The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in Nahum 3:8,
"Are you better than Thebes, situated on the Nile, with water around her?"
Thebes was the capital of upper Egypt and history tells us it was overtaken in 670 BC by the Assyrian king Esarhaddon, and sacked in 665 or 664 BC by his son, the next Assyrian king, Ashurbanipal.
In any event, Thebes was a wealthy, fortified and connected capital. Through Nahum's vision, Nineveh was asked if they really felt they might fare any better than Thebes at their own hand? A sobering and chilling challenge to any notion an Assyrian might have regarding the invincibility of Nineveh. The message to Nineveh was "Yet she [Thebes] was taken captive and went into exile. Her infants were dashed to pieces at every street corner. Lots were cast for her nobles, and all her great men were put in chains. You [Nineveh] too will become drunk; you will go into hiding and seek refuge from the enemy." Nahum 3:10-11.
How many nations, how many kingdoms, how many political movements, have felt, feel today, that they exist beyond the reach of God's judgment? The story of Nineveh is a cautionary one and designed to bring a sense of sobriety to any group of people that drift from God.
We live in a day when God, his desires, his interests, his plans, his agenda, are never thought of, never discussed (certainly on the front pages and in the news broadcasts) when the activities of nations are discussed. Is that OK for any nation?
While I certainly recognize that the media and pop-culture do not recognize God and the things he may be doing behind the scenes in current events - so I don't expect to see anything there - I am dumbfounded at the church's seeming ignorance and inability to see what it is God is doing on the world stage today. Where is the church? How is it acting, communicating, responding to the events of the day, relative to what we know of him and how he has acted in the past as we find him in the Old Testament prophets?
Am I overly cynical in thinking the church is sitting over there, in its own corner, hold hands, singing Kumbayah, carefully pursuing the prosperity of its members, the healthfulness of its members in self-absorbed fashion? Am I overly critical of the church as I think of a people who have been provided all the tools, the Scriptures, the indwelling Holy Spirit, never equipping itself in knowing the entire counsel of God represented in all sixty-six books of our Bibles, never seeing God on the move on the world stage, never somehow beholding the immense and grand glory of God expressed on the world stage today, and what he may be doing in the big events of life, as it dithers about the moral failures of its own members? Am I being judgmental as I see the church as a group of people who have become absorbed in its self-appointment as theological policemen making sure we all keep our noses clean in their image, their fashion?
"Are you better than Thebes, situated on the Nile, with water around her?"
Thebes was the capital of upper Egypt and history tells us it was overtaken in 670 BC by the Assyrian king Esarhaddon, and sacked in 665 or 664 BC by his son, the next Assyrian king, Ashurbanipal.
In any event, Thebes was a wealthy, fortified and connected capital. Through Nahum's vision, Nineveh was asked if they really felt they might fare any better than Thebes at their own hand? A sobering and chilling challenge to any notion an Assyrian might have regarding the invincibility of Nineveh. The message to Nineveh was "Yet she [Thebes] was taken captive and went into exile. Her infants were dashed to pieces at every street corner. Lots were cast for her nobles, and all her great men were put in chains. You [Nineveh] too will become drunk; you will go into hiding and seek refuge from the enemy." Nahum 3:10-11.
How many nations, how many kingdoms, how many political movements, have felt, feel today, that they exist beyond the reach of God's judgment? The story of Nineveh is a cautionary one and designed to bring a sense of sobriety to any group of people that drift from God.
We live in a day when God, his desires, his interests, his plans, his agenda, are never thought of, never discussed (certainly on the front pages and in the news broadcasts) when the activities of nations are discussed. Is that OK for any nation?
While I certainly recognize that the media and pop-culture do not recognize God and the things he may be doing behind the scenes in current events - so I don't expect to see anything there - I am dumbfounded at the church's seeming ignorance and inability to see what it is God is doing on the world stage today. Where is the church? How is it acting, communicating, responding to the events of the day, relative to what we know of him and how he has acted in the past as we find him in the Old Testament prophets?
Am I overly cynical in thinking the church is sitting over there, in its own corner, hold hands, singing Kumbayah, carefully pursuing the prosperity of its members, the healthfulness of its members in self-absorbed fashion? Am I overly critical of the church as I think of a people who have been provided all the tools, the Scriptures, the indwelling Holy Spirit, never equipping itself in knowing the entire counsel of God represented in all sixty-six books of our Bibles, never seeing God on the move on the world stage, never somehow beholding the immense and grand glory of God expressed on the world stage today, and what he may be doing in the big events of life, as it dithers about the moral failures of its own members? Am I being judgmental as I see the church as a group of people who have become absorbed in its self-appointment as theological policemen making sure we all keep our noses clean in their image, their fashion?
Yep, I'm certainly cynical, over-critical and judgmental. And, shame on me! What good does it do to stand on the side and be critical? While I wouldn't characterize my attitude towards the Lord's church in this way, I do slip into this mindset from time to time. So, I am reminded this morning, in my own weakness, that I need to be ever more vigilant in encouraging us all to see God for how he has expressed himself in the pages of Scripture. Possibly you can do the same for me.
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.
Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.
Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com
No comments:
Post a Comment