Nahum 3:19 Nothing can heal you; your wound is fatal. All who hear the news about you clap their hands at your fall, for who has not felt your endless cruelty?
Everybody remembers the story of Jonah and the big fish. We might remember that Jonah was running from his assignment to preach to the city of Ninevah. Very few remember that the city, from its leaders all the way down to its servants, all repented from the coming judgment and the city was spared. Jonah was deeply disturbed by their repentance.
It is funny how we remember certain details and forget others. One of the reasons that happens has to do with the way our brains process information. When there is high emotional content, either positive or negative emotional content, our brain wires those memories with the emotion. That is why when you remember those moments you feel the things you felt back then in the present moment.
The saying goes, “What fires together wires together.” When there is this high emotional content we tend to remember those things. They were marked in our brain Inbox as important. The other events got moved to Spam or Promotions or immediately deleted. They aren’t important, so they quickly fade.
What is interesting about Ninevah is that within about a hundred years or so, they had forgotten their salvation from the doom preached by Jonah. A generation or three had come along and they didn’t have the same experience of impending doom and rescue. So the result was that they reverted to pre-rescue lifestyles and mindsets. They backslid.
So the LORD sends Nahum to once again speak to Ninevah, but this time it is too late. They had the chance to repent and make the LORD their God, but they had chosen to make Him a god, right alongside their other gods. How quickly they had fallen.
Notice our text for today. There is no turning back for them. The only way they will learn is to fall under judgment. Maybe then they will turn and repent. Sometimes you have to hit bottom….
And bottom they do hit. And the people of God cheer when this happens. “About time!” they exclaim. “They are getting exactly what they deserve.” Justice gets shown to the whole world.
Sometimes justice can be something that seemingly eludes us. And sometimes we cheer when justice happens. Nahum is proclaiming this event in advance so that when it happens the rejoicing can have a new meaning.
The LORD is watching. The LORD is calling not only His people to account for their actions, but there will be a day when all the world, including those who lived in Ninevah, will face a just Judge. There will be no hiding, no obfuscating, no excuses accepted.
I am so grateful that Jesus took my rightful punishment. This motivates me to live in such a way that His sacrifice was not without effect, that it accomplished His purpose in me. I know that I fall short, but His grace pushes me forward and upward. I am being made into His image, day by day.
The Arnold Journey 