The driving force behind all the atrocities that the Assyrians had inflicted on its victims was human pride. Nineveh, the capital of Assyria, stood over the Ancient Near East like a great megalomaniacal bully. But whoever plays God like this will inevitably find out the hard way who is really God. The great name that the Assyrians sought to build, like the great city Nineveh, would soon be a buried remnant of history. The proud city of Nineveh was in fact so thoroughly “buried” by Yahweh that for many centuries the very location of the place was forgotten. Only in 1843 did the ruins of Nineveh begin to be recovered by archaeologists. That’s an ignominious end for one of the greatest centres of power in the ancient world. But there is a message in that, and Nahum makes that message explicit. The whole world might bow to you, but if God is against you, you will perish and be forgotten in the end. This cruel nation set itself against God, and so God set himself against it. The most important thing in life is not the power you gain but the power you relinquish to God. It isn’t what you own and master that prospers a person but who owns and masters you. When Yahweh is your God, though you be trampled by injustice and cruelty, yet you will be delivered in the end. So, as the Psalmist says, “Do not fret because of evil men or envy those who sin; for like the grass they will wither soon, like green plants they will soon die away” (Psalm 37:1-2).
Ask God to purge you of pride and help you trust him more.
Read Nahum 3
