Nahum 3 reminds me of the Newport Bridge. One summer my dad decided he was going to take a boat trip from Long Island to Maine. My brother, sister and I were unenthusiastic passengers to what turned out to be an amazing month living on the boat. Being out in the ocean with no land in sight changes your perspective. One afternoon as we approached Newport, RI, my brother and I prepared to lower the antenna to go under the approaching bridge. It was not until we got closer that we realized the massive bridge was over 400 feet above the bay. The closer we got, the smaller we felt. This same deception can happen when we misjudge our enemies. Some fight against conformity, or tradition, or even our family. In our stubbornness, we miss the big picture. The chapter begins, “Woe to the city of blood, full of lies, full of plunder, never without victims!” The prophet provides God’s perspective of Nineveh and the looming destruction, “Many casualties, piles of dead, bodies without number, people stumbling over the corpses“. We get the sense that even during the invasion; they did not know who their enemy was. Nahum describes Nineveh’s distraction as an “alluring… mistress of sorceries, who enslaved nations by her prostitution“. God does not hide the truth, “I am against you“. Are you tired of being defeated? Ask yourself, who are you really fighting against?
Next we see the humiliation of the deceived. “I will lift your skirts over your face. I will show the nations your nakedness…I will pelt you with filth, I will treat you with contempt“. I know people that continuously make fools of themselves; yet always believe it is someone else’s fault. They wreck relationships and lash out at help, until no one is left. “Nineveh is in ruins; who will mourn for her?” There is no sadder place than realizing no one cares.
The chapter and tiny book ends with God’s perspective on the embattled. “All your fortresses are like fig trees… when they are shaken, the figs fall… The gates of your land are wide open to your enemies“. Some are very popular, as long as they are buying, but then the takers take off, “when the sun appears they fly away“. We watch helplessly as they slowly kill themselves with self-destruction and isolation. Everyone else can see it, but they do not know, “Nothing can heal you; your wound is fatal“. Listen to the end of the miserable that dispense nothing but misery, “All who hear the news about you clap their hands at your fall, for who has not felt your endless cruelty?” Friend, are you starting to feel small? I beg you to look at the bridge that spans between God and Man. The Savior has paid the price already for you to be fully restored and healed, washed and made whole. The apostle Paul wrote to his young friend these words of hope about “God our Savior,who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth“. The apostle adds, “There is one God and one Mediator between God and mankind, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all people” (1 Timothy 2:5). The closer we get to Him, the more in awe we become. What did Jesus say of those who mocked and spit on Him? “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34). Friend, is it time to change your perspective?