Onetime Rod – Nahum 3:11-19

The threat of war at the gates of their flagship city would have been dismissed out of hand by the average Assyrian when Nahum was writing his prophecy. After all, Ninevite armies had pushed the front lines of conflict out to the extremities of the empire fighting neighboring countries on their own lands rather than Assyrian territory. Luke records the parable Jesus proclaimed of the rich fool (12:16-21) who says to himself: “...Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years, relax, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said to him: “Fool, this night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be? So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God. The city of Nineveh illustrates this parable perfectly. The reasons for their confidence were misguided. Isaiah (10:5-19) describes their international conquest over the centuries as a rod wielded in the hand of God Himself – from the Assyrian's vantage point, however, she assumed herself the warrior rather than the weapon. Instead of humbly recognizing success on the world stage as the hand of God, they boasted in their own strength. Now God would reveal their vulnerability. The final verses of Nahum draw a sharp contrast to the permanence of God's promises for the believer who trusts in Him. We can appreciate the reassuring truth of Psalm 1, Psalm 52, Psalm 92 all the more in light of the alternative...