This is what the LORD says:
"Even though they are powerful -
and what is more, even though their army is numerous -
nevertheless, they will be destroyed and trickle away!
The rising and falling of great powers seems to be an inevitable part of the history of nations. One way of looking at this would be to attribute the instrumental cause of the Fall of Assyria to the rival forces of the era as described in ancient documents. However, in Nahum, God is viewed as the principle cause ...
Although I afflicted you,
I will afflict you no more.
And now, I will break Assyria's yoke bar from your neck;
I will tear apart the shackles that are on you."
The LORD has issued a decree against you:
"Your dynasty will come to an end.
I will destroy the idols and images in the temples of your gods.
I will desecrate your grave - because you are accursed!"
Look! A herald is running on the mountains!
A messenger is proclaiming deliverance:
"Celebrate your sacred festivals, O Judah!
Fulfill your sacred vows to praise God!
For never again will the wicked Assyrians invade you,
they have been completely destroyed."
(NET)
Would we dare do this today?
Would we dare attribute to God the principle cause of judgment, today?
Certainly, some people took a "prophetic" cloak and said that the 9/11 attack on America was God's judgment on the US for fill-in-the-blank reason(s). Thus, the instrumental cause would have been the 19 terrorists and the entities that supported them. Or some would proclaim the economic collapse of the last few years was God's judgment upon America's sin of greed. Again, an instrumental cause of the crisis could be identified but the principle cause would be God's judgment.
This kind of attribution to God's activity was proposed by Abraham Lincoln in regards to the Civil War in his Second Inaugural Address. Excerpt:
If we shall suppose that American Slavery is one of those offenses which, in the providence of God, must needs come, but which, having continued through His appointed time, He now wills to remove, and that He gives to both North and South, this terrible war, as the woe due to those by whom the offense came, shall we discern therein any departure from those divine attributes which the believers in a Living God always ascribe to Him? Fondly do we hope -- fervently do we pray -- that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue, until all the wealth piled by the bond-man's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash, shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said "the judgments of the Lord, are true and righteous altogether."Nahum had the anointing of God as a prophet to speak for God. Jews and Christians accept that as an article of faith.
But what about us? Can we do the same?
I suspect not. I think we can only go as far as Abraham Lincoln did. Lincoln took a prophetic tone but mixed it with a strong dose of humility.
I would not assign God as behind any political party. I can't imagine transferring the words of Nahum 1:12-15 from the Assyrians to fill-in-your-political opponent. In my mind, that would be wrong.
But what if one considers some of the horrible things that happen in some parts of the world? In places where children are forced into the sex trade, what does one say? In places where women can be killed because they dishonored the family, what does one say? In places where opponents of a dictatorship are disappeared, what does one say?
In those situations I want to be able to hear God say,
And now, I will break the oppressor's yoke bar from your neck.
I will tear apart the shackles that are on you.
Your authority will come to an end.
I will destroy the symbols of your power.
I will desecrate the graves of those you honor because you are accursed!
I suppose I could pray like that in my prayer closet?
But what if I'm in the position of authority to sway or command others? Can one take that up that kind of language?
We can't abdicate the responsibility of using discernment in choosing a course of action to deal with injustice in the world!
But can we claim this kind of prophet language?
Would the kind of language Lincoln took in the closing from the Second Inaugural be appropriate?
With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan -- to do all which may achieve and cherish a just, and a lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations.I don't have any answers. I just have questions. But I have no question about the reality that injustice still runs rampant in this world. I want God to fix it. And I want the wisdom to know how to do justice in the realms where I can have an impact and trust God in the realms where I have no impact. Is that arrogant? Is that wrong?
Lord, have mercy. I want to see the oppressor's yoke bar broken where ever oppression is found. We are made in the image of God and I pray where sinful humanity has placed chains upon our fellow man that you would tear apart those chains. Crush those earthly powers that mock the value of human life. With humility and grieving and love but with conviction help me to pray that thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. And grant to me the strength and wisdom to do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with God. Amen.
