Daily Devotional Writing from Pastor Scott

One hundred years earlier the reluctant prophet Jonah had been ordered to go and preach destruction in Nineveh. The result was repentance and God changing his mind about destroying them. Nahum isn’t instructed to go to Nineveh but he is given a similar message of destruction. His sermons appear to be directed to Nineveh but his audience is Judah. One reason for these anti-Nineveh sermons being preached in Judah is that the people of God are more concerned about what Assyria and its capitol Nineveh is doing than they are with trusting the Lord. They need to be reminded that, even though they see Assyria as a mountain of power that God sees it as just another anthill. The second reason for this seeming “preaching to the wrong crowd” is what is said in this verse. In Jonah’s day the Lord hoped to spare Nineveh. They were great sinners even then, but, according to the Lord, they were more ignorant than rebellious. Because of that, the Lord was more than willing to change his mind and spare them if they would but turn to him in repentance. Here in Nahum’s day that has changed. He preaches about a nation that has pushed God too far and, for them, judgment has come. Nahum preaches sermons against Nineveh for the sake of Judah. He doesn’t preach them in Nineveh because it’s too late for them to repent. I guess the lesson for today is that so long as God speaks to our hearts, even if what he says is guilt producing condemnation, there’s still hope for us. It’s when we no longer hear from him that it’s too late. Isaiah put it this way: “Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near.” (Isaiah 55:6 )

If I’m unfortunate enough to find myself in a yard with a pit bull, I’ll keep my eye on that dangerous animal as I do whatever it is I need to do. My attention will be divided between the task at hand and the big dog. That’s how it is for Judah. Nineveh and its empire is an overpowering, frightening evil that dominates the landscape. Right there in their back yard is the might of Assyria. Nahum wants to remind them that Nineveh isn’t as big a deal as they think it is. The description of the end of Nineveh is intended to bring a smile. When God takes action on that wicked city it will drain away like water draining from a tub once the plug is pulled. A take away for me today is that some threats demand way too much of my attention. The Lord can handle that problem. Anytime he wants he can pull the plug on its entire operation. My job then, is to keep my eyes on him; to trust him and obey him, and let him handle that which would otherwise scare me half to death.

Things don’t look good for God’s purposes in the world. A wicked nation is doing very well. Their capitol city sits at the heart of incredible power and evil. God’s people are small in number and spirit. Is this the end of it all? Will sin and evil win the day? Nahum calls for calm as he declares good news for all those who love that which is good. Nineveh appears to be on top of the world, but “God has something to say about all this.” The “top of the world” position of that wicked city is a mere anthill in the eyes of God and when the Almighty acts, even that anthill will be “mowed down flat.” Through the centuries there have been many times when it seemed this world was out of God’s control and that the cause of righteousness was lost. There have been times when God’s people were speechless in the face of overwhelming sin. That’s okay. You see, even when we’re at a loss as to what to do or say, at just the right time, God will speak. What appears to us to be overwhelming circumstances are a mere anthill to him. My mission in such times is, first, to keep trusting in him even when it seems unrighteousness has the upper hand and second, if he can use me, I want to be a part of God’s remedy for a sin-sick world.

Nahum gets the job Jonah wanted. Around 100 years earlier God sent Jonah to preach condemnation to Nineveh, but in hopes that they would repent and be spared. Jonah would have been happy to preach the message of God’s judgment if that was all there was to it. Now, two generations later Nahum is given that message. “The problem of Nineveh” is that the Assyrian empire is the superpower of the region. The tiny nation of Judah is in fearful awe of that empire and behind every move they make is the question, “Will this be okay with the powers that be in the Assyrian capitol of Nineveh?” Nahum’s call from God is to reorient the priorities of Judah. He’s to tell his people that God is still God and that Nineveh will be held to the same standards as the other nations of the world. The prophet goes to work proclaiming his message. In the first part of his sermon he reminds them that, as mighty as Assyria might be, the Lord is the “All-mighty.” God is a patient God, but, in the end, he is also Judge of the world. To him, Assyria is just another nation and they are about to be called to account for their abuse of power. My nation is on the Assyrian side of things. We’re the superpower and, to borrow an old saying, “when America sneezes the whole world gets a bad cold.” As I read from the little book of Nahum I’m reminded that in God’s eyes we’re not as big a deal as we think we are.

The heart of the book of Jonah isn’t the first part with the oft-repeated big fish story, it’s the last part. It’s here that we find the motor that drives the story. When the reluctant prophet gives in and goes to Nineveh he does so in fear, not that he will fail, but that he will succeed. Jonah is nationalistic to the core and he would like nothing better than for the capital city of Israel’s enemy, Assyria, to be destroyed. Still, with all his failings, Jonah knows a thing or two about God. The priests and other religious leaders of his country may promote a doctrine of Israel having a corner on the Almighty, but Jonah understands that God has compassion on all people. Israel may be the chosen people but that means God wants to use them to bless all the nations on earth, not that God loves them and hates all others. When Jonah ran from God, refusing to go to Nineveh he did so because he understood these things. He understands them, but he doesn’t agree with them. Now that his mission to Nineveh was a success Jonah is angry with the Lord, not only for sparing his enemies when they repented, but for using him to bring it to pass. In spite of his unique understanding of God, Jonah isn’t much like God at all.

Jonah’s message focuses on judgment. After all, he’s preaching to the enemies of Israel. I imagine old Jonah preached some “hell, fire, and brimstone” sermons that would rival that of American preacher Jonathan Edwards’ famous “Sinners in the hands of an angry God” sermon. Jonah, in fact, preaches this sermon of condemnation and destruction in a spirit of victory and joy. Jonah tells them God is going to get them and his attitude is that he can hardly wait for that to happen. I think it’s that attitude rather than what he says that creates a “scared straight” result to his ministry. Here’s one of their sworn enemies boldly working his way through their city joyfully proclaiming that God is about to destroy them all. Jonah does such a good job of preaching his sermon that it has an undesired (for him) result: people listen! I can’t help but find it interesting that Jonah was the perfect man for this job, not because he shared God’s compassion on this wicked city, but because he didn’t.

We don’t know anything about Jonah’s background. It may be that he’s been a prophet for years, faithfully preaching God’s messages to his people. On the other hand, this may be Jonah’s first encounter with God. He may have been an average fellow just minding his own business who heard the Voice of God. Either way, the mission he is given is not one he wants. Nineveh is the capital of the hated and feared Assyrian empire. There’s nothing Jonah or any of his fellow countrymen would like better than to see Nineveh destroyed. Just a few pages over in our Bibles we find ourselves in the book of Nahum. That short book of the Bible is all about God’s promised destruction of this same city. Now, that’s the sermon Jonah wants to preach. Instead, God calls him to call them to repent that they might be spared. Jonah doesn’t want the job so he flees Israel and, he supposes, the presence of the Lord by hopping a boat headed in the opposite direction. Once aboard, he heads for the deepest, most out-of-the-way spot he can find and falls fast asleep. I’ve only been out on rough seas one time so my experience is very limited. Still, I can say with confidence that such a time and place is not a good one for a nap. In fact, the only possibility of falling into a sound sleep in that circumstance is exhaustion. I think Jonah has wrestled with his call to preach to Israel’s enemies to the point that he has not slept for days and is operating on the ragged edge of collapse. People think that doing what God wants is too hard or that it won’t satisfy their lives only to find out that refusing God is even harder and whatever they do instead fails to satisfy. Running from God is hard work.