God’s got this (even if it doesn’t look like it right now)

Nineveh to fall.

That is the title attributed to Nahum chapter 2.

And of that, there is no doubt. Not in Nahum’s mind. God has shown him a vision of exactly what this will look like. He can picture the scenes.

The unimaginable will take place. This strong city, so secure in its own strength and so arrogant in its cruelty and violence, will be drained of all of its strength, pride, resources, wealth and status.

The prophet Nahum warns the great city of Nineveh to be ready – to watch the road and guard the fortress -for the time is coming when the Lord is going to ‘restore the splendour of Jacob’.

With the benefit of hindsight, we know that Nineveh’s attackers were an alliance of Medes, Scythians and Chaldeans. In his vision, Nahum sees the scene in great detail –

The shields of the soldiers are red;
the warriors are clad in scarlet.
The metal on the chariots flashes
on the day they are made ready;
the spears of juniper are brandished.
The chariots storm through the streets,
rushing back and forth through the squares.
They look like flaming torches;
they dart about like lightning.  Nahum 2:3-4

And the mighty Nineveh, likened to a lions’ den in this chapter, is brought to its knees –

Nineveh is like a pool
whose water is draining away.

She is pillaged, plundered, stripped!
Hearts melt, knees give way,
bodies tremble, every face grows pale.  Nahum 2:8,10

For God, the Lord Almighty, is against all that this city stands for: the oppression, the cruelty, the immorality and ungodliness, the evil, the arrogance, the hatred…God will have the victory over evil.

Nothing and no one can separate us from the love of God.

We can look around at the evil in the world and be dispirited and discouraged and yet God has promised that good will overcome evil. We cannot imagine how or what this will look like.The nations seem so strong, the leaders invincible, the oppression unstoppable. But as we are drowning in despair and helplessness, we need to find a way to cling to the promises of God. This suffering will not continue for ever.

God is God.

God is the Lord Almighty, the Creator of the universe.

We may not ever understand the hows and whys and whens, but we have to trust in the God of Nahum, the God of today, the one true God. Trust that He knows what He’s doing. Trust that He’s got this.

God’s people back in the time of Nahum, couldn’t begin to imagine how Nineveh would ever be defeated, how God could ever overcome this mighty nation. And yet it was. God came good.

All through history, songs have been sung affirming victory whilst surrounding by unspeakable oppression. Clinging firmly to the hope of the victory to come, suffering individuals have united in this hope, found the courage to stand together and have toppled oppressive regimes. This has happened. This can happen again.

We shall overcome some day.

We shall overcome.

Deep in my heart, I do believe, we shall overcome some day.