Indicted (Nahum 3:1-4) ~ Richard L Rice, Sellwood Community Church

Nahum is God’s declarative pronouncement of judgment on Assyria and its capital city of Nineveh. The jealous God is not for everyone, but for His elect (Nah 1:7). The first two chapters of Nahum say that (1) because of who God is, He protects His people; (2) because of who God is, He judges His enemies as fully as He protects His people; (3) God would judge Nineveh because He was against them. God lays out His just indictment of Assyria in chapter 3. I. The Great White Throne (Rev 20:11-15). We are all guilty of sin because: (1) we are guilty through our human Head Adam; and (2) we have sinned and continually fall short of the glory of God (Rom 3:23; 5:12-21). God’s elect (Eph 1:4) were judged when their sins were placed on Jesus at the cross, and He bore their justly deserved wrath of the Father (Nah 1:7; Col 2:14). Their works, however, will be judged and rewarded (1 Cor 3; 2 Cor 5). The final judgment of this age is God’s judgment on those whose names are not found in the Lamb’s Book of Life; the unsaved. There, the works of guilty sinners will be judged (Is 64:6) and then sentenced for their unbelief in Christ’s salvific work at Calvary (Rev 20:15). Nahum’s prophecy isn’t a trial of guilt, but a pronouncement of a guilty sentence and punishment. II. Woes of Blood, Deceit and Robbery (Nah 3:1). A woe (hoy) was the sound of sorrow at a Jewish funeral, indicating doom, death, and destruction. Jesus pronounced 8 woes on the Jewish leaders at the end of His earthly ministry (Mt 23). God judged Nineveh for being the bloody city, making its mark for viciously murdering its enemies. God forbids murder because we are made in the image of God and He alone can take a life justly (Ex 20:13; Num 35:11-12, 16-21; 35:27, 30). The 6th Commandment does not forbid war, self-defense, or the death penalty of the guilty. Nineveh was filled with lies of deception (2 Kings 18:13-31) like the father of all lies but unlike God (Is 65:16; Jn 8:44). Christians are to practice truth (Eph 4:24-29). If our word cannot be trusted, what do we have left to offer? Assyria was also guilt of robbery, never producing wealth, but stealing it in their conquests. Leaders represent their nations and reveal the character of those they represent. If God judged Assyria, He will judge our modern nations too. III. Woes of Battle, Harlotries, and Sorceries (Nah 3:2-3). The Assyrians were guilty of harlotry, seducing nations like a prostitute (Prov 5:1-11; 7:10-23). Adultery can be sexual, political, commercial, or spiritual; the last being the most common in Scripture (Ezek 16:15 ff; 23:1-49; Hos 1:2; 2:2-13; 3:1-5; Rev 17:1-5). The seduction of nations was done partially by sorceries or occult practices. Idols and superstitions have no power, but demons take advantage of the idolatrous, deceiving worshipers into believing they are gods. There is only One God but demons take advantage of idolators and the superstitious, deceiving and manipulating them through fear and a sinful desire to be in control into believing they are gods (Lev 17:7; Deut 32:16-17; Ps 115:4-7; Rom 1:21-23; 1 Cor 8:4; 10:14, 19-20; Rev 9:20). Neither Satan nor demons are all-powerful, all-knowing, or all-present. They are creatures not the Creator. They are powerless over the child of God, who watches over His own and keeps them through His jealousy. Nor do believers have power over the demonic. Our responsibility is to Submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee (Jas 4:7) and to Keep yourself from idols (1 Jn 5:21).