“Thy crowned are as the locusts, and thy captains as the great grasshoppers, which camp in the hedges in the cold day, but when the sun ariseth they flee away, and their place is not known where they are.” (Nahum 3:17)
Nahum was a prophet who most likely grew up under Assyrian captivity. This can’t be known for certain, but the graphic nature of his prophecy and the fervor in which it is expressed seem to point to personal experience with this city and its people. Nineveh had received a letter or prophecy almost 2 centuries ago through the prophet Jonah. God went to extreme lengths to warn and pardon this capital city of the Assyrian empire, and for a season they had repented and there was a generation that knew what repentance and forgiveness was. Those days were long gone by the time Nahum was given his vision. In Nahum’s vision, there is no mercy extended to this wicked city, but their judgment was a mercy to those who were being oppressed by them. Assyria was one of the most gruesome nations that ever existed, their cruelty far exceeds almost any other nation past or present.
One thing that is important to remember when we read these horrific accounts of the judgment of God upon a people is that His judgment is mercy. Of course, to the Assyrians, it was devastating, but consider all the innocent people who were suffering under the iron fist of this city. To them, the downfall of Nineveh was akin to the defeat of Nazi Germany. God is not a bully nor a madman waiting to cast lightning bolts of judgment upon a people. Jonah is a testament to that fact. But when a nation or a person becomes so wicked and oppressive, God will judge them, and it will be a mercy to those under their rule.
Our verse today talks about the fleeting nature of such wicked people. It reminds me of Psalms 1:4 “The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.” These sorts of characters throughout the history of the world have risen to their thrones, wearing their crowns and lived in their palaces, but rest assured as they have fallen in the past so will they fall now. It was a flood that made the impregnable walls of Nineveh fall, as was prophesied in Nahum’s vision, “The gates of the rivers shall be opened, and the palace shall be dissolved.” (Nahum 2:6). The historical record says that the Medes Empire joined forces with the Babylonian empire and even their joint forces were not enough to penetrate the 150-foot-tall, 150-foot-wide wall, then by a miracle there was a flood of the Tigris river that ran through the city, weakening the foundation and the wall fell and the city was besieged. Today many nations, corporations, and governments wear their crowns of power, building their palaces, making their fortunes from the destruction of the people around them. Think about the film companies making their billions from the exploitation of sex and destroying humanity by the spread of their pornographic smut, or the alcohol companies pushing their poison on the youth, of which many will lose their life. Then there are the governments of this world pushing their ungodly agendas, and the list goes on and on. All of them will, like Nineveh, fall by the power and providence of God.
When do they flee away? “When the sun ariseth they flee away, and their place is not known where they are.” We may be in the nighttime of Godless oppression but there are among us a few Nahum’s who have seen the downfall of this world and its sinfulness. To us, it is not sad, what is sad is the current world we live in where countless millions of babies in the womb are sacrificed on the altar of self-indulgence. Countless millions of children are sexualized long before such thoughts should ever cross their minds. The fall of this world, its god, and his princes is as certain as the fall of Nineveh of old, or Egypt in the days of Moses. We are in the darkest hour but that is right before the rising of the sun. Soon and very soon, the daystar shall arise, Jesus will return and all those who oppressed this world and its inhabitants will be consumed with the word of his mouth and their judgment will be his mercy to this world! Then, there will be an age when “their place is not known where they are.” The lion will lay down with the lamb, the children will play on the hole of the serpent, and this world will beat its weapons into farming implements and we will study war no more! Even so, come Lord Jesus! Let the sun arise, send the flood of your judgment, and cast away the wicked from this earth, make all things new!
Hallelujah!