Daily Devotional | The Lord Reigns

Ecclesiastes tells us that “the end of a matter is better than its beginning” (Eccl. 7:8). Today we come to the end of the book of Nahum. It opened by quoting God’s self-revelation from the book of Exodus: “The LORD is slow to anger but great in power; the LORD will not leave the guilty unpunished” (Nah. 1:3; see Ex. 34:6–7). And now in chapter 3, we witness the end of Assyria, that mighty nation that ruled the ancient world with cruelty.

These final verses use arresting imagery to describe the downfall of the once-great city of Nineveh and the once-great nation of Assyria. “All your fortresses are like fig trees with their first ripe fruit,” Nahum declares (v. 12). They will drop their fruit with only a shake of the tree. The “troops…are all weaklings,” and “the gates of your land are wide open to your enemies” (v. 13). Even though the Assyrian economy appeared strong, its “merchants” were “like locusts” who “strip the land and then fly away” (v. 16). Assyria’s “guards” and “officials” are described as “swarms of locusts” that “when the sun appears they fly away” (v. 17). “Your shepherds slumber,” the prophet says, “your nobles lie down to rest” (v. 18). Clearly, the might of Assyrian is over: “Nothing can heal you; your wound is fatal” (v. 19). Many would rejoice at the news of Assyria’s demise, “for who has not felt your endless cruelty” (v. 19)?

The book of Nahum forces us to wrestle with God’s righteous judgment and to face the reality of His wrath against sin. Paul, quoting the Old Testament, tells us, “There is no one righteous, not even one” (Rom. 3:10). That is, we are all Assyria. May this book lead us to the Cross, where the Son of God took upon Himself “the iniquity of us all” (Isa. 53:6).