God’s Justice vs Human Revenge (Nahum 2) – The Fall of Nineveh Explained

You are listening to the podcast of Richland

Hills Baptist Church. We are located in Richland

Hills, Texas. Our desire here is to believe,

live, and proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ.

As you're listening to our podcast today, if

you have any questions, you can find us on the

web at richlandhillsbc .com. God bless you. And

we'll be looking at verses 3 through 13. If you

don't have your Bible, you can look on your phone

or the Bible in front of you. There's Bibles

in the pew there. But however you're reading

God's Word this morning. Nahum chapter 2, and

Nahum 2 · chapter mention

that is in the Minor Prophets. So if you need

to look at the index or the table of contents,

that's okay. So Nahum chapter 2. This past week,

Nahum 2 · chapter mention

we've been reading in our Bible reading plan.

Some of you have been following along with us

this year as we're reading through the Bible.

I know several of you are, and it's a joy to

be able to do that together and to talk to people

about what we're reading. But we've been reading

through Samuel and Kings. Now, if anybody ever

claims that the Bible is boring, they haven't

read Samuel and Kings, have they? I mean, there's

all sorts of stuff in these books of the Bible.

I mean, you get murder, intrigue, treachery,

violence. There's sexual immorality, adultery.

I mean, it goes on, right? There's so much in

these books. It's sort of like an ancient Jerry

Springer sometimes, right? There's a lot happening.

In fact, there's even a little bit of Maury Povich,

right? David, you are the father, right? And

things like that. It's crazy. And you read it,

you're like, wow, this is intense. And one thing,

as you read through Samuel and Kings, you find

a little bit of, you see this over and over,

this idea of revenge. Humans taking revenge on

others. Joab kills Abner because Abner had killed

his brother. Absalom kills Amnon because Amnon

had assaulted his sister. David was ready to

take vengeance on Nabal because he was a fool,

yet his wife, Nabal's righteous wife, Abigail,

she intervened to keep David from staining the

kingship with his blood. Revenge. But in all

of those cases, one of the things that you see

about revenge is that it not only destroys the

person they're seeking to destroy, but it destroys

the avenger. Human justice at its very best is

flawed, isn't it? When people would seek to get

revenge, it would ultimately, that spirit of

revenge would ultimately consume them. And kill

them. In fact, as human revenge, there would

be multiple layers, right? Now they kill my brother.

Now I'm going to go after them. And it's a never

-ending quest of vengeance. Human justice, at

its very best, is flawed. But yet God's justice,

God's justice, God's vengeance, is righteous,

perfect, and pure. God's justice is not flawed.

God's justice is not filled with envy or rivalry.

God's justice on evil and corruption and immorality

is perfect, righteous, and pure. And this morning

we're going to see in Nahum chapter 2, we're

Nahum 2 · chapter mention

going to see the justice and vengeance of God

on evil in the complete nature of it. That His

justice is not incomplete, it's not partial,

but it's full. So let us read this morning, Nahum

Nahum 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2, 3 through 13. The shield of his mighty

men is red. His soldiers are clothed in scarlet.

The chariots come with flashing metal on the

day he musters them. The cypress spears are brandished.

The chariots race madly through the streets.

They rush to and fro throughout the squares.

They gleam like torches. They dart like lightning.

He remembers his officers. They stumble as they

go. They hasten to the wall. The siege tower

set up. The river gates are opened. The palace

melts away. Its mistress is stripped. She's carried

off. Her slave girls lamenting, moaning like

doves, beating their breasts. Nineveh's like

a pool whose water runs away. Halt, halt, they

cry. But no one turns back. Plunder the silver.

Plunder the gold. There's no end of the treasure

or the wealth of all the precious things. Desolate.

Desolation and ruin. Hearts melt. Knees tremble.

Anguish is in all loins. All faces grow pale.

Where is the lion's den? The feeding of the place

of the young lions, where the lions and lionesses

went, where his cubs were with none to disturb.

The lion tore enough for his cubs and strangled

prey for his lionesses. He filled his cave with

prey and his dens with torn flesh. Behold, I

am against you, declares the Lord of hosts, and

I will burn your chariots and smoke. And the

sword shall devour your young lions. I will cut

off your prey from the earth. And the voice of

your messengers shall no longer be heard. Father,

may you bless the reading, the teaching, and

the hearing of your word. And may we be reminded

of your pure and perfect justice. And Lord, may

you remind us as a people. That we are called

to live lives of justice. In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen. To give you a little context, we've been

walking through Nahum the last few weeks. Nahum

is a prophet in the time of the empire of Assyria.

Assyria was the dominant empire at that time.

They had already taken and conquered the northern

kingdom of Israel. And they were mighty. They

were powerful. There was no one like Assyria

at that time. Nineveh was their capital city.

I mean, Nineveh had it all together. Nineveh

had all the perks of a capital city. It was known

to be a place that was, again, it was the all

of the world at that time. But we find out in

the last few weeks that Nahum has a prophecy

against this city. Nahum has a prophecy against

this mighty city. Why? Because God is a God of

justice at seeing the evil and violence and wickedness

of Assyria. And he had given them time to repent,

which they had for a time, but Assyria had continued

to live and to operate outside of God's plan

and will and was living in violence and evil.

And so we saw the character of God, that God

is a God who no means can God clear the guilty.

God can't just say, oh, it's no big deal that

you're an evil city and country, Assyria and

Nineveh. God won't just forgive because, oh,

for no reason. God is a God of justice. If God

just said, oh, I forgive you, Nineveh, that wouldn't

be just, would it? Because of all the things

that Assyria had done, there had to be punishment

for this city if they did not repent. And so

God in His justice is going to deal with evil.

And then last week we saw that God is oppressing,

Assyria were oppressing God's people and people

all around the globe at that time and they were

crushing them. God is reminding us that oppression

will not always last. And this morning we find

ourselves right in the thick of it. Now remember,

this is a prophecy. It hasn't happened yet. Nahum

is prophesying, telling us what is going to happen.

But one of the ways that he's going to do that

is he's going to conjure up the images in our

mind, a sensory battle, if you will, for us to

see and for the Assyrians to see what their fate

is. So again, I want you to look at verse 3.

And I want you to imagine that you are one of

the Ninevites. You're there in the capital city.

You're there in Nineveh. And again, this is a

place that has been so powerful. This has been

a place of safety and security. And you look

out over the wall and all of a sudden you see

this mighty army coming. And we know in 612 BC

that Nineveh would be overrun by the Babylonians

and the Medes. They look over and they see a

sea of red coming their way. The shield of the

mighty men is red and at that time, oftentimes

they would have red leather on their shields.

Or it could also be the picture of the bronze

or the copper shields with the sun reflecting

off the copper and it looks red. But nonetheless,

they look over and they see this mighty army

with red shields, and they're just a frightening

look. Not only do they have red shields, but

they're clothed in scarlet. I mean, there's not

just a few of them. There would be many of them,

and they are marching forward. Not only are they

marching, though, the Bible says the chariots,

they come with flashing metal. Assyrian chariots

were some of the most advanced in the world at

that time. They would have metal fittings there

or the bronze or iron fittings. Sometimes the

wheels themselves. And so not only did they see

the red, but they could see the chariots coming

toward them and speeding ahead. And as the wheels,

as the iron and the copper were reflecting the

light, it was like lightning. It says that they

were like flashing metal, gleaming like torches.

I mean, imagine the sounds that they were hearing

of the chariots and the horses and the people

that were, the soldiers that were coming. I mean,

it was a sensory overload and they're looking

and they'd be terrified. All the soldiers, they

had cypress spears in their hands ready to go.

Again, the chariots are rushing toward them to

and fro. And then they look and these soldiers,

they get closer and closer toward the city and

there's such a crush of soldiers that it says

that the soldiers, they're coming up against

them. They stumble as they go. These soldiers

are eager to take down Nineveh. It's almost as

if they can't wait to be the first one and they're

crowding up against the wall. It says that they

have a siege tower set up. Now a siege tower,

which was sometimes, it was called a mantelet.

It was a protective shield. They would put over

the soldiers as they come against the wall so

that no one can shoot an arrow at them or drop

something on them. And so they'd have this shield

as they scaled the walls. They have a shield

while they try to attack the walls and break

down the doors of the city. Then it says the

river gates are opened and the palace melts away.

Now that could be figurative, but I believe this

is a very intentional thing that was happening.

You see, Nineveh was, again, a mighty city, very

advanced. And there was a river that flowed right

through the city, Nineveh. And in fact, even

today, it would be in modern -day Iraq, the Tigris

River. But one of the ways that they would manage

this river that flowed through the city was through

really an advanced system in that time of dams.

And they would have gates and canals. To manage

the water. And again, it was very advanced, but

there's some evidence in history that the city

was destroyed through flooding. And it's very

possible that the enemy would have used this

incredible system against them. Perhaps attacking

the dam or the gates. And again, the gates were

opened. The city was flooded. It says the palace

melts away. So again, imagine you're part of

this city that you feel safe. I mean, you're

a Ninevite. I mean, you are, you are safe. You

don't ever have to worry about anybody coming

against you because you are the mightiest city

in the world. And yet here, there was terror.

You look out. You see this army coming. You see

the floodwaters rise. And the next thing you

know, you see the palace. This glorious palace.

This palace, all of a sudden, it washes away.

It's gone. Not only that, but it says its mistress

is stripped. She's carried off. Now some people

see that as perhaps the queen. I believe that

mistress there is most likely Ishtar, the prophetess

that they worshipped. The goddess, I mean. Ishtar,

this goddess, this statue, it's a picture of

the statue of Ishtar being taken down. Being

stripped, being carried off. And again, they

worship this goddess there in this city. And

not only that, but they had temple prostitutes

and young women that were there that were serving

her. And it says they're lamenting. They see

their goddess and she's just being carried off

like just a piece of garbage. Imagine the terror.

A UR city that would never have to worry about

anything. And now, and just a... moments breath

you see your city destroyed you see the enemies

you see even your mighty goddess is gone the

people are running they're frightened it says

they're like a pool whose waters run away They're

like a pool that you're draining, and just like

that, I mean, just all the people are draining

out of the city. They're leaving. They're fleeing

for their lives. And there's even people that

are saying, hey, stop, stop, don't leave. And

it says, no one turns back. Plunder the silver.

Plunder the gold. There's no end to the treasure

or the wealth of all the precious things. The

plunderers come, the soldiers, and they find

all the treasures of Nineveh. And Nineveh would

have had many mighty treasures. And remember,

they had been in power for hundreds of years,

conquering nation after nation after nation,

stealing and plundering all of their goods. There

was no lack of resources for Nineveh. No lack

of gold and silver. It's all gone. It's stripped

away. And we see this attack. We see how terrifying

it is. A city that, again, was so powerful. You

know, of course, it's not a perfect picture of

it. But again, we understand what it's like for

something so powerful. To be brought down. And

the terror that comes with that. And many of

you living through September 11th. And you see

New York City. A city that again it seems so

powerful at our times. And you see the attack.

And maybe you remember that time. And again the

fear that spread through our land. Didn't it?

Nineveh was frightened. None of them was terrified.

But yet, not only are they terrified, but we

see here that they're going to be taunted by

the prophet. I want you to look at verse 10.

Now, one of the things that we're not really

used to, but it's very common in the prophetic

writings and the prophets, is that sometimes

they would taunt the enemy. especially when the

enemy was filled with pride and arrogance. And

so verse 10 through 12 is really the taunt of

them saying, hey, look at you, look what happened.

Desolate, desolation and ruin. Hearts are melting

and knees tremble, anguish in all the loins,

all the faces grow pale. They're saying, hey,

remember, you used to strike terror and violence

on all the other people. You used to come into

the cities and cause their hearts to melt and

for their knees to tremble and for their faces

to grow pale. Guess what? What goes around comes

around. Because now it's happening to you, Nineveh.

And now you are terrified. Now you are in anguish.

Now your city is desolate and ruined. And he

says, where is the lion's den? The feeding place

of the young lions. Now that's actually very

important and very strategic. The lion was a

symbol of strength for many nations, but especially

for Assyria. For Assyria, the lion was a picture

and it was used sometime in their imagery of

strength. In fact, there's even some ancient

works that you can see that show the lion from

that city. And so the lion, and we know the lion,

again, is a mighty animal. An animal that strikes

fear. And now, look what the prophet Nahum is

doing. Again, he's taunting. Where is this lion's

den? The feeding place of the young lions. Where

the lioness and the lion went. Where the cubs

were. And none to disturb. He says, where is

this place? The lions would come and they would

come back to their... den to this mighty city

your military your your mighty people your lions

they used to go out and fight and now they're

coming back to assyria or coming back to nineveh

but what happened to it it's gone and they used

to bring back all their prey they fill it with

caves with prey guess what you have none left

They're saying, listen, you used to fill your

city with all the plunder and all the stuff you

would take from your prey. Guess what? It's all

gone. You're not so bad anymore, Nineveh. It's

been a while since I've used an illustration

from the movie Rocky, so it's about time I do

that again. Rocky chapter, not chapter, Rocky

3. Rocky 3, he's fighting Mr. T or Clubber Lang.

I like that one. And in there, Clubber Lang is

very arrogant. He's very arrogant. He's mocking

Rocky and very critical of him and just jabbing

him, all the things. Beats him. Rocky comes back

in the last chapter. fight that they have. Rocky

learns his weakness. There's this scene where

he's fighting, and they're fighting, and Rocky

is kind of tapping his head and says, you ain't

so bad. You ain't so bad. The next thing you

know, Rocky, there's anger that forms in Clubber

Lang, and Rocky beats him, but you see that taunting,

but you see the taunting work because of the

arrogance of the person. Nineveh had been very

arrogant, but now was the end. Behold, I am against

you, declares the Lord of hosts. He says, listen,

Nineveh, you've had your run. You had your opportunity.

But ultimately, I'm against you, God says. Your

chariots that were so advanced, so mighty, so

state -of -the -art, they're going to burn away

in smoke. And that sword that you used to strike

others with, I will cut off your prey from the

earth. You'll no longer have any plunder. And

the voice of your messengers shall no longer

be heard. So that's a picture of their military

being defeated. Their chariots, their young lions

were the warriors. Their messengers out there

declared victory in the battle. He says, you're

not going to hear that anymore. You're done.

And what we learn in this is the complete nature

of God's judgment that will come on Nineveh.

And this complete nature of His judgment is just

and pure and perfect because God is God and He

knows the evil that they have done. But the question

then that we have to ask ourselves this morning

is what exactly is the takeaway for you and I?

Because Nineveh is an ancient city. It's long

ago. There's a couple of things I want us to

see. One is that Nineveh was also, they were

guilty because yes, they were violent. Yes, they

were wicked, but they also came against God's

people. And so one of the applications is a warning

to all nations. When you come against God's people,

there will be justice and judgment. So you ought

to be careful. But then it's also a warning against

any nation that would disregard God and promote

evil of any kind. And so you and I, as we are

people and citizens of this country here, I believe

it's also a warning to our nation. It's also

a warning to the United States that guess what?

God will deal with evil of any kind in any place

for any country. Because God is a God that raises

up kings and he brings them down, right? And

so it's a reminder to you and I as citizens of

this country, which I believe is the greatest

because I'm very partial. But guess what? God

will bring judgment on this nation just as he

did on any other nation. If we will continue

in evil. I mean, you think about, in a lot of

ways, again, the different evils that we have

seen. Violence. Violence against the unborn.

Racism. Ethnic hatred. Sexual immorality of all

types. Greed and corruption. The exploitation

of people. We see the worship of power and politicians

and people. Disregard for God and for, again,

even the laws. We see this rising in our nation.

Again, we see the violence against one another

taking hold. You can't go a day or two without

reading some tragic story of violence, can you?

And then you have leaders of all stripes using

and abusing their power for personal gain. And

I believe that we are a nation that has, again,

we have turned away From some of the foundational

things that we believed as a nation. And if we're

not careful, this nation will end up in the heap

of all the judged nations of old. Now I know

because we are so hyper -focused on this. That

some of you might be keeping score a little bit,

saying, hey, did he say more things that are

against my party or that party? Guess what? When

our nation is judged because of evil and wickedness,

it won't be because of one party or the other.

It will be because of all of us have turned away

from God. It's not about that. What it's about

is God's people. And God has called us as a people

to honor Him and to declare His glory in all

things. And I'm afraid that even God's people,

we have been sucked up in this political machine

and that we have allowed power and influence

to supersede our responsibility. To be messengers

of the gospel. And that's a sad thing. We've

come to a place in our nation that, again, you

hear this for every cycle. That we're always

now, what are we doing? Well, we're just voting

for the lesser of two evils. But do you know

what that means? We're voting for evil. You might

say, well, yeah, I mean, we know, but it's just

the way it is. You're right, it's pragmatism.

But yet we feed this system. And yet we are supposed

to be a people that we promote the good and the

righteous. And the question is, are we doing

that as we should? Now I do not have an inside

track with God and could tell you that God has

judged our nation in any particular way. I can't

tell you that because I don't know the mind of

God. But what I can tell you is what God has

done in the time of old that we see in the Bible.

That there's never been a nation that has turned

its back on God or been a nation of evil and

wickedness. That has lasted. These nations. Guess

what? They're gone. Most of them. And so for

us. God's people. We have to avoid the temptation.

Of seeking power. And seeking control. And we

have to be a people that are on our knees. Praying

for our nation. Praying for morality. Praying

for. our people, God's people, to do the right

thing first. Guess what? We're always pointing

our fingers and saying, hey, look at the world,

look what they're doing, while we are often doing

the very same things. And yet we are so quick

to point out the evil of the world and so slow

to point out the evil in our own lives. And so

it may be time for us to clean up our house first,

right? And the reality is that you and I, that

we have to look at our own hearts and lives.

And if we have any evil, anything in our lives,

any sin, then we have to first and foremost,

we need to cleanse ourselves of that. We need

to turn away from sin and turn to God. That if

we have anything in us that does not reflect

Christ, that we need to repent. And for some

people, that may be repenting for the very first

time. You've never put your faith in Christ.

You've never trusted Jesus. It may be that. It

may be I'm ready to follow Jesus, to turn away

from the things of this world and turn to Christ.

And I'd say today is that day to do it. But it

also may be for others who are followers of Christ.

If we've allowed anything in our hearts and lives

that is not of Him, then we need to repent. Turn.

And then as you move beyond the individual, we

move to the collective, and then we say, are

we, as God's people in this church, are we doing

what we can do for the promotion of good and

righteousness in this nation? Are we people that

are seeking the good of others and the glory

of God? And then you go farther and then you

ask this morning, we were talking in Sunday school

about honoring the government and honoring God

has set up a structure that we are called to

honor the government and to pray for our leaders.

Are we praying for our leaders in this nation?

Are we expecting our leaders to live moral lives.

I remember even in my lifetime that there was

a time that we expected our leaders to live moral

lives, didn't we? There was a whole movement

called the Moral Majority. We expected there

to be morality in public office, but that seems

quaint now, doesn't it? We've allowed it. That's

on us. We've allowed the degradation of our government.

God's people have excused evil and wickedness

and immorality because it's fit their quest for

power. And I believe it is now, it is not only

now, it's a time as far past time for us to be

people again that expect morality. We expect

our leaders to live. No, we know they are not

perfect. They are fallen people. But we do expect

there to be a people that are moral. Because

if we do not honor God, judgment will come far

sooner than we can imagine. And again, like I

said earlier, it's so easy to hear a sermon like

this and try to keep score and wonder, well,

I wonder what he's saying or what he believes.

Just don't bother. Guess what? If you want to

know what my political thoughts are, just ask

me. I'll tell you. But that's not what this is

about. It's not about that. This is about being

a nation that honors God. Being a people that

seek the good of others. Being a people that

seek to be moral and to live lives that honor

God. That's what this is about. Because we too

could be like Nineveh. A city washed away because

of their wickedness. So I pray that this morning

that you and I, that we would take the log out

of our own eye. You and I individually and then

as a people before we start inspecting the speck

in other people's eyes. And that we as a nation,

as a people, that we would seek the good. So

this morning, let us be reminded that God's justice

is impartial. God's justice will come on all

people. Remember, God brought justice even on

His people Israel. He allowed them to be in different

times because of their sin and unrighteousness.

So even this nation, if we're not careful, we

will be judged. Let us pray. Father, we thank

You for Your Word. We thank You, God, that You

are a God of justice, that You are a God of righteousness.

That You are a God, Lord, that You seek, Lord,

for us to honor and worship You. And Lord, as

we consider this passage this morning with Nineveh,

Lord, in the... destruction that would come.

It's foreign to our ears so often, but Lord,

we know and realize that God, that you, Lord,

that you through your word are always teaching

us. And I pray that this morning as we hear these

words, Lord, that we are stirred in our hearts.

We are stirred in our hearts to be a people that

love you. To be a people that honor you to live

moral lives. Not in our own strength, Lord, but

through the power of Christ. God, I pray that

we would be a people that love you. And Father,

in our love for you, we would love others. That

we would love our nation and we would pray for

our leaders. That, Lord, we would be on our knees

before you praying that our leaders would have

godly wisdom. That our leaders would live lives

that would honor you. God, that we would pray

that our leaders are seeking the good of all

people. Father, forgive us that in so many ways

we have turned from you. In so many ways we have

let power and control and politics take more

precedence in our life than honoring you. So

Lord, we repent of that this morning. Lord, may

you stir in us a desire to turn back. Let it

begin with us. Let it begin with us. For those

that are gathered in this room, let that turn

back to you begin even today. Because Father,

when you do mighty things, it always begins with

one. And God, as we, as a humble people, Lord,

if we will turn to you, may you do a work. So

Lord, as we have a time of prayer, may this prayer

first be that we're getting right with you. But

Lord, may we also pray for our nation. Father,

may you use this time. Use this time for our

good and your glory. In Jesus' name.