Nahum 1

⁸ But with an overflowing flood he will make a complete end of the adversaries, and will pursue his enemies into darkness. ⁹ What do you plot against the Lord? He will make a complete end; trouble will not rise up a second time. ¹⁰ For they are like entangled thorns, like drunkards as they drink; they are consumed like stubble fully dried. ¹¹ From you came one who plotted evil against the Lord, a worthless counselor. ¹² Thus says the Lord, “Though they are at full strength and many, they will be cut down and pass away. Though I have afflicted you, I will afflict you no more. ¹³ And now I will break his yoke from off you and will burst your bonds apart.” ¹⁴ The Lord has given commandment about you: “No more shall your name be perpetuated; from the house of your gods I will cut off the carved image and the metal image. I will make your grave, for you are vile.” ¹⁵ Behold, upon the mountains, the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace! Keep your feasts, O Judah; fulfill your vows, for never again shall the worthless pass through you; he is utterly cut off.

Every time I drive over the Mississippi River I marvel at it. Almost every time I do so I willl say something like, “Man. That is a LOT of water.” And it is! In 1927, America got to see the sheer power of that much water. Here is the Encyclopaedia Brittanica’s summary of the 1927 Mississippi River flood:

Mississippi River flood of 1927, also called Great Flood of 1927, flooding of the lower Mississippi River valley in April 1927, one of the worst natural disasters in the history of the United States. More than 23,000 square miles (60,000 square km) of land was submerged, hundreds of thousands of people were displaced, and around 250 people died.

After several months of heavy rain caused the Mississippi River to swell to unprecedented levels, the first levee broke on April 16, along the Illinois shore. Then, on April 21, the levee at Mounds Landing in Mississippi gave way. Over the next few weeks essentially the entire levee system along the river collapsed. In some places, residential areas were submerged in 30 feet (9 metres) of water. At least two months passed before the floodwater completely subsided.[1]

The event has been memorialized in songs and stories ever since, perhaps nowhere more famously than in Kansas Joe McCoy and Memphis Minnie’s 1929 blues song, “When the Levee Breaks,” a song most well-known, perhaps, through Led Zeppelin’s 1970 adaptation/cover it. The original lyrics to McCoy and Minnie’s song have some powerful imagery. Here are some select stanzas:

If it keeps on rainin’, levee’s goin’ to break
If it keeps on rainin’, levee’s goin’ to break
And the water gonnna come in and we’ll have no place to stay

Well all last night I sat on the levee and moan
Well all last night I sat on the levee and moan
Thinkin’ ’bout my baby and my happy home

I worked on the levee mama both night and day
I worked on the levee mama both night and day
I ain’t got nobody to keep the water away

Oh cryin’ won’t help you, prayin’ won’t do no good
Oh cryin’ won’t help you, prayin’ won’t do no good
Whenever the levee breaks momma, you got to lose

Oh mean old levee taught me to weep and moan
Yeah the mean old levee taught me to weep and moan
Told me leave my baby and my happy home

The power of this song, in my opinion, rests in its articulation of the sense of utter helplessness those along the river felt in the face of the raging waters that rushed through the broken levees of the Mississippi. There is nothing to do before such an onslaught! With that in mind, it is telling that the image of raging floodwaters was used by Nahum to describe God’s coming judgment against Assyria in light of their wickedness and mistreatment of the people of God. Indeed, “cryin’ won’t help you, prayin’ won’t do no good” when the wrath of God finally falls.

God restrains His judgment against the wicked, and He may even use the wicked as instruments of judgment against His own people, but both are only for a season.

Verses 8-14 continue the devastating picture of the fury of God against evil.

⁸ But with an overflowing flood he will make a complete end of the adversaries, and will pursue his enemies into darkness. ⁹ What do you plot against the Lord? He will make a complete end; trouble will not rise up a second time. ¹⁰ For they are like entangled thorns, like drunkards as they drink; they are consumed like stubble fully dried. ¹¹ From you came one who plotted evil against the Lord, a worthless counselor. ¹² Thus says the Lord, “Though they are at full strength and many, they will be cut down and pass away. Though I have afflicted you, I will afflict you no more. ¹³ And now I will break his yoke from off you and will burst your bonds apart.” ¹⁴ The Lord has given commandment about you: “No more shall your name be perpetuated; from the house of your gods I will cut off the carved image and the metal image. I will make your grave, for you are vile.”

Let us begin in the middle, with verse 12, where the Lord says, “Though they are at full strength and many, they will be cut down and pass away. Though I have afflicted you, I will afflict you no more.” The pronouns are important and help us understand what is happening here. Let us break down the passage in sections ending with these pronouns.

Though they [i.e., Assyria]

are at full strength and many, they [i.e., Assyria]

will be cut down and pass away.

Though I [i.e., the Lord]

have afflicted you [i.e., Judah]

I [i.e., the Lord]

will afflict you [i.e., Judah]

no more.

In other words, while God used Assyria as an instrument of discipline against rebellious Judah, He would do so no longer. Furthermore, though God used Assyria, Assyria was culpable for their wickedness. God did not render Assyria wicked to use them. Rather, God used wicked Assyria as a chastening rod against Judah. But no more. He is saying that enough is enough and that He would rain down judgment against them.

The phrase “with an overpowering flood” is stark and ironic. The Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentaryhighlights the irony of it by listing an Assyrian curse that called for “‘an irresistible flood’ to rise and devastate a disloyal vassal.” Thus, whereas Assyria had threatened to unleash a flood of wrath against another people, they would actually drown beneath the flood of God’s wrath themselves. Furthermore, it notes the irony of the fact that Isaiah (in Isaiah 8:7, “therefore, behold, the Lord is bringing up against them the waters of the River, mighty and many, the king of Assyria and all his glory. And it will rise over all its channels and go over all its banks”) “had forecast Assyria’s attack on Judah in similar terms.”[2]Thus, whereas Assyria had specifically been a flood of woe against Judah, they would be flooded with woe by Judah’s God!

The language in this oracle of judgment is truly terrifying!

• “an overflowing flood”

• “a complete end”

• “darkness”

• “a complete end”

• “entangled thorns”

• “consumed like stubble fully dried”

• “they will be cut down and pass away”

• “break his yoke”

• “No more shall your name be perpetuated”

• “I will cut off”

• “I will make your grave”

• “vile”

These words and phrases speak of the ugliness of Assyria’s sin just as it speaks of the terrifying nature of God’s wrath. Such was His righteous anger against wicked Assyria…and truly such is His righteous anger against wicked humanity today! We may marvel that the levee holding back the flood of His wrath has not broken yet, but one day it will, not because of any divine fit of temper, but rather because of God’s sovereign control over the unfolding story of human history.

When the levee broke against Assyria, the devastation was absolute and complete. Mark Dever writes:

When Nineveh fell, it fell hard. A small group of Assyrian exiles tried to keep “Assyria” going for several years, but their attempt quickly failed. Nineveh passed with unusual speed from the very center of history to being entirely forgotten. Its location became lost to human memory and became a matter for speculation for over two thousand years. People knew the name “Nineveh” from the Bible and from Babylonian records, but they could not figure out where it was located. It was not until 1842 that archaeologists rediscovered it.

You may be enjoying some measure of power or success now…but I hope you realize how fast and how far you can fall…Now, if you happen to consider yourself an enemy of God, I must tell you on the basis of the book of Nahum, “Beware!” You cannot oppose God with impunity. You will never win.[3]

Wise words, those, and they are grounded deeply in what we find in the God’s words through Nahum against Assyria! Dever is also right to apply Nahum to our day. The same evil and wickedness that beckoned the just judgment of God against Assyria beckons it against evil today.

The promise of future deliverance nourishes and emboldens us in the midst of present trials.

We should pause and tremble to remember that there is within us that which is a fit object for God’s wrath. We are Assyria.Blood is on our hands as well! Perhaps we are tempted to despair before this. Or perhaps you find yourself the object of Assyria’s wickedness today and are tempted to give up hope. The conclusion of Nahum 1 offers an important word for you if this is what you are thinking. To Judah, the Lord says:

¹⁵ Behold, upon the mountains, the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace! Keep your feasts, O Judah; fulfill your vows, for never again shall the worthless pass through you; he is utterly cut off.

See here a beautiful note of hope! Yes, Judah had been afflicted and wounded and harassed, but God had promised to deal with Assyria and put an end to their wickedness. This message of deliverance was “good news.” Furthermore, it spurred the Jews on to greater devotion. “Keep your feasts, O Judah!” Do not give up! Do not despair! Do not cease to call upon the name of the Lord your God! For He is coming! Salvation is coming! Deliverance is coming!

It is interesting and poignant to note that the language of Nahum 1:15 is found in two passages that bookend it, one from an earlier time and one from a later. Earlier, in Isaiah 52, Isaiah had said:

⁷How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.”

Isaiah said this in the context of prophesying about the coming Messiah who would deliver Israel from bondage. He was looking forward to Jesus! Because of this, Nahum’s appeal to these words suggest that more is happening here than a promise of mere political deliverance. We see this idea flower fully in Romans 10, when Paul applies the idea of “good news” specifically to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

¹⁵And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”

The proclamation of coming salvation to a beleaguered people is indeed a marvelous thing! The hope of a sunrise in the midst of unending night cannot help but encourage the faint of heart. The promise of future deliverance nourishes and emboldens us in the midst of present trials. Assyria may have you right now, but if you God’s child they have never really had you at all!They can harass you, but God hears the cries of His children and He will move!

But what if you are Assyria? What if you are caught in wickedness and evil? Then know that one day God Himself will push down the levees and judgement will come upon you like an inescapable flood. However, if you repent, if you turn from your sin, then the good news will also be good news to you, for Christ came not only for the lowly and the broken but for the haughty and rebellious. He calls us all to His cross of mercy and forgiveness. If you are Assyria, then lay down your weapons and cry out to God for mercy! He delights in repentant hearts.

Do you feel that you do not deserve such mercy? Be assured you do not! Neither do I…neither does anybody! But He offers it nonetheless! Flee from the coming flood of judgment into the nail pierced hands of the one who took judgment for you. Come to Jesus Christ. Come and be saved!

 

[1]https://www.britannica.com/event/Mississippi-River-flood-of-1927

[2]Alan R. Millard, “Nahum.” Zondervan Illustrated Bible Background Commentary. Gen. Ed., John H. Walton. Old Testament, Vol. 5 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2009), p.153.

[3]Mark Dever, The Message of the Old Testament. (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2006), p. 825.