God of War (Nahum 2)

Xenophon was a Greek adventurer, writer, friend and student of Socrates, historian, and occasional mercenary who lived in the 4th century BC. 

He wrote a work called The Economist in English. 

It is a written dialogue on the topic of household management.

It had a significant and lasting influence on Greek culture and probably even influenced some of the household codes found in Ephesians and Colossians. C.R. Wiley discusses it in the Man of the House book the men studied earlier this year.

As I said, Xenophon was an adventurer and mercenary. He once signed up to aid Cyrus the Younger in a brutal civil war against his brother, the ruler of Persia. 

The war didn’t go well for Cyrus the Younger… he was killed in battle, and the war came to a shocking end, though they had been winning.

Not only was Cyrus killed, but all the commanding officers. Thus, the soldiers were left without leadership in a foreign, distant land. 

Xenophon and the remaining soldiers fled, racing across today's modern Iraq with the enemy army on their tail. 

As they ran across the desert, they stumbled across something incredible: massive ruins of a fortress city. Years later, Xenophon wrote about it. He said:

The foundation of its wall was made of polished stone full of shells and was fifty feet in breadth and fifty in height. Upon this foundation was built a wall of brick, fifty feet in breadth and a hundred in height; and the circuit of the wall was six parasangs (20+ miles).

He wasn’t able to linger long due to the enemy pursuing him. But this massive city made an impression. 

As they traveled through the region, he repeatedly asked the locals who built this city. Many didn’t know, and a few claimed it was built by the Medes.

But they were wrong. 

The ruins of this massive city belonged to the once great capital of Assyrian, Nineveh. 

And now it was broken, covered in dust, and mostly forgotten… The Assyrians ruled the entire Middle East for 300 years. And in a mere 200 years, the people of the region had forgotten them.

Nineveh was nothing. No more. Gone. Just as God said, it would be through the mouth of the prophet Nahum:

The Lord has issued a command concerning you:

“Your name will no longer be perpetuated.

I will cut off idol and image

From the house of your gods.

I will prepare your grave,

For you are contemptible.” (1:14 )

God erased their name because they broke their covenant with Him. 

Some hundreds before this, He sent Jonah to Nineveh. Jonah tried to avoid going because he desired to see the Assyrian empire judge. There was a brutal war machine that terrorized the surrounding nations with its taunts and torture. Yet Jonah did eventually comply.

He walked through Nineveh preaching, “Yet forty days and Nineveh will be overthrown.”

Jonah 3 records their surprising and amazing response: 

5 Then the people of Nineveh believed in God; and they called a fast and put on sackcloth from the greatest to the least of them. 6 When the word reached the king of Nineveh, he arose from his throne, laid aside his robe from him, covered himself with sackcloth and sat on the ashes. 7 He issued a proclamation and it said, “In Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles: Do not let man, beast, herd, or flock taste a thing. Do not let them eat or drink water. 8 But both man and beast must be covered with sackcloth; and let men call on God earnestly that each may turn from his wicked way and from the violence which is in his hands. 9 Who knows, God may turn and relent and withdraw His burning anger so that we will not perish.”

10 When God saw their deeds, that they turned from their wicked way, then God relented concerning the calamity which He had declared He would bring upon them. And He did not do it.

It was a mass revival. The bloody city of Nineveh repented of the violence of their hands and turned to the true God. This disappoints Jonah. He wanted to see them judged and knew God was a compassionate and merciful God.

And indeed He is. 

The first half of 1:3 says:

The Lord is slow to anger and great in power…

God had mercy on Nineveh. He called them to repentance, and they responded. But it didn’t last, and they returned to their evil ways. 

Hence, we get the second half of 1:3, which says:

And the Lord will by no means leave the guilty unpunished.

The Assyrians broke their promise to the Lord, and Nahum announced that the day of reckoning was to come shortly. So Jonah gets his wish, but God’s on schedule, for salvation belongs to the Lord.

In chapter 1, this coming judgment is announced to Judah as a comfort. The enemy that constantly threatened them would be destroyed by the wrath of God. Mothers and children would be able to sleep a little easier. 

In chapters 2 and 3, the topic stays the same, but the audience shifts. God’s announcement through Nahum is now given to the Assyrians. This is no call for repentance. God has been very patient and merciful. Now, he has passed judgment and will soon deliver the punishment. 

Today, we are going to focus on v. 1 and 13. We will Zoom in on the details of 2-12, along with chapter 3, next week. 

Nahum says, “one who scatters has come up against you” (2:1a).

Scattering is language associated with a victorious warrior-king.

In Jeremiah 52:8 it says, “But the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho, and all his army was scattered from him.”

In 1 Samuel 11:11 it says:

The next morning Saul put the people in three companies; and they came into the midst of the camp at the morning watch and struck down the Ammonites until the heat of the day. Those who survived were scattered, so that no two of them were left together.

To scatter an army is to defeat it in such a complete way that it has come to nothing. Their united purpose and mission is no more. They are as individuals wandering in the world. 

This idea is applied directly to God in Scripture.

Isaiah 24:1 says, “Behold, the Lord lays the earth waste, devastates it, distorts its surface and scatters its inhabitants."

Psalm 68:1 says, “Let God arise, let His enemies be scattered, and let those who hate Him flee before Him.”

Our God is a warrior-king who scatters his enemies. He is the divine scatterer. Those who unite against Him to make their name great will come to nothing. 

Remember Babel? All mankind gathered together, built a great tower into the heavens, and with one language in one voice, they sought to to make their name great. 

What did the Most High do? He scattered them.

Think of Psalm 2. It’s a messianic Psalm predicting the victory of King Jesus. 

Why are the nations in an uproar
And the peoples devising a vain thing?

The kings of the earth take their stand
And the rulers take counsel together
Against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying,

“Let us tear their fetters apart
And cast away their cords from us!”

He who sits in the heavens laughs,
The Lord scoffs at them.

Then He will speak to them in His anger
And terrify them in His fury, saying,

“But as for Me, I have installed My King
Upon Zion, My holy mountain.”

“I will surely tell of the decree of the Lord:
He said to Me, ‘You are My Son,
Today I have begotten You.

‘Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance,
And the very ends of the earth as Your possession.

‘You shall break them with a rod of iron,
You shall shatter them like earthenware.’”

All these nations and people who plot against the rule of Christ will find that He, too, is a warrior-king. He will shatter them like a baseball bat smashing against a pot. And they will be scattered like a thousand different pieces flying every which way. 

Hence, Psalm 2 ends with:

Worship the Lord with reverence
And rejoice with trembling.

Do homage to the Son, that He not become angry, and you perish in the way,
For His wrath may soon be kindled.
How blessed are all who take refuge in Him!

Jesus isn’t some soft, effeminate, nice guy pushover who winks at sin. And neither is God the Father, some weak grandfather in the heavens.

Exodus 15:3 says, “The Lord is a warrior; The Lord is His name.” God is a warrior.

Our God is the God of War. Christ and His Father are one.

Just as God judged the Assyrian empire, a day is coming when Christ will judge the entire world. 

As Jude 1 says:

Behold, the Lord came with many thousands of His holy ones, to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.

Listen to the description of the coming of Christ in Revelation 19:

11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war. 12 His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems; and He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself. 13 He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. 14 And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses. 15 From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. 16 And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”

17 Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he cried out with a loud voice, saying to all the birds which fly in midheaven, “Come, assemble for the great supper of God, 18 so that you may eat the flesh of kings and the flesh of commanders and the flesh of mighty men and the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them and the flesh of all men, both free men and slaves, and small and great.”

19 And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies assembled to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army.

20 And the beast was seized, and with him the false prophet who performed the signs [h]in his presence, by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image; these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone. 21 And the rest were killed with the sword which came from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse, and all the birds were filled with their flesh.

Jesus is a scattering warrior-king who executes judgment on all at the end of the age. It is exactly as the Apostle’s Creed says, “He is seated at the right hand of the Father, and he will come to judge the living and the dead.”

How blessed are those who take refuge in Him! Now 2:1b says, “Man the fortress, watch the road; Strengthen your back, summon all your strength.”

If God is this unstoppable warrior-king—and he is—then this statement is clearly sarcasm. Sarcasm is the use of irony to mock or ridicule. 

Even the idea of God being a scatterer is a mocking turn of phrase. Remember the Assyrians had the practice of deporting all the people they conquered to different lands. When they conquered Israel, they exiled them to foreigners and replaced them with five surrounding nations, creating the nation of Samaria. The Assyrians were scatterers and proud of it. But now, God, working through the allied forces of Medes and Babylonians, will scatter the scatterer.

And he’s letting them know. He’s taunting them. Scholars refer to this chapter as a “Taunt Song.” I remember once Roy Jones Jr, the world's light heavyweight champion in the 90s, put both hands behind their back and stuck his chin out for his opponent to taunt him. The opponent when to hit, and Jones threw a lightning-quick left hook that knocked the guy out. 

Our God is a God who taunts. Who uses sarcasm and ridicule. He’s not PC at all.

And we are to be like God. There is such a thing as a godly use of taunts, sarcasm, ridicule, harsh language, etc. 

Paul also says, "Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ." Jesus, at the appropriate times, used intensely "impolite" language. So we have an example to follow in the apostles, our Lord, and the Bible.

Politically correct speech is a tool the enemy uses to shame pastors into downplaying real dangers. Souls are at stake.

We must recover the whole "tool belt" of biblical rhetoric but do so without becoming shrill in our tone. We don’t need shock jocks in the pulpit, but the portions of Scripture which are shocking must be preached and preached that way without apology.

There is a constant editing of Scripture. We ignore entire verses, passages, and books because they are at odds with the easy-going unoffensive water-down Christianity of our day. And that’s why there so little reverence in worship, holiness in lives, and power in the church.

We want a safe and clean God that won’t upset that apple-cart of life and relationships. 

And that’s not the God of Nahum. 

That’s not the God of Scripture. 

That’s not God. 

If you have a problem with that, you have a problem with God. 

Let’s conclude with v. 13:

“Behold, I am against you,” declares the Lord of hosts. “I will burn up her chariots in smoke, a sword will devour your young lions; I will cut off your prey from the land, and no longer will the voice of your messengers be heard.”

Nineveh had a problem with the God of the Bible. He was against them. Now, you’re going to have enemies in this life. But don’t let God be one of them.

James 4:4 says:

“You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”

There is a push to make Christianity acceptable, to sync it with the spirit of our age, to grind off the edges of every hard word and replace them with something smooth and well-received.

Young men, listen up. JC. Ryle said:

Young men, this enemy is working hard for your destruction, however little you may think it. You are the prize for which he is specially contending. He foresees you must either be the blessings or the curses of your day, and he is trying hard to effect a place in your hearts early in your life, in order that you may help advance his kingdom each day.

Take heed. The enemy is a roaring lion, and he wants to make you a meal. Young ladies, hear me, he is after you as well.

One final word from Romans 8:

31 If God is for us, who is against us? 32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? 33 Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies; 34 who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. 35 Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 Just as it is written,
“For Your sake we are being put to death all day long;
We were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”

37 But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Nothing can stop us when we take refuge in the tower of the God of war.