Some Bible names are everywhere: forms of John and Mary have gone global, but at least in the English speaking world I have yet to meet a man named Nahum.
He was God’s messenger called to take on the power and corruption of an imperial power: Nineveh. We ought to remember Nahum just now because his story and message give us hope.
The Church of God around the world is being persecuted. In Syria, one of the first homes of the Faith, martyrs are made daily. Religious zealots impose a horrible, twisted form of false religion on vast areas of the globe. The Church, with her love for all humankind, is brutally attacked because we are too tolerant and too peaceful.
In the United States, the Church is in the grip of materialism and complacency. We see injustice in the speed of our Internet browser and mock the moral limits. US military power is unmatched in the history of humankind as is our pop-culture influence globally and we are using both types of muscle to spread decadence. We are mocked, though not yet persecuted, as zealots for our half-hearted defense of ethical reality.
The world seems like one giant Nineveh . . . partly brutal, yet containing effete elites. The two forces hang in the global Nineveh in equipoise: the inherited technology and power of the decadent give them power, but the zeal that will die for ideas and most of the children being born are found in the brutal parts of the world.
Against this hideous strength, the faithful seem very small and weak.
Nahum faced a worse situation. Most of his people were in exile, all political power smashed. Most important, God’s people were not (much) better than the men of Nineveh. If you were taking a bet about whose power and writing would endure, you would have taken Nineveh and given Nahum points! You would point to his insignificance, his poverty, his marginal people group.
Nahum won going away. His name may not have caught on, but his short message made it into the Hebrew Bible and Christians adopted it as well. God’s fire breathes in Nahum and when he speaks, Nahum does not shield Nineveh from the heat of the wrath of God.
What is God’s message?
Nahum says God is merciful, thankfully, but He will not wait forever. Time passes, but God’s judgment waits until the time is right. Eventually the burden of evil provokes an equal and opposite reaction and justice rolls down on the men of Nineveh. The Jewish people will endure, even if only as a remnant, but Nineveh will not last.
The lust for power and the sexual immorality of Nineveh cannot last and despite her plans and powerful armies, Nineveh will be destroyed. For those who love justice, the poor, and are faithful, there is always hope. The news is good, because God may wait, but He does not sleep. He knows. He sent Jonah (of the big fish fame) to preach mercy and Nineveh heard God’s words for a time, but then they forgot and returned to their old, wicked ways.
Why not? Was not Nineveh great in the earth?
Nahum said: “No.” And Nahum was right.
If we side with God, then He will fight the battle. We are not called to sack Nineveh, the sins of the City will raise up foes they have created by their evil. We do not have to be afraid, because God will always allow a remnant to survive and even thrive. Meanwhile what should we do?
Celebrate your festivals, O Judah,
fulfil your vows,
for never again shall the wicked invade you;
they are utterly cut off.
We should celebrate and do our duty. God will take the weapons of their power and throw them into confusion. This is inevitable, because to defy the moral laws of God rots the reason and ends in either ugly demonic religion that can tolerate no thought or in the vacuity of the decadent. Both are confused and both will destroy the other.
Meanwhile, we must pray that every person finds peace with God and the clarity and celebration that results!
Nahum was on God’s side so Nahum won. I look at my own soul and say: Think about Nahum’s courage today, say his name, and do your duty! A remnant will thrive!
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