THE BOOK OF NAHUM

(“The Great Harlot Is Exposed”)

Nahum 3:1-7 (NASU)

⁵“‘Behold, I am against you,’ declares the Lord of hosts; ‘and I will lift up your skirts over your face, and show to the nations your nakedness and to the kingdoms your disgrace. ⁶I will throw filth on you and make you vile, and set you up as a spectacle. ⁷And it will come about that all who see you will shrink from you and say, “Nineveh is devastated! Who will grieve for her?” Where will I seek comforters for you?’” (Nahum 3:5-7)

(A) AN EYE FOR AN EYE

(1) I’ve seen it caricaturized more than once in movies and television shows – where the lead character encounters a religious zealot (for some reason, in Hollywood’s world view, it’s always a “religious” zealot who claims to be a Christian) who lives by the code of an eye for an eye – which he uses to justify his own brutal sense of justice, that often includes taking revenge on anyone who has wronged him.

I call this a “caricature”, because it’s a gross distortion of an important biblical principle – namely, that when wrongdoers are caught, their punishment should fit the crime – by being neither too lenient, NOR too harsh.

(2) As far as I know, the first place this principle is stated in Scripture is Exodus chapter twenty-one (please turn there in your own bible, so you can see it as well as hear it), which says: ²²“If men struggle with each other and strike a woman with child so that she has a miscarriage, yet there is no further injury, he shall surely be fined as the woman’s husband may demand of him, AND he shall pay AS THE JUDGES DECIDE (hence, this was not a matter of personal revenge – rather, it was a decision arrived at by appropriate authorities, who are also the ones who are to apply the following principles). ²³But if there is any further injury, then you (i.e. the judge, not the offended individual) shall appoint as a penalty life for life, ²⁴eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, ²⁵burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise” (c.f. Exodus 21:22-25).

This principle is repeated (and developed) in Leviticus chapter twenty-four (turn there, please), where we’re told: ¹⁷“If a man takes the life of any human being, he shall surely be put to death (this statement clearly endorses capital punishment as an appropriate penalty murder). ¹⁸The one who takes the life of an animal shall make it good, life for life (presumably this doesn’t mean the guilty party must kill one of his own animals, to kind of “even things out” – rather, he must make restitution to the man he has “injured” by replacing the dead animal with one of equal value). ¹⁹If a man injures his neighbor, JUST AS HE HAS DONE, SO IT SHALL BE DONE TO HIM (i.e. no more, no less – as the passage goes on to explain, saying): ²⁰fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; JUST AS HE HAS INJURED A MAN, SO IT SHALL BE INFLICTED ON HIM. ²¹Thus (and here we’re given an example of how this principle was to be applied) the one who kills an animal SHALL MAKE IT GOOD (like I just said), but the one who kills a man SHALL BE PUT TO DEATH (hence, in both instances the principle of “life for life” was to be carried out – albeit in two different ways, based on two different sets of circumstances). ²²There shall be one standard for you (in other words, we are not to show favoritism by applying this penalty to some and not others – on the contrary), it shall be for THE STRANGER as well as THE NATIVE, for I am the Lord your God” (c.f. Leviticus 24:17-22).

This principle is also found in Deuteronomy chapter nineteen (turn there, please), which says: ¹⁶“If a malicious witness rises up against a man to accuse him of wrongdoing, ¹⁷then both … men … shall stand before the Lord, before the priests and THE JUDGES who will be in office in those days. ¹⁸THE JUDGES shall investigate thoroughly, and if the witness is a false witness and he has accused his brother falsely, ¹⁹then YOU SHALL DO TO HIM JUST AS HE HAD INTENDED TO DO TO HIS BROTHER. Thus you shall purge the evil from among you. ²⁰The rest will hear and be afraid, and will never again do such an evil thing among you (this tells us these penalties also functioned as a deterrent, to help keep others from committing similar crimes). ²¹Thus you shall not show pity (i.e. judges are not to show favoritism, or let their personal feelings get in the way – rather, they are to apply the principle of): life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot” (c.f. Deuteronomy 19:16-21).

(3) In general, then, we can say that the principle of “an eye for an eye” is to be carried out by civil authorities (c.f. Romans 13:3-4), rather than private individuals – which means this law is NOT an endorsement of personal revenge. You and I, as ordinary citizens, are not to practice “an eye for an eye” – BUT the state is. As Christians, we are not to take retributive justice into our own hands – rather, we are to leave that to Almighty God (c.f. Romans 12:18-21), whom Scripture says, “judges righteously” (c.f. Jeremiah 11:20; I Peter 2:23).

Another thing to note is that, even in Old Testament times, this law of “an eye for an eye” doesn’t appear to have been carried out literally in every case.¹ On the contrary, judges were to use discretion – in part, by taking the circumstances of each case into account (c.f. Exodus 21:12-14, 18-19, 26-27).

(4) Jesus spoke about this “eye for an eye” principle in His Sermon on the Mount, saying (in Matthew chapter five, starting at verse thirty-eight): ³⁸“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’ ³⁹But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. ⁴⁰If anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, let him have your coat also. ⁴¹Whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him two. ⁴²Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you” (c.f. Matthew 5:38-42).

Some think our Lord was actually setting aside the law of retributive justice in this passage – but that’s not the case (c.f. Matthew 5:17-18). What He was repudiating was the misuse of this law, so that it became an excuse for personal revenge. AS INDIVIDUALS, we Christians are to respond to the wrongs done to us as Jesus has outlined – following His own example (c.f. I Peter 2:21-23). AS A JUDGE OR CIVIL AUTHORITY, however, we are required (by God) to apply a just penalty to wrongdoers – one that fits their crime – one that is neither too lenient, nor excessive.

(5) I bring all this up to underscore the severity of Nineveh’s “crimes” – to get you to think about how great the sins of the Assyrian people must have been, for God to have poured out on them the kind of retribution we find described – not only in tonight’s Scripture lesson, but throughout the short Book of Nahum.

For you see, the principle of “an eye for an eye” isn’t just something God has commanded humanity to practice – it’s something God Himself practices! Indeed, it’s one of the ways the attribute of His justice manifests itself – for when “the Lord takes vengeance on His adversaries” (c.f. Nahum 1:2), He’s never excessive nor too lenient. When He punishes guilty sinners, He never punishes them too severely, or too lightly.

(6) This also means we can measure (to some extent) the magnitude of a person’s sins by the degree of punishment God ultimately inflicts on them – that we can judge (in a limited fashion) the seriousness of a nation’s offenses against the Almighty, by the kind of retribution He brings upon them. We can even judge (albeit not fully) the enormity of our own sins against God, by the intensity of suffering Jesus underwent on our behalf on the cross (c.f. Mark 15:34).

(7) So, when we read (in chapter one, verse eight) that God “will make a COMPLETE END of (Nineveh’s) site, and … pursue His enemies into darkness” (c.f. Nahum 1:8) – we can be sure the Lord was NOT being excessive in His judgment. Rather, He gave the Assyrian people exactly what their sins deserved.

When we read (in chapter two) that Nineveh “is stripped … emptied … (and left) desolate and waste” (c.f. Nahum 2:7, 10) – we can be sure this punishment fit her sins.

When we read (in tonight’s Scripture lesson, verse seven) that “Nineveh is devastated … (with no one to) grieve for her” (c.f. Nahum 3:7) – we can be sure her punishment was just, and not excessive.

And when God says (in verses five and six): “I will lift up your skirts over your face, and show to the nations your nakedness … I will throw filth on you and make you vile” (c.f. Nahum 3:5-6) – we can be certain, no matter how repulsive that kind of imagery may be to us, that God was not being vindictive, or cruel, or malevolent. Rather, He was dispensing justice, by giving the Assyrians exactly what their sins desired – no more, and no less – simply, “an eye for an eye”!

(B) AND THE WINNER IS …!

(1) Verse five of tonight’s text opens with “the Lord of hosts” saying to the nation of Assyria and her people (for the second time in six verses): “Behold, I am against you” (c.f. Nahum 3:5; see also Nahum 2:13).

(2) Repetition (especially within the space of a few verses) is one of the ways the Holy Spirit emphasizes certain truths in Scripture. And, as we noted in an earlier message,³ at least one of the things being emphasized here is the certainty of Nineveh’s destruction – that her doom is sure, and her fate sealed. This time there will be no relenting, as in the days of Jonah (c.f. Jonah 3:4-10) – this time, what God said later about Jerusalem now applies to Nineveh, namely: “‘… I have set My face against this city for harm and not for good,’ declares the Lord. ‘It WILL be given into the hand of the king of Babylon and he WILL burn it with fire’” (c.f. Jeremiah 21:10) (and of course, that’s exactly what happened!).

(3) I said last time⁴ that, “as wicked and evil as the Assyrians were, had they confessed their … sins and repented – had they thrown themselves on God’s grace, as an earlier generation of their people had done – they could have found forgiveness, and deliverance, and salvation – at least for themselves, if not for their nation” (see page 19). I still stand by that statement, in part, because Jesus Himself once said: “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and THE ONE WHO COMES TO ME I WILL CERTAINLY NOT CAST OUT” (c.f. John 6:37).

At the same time, however, it’s also true that people and nations can become so hardened in their sins, and so confirmed in their evil practices, that there’s nothing left for them but (what the Book of Hebrews calls) “a terrifying expectation of judgment” (c.f. Hebrews 10:27).

Hence, the words: “Behold, I am against you” (c.f. Nahum 3:5) are similar (at least in their implication) to that message the Lord wrote on the wall of King Belshazzar’s banquet hall – the one that said: ²⁶“… God has numbered your kingdom and put an end to it. ²⁷… you have been weighed on the scales and found deficient” (c.f. Daniel 5:26-27). You may also recall that chapter ends by telling us: “THAT SAME NIGHT Belshazzar the Chaldean king was slain” – and what was left of the Babylonian Empire passed into the hands of “Darius the Mede” (c.f. Daniel 5:30-31).

The end of the Assyrian Empire didn’t come quite as quickly – that is, within a few hours of divine judgment being announced – but it’s coming was just as certain. As God says elsewhere: “Truly I have spoken; truly I WILL BRING IT TO PASS. I have planned it, surely I WILL DO IT” (c.f. Isaiah 46:11).

(4) Another way to understand the words, “‘Behold, I am against you,’ declares the Lord …” (c.f. Nahum 3:5), is as a declaration that Nineveh is about to meet her match.

For decades (even centuries) the Assyrians had pretty much had their way. There were some set backs here and there (c.f. II Kings 19:35) – but for the most part, Assyria had bullied and beaten up on nations weaker than herself. For the most part, she had filled her den with the torn flesh of hapless victims (c.f. Nahum 2:13) – piled up a “mass of corpses and dead bodies” (c.f. Nahum 3:3) – destroyed one nation after another with her harlotries, and countless families with her sorceries (c.f. Nahum 3:4).

Now, however, the bully was about to come face to face with someone she could neither intimidate nor defend herself against. Hence, when God says: “Behold, I AM against you” (c.f. Nahum 3:5) – it’s kind of like the proverbial “big brother” coming to the rescue of one of his younger siblings, saying, “You want to pick on someone? Pick on Me!”

The people of Judah, who had suffered so much at the hands of the Assyrians, would have been comforted and encouraged by this kind of imagery (c.f. Nahum 1:15; 2:2). Hence, the psalmist cries out and says: ⁴“Rescue me, O my God, out of the hand of the wicked, out of the grasp of the wrongdoer and ruthless man, ⁵for You are my hope; O Lord God, You are my confidence …” (c.f. Psalm 71:4).

(5) To take this motif just a little farther – as Christians, our greatest enemies include “death” and “the devil” (c.f. I Corinthians 15:26; I Peter 5:8) – our greatest enemies include “the world forces of … darkness, (and) the spiritual forces of wickedness in … heavenly places” (c.f. Ephesians 6:12) – our greatest enemies include “the world” and “the flesh” (c.f. I John 2:16). Nor are we capable of defending ourselves against all these enemies, or overcoming them in our own strength – indeed, left to ourselves, they will always overwhelm us and defeat us.

What a relief, then, to hear our Savior say (as it were) to our enemies: “Behold, I AM against you” (c.f. Nahum 3:5). “These children of Mine are no match for you – but you are no match for Me!” Hence, concerning death, Scripture says: “thanks be to GOD, who GIVES US THE VICTORY THROUGH OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST” (c.f. I Corinthians 15:57) – while concerning the world it says: “the one who overcomes the world (is) he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God” (c.f. I John 5:5) – while in yet another place, we’re told that, “VICTORY BELONGS TO THE LORD” (c.f. Proverbs 21:31).

3. THE HARLOT IS HUMILIATED

(1) Recently, the prophet Nahum has used several different images to try and give us an idea what the Assyrians were really like – even some idea of what they looked like to the Lord (c.f. Isaiah 40:22; 55:8; 64:6). For example, at the end of chapter two he compared them to ferocious and savage lions – “filling their dens with the torn flesh of their victims” (c.f. Nahum 2:11-12). In verse four of tonight’s Scripture lesson, he compares them to a harlot and sorceress (c.f. Nahum 3:4) – casting an evil spell over her intended victims, while also luring them to destruction² with her seductive charms.

(2) The imagery of a harlot is still in view in tonight’s text, where Nahum writes (in verse five):

“‘Behold, I am against you,’ declares the Lord of hosts;

‘And I will lift up your skirts over your face,

And show to the nations your nakedness

And to the kingdoms your disgrace.’” (c.f. Nahum 3:5)

(a) O. Palmer Robertson writes: “Like an alluring harlot, Nineveh had flaunted her gypsy ‘skirts’, tantalizing with the enticing slips underneath. Flowered, free-flowing, colorful ‘skirts’ vibrating with movement and life.”⁵

In other words, just as an adulteress uses external things like clothes, makeup, and jewelry to make herself appear beautiful and desirable – so Nineveh had used things like power and wealth (c.f. Nahum 2:9), pageantry and pomp, amusements and vice to attract illicit lovers – and many had been beguiled and blinded by these seductive accessories. Indeed, in the heat of the moment (so to speak), she appeared to be as beautiful and “charming” (c.f. Nahum 3:4) as “advertised”.

(b) Now, however, God was going to expose Nineveh for what she really was⁶ – just like prostitutes in Old Testament times were often shamed by being publicly exposed.⁷ Whereas Nineveh had “lifted her skirts” for her lovers under the cover of darkness (as it were) – now God was going to “lift her skirts over her face” in broad daylight (c.f. II Samuel 12:11-12), so everyone could see her “nakedness” – so that even her paramours would be repulsed at the sight of her “disgrace” (c.f. Nahum 3:5).

In other words, once the mighty city lay in ruins, all those who had found her so enticing and desirable in the past, would be shocked and repulsed at the sight of her lewdness and humiliation – so much so, that even they (verse seven) would not “grieve for her” (c.f. Nahum 3:7).

(3) Verse six continues the prophetic picture of God’s public humiliation of the great harlot, saying:

“I will throw filth on you

And make you vile,

And set you up as a spectacle.” (c.f. Nahum 3:6)

(a) The “filth” spoken of here is refuse,⁸ or garbage – perhaps even human waste.⁹ Hence, the NKJV uses the phrase, “abominable filth”. To throw this kind of “filth” on someone was a sign of great contempt⁸ – and, according to at least one writer, this was how harlots were sometimes treated in biblical times.¹⁰

(b) The imagery behind the act was this – being outwardly covered with filth pointed to the inner filth of the heart⁶ – the filth people could not see, was exposed (as it were) by the filth they could see. What’s more, being splotched and spattered with “abominable filth” took away the harlot’s charm and beauty – leaving her repulsive, and “vile” (c.f. Nahum 3:6), and foul smelling.

(c) Even so, Nineveh would be covered with the filth of ruin and rubble – death and devastation (c.f. Nahum 3:7) – ashes and mud (c.f. Nahum 1:8) – debris and destruction – rotting bodies and lost glory. Indeed, God made “a spectacle” (c.f. Nahum 3:6) of Nineveh as a warning to other nations (including our own), not to follow in the footsteps of her harlotries and sorceries, lest they (and we) suffer a similar fate – in which pomp and pride are replaced by international shame and disgrace.¹¹

(4) Finally, God says in verse seven (c.f. Nahum 3:7):

“And it will come about that all who see you

Will shrink from you and say,

‘Nineveh is devastated!

Who will grieve for her?’

Where will I seek comforters for you?”

(a) The exposure of Nineveh’s moral and spiritual “nakedness” (c.f. Nahum 3:5) – along with the “spectacle” of seeing her covered with the “filth” of her sins (c.f. Nahum 3:6) – will cause people and nations to “recoil” at the sight (c.f. Nahum 3:7). However, no one will “grieve” over her “devastation” (c.f. Nahum 3:7). Indeed, people will ask themselves: “Who will grieve for her?” – the answer being, “No one!” Which, in turn, leads God to ask: “Where will I seek comforters for you?” (c.f. Nahum 3:7) – the answer being, “There won’t be any, because no one will be sorry to see the Assyrian Empire come to an end” (c.f. Nahum 3:19).

(b) One writer said: “Although (the) nations are stunned at the sight (of Nineveh’s destruction), they cannot find one among themselves to grieve over (her) calamity.”¹¹ To put it another way, just as the Assyrians had not grieved over the cities and nations they destroyed – so none of the surviving cities and nations will grieve over her destruction. Just as the people of Nineveh shed no tears over the thousands upon thousands of individuals her armies killed – so none of the surrounding peoples will weep over their deaths (an eye for an eye!).

(c) In short, the Assyrian Empire would disappear from history, and the people of Nineveh would go to their deaths, unmourned and uncomforted – utterly friendless,⁸ and terribly alone.¹²

(d) O. Palmer Robertson draws this application from that alarming picture, saying: “So shall it be (at the end of the) age. (Just as) the plague of darkness at the time of the Exodus (left) every Egyptian alone, (afraid to move) from his seat (c.f. Exodus 10:22-23) – so part of the judgment of hell will be the utter isolation of people … from one another, in a darkness that separates (each person) from all possible comforters.”¹³

I actually heard a person joke about hell one time, saying something to this effect: “I want to go to hell, because that’s where all my friends will be” – as though he thought he and his friends were going to “party” together in the eternal flames (c.f. Matthew 25:41; Jude 1:7) – or at least keep one another company.

There are no parties in hell – NOR are there any sources of “comfort” – only an “agony” (c.f. Luke 16:24-25) that’s as humanly indescribable as the joys of heaven (c.f. I Corinthians 2:9). An “agony” that each person will have to suffer alone – without anyone to share their “grief” – without even the “comfort” of being able to suffer alongside someone else (c.f. Nahum 3:7).

(e) Thankfully, Scripture says that “… God has not destined us for (that kind of) wrath (or any kind of wrath, for that matter), but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us …” (c.f. I Thessalonians 5:9-10) – taking the wrath we deserved upon Himself (c.f. Matthew 27:46; I John 4:10).

Thankfully Scripture says: ¹⁰“… Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy … ¹¹for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (c.f. Luke 2:10-11).

Thankfully, as God’s elect (c.f. Romans 8:33), we will never have our sins exposed (c.f. Micah 7:19), or our skirts lifted over our heads (c.f. Nahum 3:5) – nor we will ever receive “an eye for an eye” – but rather, underserved and unmerited grace, thanks to Jesus Christ!

Thankfully we will never hear God say to us: “Behold, I am against you” (c.f. Nahum 3:5) – not because we are better than the ancient Assyrians, because we are not! But because Scripture says we have been “chosen in love” (c.f. Ephesians 1:4-5; see also Deuteronomy 7:6-8) – because Scripture says we have a Savior, whose name is “Jesus”!

BIBLIOGRAPHY

¹The English Standard Version Study Bible: Footnote on

Exodus 21:23-25; p. 179.

²Robertson: The Books of Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah;

The New International Commentary on the Old Testament;

p. 103.

³http://www.wpcpca.org/Archive/11-16-08-pm.html

⁴http://www.wpcpca.org/Archive/12-14-08-pm.html

⁵Robertson: Ibid; p. 108.

⁶IBID; p. 109.

⁷Wiersbe: Be Amazed; p. 104.

⁸Wycliffe Bible Commentary; p. 868.

⁹The Bible Knowledge Commentary: Old Testament; p. 1502.

¹⁰Unger: Commentary on the Old Testament; Vol. II; p. 1891.

¹¹Robertson: Ibid; p. 110.

¹²MacArthur: The MacArthur Bible Commentary; p. 1026.

¹³Robertson: Ibid; p. 111.