A Change of Pace
I titled this sermon, “A Change of Pace,” because, unlike Obadiah, Amos, and Micah, who all prophesied doom and gloom and warnings against Israel, Nahum uses very similar language to prophesy doom and gloom against Israel’s enemies – specifically Nineveh – the capital city of the Assyrian Empire.
Now, just for a little bit of background, we don’t know exactly when Nahum was written. We know it was sometime in the 7th century BC. Possibly as early as 663 BC. Possibly as late as 612 BC. There are no publishing records or dated manuscripts to tell us. Other prophetic writings will begin by at least telling us which king was on the throne at the time of the writing – Nahum doesn’t give us that. Which means that we can’t tell whether Nahum is writing before Nineveh burns in 625 BC – the event that sends the entire Assyrian Empire crumbling, which would make Nahum one of the most prescient prophets of the Bible. Or if he’s writing it after Nineveh’s destruction, which would make this writing more of a celebratory description of what’s happening in the world around Nahum.
We simply don’t know and can’t say for sure.
But we do know that whether he is speaking as a voice of a prophet or as a voice of a chronicler, that he is speaking with the voice of God – with a message for God’s people.
And it’s a different message than the ones we’re used to hearing from the prophets. This is not the warning of a jealous God. This is not the judgment and punishment of a God who is angry with his people. This is a God who is delivering on his promises of safety and security for his people.
We might remember what we heard from Obadiah a few weeks ago – that in Obadiah’s context, the Assyrians were the threat – the Assyrians were the ones with their eyes on Jerusalem and their soldiers on the move.
And yet, here in Nahum, we see God taking that threat and removing it. Neutralizing it. Taking Nineveh to task for its transgressions, and coming to Israel’s rescue.
The other prophets we’ve looked at so far… Amos, Obadiah, and Micah… do a wonderful job of showing us what God does. But you kind of have to search through the weeds in those books to find out who God is.
Nahum comes right out and tells us.
We don’t have to wonder in Nahum if God cares for his people. That’s the entire premise of the book.
We don’t have to guess if God is acting out of love for Israel. Because God’s love and providence are so obvious.
I believe, and I’m sure by now you’ve all noticed, that God is fundamentally understood through love. That even in anger and jealousy there is love to be found. Even in destruction and dark times, there is love to be found. Even if you have to dig around and look for it.
In the prophecies of Nahum, God’s love for his people takes center stage and is indisputable. God makes promises to his people. Promises of hope. Promises of faith. Promises of blessing. Promises of love. And God delivers on those promises.
Nahum is, I think, one of the most uplifting prophets because he’s writing in celebration of God’s promise being kept. That Nineveh, who has caused so much pain and anguish for Israel, will be taken to task. They’ll get their comeuppance. They will threaten Israel no more.
And they don’t.
In 625 BC a great fire sweeps through the city of Nineveh, burning large portions of it entirely, and driving a dagger into the heart of the Assyrian Empire.
Now – a secular historian might look at such an event and say that fires happen all the time, that the wood and thatch used in the dry heat of the Iraqi desert would make the city particularly prone to conflagration, and they may be right.
But to God’s people looking for deliverance from a feared enemy, and receiving that deliverance at the time they asked for it, and in so complete a manner – that just smacks of the righteous intervention of a loving and protective God.
Nineveh would burn.
Assyria’s power would wane.
Israel would be saved.
I’m just going to switch tracks for a couple minutes here to bring in the Book of Jonah.
We won’t have time this summer to delve into Jonah – that book is dense enough that it would require a series in its own right. But I’m sure we all remember hearing the Jonah story in Sunday School. That God instructed Jonah to go to Nineveh to give them warning and to repent of their sins. And Jonah, knowing Nineveh was the lion’s den, fled instead, and took to the sea and was swallowed by the whale… I hope that all rings a bell.
At the end of Jonah, he does eventually go to Nineveh. And in that story, Nineveh hears God’s word through Jonah. And the city does repent. And the city is spared.
But not here. In Nahum, Nineveh pays for its sins, and its destruction is celebrated.
Which leaves us something of a tangled mess to consider. It would help if we had clear timelines of when these writings took place. If Jonah clearly predated Nahum, it would lead us to one interpretation. Or if the entirety of Jonah is an ahistorical allegory – a lesson for what might have been. Or if Nineveh, being so vast and populated a city, if some large portion of it were destroyed that one observer might look at the burned part and see destruction, and another observer seeing the unburned part might see a city spared… we just don’t know. Like if a fire burned through all of Manhattan, reasonable people might say that New York burned down, while other reasonable people in Brooklyn or Queens might say, “no, we’re still here.”
What we do know is that as Nahum writes of Nineveh’s destruction, Nineveh is either soon-to-be-destroyed or recently destroyed. It’s power is on the decline. And Nahum’s words ring true.
“King of Assyria,” he says… “Your shepherds slumber, your nobles lie down to rest. Your people are scattered on the mountains with no one to gather them. Nothing can heal you – your wound is fatal.”
And he says this speaking against Assyria, because the Lord is good. Because he is a refuge in times of trouble.
From start to finish, the writing of Nahum is a love letter from God to God’s people. It is a poem of promise – that God cares for us. That God will be our salvation. That God will be with his faithful people and preserve the nation in times of distress. And that these promises will be kept.
We don’t have to dig for that insight here. We don’t have to unpack anything or do any fancy exegesis. It’s all right there. In God we are loved. In God we are preserved. In God we see great promises being made and fulfilled.
This poem of Nahum’s – this ode from a loving God to a beloved people – this we can take at face value. That if we are a part of God’s covenant – and as confessing and believing members of the Christ’s Church, we certainly are part of that covenant – that God will carry our burdens, comfort us in times of distress, and lead us through all dark days into the ultimate victory of his kingdom.
To God be all glory, praise, and honor. Amen!
Let us pray.
Gracious God, we praise you for the mighty gift of your triumphant promise to your people. When we call on you, you answer. When we need you, you are there. When times are dark, you come to us in light. For your eternal promise of love and salvation, kept in the blessing of your son, Jesus Christ, we are truly and humbly grateful. Keep your faith strong in our hearts and your Word strong in our minds. We pray this in your holy name. Amen.
I titled this sermon, “A Change of Pace,” because, unlike Obadiah, Amos, and Micah, who all prophesied doom and gloom and warnings against Israel, Nahum uses very similar language to prophesy doom and gloom against Israel’s enemies – specifically Nineveh – the capital city of the Assyrian Empire.
Now, just for a little bit of background, we don’t know exactly when Nahum was written. We know it was sometime in the 7th century BC. Possibly as early as 663 BC. Possibly as late as 612 BC. There are no publishing records or dated manuscripts to tell us. Other prophetic writings will begin by at least telling us which king was on the throne at the time of the writing – Nahum doesn’t give us that. Which means that we can’t tell whether Nahum is writing before Nineveh burns in 625 BC – the event that sends the entire Assyrian Empire crumbling, which would make Nahum one of the most prescient prophets of the Bible. Or if he’s writing it after Nineveh’s destruction, which would make this writing more of a celebratory description of what’s happening in the world around Nahum.
We simply don’t know and can’t say for sure.
But we do know that whether he is speaking as a voice of a prophet or as a voice of a chronicler, that he is speaking with the voice of God – with a message for God’s people.
And it’s a different message than the ones we’re used to hearing from the prophets. This is not the warning of a jealous God. This is not the judgment and punishment of a God who is angry with his people. This is a God who is delivering on his promises of safety and security for his people.
We might remember what we heard from Obadiah a few weeks ago – that in Obadiah’s context, the Assyrians were the threat – the Assyrians were the ones with their eyes on Jerusalem and their soldiers on the move.
And yet, here in Nahum, we see God taking that threat and removing it. Neutralizing it. Taking Nineveh to task for its transgressions, and coming to Israel’s rescue.
The other prophets we’ve looked at so far… Amos, Obadiah, and Micah… do a wonderful job of showing us what God does. But you kind of have to search through the weeds in those books to find out who God is.
Nahum comes right out and tells us.
We don’t have to wonder in Nahum if God cares for his people. That’s the entire premise of the book.
We don’t have to guess if God is acting out of love for Israel. Because God’s love and providence are so obvious.
I believe, and I’m sure by now you’ve all noticed, that God is fundamentally understood through love. That even in anger and jealousy there is love to be found. Even in destruction and dark times, there is love to be found. Even if you have to dig around and look for it.
In the prophecies of Nahum, God’s love for his people takes center stage and is indisputable. God makes promises to his people. Promises of hope. Promises of faith. Promises of blessing. Promises of love. And God delivers on those promises.
Nahum is, I think, one of the most uplifting prophets because he’s writing in celebration of God’s promise being kept. That Nineveh, who has caused so much pain and anguish for Israel, will be taken to task. They’ll get their comeuppance. They will threaten Israel no more.
And they don’t.
In 625 BC a great fire sweeps through the city of Nineveh, burning large portions of it entirely, and driving a dagger into the heart of the Assyrian Empire.
Now – a secular historian might look at such an event and say that fires happen all the time, that the wood and thatch used in the dry heat of the Iraqi desert would make the city particularly prone to conflagration, and they may be right.
But to God’s people looking for deliverance from a feared enemy, and receiving that deliverance at the time they asked for it, and in so complete a manner – that just smacks of the righteous intervention of a loving and protective God.
Nineveh would burn.
Assyria’s power would wane.
Israel would be saved.
I’m just going to switch tracks for a couple minutes here to bring in the Book of Jonah.
We won’t have time this summer to delve into Jonah – that book is dense enough that it would require a series in its own right. But I’m sure we all remember hearing the Jonah story in Sunday School. That God instructed Jonah to go to Nineveh to give them warning and to repent of their sins. And Jonah, knowing Nineveh was the lion’s den, fled instead, and took to the sea and was swallowed by the whale… I hope that all rings a bell.
At the end of Jonah, he does eventually go to Nineveh. And in that story, Nineveh hears God’s word through Jonah. And the city does repent. And the city is spared.
But not here. In Nahum, Nineveh pays for its sins, and its destruction is celebrated.
Which leaves us something of a tangled mess to consider. It would help if we had clear timelines of when these writings took place. If Jonah clearly predated Nahum, it would lead us to one interpretation. Or if the entirety of Jonah is an ahistorical allegory – a lesson for what might have been. Or if Nineveh, being so vast and populated a city, if some large portion of it were destroyed that one observer might look at the burned part and see destruction, and another observer seeing the unburned part might see a city spared… we just don’t know. Like if a fire burned through all of Manhattan, reasonable people might say that New York burned down, while other reasonable people in Brooklyn or Queens might say, “no, we’re still here.”
What we do know is that as Nahum writes of Nineveh’s destruction, Nineveh is either soon-to-be-destroyed or recently destroyed. It’s power is on the decline. And Nahum’s words ring true.
“King of Assyria,” he says… “Your shepherds slumber, your nobles lie down to rest. Your people are scattered on the mountains with no one to gather them. Nothing can heal you – your wound is fatal.”
And he says this speaking against Assyria, because the Lord is good. Because he is a refuge in times of trouble.
From start to finish, the writing of Nahum is a love letter from God to God’s people. It is a poem of promise – that God cares for us. That God will be our salvation. That God will be with his faithful people and preserve the nation in times of distress. And that these promises will be kept.
We don’t have to dig for that insight here. We don’t have to unpack anything or do any fancy exegesis. It’s all right there. In God we are loved. In God we are preserved. In God we see great promises being made and fulfilled.
This poem of Nahum’s – this ode from a loving God to a beloved people – this we can take at face value. That if we are a part of God’s covenant – and as confessing and believing members of the Christ’s Church, we certainly are part of that covenant – that God will carry our burdens, comfort us in times of distress, and lead us through all dark days into the ultimate victory of his kingdom.
To God be all glory, praise, and honor. Amen!
Let us pray.
Gracious God, we praise you for the mighty gift of your triumphant promise to your people. When we call on you, you answer. When we need you, you are there. When times are dark, you come to us in light. For your eternal promise of love and salvation, kept in the blessing of your son, Jesus Christ, we are truly and humbly grateful. Keep your faith strong in our hearts and your Word strong in our minds. We pray this in your holy name. Amen.