Exposition by Max A Forsythe
The
Reformer's Fire
Exposition by Max A Forsythe
A politician once was reported dead and his obituary was printed in the paper. Somewhat amused at the unexpected publicity he was nevertheless thankful for the good things said in his memory. A comedian once remarked that the obituaries were the first thing he looked at in the paper each morning. And so long as his name wasn't mentioned there, he felt like he was going to have a good day!
Imagine any consternation in Assyria for anyone who might have taken the prophets of the Living God seriously had they got their hands on this copy of doom and destruction? Would they have realized that Assyria was not going to have anything but a bright and promising future? After all Assyria had a prosperous economy. There was trade in conquered slaves, the trading of captured gold, jewels and day to day articles liberated by conquering armies to be brought home from the wars.
After the reconquest of Kuwait, the highway of death leading back to Iraq was a gold mine of artifacts collected by Iraqi officers. Hardly a car was left in Kuwait and strangely enough, even the proverbial kitchen sinks were found stashed in back seats and trunks along with anything else no longer nailed down. Conquering Armies do not change much over the years! Some artistic objects have been rescued from even American estates and returned to original owners in Europe. Even our own Secretary of State's family has been indicted for liberation of objects d'art brought out from their ancestral country of Austria.
This chapter begins with the interjection "Woe" lamenting the dead who will be when God turns His wrath against the great city. There will be corpses without number in the streets. Not only the material plunder, but the human prey captured by the Assyrians will be objects of new conquerors when the city is convulsed by final battles. Now, the human prey hinted at here probably included many many people who were kept for games, tortures and personal indulgences. We have only to shudder when we hear of Sodomites in Lancaster who captured a small child who was to be kept in an attic until they had time to do worse. Imagine a whole culture given over to such incredible wickedness and any pangs of sympathy you might have for this "great" city will soon expire!
As Nineveh has given, so shall she receive! This is the promise of the Obituary printed before the fact by Nahum. Verses four to seven are extremely explicit in their denunciation of the absolute depravity to which the "people" had sunk in their wanton living off of the property and lives of others. Any punishment received that is described here in these verses is well deserved and legally and morally justified.
As we look at verses four through seven we see vividly in the word sorceries the spiritual prostitution of which Assyria is guilty. And even the nations not elect well understand the exposure given to the great whore because of Assyria's dalliance with any God but the One True God. About a decade ago, a former British Sergeant came to power in Uganda. Iddi Ammin was the decadent dictator. His personal goal was to set up a government dedicated to witchcraft. Hundreds of Christians were slaughtered and a Presbyterian Church in the capital city was burnt out and left empty. Three martyrs who were publicly shot by firing squad prayed aloud for the soldiers charged with the gruesome duty. Reports of ritual cannibalism mixed in with the occultic witchcraft so disgusted the surrounding nations that they banded together and invaded Uganda to put down the gross wickedness of Iddi Ammin. Those armies were successful and Mr Ammin found refuge in Saudia Arabia. Rule by law of a sort was returned to the people of Uganda. The burnt out Presbyterian Church was rededicated to a standing room only crowd which couldn't fit into the brick walls that stood without a ceiling or roof.
Such was the wickedness of Assyria that surrounding nations well agreed with the celebration of the victims. Verses eight through seventeen satirize the fall of Nineveh by comparing that city to the great Egyptian city of Thebes which was also considered invincible! Actually, there does not exist anywhere in the world any ancient fortress that was not finally conquered by siege or assault. The prophet clearly shows that what the Assyrians accomplished against Thebes will likewise be returned upon their own heads. Certainly the Assyrians may make their preparations but it will all be fruitless. Their warriors will be feeble and their gates will prove rotten as too will the structures of their fortifications. Now the feebleness of the warriors her may either be in their lack of training, their lack of devotion or even something more sinister in their relationships with each other.
Finally, verses eighteen and nineteen describe how these former mighty warriors have fallen to the joy of their former victims. Two points are quickly made. There was a definite lack of adequate leadership. That point we can well understand in our decade where our former glorious military units of just ten years ago now suffer from top leaders who are more concerned with their place in history or the politically correct management of the military to produce social results that fly in the face of efficient functioning. A lean green fighting machine needs to have confidence in its leadership if it is to be capable of sustained combat. The Assyrians, like us today failed miserably in this regard.
The second point that can be made is that the Assyrian military suffered from an incurable wound. As we mentioned last week, the best explanation here is of the birth dirth which so reduced the number of young men that the battle lines could not be filled. I am reminded of what an old nurse said when one of my sons was born. It was a year where boy babies so outnumbered girls in our county, that she was concerned. She was certain that the extra number of boys heralded a major war when those young men turned eighteen. Usually I don't pay much mind to Old Nurse's tales, but having young men of the appropriate age in this last decade of the century has worried me a little. Especially since the American Enterprise is so down on its luck so to speak. That within the providence of God, we as a nation are spiritually, morally and emotionally the very weakest when the demands of world wide responsibilities are at their height.
We well know that should the American Enterprise go the way of the British Empire, there would be great delight and cheerfulness in those capitals of the world where our way of life and our way of government are disdained.
How have the mighty fallen, let that of Assyria teach us a lesson that no power in this world lasts forever. Just when empires, kingdoms or republics think that they have it made in the shade, then the full light of God's judgment shines upon them and like a puff of smoke - their power evaporates. The God of heaven was against Assyria, just as he was against the former Soviet Union. Let us pray that our nation can be turned around and restored to submission to God's righteous laws before we too go the way of all flesh and our Enterprise sinks of its own sinful weight?
Resources Used:
Baker, David. W. Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries: Nahum, Habakkuk & Zephaniah.
Boice, James M. The Minor Prophets: An Expositional Commentary.
Places Preached:
Christ Covenant REFORMED (Presbyterian Church in America)
Box 13926 -- Columbus, OH 43213
Joel03a 30 July 98
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