This chapter of the book of Nahum detailed some of the sins of Nineveh and what the ends of the city looked like. It helps us understand why and how God would judge the people.
Commentary:
Nahum 3:1. God hates lying tongues; He also hates the hand that sheds innocent blood (Prov 6:16-17). Assyria, in her might and greed, had lied and shed innocent blood, times and times again. The prophet pronounced “woe” to her city.
Nahum 3:2-3. Nineveh would be overrun by the enemy’s chariots. As populated as she was, there would be great number of dead bodies, piling high.
Nahum 3:4. God also hate idolatry. Once repentant of their sins, the Nineveh worshipped the LORD. Sadly, they did not persist and went back to the idols. Its idolatry equaled to the sins of harlotry like Israel. God would surely bring judgment to Assyria.
Nahum 3:8-10. No-amon was the city of Thebes. It was mentioned here because of the similarities to Nineveh. Thebes, like Nineveh, used the River Nile as a defense. It was strong as well. It had many helpers. Under attack, Ethiopia, Put, and Lubim came to its aid; Nineveh did not have any allies. Yet Thebes was destroyed by Assyria in 663 BC. Infants and children were killed. Adults were carried off as slaves.
What happened to Thebes was typical to other victims of Assyria. Cruel in her core Assyria was merciless. Other nations wondered if justice would ever be served. Certainly, Assyria had no regard for others. Ironically, God used this recent victory of the Assyrian to prophesize their impending judgment.
Nahum 3:14-15. Here the prophets talked about the futility of the work of the people in the impending judgment. While the people of Nineveh worked feverishly to repair the gate or to put down the fire, the wall would be breached, and the enemies would enter. Even if they had more people, like the locust, they would not be able to stop this onslaught.
Nahum 3:16-17. Like locust, the Assyrians were plague of her times. They would attack other countries and stripped them clean. Like locust, when God judged them, they too would be here today and gone tomorrow.
Nahum 3:19. The destruction of Assyria is complete. There is no Assyria in history again after this divine judgment.
Meditation:
God is just. He would not let the guilty go unpunished (Ex 34:7). All who have done wrongs would surely be judged. Nineveh is a good reminder of that.
But everyone has sins. Surely the Lord would not let any of us go unpunished. Praise God that He has also lovingkindness. The Lord would forgive us when we repent of our sins and return to Him (Ex 34:7).
The key is to trust in Jesus alone. He is the way, the truth, and the life and no one can go to the Father without Him (John 14:6). To be saved from our sins and the consequence of our sins, we need to rely on Him as our Savior and Lord.
Prayer:
Dear Heavenly Father, we praise you that you are just. We thank you that you are also so loving. We thank you for the provision that you have made in Jesus Christ. Help us to trust in Him on a daily basis. Lead us forward through your word and the Holy Spirit. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
Question!
So we know that god is just as you said, but sin is something against the will of man isn’t it? I mean, men fall into it’s trap, and in the chapters I was asked to write, it says sin tells us to do something against our will at times, but if god is all mighty and powerful, can he not take the sin out of us to make us into good people?
Or would that be too much selfishness of human-kind?
Comment by tsou — June 17, 2010 @ 8:23 pm