You're listening to Mountain View Church Audio. Christ-centered teaching from the Wilderness City, Whitehorse, Yukon. Here's this week's message. The Book of the Prophet Nahum. Chapter 3 goes on to describe the results of the city's downfall for the empire as a whole. So Nahum begins by announcing a woe upon the city whose kings built it with the blood of the innocent. It's an image of how injustice was built into the very system that made Assyria so successful. But their violence has sown the seeds of their own destruction, and so Assyria will fall before Babylon. The book concludes with a taunt against the fallen king of Assyria. He's stricken with a fatal wound, and from among all the nations that he once oppressed, no one comes to help him. Rather, they sing and celebrate his destruction. And that's how the book ends.
I'm putting a PG-13 content rating on today's message. In today's scripture reading, we'll encounter vivid depictions of warfare and the unsettling digression of human behavior that follows. The major themes are centered on God's wrath and judgment. So it's important to note that today's message content may not be appropriate for younger audiences. Caution is advised if you have children present. For families attending our in-house gatherings, a reminder that our children's program runs concurrently downstairs in our base camp kid space. Alternatively, if you prefer to have your children remain with you in service, the library loft has a kid's cubby designated to engage your children.
With that caveat in mind, let's get started. I want to start with a statement. God hates sin. Allow me to say that again. God hates sin. That's not a popular or easily processed statement, but that's our starting point. We need to establish God's hatred for sin in order to bridge into the more difficult topic of God's wrath against sin. But maybe you're new to church and Christianity and wondering, why does God hate sin? That's a valid question. And the team at gotquestions.org can help us out.
God hates sin because it is the very antithesis of his nature. God hates sin because he is holy. Holiness is the most exalted of all his attributes. His holiness totally saturates his being. His holiness epitomizes his moral perfection and his absolute freedom from the blemish of any kind. The Bible presents God's attitude towards sin with strong feelings of a hostility, disgust, and utter dislike.
The Bible teaches thousands of hard truths about humanity's fallen nature and propensity to sinful behavior. Unfortunately, many people all over the world are either unaware of or straight up ignore God's position on sin and the standard of holiness set out in Scripture. This often leads to even greater unawareness of God's wrath and judgment against sin. Many people live their life chasing whatever is most pleasurable without considering the earthly consequences, never mind the eternal ones. There are others who are very aware of sin and they understand the concepts of God's wrath and judgment, but they don't like it or don't want to think about it.
Believe it or not, this even happens within Christian circles, where believers start accepting a universalist view of scripture, where eternal consequences for sin are disregarded as no longer relevant. This might feel better in the short term, but a God without justice, in the end, can't be a God who is loving. Theologian Daniel Doriani unpacks this concept well in the book Four Views on Moving Beyond the Bible to Theology. He writes, The Bible constantly teaches things that are unthinkable to some group. When we read an unpalatable text, we may ask if we have properly understood it. We also seek to fit the passage in the context of the whole of Scripture. But if the message is clear and remains offensive, we ought to change our thinking, not the message.
Doriani gives the example that the Western mind balks at hell for various reasons, not least because some perceive a contradiction between the love and the judgment of God. However, over the years, Bible-believing apologists and theologians like C.S. Lewis, Marislav Volf, Tim Keller, and Oliver O'Donovan have given adequate evidence to show the connection between God's love and divine judgment. For example, Lewis argued that people choose hell rather than repent of their selfishness and submit to God. Volf argued that the doctrine of final judgment provides necessary restraint on human violence.
Then added to his argument by stating, a God who is not angry at injustice and does not finally end it would not be worthy of our worship. The late Tim Keller observed that a loving God can be filled with wrath, not despite his love, but because of it. Keller explained his position further. It is right to be angry when people bring justice or violence to someone we love. Finally, theologian Oliver O'Donovan argued that without the judgment of God, even the unbridled acts of war in the conquest narrative, the cross is incomprehensible.
O'Donovan's position was that without clear demonstrations of God's wrath towards sin, we would never grasp the love and redemption manifest in incarnation and atonement. But maybe you're thinking, what's with the theology lesson, Jeremy? Where are we going with all of this? What does any of this have to do with Nahum? Well, I wanted us to be adequately prepared.
Before we read the final chapter in our study, in the book of Nahum, Revealing a God of Just Love, the third chapter of Nahum is a hard text that deals heavily with humanity's sin and God's wrath against it. Many Bible scholars would argue that's one of the hardest texts in the Old Testament for a 21st century mind to process. The descriptions of Assyria's downfall are disturbing, but a likely result for an empire that celebrated sin and performed abhorrent acts of violence upon God's people and the surrounding nations while placing themselves above God. And so that's why I felt like we needed an introductory theology lesson on how much God hates sin and why an eternal perspective on God's wrath and judgment is the correct one. So that by the end of today's message, we might fully grasp the concept of his divine love. With that giant caveat in mind, here's our pastoral apprentice, Elijah, with a reading of Nahum chapter three. Today we're reading out of the book of Nahum chapter three. Woe to the bloody city, all full of lies and plunder, no end to the prey. The crack of the whip and the rumble of the wheel, galloping horse and bounding chariot.
Horsemen charging, flashing sword and glittering spear, hosts of slain, heaps of corpses, dead bodies without end. They stumble over the bodies and all for the countless whorings of the prostitute, graceful and of deadly charms, who betrays nations with her whorings and peoples with her charms. Behold, I am against you, declares the Lord of hosts, and will lift up your skirts over your face. And I will make nations look at your nakedness and kingdoms at your shame. I will throw filth at you and treat you with contempt and make you a spectacle. And all who look at you will shrink from you and say, wasted is Nineveh, who will grieve for her?
Where shall I seek comforters for you? Are you better than Thebes that sat by the Nile with water around her, her ramper to see and water her wall? Cush was her strength, Egypt too, and that without limit. Put and the Libyans were her helpers. Yet she became an exile. She went into captivity. Her infants were dashed in pieces at the head of every street. For her honored men, lots were castes, and all her great men were bound in chains. You also will be drunken. You will go into hiding. You will seek a refuge from the enemy.
All your fortresses are like fig trees with first ripe figs. If shaken, they fall into the mouth of the eater. Behold, your troops are women in your midst. The gates of your land are wide open to your enemies. Fire has devoured your bars. Draw water for the siege. Strengthen your forts. Go into the clay. Tread the mortar. Take hold of the brick mold. There will the fire devour you. The sword will cut you off. It will devour you like the locust. Multiply yourselves like the locust. Multiply like the grasshopper. You increased your merchants more than the stars of heaven. The locust spreads its wings and flies away.
Some of you may feel the need to pause the video or audio to process what you just read and heard. I understand. It's important to get an accurate view of what's taking place in this text. It would be a mistake to read these descriptions and assume that God enjoys or takes pleasure in seeing doom and destruction come to any nation. However, the underscore of Nahum's prophecy, and especially in chapter 3, is that Assyria is about to receive the levels of carnage that they have been doling out for decades. The Assyrian Empire was the worst offender of the most abhorrent atrocities, but now, under God's sovereignty, communicated through Nahum, judgment will fall on Assyria in the most terrible and torturous ways.
For many people, there can be a significant struggle to understand the outcomes of human sin, while God's sovereign plan is still charting a course forward through history. This text is one of those situations. The Assyrians will receive their consequences directly by the hands of surrounding nations, closing in on them, as we mapped out during last week's message. And yet, as Nahum reveals, God is the ultimate judge, even within this gruesome outcome. From our human perspective, it can be hard to process, but Assyria paid a terrible cost for their evil, led by another evil nation, the Babylonians. And yet through it all, and throughout history, God is still in control. Time moves on toward an eventual end, and that is our focus. So where do we go from here? Well, I am not going to unpack all the gruesome details laid out in this chapter. We've read them, and we understand what's taking place. Instead, I want to focus our attention on the last section of Nahum 3, directed at the Assyrian leadership. After all, the leaders of a nation are ultimately responsible for what takes place within a nation.
These last few verses bring the entire book and all the carnage to a focal point that can be hopeful and helpful for our spiritual journey. By the end of today's message, we'll discover that although the downfall of Assyria displays God's wrath against sin, it points us to the cross of Jesus, which displays God's love for us. Allow me to say that again. The downfall of Assyria displays God's wrath against sin. The cross of Jesus displays God's love for us. If you're not already there, turn to Nahum 3, verse 17. Nahum 3, verse 17. These are the concluding moments of God's wrath on Assyria.
Let's read it together. Your princes are like grasshoppers, your scribes like clouds of locusts, settling on fences in a day of cold. When the sun rises, they fly away. No one knows where they are. Nahum is mocking the rulers and the record keepers of Assyria. Their quote, princes have become like quote, grasshoppers, which highlights the fragile nature of Assyria's leadership. Grasshoppers are small and vulnerable creatures that come and go with the seasons. The grandeur and authority of the Assyrian princes is long gone and never to return.
Next, an insult against the Assyrian record keepers, the quote, scribes, that they've become like, quote, clouds of locusts. Scribes often held significant roles in shaping and preserving knowledge and historic events. Now, like a swarm of locusts, the records of the Assyrian empire will be lost. And that's exactly what happened according to Hebrew and Old Testament expert John L. McKay. He writes, often when cities were captured, they were not totally destroyed and many of their inhabitants would remain in them as subjects of the conqueror. Here, there is the first intimation that Nineveh's fate is going to be different, not just capture, but annihilation.
After it was taken, it quickly fell into decay and the site was forgotten until 19th century archaeologists uncovered it. That's crazy. They fully disappeared like a cloud of locusts. Let's look at verse 18 next. Your shepherds are asleep, O king of Assyria. Your nobles slumber. Your people are scattered on the mountains with none to gather them.
The metaphor of shepherds and nobles being asleep holds a double meaning. Primarily, it points to the massive amount of death within the royal family, but it also highlights their inability to guide, protect, and care for the Assyrian people. When, quote, shepherds are, quote, asleep, they're unable to watch over and tend to their flock. The, quote, nobles also slumber, referring to individuals of high rank, often those closest to the king. You see, sleeping on the job is an old metaphor. When a leader is unaware or indifferent to their responsibilities, they can become the catalyst for the downfall of an entire society. In the end, everyone suffers and potentially faces death, even the leadership itself.
Theologian Elliot Johnson adds this context. In surveying his devastated empire, he, the king of Assyria, would realize that his leaders, shepherds and nobles were dead and that people who were not taken as captives were scattered, never again to be gathered. This empire that for centuries had been invincible would be totally disintegrated. Now let's get to the final verse of Nahum's prophecy 19. There is no easing your hurt. Your wound is grievous. All who hear the news about you clap their hands over you.
for upon whom has not come your unceasing evil. There will be no solace or comfort for the Assyrians' affliction. There will be unrelenting suffering, like a wound that never heals. This description underscores the severity of Assyria's consequences. The devastation of the burned and looted city of Nineveh would look like a wound. So fatal and final was her fall that she would never be rebuilt. Archaeology has confirmed this fact. Peoples who had been oppressed by the brutally altruous Ninevites would now rejoice in their demise.
The surrounding nations would be clapping their hands over the Assyrian downfall because they afflicted so much suffering in the decades previous. Nahum is writing with a tone of mockery and scorn, but it's also a natural human reaction. When an evil nation is vanquished, there is applause and celebration. Judah especially would be greatly comforted by the fact that Nineveh's fall would mean the end of the seemingly endless cruelty that had lasted for centuries. In this way, the Lord poured out his wrath on Nineveh and demonstrates his care for those who trust in him.
Think about, for a moment, the images that followed the fall of the Third Reich after World War II. When the Nazis were finally defeated, there was incredible jubilation because there would be an end to the terror and violence that they inflicted on the surrounding nations. This fits when we add the previous statement that, quote, all who hear the news about you clap their hands. The widespread joy of Assyria's downfall created a sense of isolation and shame for the Assyrian people who remained. Similarly, after World War II, many Germans felt isolation and shame for being connected to the atrocities carried out by the Third Reich.
Nahum ends with a haunting rhetorical question. This question highlights the pervasive impact of wickedness at the hands of any nation. Sin always has a ripple effect. Let me repeat that. Sin always has a ripple effect. Sinful acts will have a negative influence that extends far and wide. This is a stark reminder of the interconnectedness of humanity's choices and their consequences. If we come back to our example of Nazism,
In our modern time, the sin of Adolf Hitler continues to have far-reaching consequences. Even though the Third Reich fell 78 years ago, Adolf Hitler's memoir, Mein Kampf, is still used as a manual for hate and violence among white supremacist groups. How did a single leader become the catalyst for so much pain and sorrow? The answer is sin, and that's why God hates it. And that's why we need him to provide some form of eternal judgment on the evil that exists within the hearts and minds of humanity. And that's why he is the only one who can provide redemption.
The book of Nahum demonstrates the certainty of God's judgment of evil and wicked nations that ruthlessly and treacherously oppress people, especially God's people Israel. These nations will face the vengeance of God and find no comfort. Yet for the people of God who suffer and are oppressed, they are promised hope, help, and comfort as they wait for the Lord's vengeance. The minor prophets of the Old Testament are not for the faint of heart. As we highlighted in the introduction, Nahum is one of the most difficult prophecies to process from a modern Western perspective. Although God is not quick to anchor, he is just.
Consequences will eventually fall on those who cling to sin and wickedness, especially those like the Assyrians who make a mockery of God's existence and authority. Thankfully, we live under a new covenant in a more fulfilled time. With that in mind, let's come back to our core principle, that the downfall of Assyria displays God's wrath against sin, but the cross of Jesus displays God's love for us. Maybe you're wondering, how does Jesus' death display God's love? What took place at the cross that can make a difference in my life? These are important questions that can be answered within two theological principles, propitiation and expiation. First, propitiation is making atonement for sin by making an acceptable sacrifice used to describe the death of Christ. Jesus' death on a cross was the final atoning sacrifice for the sins of humanity.
Next, expiation, which means to seek, appease, or purify through a sacred right, and to release from sin in relation to the work of Jesus. Christ's death on the cross not only pays the penalty for sin, but provides the appeasement for God's wrath, which would otherwise fall on us. But the question remains, how do we receive this redemption if it's not given to everyone? Jesus provided the answer before his death, recorded in the Gospel of John, chapter 3. He said, The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand.
Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life. Whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him. This statement would be considered downright offensive in our modern Western context, but we can't change that Jesus said it. There's a stark choice laid out in Scripture between belief in God's plan for redemption through Jesus, which leads to eternal life, and the human propensity to reject following Jesus, which leads to God's wrath and eternal judgment. This is the tension between God's wrath against sin and his love for us that we can't argue or dismiss just because we don't like it or understand it. We're the finite human beings who were created by him, an infinite God. At the cross of Christ, this tension is demonstrated, but the story doesn't end there. There is a glorious conclusion in his resurrection three days later. Christ has defeated death and sin, which means he alone holds the keys to eternal redemption. For those who would like to participate, we're going to transition now into communion.
Maybe you have just given your life to Jesus and will take communion for the first time as a follower of Christ. To prepare, pause this video and get some bread or crackers and some juice or wine. Then play the video and I'll guide you through the next steps. All right, now we're going to take communion. Hopefully you have some bread or cracker, juice and wine. The way this is going to work is I'm going to pray for the bread, read the passage from Matthew 26 where Jesus gathered with his disciples and took communion for the first time. It was actually an old...
remembrance of Passover when God saved Israel from Egypt, and it had been practiced for centuries. And it was under Old Covenant, and Jesus is moving to the New Covenant under the final sacrifice, which would be him on the cross. And this is, in a sense, foreshadowing his bread being the body, the wine being his blood, and a pointer to the New Covenant. And since that moment, since Christ's death and resurrection, Christians have been celebrating this over and over and over all over the world as Christianity has spread. And so we're going to do that right now.
So let me pray for the bread. I'll read the passage and then take the bread, pray for the cup, read the passage and take the cup. Let's pray together. Dear Father, we come before you in remembrance of your redemption plan through your one and only son, Jesus Christ. We thank you that you gave him to us, that he might take the judgment, the wrath, the payment for sin. We thank you that you loved us enough to send him. As we think about the bread, we think about his body that was whipped and beaten, punished on our behalf.
Jesus, we thank you for willingly going to the cross for us. In this remembrance, we also celebrate our redemption and salvation. We celebrate what you've done and we offer thanksgiving as well as a somber remembrance. It's all mixed into one. We thank you, Jesus. Amen. Matthew 26, verse 26. Now, as they were eating, Jesus took bread and after blessing it, broke it and gave it to the disciples and said, take, eat, this is my body. Let's pray for the cup.
Dear Father, we thank you now for the cup. This grape juice is nothing special in itself, and yet it is a picture of the blood that your son shed on the cross for us, the atoning sacrifice, the atoning blood. Without bloodshed, there is no atonement for sin. We know this from your scriptures, and that your son's blood was the last to be shed for us. Jesus, we thank you again for being willing. Though it was terrifying, though it was filled with pain and agony, you loved us enough to shed your blood for us.
As we take this cup, we thank you and remember you. In your name we pray. Amen. Verse 27 of Matthew 26. And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you, I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom.
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