Metz, Barry 11/19/2017

God Against Nineveh[1]

What are the wordsvengeance, wrath, and comfortdoing on the same Powerpoint slide? Well, in short, they’re on the same Powerpoint slide because they do a good jobof describing the contents of the little Old Testament book of Nahum.

Nahum is about God’s determined purpose to destroy the city of Ninevah, the capital of the Assyrian empire. In fact that’s a good mnemonic device to remember what Nahum is about…Nahum→the destruction ofNinevah… Nahum→Ninevah And what’s in the book of Nahum? Plenty of wrath, vengeance and comfort.

Looking at the screen, and not wanting to take anything for granted, what does vengeance mean? It’s not a pretty word. Well it means violent revenge[2]. It means inflicting punishment on someone for a wrong they’ve done. It’s paying someone back for their actions. God is revealed in Nahum as a God of vengeance. The second verse in the first chapter says as much…The LORD is a jealous and avenging God; the Lord is avenging and wrathful; the LORD takes vengeance on his adversaries and keeps wrath for his enemies.

Vengeance is a key idea in the book of Nahum.

Well what about wrath? The same verse that I referred to,Nahum 1:2, says the LORD (Yahweh) keeps wrath for his enemies. What does wrath mean? Wrath is God’s intense displeasure and hatred of all sin.[3] And whether we would first acknowledge it or not, God’s wrath, God’s hatred of sin is an attribute for which we shouldbe thankful. “Why is that?” you say. Well what would God be like if he were a God who didn’t hate sin? “He would then be a god who delighted in sin or at least was not troubled by it. Would such a God be worthy of our worship? No,because sin is hateful and it’s worthy of being hated.”[4] So we should be thankful that God keeps wrath for his enemies. Of course God’s hatred for sin, his wrath is always balanced by his forbearance, his love, and his readiness to forgive.[5]

What about the word comfort? To comfort means “to ease the grief or distress of someone.”[6] Nahum’s name means comfort[7] or ‘full of comfort.’[8] And the message given to Nahum by God--themessage that Ninevah will soon be destroyed--brings comfort to the southern kingdom of Judah. We can understand that can’t we? Doesn’t the news that an abuser is behind bars bring comfort to those who have been abused? Doesn’t the news that a serial killer has finally been apprehended bring relief to those who’ve been living in fear? But comfort in Nahum comes to God’s people, not only because God’s enemies have been punished or that they will one day in the future be punished; it also comes from the fact that God is a refuge in times of trouble--thathe cares for and protects those who trust in him.

Wellat the end of our time today, we’ll do our best to explore how these three words, these three terms, these three concepts intersect our lives. What does it mean for us individually,that God is a God of vengeance today? Some would suggest that the God of vengeance only lived in the Old Testament. Is that true? What do you believe? And what does God’s wrath mean for you and me today? How does his hatred of sin impact the way we live? And finally what does it mean that God is a God of comfort for his people.

______

The title of the message this morning is “God against Nineveh.” Nineveh was the capital of the Assyrian empire. What do we know about Nineveh? Well Genesis 10:8 tells us that Nimrod, the first ‘mighty warrior’ on earth, built the city of Nineveh. As the years passed, we have very few historical records concerning Nineveh.It’s not until the middle 800s (“when Israel came into contact with the expanding empire of Assyria”)that we find any anyreal significant records.[9]

On the back of your sermon notes I’ve included a chart titled“The Assyrians: Bad Boys of the Old Testament” The purpose of this chart is to chronicle how the Assyrians oppressedGod’speople in both the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah. I want to use this chart to try to answer some questions that honestly should bother every one of us when we think of God’s wrath and vengeance. What do I mean? What questions should bother us? Well how about this one? “Whywas God determined to wipe the Assyrians (and specifically their capital Nineveh) off the map?”…Seems like that question should bother us, don’t you think? Or how about this one…“Whatdid the Assyrians do to awaken the avenger in God?”

Let me explain the chart. You can see a time scale along the bottom; these are the years before Christ. And you can see three ‘bars’ from top to bottom: the Northern Kingdom which went away in 722, Assyria which went away in 612 BC, and the Southern Kingdom which went away in 586 BC So Assyria is the middle ‘bar’ and inside the Assyrian bar is a list of the Assyrian rulers or kings.

Let’s walk through the Assyrian rulers from left to right….

And why are we doing this? We’re looking for evidence that would bring out the avenger in God.

The first king of the Assyrian empire is Ashurnasirpal II (884-859). Time wise, as the arrow indicates, he’s off the chart to the left. Here’s how he treated towns that fell to him in the Lebanon region: “I destroyed them, tore down the walls and burned the towns with fire; I caught the survivors and impaled them on stakes in front of their towns”[10]

Next is Shalmanezer III who ruled Assyria from 858-824. Shalmanezer III sparred with Ahab and Jehu[11] in the Northern kingdom. On the famous black obelisk currently residing at the British museum, Jehu is seen on his knees before the king of Assyria and the inscription reads: “Tribute of Jehu, son of Omri. Silver, gold, a golden bowl, a golden beaker, golden goblets, pitchers of gold, lead, staves for the hand of the king, javelins I received from him.”[12] Shalmanezer, in another place, spoke of the fate of certain towns that opposed him: “By the ferocious weapons which Ashur, my lord (the god of Assyria) has presented to me, I inflicted a defeat upon them. I slew their warriors with the sword….in the moat of the town I piled them up, I covered the wide plain with the corpses of their fighting men, I dyed the mountains with their blood like red wool.”[13]

Next on the chart wasTiglath-pilesar III--you know as I was reflecting on these Assyrian king names I thought they’d make great names for a cat…what do you think? …. Tiglath-pilesar III, you can see,who wreaked havoc both the southern kingdom and the northern kingdom. When he invaded the southern kingdom he received tribute from Azariah.[14] When he invaded the northern kingdom, he deposed king Pekah and placed Hoshea over the nation as an Assyrian vassal. He received tribute and deported many of the people.[15]

The final blow against the northern kingdom came when Tiglath-pilesar’sson ,Shalmaneser V returned and besieged Samaria the capital. Shalmaneser V’s name is not on the chart because he died early in the campaign and was succeeded by Sargon II (721-705 BC). You can see Sargon II on the chart. It was Sargon II who captured Samaria the capital of the northern kingdom and deported all the people. Sargon wrote: “At the beginning of my rule, in my first year of reign…I carried away 27,290 people of Samaria. I selected 50 chariots for my royal equipment. I settled there people of the lands I had conquered. I placed my official over them as governor. I imposed tribute tax upon them.[16]

In 701 BC, Sennacherib, Sargon’s son invaded the southern kingdom when Hezekiah was king. The story is told in our bible in 2 Kings 18-19. Sennacherib was forced to withdraw. In the end Sennacherib returned to Nineveh and he more than ‘doubled the city’s size, making it the world’s largest city for that time. The inner city was surrounded by a wall eight miles in circumference. It was one hundred feet high and so wide that 3 chariots could race around it abreast. Supposedly it had 1200 hundred towers and 14 gates. Beyond this was a much longer, outer wall.[17]

The final king Ashurbanipal ruled Assyria from 669-627. He was one of the most diabolically clever of all of Assyria’s kings in devising punishment for his enemies. Concerning certain men who took part in an uprising against him, he wrote, “ I tore out the tongues of those whose slanderous mouths had uttered blasphemies against my god Ashur and had plotted against me, his god-fearing prince; I defeated them completely. The others I smashed alive ….I fed their corpses, cut into small pieces, to dogs, pigs,…vultures, the birds of the sky and the fish of the sea.”[18]

And Ashurbanipal, describing a campaign against the Arabs, wrote: “I ordered soldiers to stand on guard….where there were cisterns or water in the springs, thus refusing them the access to the water supply which alone could keep them alive. I thus made water to be very rare for their lips, and many perished of parching thirst. The others slit open camels, their only means of transportation, drinking blood and filthy water (for) their thirst”

One author has said “the Assyrian armies were destructive and violent on a scale never seen before.”[19]

Thisfinal quote might tie it altogether…

“To Nineveh came distant chieftains who kissed the royal feet, rebel leaders paraded in fetters, distant and deceitful kings tied with dog chains and made to live in kennels. To Nineveh were sent gifts of far off tribute, heads of vanquished enemies, crown princes as hostages, beautiful princesses as concubines. In Nineveh, rulers who experienced rare mercy carried brick and mortar for building operations. (In Nineveh), recalcitrant captives were flayed, obstinate opponents crushed to death by their own sons. AND THEN THIS SUMMARY…The Nineveh against who (Nahum) thundered divine denunciation had become the concentrated center of evil, the capital of crushing tyranny, the epitome of cruelest torture.”[20]

So we’ve been trying to document how ruthless, how diabolical, andhow evil the Assyrians were. Let’s look at one final testimony from Nahum himself. Look at the last verse of the book….Nahum 3:19

19There is no easing your hurt;

your wound is grievous. …Nahum is saying that Nineveh has been given a mortal blow.

All who hear the news about you

clap their hands over you….everyone who hears of the fall of Nineveh rejoices!

And what’s the reason?

For upon whom has not come

yourunceasing evil?…

So it seems thateveryone had experienced the Assyrian’sunceasing evil.

“So why is God determined to wipe the Assyrians (and specifically their capital Nineveh) off the map?” …unceasing evil… “What did the Assyrians do to awaken God’s desire for vengeance?”….unceasing evil…

{If you were with us two weeks ago we watched a short video clip from the Bible Project overviewing the book of Nahum. And the point was made in that video clip that there were some literary things in the first chapter[21] that come together to make a point. And I’m quoting the video clip now: “All these details come together in chapter 1 to make a key point. For Nahum the fall of Nineveh is being presented as an example, an image of how God is at work in every age, an example in every age, how he won’t allow the arrogant and violent empires of our world to endure forever. Assyria stands in a long line of violent empires in history. And Nineveh’s fate is a memorial to God’s commitment to bring down the violent and evil empires of every age.”[22]}

This caused me to ponder a bit--Nineveh’s fate is a memorial to God’s commitment to bring down the violent and evil empires of every age--and I went looking for a list of the evil empires in history. Well you can imagine there have been lots of them. I ran across a ‘Top 10’ list. Here are six empires from the top ten list of evil empires: the empire of imperial Japan, 1868-1945; the Spanish empire, 1492-1892; the Portugese empire, 1415-1999; the Ottomon empire, 1301-1922; Nazi Germany, 1933-1945; the Soviet Union, 1922-1989…that’s six of the ten…. if Nahum chapter 1 is indeed purposely written so that we can believe that God is active today bringing down violent and evil empires, we have reason to worship him.

But there’s another point. God doesn’t necessarily topple these evil empires quickly. The Assyrians were apowerful empire for a long time…at least..at least 250 years. Imperial Japan was an empire for about 80 years…Nazi Germany, 12 years…. the Soviet Union almost 70 years…and each of them fell. You and I could suggest good historical reasons for each of them falling… but Nahum reminds us that God was behind them all.

______

If you have your bibles with you open to Nahum 1. Justin got us started last week with verses 1-8. Since we’ve been away from the book for two weeks, let me do a quick review and then we’ll move ahead into verses 9-15.

Verse 1 informs us who wrote the book--Nahum from Elkosh. We also learn what kind of book it is, it’s an oracle, and the subject matter it contains is a vision.[23]

In verses 2-3a, a six-fold “declaration about God emerges”[24]: He is jealous. He is avenging. He is full of wrath. He is slow to anger. He is great in power. And He will not clear the guilty.

And in verse 3a, look there, we hear a slight echo of God’s famous self-description after the golden calf incident, Exodus 34:6-7. Look at verse 3a The LORD is slow to anger and great in power and the LORD will by no means clear the guilty. As I said, this is a slight echo of God’s comprehensive self-revelation to Moses in Exodus 34. Do you hear it?

Let me putExodus 34:6-7andNahum 1:3a on the screen so that we can compare them. There are some interesting things that come out when we compare the two passages.

So Exodus 34:6-7a is on the top. And Nahum 1:3a on the bottom. The underlined phrases are the phrases that are common to both passages. What are the common phrases? Yahweh is slow to anger and he will be no means clear the guilty. So those are the common phrases.

Now there is a phrase that Nahum has added. Do you see it? Yahweh is great in power. That Nineveh hasn’t yet been overthrown has nothing to do with God’s power--he is great in power! It’s just that he is slow to anger.

Well, here’s an interesting thing, look at the words and phrases that Nahum has left out--the words and phrases in yellow…merciful, gracious, abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love, and forgiving iniquity.

Why do you think Nahum left those out? I think it’s because the time of them is past. The time for them is past. Yes Yahweh is slow to anger, and there was a time when he was merciful and gracious and abounding in steadfast love….can’t you see Jonah preaching throughout the city… …but the time for that is past… now hewillbynomeanscleartheguilty.

The next observation we can make in review comes from the second half of verse 3 through verse 5 where we see God portrayed as a divine warrior coming to save his people and judge the evil nations. We see “the all-powerful creator coming to confront the nations and bring his justice on their evil ways”[25] His way is in the whirlwind and storm. He rebukes the sea. Fruitful areas wither. The mountains quake before him, the hills melt, the earth heaves before him. So the appearance of the Divine Warrior is accompanied by massive cosmic upheaval. Creation order gives way to cosmic disorder[26]

______

There’s an interesting literary technique here in chapter one that doesn’t show up in our English texts. A host of scholars[27] have made the observation that through verse 8 and some say verse 10, there is an alphabetic acrostic. What that means is that the first verse or phrase begins with the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, the second verse begins with the second letter of the Hebrew alphabet and so on. Well why did the writers use acrostics? Some think they were aids to memorization. Others assume that the acrostic helped to drive home the key lesson. Perhaps the best-known example of a complete acrostic is Psalm 119, where all 8 lines of each successive stanza begin with the next letter of the Hebrew alphabet. We know Psalm 119 is about the law. So the acrostic contributes to the message of the psalm--this psalm is about the Law from A to Z. Well what’s going on in Nahum chapter 1? Well the acrostic is actually broken. It’s not complete. So some believe the broken acrostic could be designed to communicate the sense of chaos that occurs when the divine warrior comes to earth.