Nahum 3:18-19
Your shepherds are asleep,
O king of Assyria;
your nobles slumber.
Your people are scattered on the mountains
with none to gather them. There is no assuaging your hurt,
your wound is grievous.
All who hear the news of you
clap their hands over you.
For upon whom has not come
your unceasing evil?
Comfortable modern people sometimes cluck their tongues at what they call the gloating vindictiveness of the prophets. If you want to get a feel for something of the sheer jubilance Nahum felt at the downfall of Assyria, think of that photo of the sailor kissing the girl in Times Square on the day World War II ended. Think of Samwise Gamgee crying out, “O great glory and trumpets! And all my wishes have come true then!” and bursting into tears. Think of every moment in history when God has cast down the mighty in their arrogance and lifted up the meek and the lowly. Assyria was the Nazi Germany of the ancient world. Nahum was speaking the bare truth when he rejoiced over the downfall of that Evil Empire. Someday, the Evil Empire of this world is going to meet its own ultimate downfall at the Second Coming of Christ and the rejoicing that will accompany that final liberation will dwarf all the dancing the streets there has ever been.
May 21, 2002
