhaddon enlarged it by adding chariots, wagons, horses, mules, bows, quivers arrows and other equipment. The road inside the city had been enlarged to facilitate troop movement. The challenge issued is God is coming against you so get ready to stand. There is no amount of preparation or resources will bring victory when the LORD is against you.
Nahum declares why the scatterer is coming and it is because the LORD desires to restore the majesty of Jacob and the majesty of Israel. God is working to restore the the majesty of Jacob and the majesty of Israel. This speaks of when the nation united and undivided as a kingdom - this looks forward ahead to the Millennial Kingdom in which this prophecy and promise will be fully realized. In the immediate Nineveh will be wiped out as well as Assyria as judgment against their mistreatment of God’s people. Notice that in both cases judgment precedes restoration and restoration is connected to judgment and destruction of enemies. Through the noise of pronounced judgment hear the voice of the LORD assuring Israel they will be restored and reunited.
Though ravagers have ravaged them and ruined their vine branches. This says despite how it looks God will restore His people. Their growth has been cutoff and their vine branches or offshoots ruined - this in a way is picturing the cut-off hope of Israel, but God promises to do something about it - He is restoring their hope! The challenge to Judah is to see through the judgment of God on Nineveh His promise of restoration for Israel.
Described Devastation
Described Devastation
3 The shields of his warriors are dyed red; the valiant men are dressed in scarlet. The fittings of the chariot flash like fire on the day of its battle preparations, and the spears are brandished. 4 The chariots dash madly through the streets; they rush around in the plazas. They look like torches; they dart back and forth like lightning.
5 He gives orders to his officers; they stumble as they advance. They race to its wall; the protective shield is set in place. 6 The river gates are opened, and the palace erodes away. 7 Beauty is stripped; she is carried away; her ladies-in-waiting moan like the sound of doves and beat their breasts.
8 Nineveh has been like a pool of water from her first days, but they are fleeing. “Stop! Stop!” they cry, but no one turns back. 9 “Plunder the silver! Plunder the gold!” There is no end to the treasure, an abundance of every precious thing. 10 Desolation, decimation, devastation! Hearts melt, knees tremble, insides churn, every face grows pale!
Next we see Nahum giving a picture of the devastation that the scatterer will bring. In a series of pictures we quickly one scene after another describing the assault, siege and ultimate capture of Nineveh. The shields of his warriors are dyed red and the valiant men are dressed in scarlet. The shields of the Medes and Babylonians were red either from blood, dyed leather over the shields or from being covered in copper. The fittings of the chariot flash like fire on the day of its battle preparations and the spears are brandished. Chariots dash madly through the streets rushing around the plazas. They look like torches dashing back and forth like the flash of lightning. Seems to happen quickly and just moving from one scene to the next in rapid succession and I believe this continues to speak of the quickness of the coming assault. Now the scatterer remembers his officers and gives them orders. They stumble as they advance racing to its wall. The wall - the protective shield is set in place. The river gates are opened and the palace erodes away.
So certain is the prophet of the course of this battle that he describes with vividness that is rare. This is written as if someone were watching the battle but with the prophetic perfect tense - so specific it is that we must remember that it hasnt happened yet at this time.
Several possible interpretations are given for the river gates - fortified bridges, city gates near the Tigris river, sluice gates in dams in the city moats, breaches made in the wall by torrents of runshing water, floodgates to control the flow of the Khosr river that passed through the city. This last view is supported by a natural sense of the language and archeological remains. Sennacherib dammed the Kohsr river outside the city and made a reservoir. Water was restrained by a double damwith two massive river walls some distance from Nineveh. Traces are found within the ruins. This points to the strategy to throw open the river gates to use the force of the water to penetrate the city wall and wash the palace away.
With the city walls breached whether by natural flood or by man-controlled flood is undetermined but for sure it was God’s doing. The king realizing the oracle of God being fulfilled is said to have resolved not to fall into enemy hands prepared a gigantic pyre in the royal precincts and piled all his gold and silver shut up the concubines and eunuchs in this chamber he has made in the midst of the pyre and lit himself and it on fire burning down the palace in the process.
Verse 7 says Beauty is stripped and she is carried away - beauty is hebrew word Hussba but the NKJV translates this word not Beauty but as a name Huzzab - the Queen - she is stripped and carried away in exile. No historical mention of Huzzab Queen of Nineveh being found among the ashes of the fires was assumed that she escaped the fire and was carried away captive.
The city is plundered as the people pour out of it fleeing and leaving everything. All around desolation, decimation devastation. Hearts melt, knees tremble and knock insides are churning and every face grows pale at the realization that judgment has come to Nineveh.
Warning Announced
Warning Announced
11 Where is the lions’ lair, or the feeding ground of the young lions, where the lion and lioness prowled, and the lion’s cub, with nothing to frighten them away? 12 The lion mauled whatever its cubs needed and strangled prey for its lionesses. It filled up its dens with the kill, and its lairs with mauled prey.
13 Beware, I am against you. This is the declaration of the Lord of Armies. I will make your chariots go up in smoke, and the sword will devour your young lions. I will cut off your prey from the earth, and the sound of your messengers will never be heard again.
In their own writings the Assyrian kings boasted about their being as lions. They bragged about their cruelty and violence and their utter domination of other nations and people. Nahum asks them then where are the lions? Assyria like lions plundered and had now been plundered. Sennacherib boasted saying “Like a lion I raged”. Nineveh as the capital city is likened to the lair of the lions and it will be been destroyed.
Nahum then pronounces the terrible statement from God. Beware I am against you declares the LORD of Armies. What a tortuously terrifying statement to hear from God! It is bad when the LORD is against you, and it is even worse when it is the LORD of Armies. This title speaks of God’s place as the Commander in Chief over the armies of heaven.
31 What, then, are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us?
This is a true principle for believers - but the opposite is true for the enemies of God. If God is against you then who can be for you?
For hundreds of years Nineveh enjoyed being a superpower and being the power-center. They relished in their might and their conquests to the point of not caring if they offended or opposed the LORD of Armies and whether or not they sinned against Him or His people. Now the LORD of Armies was against them and the promise from God is that their chariots will go up in smoke and the sword will devour their young lions their offspring. God will cut off their prey or food from the earth. Their messengers that commanded listening ears and attentiveness all over the world - they would never be heard from again. Their glory days would come to an end under the judgment of God. In the end, Ninevah's enemy is not flesh. Yahweh of Armies is the one opposing them. And so God himself calls to Ninevah, to get her attention. LOOK! SEE ME! SEE WHO IS FIGHTING YOU!
Conclusion
Conclusion
Very clearly through Nahum’s prophecy we see that God judges - He is judging Nineveh and bringing devastation to them. This happened in 612 BC when Mede and Babylon joined together to attack Nineveh. Though they attacked make no mistake it was God judging. The last verse of Chapter 2 the LORD says “I am against you” Beware! Understand that the LORD spoke this to Nineveh but not only to Nineveh, He speaks these words to all who have sinned against Him. These vivid picture of judgment isnt given to titillate our minds as we search history to see how they were fulfilled. God gave these judgments with such vivid clarity that those who read them and see them in history would know that God judges and that judgment will surely come. As Judge of all the earth God does right. What is right where you are concerned? If you have gone your way, spurned God’s law, sought out your own corrupt devices—justice demands judgment for your rebellion. God must and will judge you. In terms of that great judgment, which is hell, the fall of Nineveh is almost insignificant.
Seek restoration with God when you are facing judgement because God always wins.
Jesus also warned of judgment in His day and they did not make adequate preparation and in 70 AD Jerusalem was destroyed. All throughout the New Testament the warning is given that Jesus is coming to usher in the great Day of Judgment.
Yet God tells you this so you might turn from your sin and seek His face at the cross of his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Deliverance is to be found at the cross, because it is here where God poured out His judgment already for those who call upon Jesus for salvation. If Jesus is not your Savior and you are not covered in the forgiveness His blood provides, then you will like Nineveh and every other nation or person under the judgment and wrath of God find that your efforts, preparations and other schemes to save yourself will not prevail.
What is surprising is how many scoff at how Nineveh ignored the warning, and how the Jews missed the signs - yet are doing the same thing today by ignoring the signs of the end times.