Alright, everyone be opening your Bibles and turning to the little book of Nahum. The little book of Nahum. Last week we were introduced to this book. I thought Todd did a very good job giving us an introduction of what this book is about and why it was written and who wrote it. Not a whole lot about who wrote it, but The more important part is why it was written and who it was written to, right? And hopefully what we'll learn out of this. Now, most of the prophets that we've read in the Old Testament and that we've gone through, we've talked about how they've had a lot of judgment in them, right? It's been about judgment for the most part. But that judgment has generally been on God's people. It's been written to and about God's people. Judgment coming for Israel, the northern kingdom. Judgment coming for Judah, the southern kingdom. And I think one thing that we've mentioned and we learned from going through those books is that if God is willing to judge His people, He's most certainly going to judge a wicked world, right? He's most certainly going to judge a wicked people that are adversaries of his children. And that's what we get in this book. That's what Nahum is written for. As Todd brought out last week in the introduction, this book is really a sequel to the book of Jonah. So the primary people that this book is written to and about are the people of Nineveh, the Assyrians. That's where Jonah was sent and where the king of Assyria resided. And much like Jerusalem represents and represented the whole nation oftentimes in the Old Testament, the city of Nineveh really represents, represented here in this book, the entire nation of Assyria. So the judgment that would fall on Nineveh, as we will find in this book, it's really going to fall on the entire nation of Assyria. In the first three and a half verses that Todd covered, those verses established for us that the Lord will bring justice and vengeance on His enemies, on His adversaries, and specifically, again, on the people of Nineveh. Even though He is slow to anger, His anger and His wrath will be poured out on those who remain in rebellion to Him. The heat of His anger and wrath is magnified when it is tied to the oppression of His people and to their vindication. We certainly have that in the people of Nineveh here, as they had greatly oppressed the Israelites. Our passage really is a springboard, though, into a fuller description of the judgment God would bring on the Assyrians through the rest of this book. Keep in mind, as we move through this passage, the patience and mercy God has already displayed, specifically to this people. And really, you can track this mercy and this patience throughout the entire history of mankind, and if we look into the future. We can track this from the flood, all the way through the Old Testament, All the way to our current day and as we look again forward to the future and God's long-suffering as He waits to bring that final judgment. God is long-suffering. He is patient. He is merciful. Much more so than any human being could ever begin to be. Only God has the absolute right to do with His creation as He sees fit. Only God has an absolute right to judge the sins of man. Yet, God's patience is beyond human comprehension. If you think of the history of the world and you continue to project the future and know what's going to happen as the future of mankind continues to unfold, the overwhelming judgment of man only comes after years and years of patience by God. But, there is a point where that long-suffering ends, and when it does, God's wrath and His anger are sure and thorough. And that is where Nineveh and the people of Assyria find themselves in this book. This group of people, this group of heartless and brutal warrior people had experienced firsthand the mercy and longsuffering of God. But they will now experience His wrath and His anger as He executes justice on them. I like how Charles Feinberg spoke about God's wrath and anger in this chapter in this book. He stated, "...the source of God's jealousy is His great love for His people, and He will vindicate the wrongs done to them." God's judgment on Nineveh was certainly due to their evil and wickedness, but don't overlook that it is also due to God's jealousy over how they had treated His children. There was comfort in that for Judah. We'll find that in our passage today. And it should be comfort for us as we sit here and we go through this today. As we go through this passage, we will see man's plans, man's thoughts, man's ideas and desires and their perceived strength and authority. It's really just an exercise in futility. It's an exercise in futility certainly when it comes to pitting that against God. And at this time there was no greater power on earth than the Assyrian people. Yet their power was no match for God. And He warned them of that. Because of that, the title of my sermon is The Futility of Man. The Futility of Man. And I think we'll see that as we work through this passage. Let's pick up and read. We'll just start in verse 3. I'm not going to work through the whole verse of verse 3 because, as I mentioned, Todd did cover the beginning of that. But we'll just start from the beginning of verse 3. It says, He rebukes the sea and makes it dry. He dries up all the rivers. Bashan and Carmel wither. The bloom of Lebanon withers. The mountains quake before Him. The hills melt. The earth heaves before Him. The world and all who dwell in Him. Who can stand before His indignation? Who can endure the heat of His anger? His wrath is poured out like fire, and the rocks are broken into pieces by Him. The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble. He knows those who take refuge in Him. But with an overflowing flood, He will make a complete end of the adversaries, and will pursue His enemies into darkness. What do you plot against the Lord? He will make a complete end. Trouble will not rise up a second time. For they are like entangled thorns, like drunkards as they drink. They are consumed like stubble fully dried. From you came one who plotted evil against the Lord, a worthless counselor. Thus says the Lord, though they are at full strength and many, they will be cut down and pass away. Though I have afflicted you, I will afflict you no more. And now I will break his yoke from off you, and you will burst your bonds apart. The Lord has given commandment about you. No more shall your name be perpetuated. From the house of your gods I will cut off the carved image and the metal image. I will make your grave, for you are vile. Behold, upon the mountains, the feet of Him who brings good news and who publishes peace. Keep your feasts, O Judah. Fulfill your vows. For never again shall the worthless pass through you. He is utterly cut off." Verse 3b, beginning in, His way is the whirlwind and storm and the clouds are the dust of His feet, that through verse 5, those verses really paint a picture of the power of God for us. Now people get angry all of the time and there are a handful of people who have the power to make others fear their anger, right? There are other people, there are people that are alive that have that authority, that power where people tremble at them. But most people don't though. Most people, our anger is insignificant, and it does nothing to other people. To see of, or to hear of, or see their anger, see most of our anger, is nothing, really, because there's just no real threat behind it. Even for those who have the power or the ability to make people fear their anger, though, they all have limitations. All men have limitations, no matter how powerful they are. They can be hidden from. They can be persuaded through bribes or through pleasure. They can be tricked. And ultimately, they are all vulnerable to some form of defeat. But that's not true of Yahweh. His way is in the whirlwind and the storm. The clouds are the dust of His feet. Nahum names three things here in nature which he uses to describe the appearance and the power of God. A whirlwind, a storm, clouds. These are called theophanies or they are visible manifestations of God to man. Nature is often used in Scripture to describe God's power, specifically associated with His judgment. As MacArthur states, nature serves as the theater in which His power and majesty is showcased. And that is true. Unlike humanity, nature and the rest of God's creation obeys His every command. And in doing so, it brings glory to Him, even in judgment. These three things here in verse 3, in the latter part of verse 3, they are forces in nature that men are very familiar with. And these three things have shown themselves throughout the history of mankind to be forces that cannot be controlled. They cannot be stopped by men. I mean, it's been mentioned several times this morning, but we can look no further than the devastation caused in Arkansas and Kentucky and a couple of other states Friday night and look back at the devastation caused here in Tuscaloosa in 2011 to see the destructive power of a storm and how we are just in its wake. We have no power to stop it. And here, Nahum warns that those things, those things of great power and where men have no power over them, they are just the dust of the feet of the Lord. They are just the remnants left behind in the wake of the anger of the Lord, so to speak. I couldn't help but think of Moses when he asked to see the glory of the Lord, and the Lord told him he'd pass by and he'd allow Moses to see the hinder parts, only because Moses could not survive the full view of the glory of God, right? And even in that, he was required to hide behind a cleft of a rock. The power and uncontrollable nature of clouds or whirlwinds or storms, all those things, are things that God has complete control over. There's no mother nature out there. There's no just made up figure that has any type of control and that is controlling these things. No, it is God alone. And nothing can compare to the power of God. Nahum continues in verse 4 by bringing our attention to the most uncontrollable power in nature, in my opinion, the sea. You know, it's funny how God orchestrates things sometimes. I had been studying this passage for a couple of days, a few days ago, and had written some notes about how the sea or the ocean is the most uncontrollable natural force in this world. And later that evening, Hannah and I were riding in the car and she just randomly asked me, she said, what do you think is the most uncontrollable force on the earth? Or something along those lines. And of course, having just gone through this, my answer was the sea. And she agreed. She said that's what she's thinking. The same thing. It scares her to death really sometimes to think of the sea. She has a hard time even stepping foot in the ocean because of just how powerful it is in her mind and how powerful it is not just in her mind. I think most or all would agree with that. That there is a power in the sea that is just remarkable. We can't fathom it. I mean, there's just something overwhelming to me when I think about that. We've built some impressive boats as men, but there are rogue waves which can form out of nowhere in the ocean that can reach heights of 200 feet or more. They have power to destroy anything that we've created. There are depths to the sea that even with our technology, we have yet to actually get down to the deepest part of the sea. We believe that the deepest part of the sea goes down some seven miles. That's so far down that if Mount Everest were to be put in that place, in the deepest part, then the peak of it would still be almost a mile under the sea. It still wouldn't reach the top. And still, with each new depth that we reach, we discover new creatures in those depths of the sea which have not been discovered yet. They're just more animals, more creatures that the Lord has created and placed in those parts. And somehow, He's made them able to withstand that pressure and that weight, despite how deep that is. All of that power, though, we read here in verse 4, it's just simply rebuked by the Lord. Meaning, it obeys His will. Jesus displayed this during His time on earth, and that was as a man where He had been given up His glory and was bound in human flesh, but He controlled the seas. He walked on the seas, we learned not too long ago, and He made the sea and the wind calm down at His Word. Not only does He set its boundaries and declare when it will move and where it will go, He also has the power to dry it up if He chooses to, and that's what we read here. He rebukes the sea and makes it dry. He dries up all the rivers. So it's not just the sea that He controls, it's the rivers or all the natural water sources. Notice how each of these declarations of power of God here are associated with judgment, though. It speaks of the drying up of the sea and it speaks even of the storms and the whirlwind. As we continue to move through these judgments and these displays of power, they will all be associated with God's judgment. The power He displays over these things, they're in a negative way, if you will. God obviously displays His power over nature in positive ways every day, and we're the recipients of that. But judgment is the subject of this letter, and so we see His power displayed in judgment form through these things. Nahum mentions God drying up the rivers in direct reference to these areas of Bashan and Carmel and Lebanon. Each one of these, they represented the most lush, fertile, and desired pieces of land in this area. And what's being said here is if these places could dry up and they could come to nothing, then no place was exempt from judgment. No place would be exempt from drought. God is in control of all of it. No place could men run to, could these Assyrians run to, to be a refuge that God could not touch. It also points to the totality of the devastation which God's judgment would bring. Again, if His judgment is going to dry up these fertile places, then all places will be judged, will be part of judgment. The rivers, the seas, the clouds, the storms, and the whirlwinds, they are all things in nature, again, which cannot be controlled, and they are all unpredictable. They are not stable, if you will, all of these things that have been mentioned so far. But we read next that in verse 5, the mountains quake. The mountains, on the other hand, they are a piece of the earth which are, by definition, basically immovable, right? I mean, they are stable. They are foundations which are held in place by tons and tons of rock and earth. Yet, we read God makes them quake. He can move them by the power and authority that He possesses. He can make them fall or collapse. And Nahum just continues to move through this and make an all-encompassing statement to sum up the power of God here in verse 5. He declares that the whole earth heaves or shakes before God. Having touched on most major forces and markers on earth and nature, Nahum just says the whole earth heaves before God. Why declare this? Why would we say this? Because there's absolutely nothing in or on this earth that is not subject to the power of God, right? To His authority. I mean, the whole earth, and not just mountains, not just seas, not just the uncontrollable things that we think we can't control, but everything. Nothing that would not tremble at His presence or quake at the sound of His voice or succumb to His appointed wrath and judgment. Not in the sky, not on earth, not in the sea, Many men and women today are scared to death because of what they have determined as climate change or global warming. We see it everywhere today. One thing after another has been proposed to stop this, to bring this to an end, to save humanity. The hope is that somehow man can gain some type of control over nature, put a stop to what they believe to be inevitable if we keep going down the same path we're going, but it's really just a fool's errand. We cannot and will not ever be able to control or stop the forces of nature. I'm not saying we shouldn't take care of our earth and what God has given to us, but we're not going to stop nature. We're not going to stop anything in nature because we don't have control over it. Ultimately, why we're not going to is because God is in control of nature and we're not going to stop God. Whatever He has purposed, whatever He has willed is going to come to pass. Not some, again, mythical made-up figure named Mother Nature. But God's control is not bound up in just nature or over nature. He does not exercise complete and absolute control over the skies and over the sea and the mountains or the ground, but then fail to control men. No, the latter part of verse 5 doesn't just declare God's control over all the earth, but all who dwell in it as well. Beast and man alike. Nothing or no one is exempt. No wonder Nahum follows these verses up with verse 6 and asks two questions. He says, who can stand before His indignation? And who can endure the heat of His anger? These questions can be seen maybe as a challenge to any reader, to the Assyrians, as they might have heard this or read this. Are you the one who thinks you can? Can you withstand my indignation? Can you endure the heat of my anger? But really, these should just be seen as rhetorical questions. Meaning, the answer is so obvious that the question doesn't really need to be answered. If sky and sea and mountain listen to His every command, and they are subject to the wrath that He pours out, then what hope does mankind have? The answer, obviously, is none. There is no hope in ourselves. There is no hope for the one who tries to stand before God Almighty, and defy Him, and rebel against Him, and endure His wrath. And we get to verse 7. Well, let me back up. Let me say this. We need to remember as we go through this that this is a message meant directly for those in Nineveh and the Assyrian nation, right? Nahum is giving them this prophecy and this warning, really. No one can stand against or endure God's wrath, His anger, His judgment, and again, that included them. Therefore, His wrath will be poured out like fire on them. The judgment is pronounced and it is sure. It is like a consuming fire. And as we get to this, this latter part of verse 6, as we move through God's power and this impending judgment, I mean, the picture is bleak. It's devastating, is it not? But then we get to verse 7 and we read, "...the Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble. He knows those who take refuge in Him." Kind of an odd place to put that, right? I mean, we can almost see that if we were reading through a book directly to Israel or Judah and speaking of judgment to them. And then he includes this. He does that often in those prophets and in those judgments. This is written to a wicked people that are not His, right? This is a pagan group of people that He's going to judge. How does this fit in our passage? Well, first we need to see just how remarkable this is, how remarkable that He's included this. I mean, God can have this message of judgment given to such a wicked people and then include this message right in the middle of it? Now, the people of Nineveh, again, should have been very familiar with this message. They had experienced it firsthand. They had experienced the mercy of God. Times of trouble had come to their door, but they repented and they took refuge in the Lord. The Lord is good. They had seen that firsthand. And even as judgment was set to come on the Assyrians again, the truth is, any and all Assyrian who took refuge in the Lord, who would have tried to take refuge in the Lord, he would have been their stronghold. He would have not denied that. But Nahum seems to add this kind of as a reminder here in the middle of this passage, a needed reminder. This is obviously, again, a book written to proclaim this devastating judgment of the Lord. It declares His anger and His wrath as we have seen very quickly. And the truth is, humanity, people in general, we tend to blame everyone else for our tragedies, right? How could God be such a hateful God and do this? Someone might ask. People then respond, I refuse to believe in a God who allows such things to happen. Who would do such things? But as I began this sermon, God is far more patient and forgiving than any human has ever hoped to be. Even in the midst of judgment of this wicked people, the offer of forgiveness is still there. It will be no different in the midst of the greatest wickedness and judgment to ever come upon the earth during the time of tribulation. The whole tribulation is filled with judgment, but it is filled with God's warnings and call to repentance. And again, even in those days, anyone who repents will be forgiven and God will become their refuge. God is a good God. But the primary thrust of this promise, I think, was not really meant for the Assyrians, although they could take hold of it if they chose to. You must remember that Israel had been defeated and taken captive by the Assyrians, and Judah had been invaded right after that, right? The northern kingdom had been defeated and taken captive. They came on into the southern kingdom of Judah, and God had miraculously saved Judah from Assyria at that time. But they were still a threat to Judah, even though they had returned, even though they were not directly invading Judah at that time. They were still a major threat to them. They were still the primary enemy of Judah at this time. And this is really directed to the Judeans as a reminder of what God was to them, even though it seemed as though the Assyrians' power, and this book was probably written at the height of their power, really. So it seems like their power would just continue to grow and would ultimately lead to their invasion of Judah as well, and their defeat. And they're taking them into captivity as they did the northern kingdom. And this is just included in here in the midst of this to remind Judah to have faith in God, even how it looks. And in their moment, this is a prophecy of what's going to come of them, of the Assyrians, and a reminder to the Judeans just to take refuge in the Lord, even in this time of trouble. Because He would be their refuge. He would be their stronghold. God cannot be fooled though, nor does He lose track of one who truly takes refuge in Him. So He's promised to be a stronghold for those who take refuge in Him, but it says He knows those who take refuge in Him. The whole world can be in chaos and everyone around you can be subject to God's wrath, but anyone who takes refuge in God will be spared. They will be saved. They will have God as a stronghold. God's not going to lose sight of who His are. He's not going to get confused as to who the evil are and who His children are, right? But on the other hand, as we get to verse 8, for any adversary, any enemy of God, anyone who does not take refuge in Him, when He brings judgment, God's wrath will come for them as an overwhelming flood. Think of floodwaters you've seen after major hurricanes like Katrina, or think of huge tsunami waves crashing over a town or into a town by the coast. There's just no escape from that, right? I mean, there's no getting away from that for anyone who stays in that area. You can't hide in a car. You can't hide in a room in a house. Water is going to come through all of that. It's going to come through all the cracks and the crevices, and it's going to just fill, and it can't be stopped. This is the picture of the wrath of God. He will make a complete end to His enemies. Now, this specific description here was very likely a prophecy of the actual destruction that would come upon the Assyrians. History tells us that when the Babylonian army conquered the Assyrians, the Tigris River flooded and overflowed, and in doing so, it swept away the floodgates of the city and the foundations of the palace And the Babylonians were then allowed to invade. That invading army was allowed to come through and find a way through in what was thought to be an impenetrable wall that Nineveh had erected along with the moat that they had. There's no hiding from God or His wrath. No matter what we build, no matter what we think we've done to protect ourselves, they could not hide behind a wall that they thought was invincible. As Nahum goes on to state, God will then continue to pursue into the darkness. And the darkness is where evil comes alive, right? It's where many go to hide that are committing sin. Men are limited in the darkness themselves, and they think others are limited, so that's where they're going to go. They're going to go to the darkness to hide their wickedness. And again, there's a lot of wickedness that goes unpunished in the dark, but the dark cannot hide you from God or from His wrath. He's not bound by any type of darkness. So that begs the next question then. We read in verse 9, what do you plot against the Lord? What possible plan could any of us come up with to defeat the Lord, to escape His judgment? There is none. There is no plan. There is no plot. That should be clear by now, should it not? Anyone who's read this far, who's had this explained so far, it should be evident. Nineveh might have tried to plot, but they would not succeed. And he warns them here that he would make a complete end to them. Any plots they had would be overturned and they would be devastated. There would be no second chance. This would be final. And we know that to be true from history. After their defeat at the hands of this invading army, the Assyrian nation would basically cease to exist. The city of Nineveh was destroyed. There's no second chance. There's no revival of the city of Nineveh to go against the Lord again and go against His people. They weren't just swallowed up into Babylon as many conquered nations are. God's judgment of them was complete. In verse 10, Nahum compares the Assyrians to entangled thorns and to drunkards and to fully dried stubble that's been consumed. And in doing so, he's saying that as plotters against the Lord, they are like thorns which choke out life and drunkards who stumble around and have no sense. Or even like fully dried stubble which is completely useless and then burned through fire or consumed. They weren't just... all these are adequate descriptions of Nineveh as they thought they could plot against the Lord, right? As they thought they could come up with some plan against Yahweh to defeat Him and to challenge Him, they really were nothing more than entangled thorns or drunkards or fully dried stubble that has been consumed. They were nothing. Verse 11 tells us that from Nineveh came one who plotted evil against the Lord, a worthless counselor. Who is this speaking of specifically? We can't be sure. This worthless counselor. The phrase wicked counselor or worthless counselor is literally translated counselor of Belial. It can be translated that way. So for obvious reasons, many believe that this one who plotted or this wicked counselor is Satan himself. Others believe it's referring to one of the kings of Assyria, most likely Sennacherib, who was the king that invaded the northern kingdom first and then who went on in to invade Judah. Of course, this could just be a counselor to the king. It could be one of his cabinet, as we'd call them today, for the president, who had influence over him, and he's given them this counsel, this wicked counsel. Whoever it's referring to, though, two things are clear, that satanic influence is involved. Satan may not be the wicked counselor mentioned, but his influence is apparent, it is real. And the second thing is, This wicked counselor is an absolute moron to plot against God. I mean, there's no hope. Verse 12, even at full strength and numerous people coming against God, God was going to cut them down. It says, though they are at full strength and many, they will be cut down and pass away. Again, I'll remind everyone that Assyria was still a very powerful country at this time when the prophecy was given. Again, and in fact, this might have been the height of their power. They were a well-known nation and they were a powerful nation, but it didn't matter. They couldn't stand against God. And as I stated earlier, God would cut them down and they would be no more. He's warned them. He's told them, and this is exactly what happened. And the truth is, there is no human army, no matter how numerous, there is no angelic army, no matter how powerful, that can stand against God. No matter how prepared they are, no matter how numerous they are, no matter how powerful they are, there is no comparison to the Creator and His power. Then this odd section in verse 12 kind of begins here with, "...though I have afflicted you, I will afflict you no more." And it says in verse 13, "...and now I will break his yoke from off you, and I will burst your bonds apart." This is part of a quote from the Lord. It's part of a quotation here from the Lord that began, "...though they are at full strength, and many, they will be cut down and pass away." I mean, it seems apparent that that is speaking of Assyria, of the city of Nineveh, that that is what He's going to do. He's going to cut them off, and that's speaking specifically to them. As it gets into, though I have afflicted you, it's a little more difficult to understand. It would seem that it would just continue to flow when he's speaking to the people of Nineveh, but most agree this is talking to a different group than who he's addressing there in the beginning of verse 12. The first part of the verse is written in third person, and again, it seems clear that God is speaking to the people of Nineveh. The second part, though, beginning with, "...though I have afflicted you," is written in second person, and most agree that He's speaking to Judah here. He's shifting and speaking to Judah here. And in doing so, God is comforting Judah through this message of judgment on Nineveh, and He tells them that He, meaning God, will no longer afflict them with the bondage of the Assyrians. Even though Assyria had not conquered Judah entirely, they still held Judah captive with fear and oppression. And again, it was always a reality that they could invade at any point and take Judah captive. But why would God allow affliction and oppression for His people? Why would He say, I will no longer afflict you? Well, Job tells us that it can be for educational purposes. It can be to teach us. We can go through afflictions or trials and tribulations for that purpose. According to 2 Corinthians, it can be for preventative purposes, meaning that God allows us to go through trials to keep us from maybe another great sin or another great struggle that we would have in our lives if not for that. According to 1 Peter, it is to test the genuineness of our faith. But for Judah here, and for many of us, many Christians, God allows affliction as a means of punitive purposes, right? I mean, our own sin brings it about often, and God allows that to teach us, to punish us, as a good father does, as a corrective measure, and to bring us back into full fellowship with Him, as He has meant for Judah. That doesn't mean that God takes the affliction of His children lightly, though, right? He takes them seriously, especially when they come from the hands of wicked men, as they had here with the people of Nineveh. So in verse 14, Nahum issues this last decree from the Lord concerning Nineveh. He pronounces three judgments on the Assyrians. He states that their name would be no more, or be perpetuated no more. It would be cut off. This was likely directed specifically to the king of Assyria as representing the nation as a whole. His descendants would be cut off. There would be no next in line to take the throne. The throne would go away. This was quite the prophecy as Nineveh, again, had been the dominant force in the world for years, but that would no longer be the case once God brought this judgment. He goes on then to promise that in the house of their gods, He would cut off their idols and make a grave. In the very house that these people went to worship and went for protection and went for blessing, where they went and believed that they had authority to have this power and they gained their power from, God is going to bring a ruin to it. Anyone or any nation that builds an idol and puts faith in it is ultimately just building their own grave. An idol does not have to be a graven image, right? It does not have to be a thing made by, shaped and crafted into a God, a little God that we would sit down and worship as that way. It can take many forms. A temple doesn't have to be, or a place of worship doesn't have to be a temple that's erected. It can take form in many places. Anything that we take over God, that we put over God, that we make more important than God, and we have trust in over God, I mean, that becomes an idol. That is an idol. It's at a place. That place is a place of worship, whether it's declared a temple or not. In fact, I would argue most idols and temples today are not typical places of worship or typical forms of idols of a God, yet they're just as much idols as carved images placed in the temple. Then the third and final prophecy is that the king will be put to death, and in his death, the whole nation's death is represented here, this grave that it speaks of. Why? Because he and the Assyrian nation were vile. Now, when we read that word vile, we think of despicable, we think of really wicked and evil, and that is true of this nation and of the king, they were. Really, the word could be translated, probably more properly translated, as in, they were light. Let me explain this. As they were weighed, they were put in the balances and weighed, and they were found wanting. They were a light thing to God. There was nothing for God to do this. They'd come up empty in their ability to serve God and their desire to serve God as they had served these idols and they'd been found wanting and it was nothing for God to bring this judgment on them. Then this chapter concludes with good news. Verse 15 reads, This verse echoes Isaiah 52 verse 7. Both that verse and this verse are basically foretelling much of the same thing. They're representing the same thing. In Isaiah, that verse in chapter 52 verse 7, it foretells the good news of the defeat of Babylon. And here, Nahum promises that there would be good news coming from the mountains from one who would let Judah know about the defeat and destruction of Nineveh, of the Assyrians. And this would have been a time for rejoicing for the Judeans, right? As peace had finally been declared and that they had been given this joy and peace that they had not been able to have since the Assyrians had taken such power. Assyria and Babylon, they really represented the two greatest forms of captivity and oppression and evil against Israel post-Egypt, right, throughout their history. After Egypt, these two nations, they represented, again, the greatest forms of captivity and oppression and evil against them. Deliverance from these two nations, it was significant. It showcased God's mercy to them. It also showcased His commitment to His covenant people. If you can imagine the oppression and fear that gripped the people of Judah, with this great, powerful, wicked, and evil, barbaric nation of Assyria set to invade them at any point. And then upon hearing of their defeat, they would have been overcome with joy and relief. Because of that, the New Testament uses this same language in several places to emphasize the good news of the gospel. For example, in Luke 2, verse 10, we read, And the angel said to them, Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news and great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. In Romans 10, Paul actually quotes this verse, or really probably quotes Isaiah 52.7, same idea though, same thought, when he states in verse 15 of chapter 10, and how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, how beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news." Now, neither Paul nor the angel in Luke were taking the passage from Isaiah or Nahum out of context. They weren't just pulling a passage and quoting it for their own purposes and it didn't have context. They were both just taking a truth from those texts The fact that the message of the defeat of Nineveh and Babylon brought great joy and peace to the people of God because it brought them out of any type of captivity, any type of oppression that those two nations held on them. And they applied that truth to the good news of the gospel. Does the breaking of the bondage of captivity of sin not bring peace and joy? Does it not bring much greater peace and joy even than that experienced by Judah after the conquering of Assyria and Babylon? Of course. And as these feet would come, as we're told, they would come to the mountain, they would declare this breaking of bondage from the people of Nineveh. So we are to declare that in the gospel, the breaking of the bondage of sin. Finally, the prophet tells them they would have had to be able to go back to having their feasts. During any siege of Judah or Jerusalem, feasts would have been stopped. They wouldn't have been able to have them. People would have been unable to, again, carry them out. And that certainly would have been the case for Judah when Assyria first invaded. And even though Assyria was not invading at the time of this prophecy, likely the fear of that invasion was imminent. And so the fear was that their feasts would not be, they would not be able to have the feasts. They're told now that they could proceed forward with no fear. They would have been expected to fulfill any vows that they had made to the Lord surrounding Nineveh and the people of Assyria. And ultimately, the Lord declares that, "...never again shall the worthless pass through you." He is utterly cut off. Again, the Assyrians were no more, so they would never again pass through the nation of Israel. I can't end this passage without really pointing out a future relevance to it or of it. And this just kept jumping out to me as I read through this. As I hope that Todd and I have made clear through the first two sermons, the prophecy was written specifically to and about Nineveh, right? And how God's judgment would fall on them. But all of these displays of power and judgment, they're seen in the book of Revelation. They're seen in the prophecy of the time of the tribulation period. Each one of these sections are going to be seen as reality in the future, as declared in the book of Revelation in that future day of judgment. Great storms are going to bring destruction on this earth. It's not going to be just limited to Nineveh or Assyria. It's going to be the whole earth. God will dry out rivers and streams to bring great drought The ocean will bring destructive waves. Earthquakes will be so great that the greatest landmarkers and foundations on earth will be subject to crumble. Darkness will be so deep on the world just prior to His return, yet God will not be thwarted by that, right? Nobody's going to be able to hide in that darkness. He will still bring exact judgment and full judgment on this earth. The whole world will be taken captive at that time by the most wicked counselor in creation, Satan himself. And he, along with the world, they will plot against God. Exactly what we've been reading through here. They will quite literally attempt to defeat God. They will come in great numbers. They will come in great power. They will come equipped by the most powerful being God has created, or one of the most powerful beings that God has created, but it will be to no avail, as God will have no trouble bringing that judgment and destroying His adversaries and thwarting their plans, right? During that great day of judgment and tribulation, though, God will still be a refuge for those who trust in Him. We read in the book of Revelation how He'll place a seal on the forehead of His people and they will be safe for many, if not all of the plagues and destruction that He Himself is going to bring. Now, not to say that there won't be some people who will trust in God and still die. I mean, we know that there will be many martyrs in that day. But even for the martyrs, there is that ultimate greater refuge upon their death and as they enter into the presence of Jesus. And then as verse 15 speaks about upon the mountains the feet of Him who brings good news, who publishes peace. In Zechariah 14, speaking of that day when Jesus will return in judgment, speaks of Jesus returning to the mountain and setting His feet on the mountain, right? And although He's come in judgment and He's brought that judgment, when He sets His feet on the mountain and begins to reign as King, He's bringing peace. He's bringing joy. He's bringing the good news of His return, of His kingship. And that's important to us as we learn from Nahum because even though we aren't Israel and Nineveh is no longer inhabited or ripe for judgment, the world is. And they need to be warned constantly. We also need to be comforted by these words, though, in the same way that Judah should have been and were meant to be. Every child of God, even in the midst of great tribulation, should take refuge in the Lord and should look forward to the day when He stands on that mountain and His feet bring the news of great joy and peace. Now, I asked you earlier, and I'll finish with this, I asked you earlier, what possible plan could any of us come up with to escape the judgment of the Lord. I mean, this question was asked here by Nahum. The answer I gave to you is a true one. There is no plan that you, me, Albert Einstein, the greatest minds alive today or in the future could ever come up with to escape judgment for our sin. We are not smart enough. We are not powerful enough. We're not righteous enough. That's right, we aren't righteous enough, despite what we may think of ourselves at times. We deserve judgment for our rebellion and our sin. So there is no hope for you or I. Because of that, we should fear God, should we not? We should fear what's said here. After all, the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord. When we come to that truth, though, then our next step is to realize that we don't have to come up with a plan to escape the judgment of God. God already did that for us. It's the same plan He had before He even created the world. It was plan A then, and it still is plan A today. Not only did God come up with a plan that we could never come up with, He provided the solution for our sins, which would both punish our sins as they have to be punished, but also allow us to spend eternity with Him in heaven, free of sin. And that's in Jesus. That is through His death, burial, and resurrection. That is through the blood and the sacrifice of our Savior. Why would we want to plot and scheme worthless plans and worthless schemes against such a wonderful and loving God who would do that for us despite our wickedness? Should we not just want to praise Him and spend eternity with Him? I pray that that is our desire as we sit here today, as we learn today, as we worship this great Savior of ours. If it's not, Ultimately, this judgment is going to be meant for anyone standing apart from Him as well. It was for the Assyrians at this time, but there is judgment meant for all who stand apart from God. So I implore you to seek Him because He's a good God. He's a good Lord. Stand with me.