{"id":20049,"date":"2014-08-08T15:12:06","date_gmt":"2014-08-08T20:12:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/yimcatholic\/?p=20049"},"modified":"2015-01-22T13:48:37","modified_gmt":"2015-01-22T18:48:37","slug":"as-the-world-seems-to-claim-that-god-is-dead-he-speaks-to-us-today-via-the-prophet-nahum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/yimcatholic\/2014\/08\/as-the-world-seems-to-claim-that-god-is-dead-he-speaks-to-us-today-via-the-prophet-nahum.html","title":{"rendered":"As The World Seems To Claim That God Is Dead, He Speaks To Us Today Via The Prophet Nahum"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Surely I\u2019m not the first to notice how oftentimes, through the daily readings, or by way of the Liturgy of the Hours, God breaks through our thrall towards world events, and speaks to us directly.<\/p>\n

Just a few days ago, God spoke via the \u00a0LOTH about events that had transpired in Gaza long ago<\/a>.\u00a0Given what is taking place there nowadays, one would think it\u2019s as if someone purposely changed the readings to make the readings relevant, or something. That isn\u2019t how it works, of course, as the readings scheduled in the LOTH, and in the Lectionary calendar, were planned I don\u2019t even know how many years ago.<\/p>\n

The same thing happened today with the readings for Friday of the 18th week in Ordinary Time. The first reading is from the book of the prophet Nahum, and the timing seems extraordinary. As the introduction to the book informs us, the difference between the situation in Iraq when this book was written, and what is happening there today, seems separated by minutes instead of by millennia.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Shortly before the fall of Nineveh (ed<\/em>. the ruins of which lie across the Tigris from Mosul) , the capital of Assyria, in 612 B.C., Nahum uttered his prophecy against the hated city. To understand the prophet\u2019s exultant outburst of joy over the impending destruction it is necessary to recall the savage cruelty of Assyria, which had made it the scourge of the ancient Near East for almost three centuries. The royal inscriptions of Assyria afford the best commentary on Nahum\u2019s burning denunciation of \u201cthe bloody city.\u201d In the wake of their conquests, mounds of heads, impaled bodies, enslaved citizens, and avaricious looters testified to the ruthlessness of the Assyrians. Just such a conquest was suffered by Israel, when its capital Samaria fell to the Assyrians in 722\/721 B.C., and by Judah, when its capital Jerusalem nearly fell to invading Assyrian armies twenty years later. Little wonder that in\u00a03:19<\/a>\u00a0Judah is shown as joining in the general outburst of joy over the destruction of Nineveh!<\/p>\n

But Nahum is not a prophet of unrestrained revenge. He asserts God\u2019s moral government of the world. Nineveh\u2019s doom is evidence that God stands against oppression and the abuse of power. As an ancient Near Eastern superpower, Assyria had terrorized its smaller and weaker neighbors, exploiting their economies and subjugating their people for its own ends. Thus Nineveh\u2019s demise is viewed as an act of divine justice, and it is greeted by the small, oppressed countries as a time of deliverance, as a moment of renewal, and as a message of peace (2:1<\/a>;\u00a03:19<\/a>).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The reading for today<\/a> is as follows,<\/p>\n

See, upon the mountains there advances
\nthe bearer of good news,
\n\"caravaggio-st-jerome\"<\/a>announcing peace!
\nCelebrate your feasts, O Judah,
\nfulfill your vows!
\nFor nevermore shall you be invaded
\nby the scoundrel; he is completely destroyed.
\nThe LORD will restore the vine of Jacob,
\nthe pride of Israel,
\nThough ravagers have ravaged them
\nand ruined the tendrils.<\/p>\n

Woe to the bloody city, all lies,
\nfull of plunder, whose looting never stops!
\nThe crack of the whip, the rumbling sounds of wheels;
\nhorses a-gallop, chariots bounding,
\nCavalry charging, the flame of the sword, the flash of the spear,
\nthe many slain, the heaping corpses,
\nthe endless bodies to stumble upon!
\nI will cast filth upon you,
\ndisgrace you and put you to shame;
\nTill everyone who sees you runs from you, saying,
\n\u201cNineveh is destroyed; who can pity her?
\nWhere can one find any to console her?\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Uncanny, no? Check out the psalm, which for today comes to us from Deuteronomy.<\/p>\n

R. It is I who deal death and give life<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Close at hand is the day of their disaster,
\nand their doom is rushing upon them!
\nSurely, the LORD shall do justice for his people;
\non his servants he shall have pity.<\/p>\n

R. It is I who deal death and give life.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cLearn then that I, I alone, am God,
\nand there is no god besides me.
\nIt is I who bring both death and life,
\nI who inflict wounds and heal them.\u201d<\/p>\n

R. It is I who deal death and give life.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I will sharpen my flashing sword,
\nand my hand shall lay hold of my quiver,
\n\u201cWith vengeance I will repay my foes
\nand requite those who hate me.\u201d<\/p>\n

R. It is I who deal death and give life<\/strong>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Gulp. Surely the gospel reading is totally unrelated, right? It probably won\u2019t be anything that remotely speaks to right conduct of followers of the Most High, or anything.<\/p>\n

Jesus said to his disciples,
\n\"El_Greco_Christ_on_the_Cross\"<\/a>\u201cWhoever wishes to come after me must deny himself,
\ntake up his cross, and follow me.
\nFor whoever wishes to save his life will lose it,
\nbut whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
\nWhat profit would there be for one to gain the whole world
\nand forfeit his life?
\nOr what can one give in exchange for his life?
\nFor the Son of Man will come with his angels in his Father\u2019s glory,
\nand then he will repay each according to his conduct<\/em>.
\nAmen, I say to you, there are some standing here
\nwho will not taste death
\nuntil they see the Son of Man coming in his Kingdom<\/a>.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

If that doesn\u2019t get your attention, dear reader, than perhaps nothing will.<\/p>\n

Tom McDonald has been at a loss for words regarding what is happening in the world these days, but he broke the logjam with some crystal clear thoughts today. Words like,<\/p>\n

Christendom is shattered, but its\u00a0greatest strengths live on in the hearts and communities of believers. That\u2019s all we\u2019ve got, and really all we ever needed, despite the glories of our past. We must live as\u00a0Christians, against all danger and threats. We must forgive, against all wrongs. We must hope, against all evidence.\u00a0We must love, against all reason<\/a>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

We broke the world<\/a>, and we continue breaking it when we refuse to honor God, and ignore the law He so desperately wants to write upon our hearts<\/a>, if only we would open them.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 Surely I\u2019m not the first to notice how oftentimes, through the daily readings, or by way of the Liturgy of the Hours, God breaks through our thrall towards world events, and speaks to us directly.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":140,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26,232,36,41],"tags":[1777,1778,69,1762,45,211],"class_list":["post-20049","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-culture","category-learning","category-living","category-praying","tag-assyria","tag-god-speaks","tag-iraq","tag-isis","tag-scriptures","tag-war"],"yoast_head":"\nAs The World Seems To Claim That God Is Dead, He Speaks To Us Today Via The Prophet Nahum<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"  Surely I'm not the first to notice how oftentimes, through the daily readings, or by way of the Liturgy of the Hours, God breaks through our 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