Latest / HBCWestminster / 8.28.22 Nahum 3 Pastor Danny Gardner

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8.28.22 Nahum 3 Pastor Danny Gardner · HBCWestminster

• 0:00
  Turn with me one more time, if you would, to Nahum's oracle against the Ninevites. And as you're turning there to Nahum chapter 3, would you pray with me a blessing over the preaching of God's word? Father God in heaven, we bow before your majesty and glory. We are thankful for your grace. We praise you for condescending and becoming like us and in bearing our infirmities and in battling with temptation on our behalf. Thank you.
• 0:33
  Lord Jesus, for becoming our high priest and for inspiring your word by the Holy Spirit, and it's in your name we pray. Amen. Amen. Well, with our Bibles open, we are reminded that Nahum wrote to Nineveh a mere two generations after Jonah had gone there to preach. Despite having had an entire generation regenerated by the kindness and mercy of God in Jonah's time, what Nahum found was quite different.
• 1:05
  The Ninevites had reverted to their old ways. Brutality and immorality were once again rampant in the city. The generation of Jonah, which had turned to the Lord, failed to do one very important thing. They failed to pass along the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord to their children and grandchildren.
• 1:27
  And if there were some in Nineveh who were faithful to pass on the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord to their kids, those younger generations failed to pick up the wisdom that had been laid at their feet. The Ninevites, maybe like we ourselves may be tempted to do, became content spiritually, even complacent eventually with the grace that they had received.
• 1:54
  Complacent with the gospel that had been entrusted to them, forgetting, failing to remember that keeping the faith actually means giving it away. They fell into the same trap that many of us fall into, assuming that tomorrow will be exactly like today. That surely no major changes will come. And church, do you ever fall into that trap? Assuming.
• 2:21
  That tomorrow will be exactly like today, assuming that we will always have time to get right with the Lord. The transitory nature of our lives is a reality that we will all grapple with one day. James chapter 4 says that our lives are a mere vapor, like the steam off of the top of a cup of coffee. It is here for a moment and then gone. Our lives vanish.
• 2:50
  quickly in fact first peter 1 reminds us of that same truth that we were not purchased by temporal things things which will fade away like silver or gold rather we were purchased by the imperishable blood of jesus christ he says that our earthly lives are so short that it took the imperishable blood of jesus in order to offer us anything that will last some grapple with that reality more gracefully than others
• 3:23
  Many of us hold on to youth as if it is not fleeting. Makeuping and cosmetic surgery and Botoxing away. Refusing to admit that time is taking its toll. Refusing to suffer the reality of old age. Others make extreme efforts to hold on to their youth by purchasing sport cars or getting hair plugs. But all of these are an effort to deny the inevitable truth that tomorrow will not be like today.
• 3:54
  Tomorrow will be different. There will be a day which is not like today, and that day is coming quickly. In Nahum chapter 2, Nahum described the destruction of the Ninevites. In fact, if you were here last Sunday, you recall Pastor Sam very eloquently and powerfully, courageously declaring the gospel, but describing the destruction of the Ninevites. In fact, he called it the destroyers.
• 4:19
  will be destroyed and he encouraged us to in our mind's eye in our imaginations pull up your favorite seat your favorite movie theater and watch on the screen this vivid depiction of this battle this major battle scene between the chaldeans the babylonians on one side dressed head to toe in scarlet all in red with their shields and their spears and their chariots and their horses and their arrows and all of that stuff coming against an unprepared
• 4:48
  Assyrian army taken off guard and unable to defend their city. The destroyers would be destroyed. And now in Nahum chapter 3, Nahum defends that avenging action of God. Was God just in destroying Nineveh? Was God justified in raising up the Babylonian army who were themselves wicked?
• 5:14
  Was God just in using this wicked nation to pour out his wrath and judgment upon another wicked nation? Nineveh, as nations often do, took their military and political strength for granted. They assumed that they would never fall. Indeed, that they could not be toppled. But we read in Nahum chapter 3 that they were living under false security. In fact, look at verse 1. It says,
• 5:52
  Assyria was at the height of their military and political strength. And yet the chapter begins with a woe oracle due to Nineveh's flawed character. He says they were mighty on the outside, but under the surface they were frail. And so Nahum pronounces this woe against them, over them. In Hebrew, the word oy.
• 6:17
  In fact, that phrase, that statement, oy, eventually made its way also into Yiddish. Maybe you've got in your mind a picture of a Jewish man, right? And you can hear him proclaiming, oy vey. Woe is me. Woe is me. The chapter is bookended in verse 1 and in verse 2.
• 6:39
  With this woe is me pronouncement over the city. And as we continue to read, we're going to see that Nineveh deserved what they had coming. They're actually getting a dose of their own medicine. God was just in condemning Nineveh because of the corruption of their character. This chapter is an expose. It's an exposure of what was going on inside. They were, in verse 1, bloody, deceitful, full of lies. They were thieving.
• 7:08
  They were full of plunder, as you'll recall from last week. They had pillaged the nations in order to resurrect this massive city, Nineveh. But it was all founded upon the wealth of others, and they were victimizing. There was no end to their prey. And what they had been doing eventually came back to bite them. God says as much in Galatians 6. He says, do not be deceived. God is not mocked.
• 7:39
  For whatever one sows, what? He will reap. Whatever you sow in the ground is what's going to grow. If you sow blood and lies and plunder, that's what you're going to reap. Jesus said something similar in Matthew chapter 26. He says, whoever lives by the sword will also what? Die by the sword.
• 8:04
  I've heard it asked many times why it is that bad things happen to good people. Why, Lord? Why do bad things happen to good people? I've heard it said that if you put good things into the universe, you should receive good things in return. In fact, I believe that is basically the religion of North Denver. I think most of our neighbors, our friends, our co-workers believe in that religion. If I just put good things out there, I should get good things.
• 8:32
  And they may call it a whole host of things, but that is in essence what most people who live around us think. This reciprocal kind of living. Like what goes around comes around. Or the power of positive thinking. Even karma. Again, they may not call it that. That's in essence what they think. And those ideas have so pervaded our thinking that we might actually begin to believe that we are good.
• 9:01
  and therefore don't deserve to have bad things ever happen to us. Like we begin to expect that what we deserve is this life of ease, unending, unceasing blessing, a life of comfort. But consider for a moment Romans 3. In fact, turn with me there if you would. Romans 3. Take a hard right turn in your Bibles. Look at Romans 3. We'll start in verse 10. Here the Apostle Paul is quoting the Psalms. Romans 3, starting in verse 10.
• 9:33
  He says none is righteous. No one. Not one. No one understands. No one seeks for God. All have turned aside. Together they have become worthless. No one does good. Not even one of us.
• 9:56
  I mean, if our expectation is that if we can just act good, we should get good things in return, then the sad reality according to Romans 3 is none of us should expect good things in return, right? None of us is actually good. None is good. We are all selfish. We are all willing to step on others in order to serve ourselves. And this text says that in the way that we deal with others, God will deal with us. Jesus said that by the measure we use, so will we be judged.
• 10:25
  And this, we find, is true not only of individuals, but of nations as well. The city that deals in blood will eventually become bloodied. The fear that Nineveh had struck upon other nations, that same fear would now fill their own citizens. Those who had enslaved others would now become enslaved. And the principle we draw is this. Nations which deal in lies and robbery will eventually come to an end.
• 10:55
  And notice in verse 2 the description, the vivid description of their doom. As we read, I would encourage you to do the same thing that Sam told us to do last week. Imagine you're in the movie theater. You've got your best seat in the movie theater and just watch.
• 11:10
  As this battle scene is portrayed, see if you can hear the crack of the whip and see if you can feel the very ground thunder beneath your feet as the horses and chariots roll in. See if you can smell the death. Verse 2, the crack of the whip and rumble of the wheel, galloping horse and bounding chariot.
• 11:37
  horsemen charging, flashing sword and glittering spear, hosts of slain, heaps of corpses, dead bodies without end. They stumble over the bodies. A man on the way into church today at our 8 a.m. service comes to me and he says, Pastor Danny, I read ahead. I said, okay. He said,
• 11:58
  this is pg-13 at best okay pg-13 at best honestly if these things were depicted on an actual movie screen it'd be way worse than pg-13 this is restricted audiences only he says what is coming upon nineveh is going to be rough what was true of them internally right that they were filled with dead men's bones would eventually become true of them externally they were rotten to the core and that rot
• 12:28
  would find them out. And you pick up in verse 4, all for the countless whorings of the prostitute, graceful and of deadly charms, who betrays nations with her whorings and people with her charms. Again, this is restricted stuff. I would remind us of our theme for the book of Nahum, that it will not stop with us. It is a declaration, a commitment to pass on the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord to the coming generations.
• 12:57
  Jonah had preached to the Assyrians and they believed. And yet only two generations later, those people's grandkids rejected the faith. Nineveh was likened in verse 4 to a prostitute who had courted the entire world. We know that a prostitute is one who is willing to compromise.
• 13:21
  One who is willing to become all things to all men, one who has no convictions, no beliefs, no boundaries. Prostitutes offer a counterfeit version of what cannot actually be purchased. Genuine beauty and love. It's like a fake version of those things. They sell what should not and indeed cannot be sold. Intimacy, commitment.
• 13:48
  A prostitute cannot actually give what she advertises, and so also the Ninevites. The Ninevites were offering the surrounding nations peace, security, protection, a strong and lasting alliance. If you will become our allies, we will never fail. And yet, her lovers found that all that glitters is not gold.
• 14:18
  We read that the Ninevites even began practicing witchcraft. If you look at verse 4, it says two times, it uses the word charms. Do you see that? Of deadly charms, peoples with her charms. And that's a little bit of a misleading word in English. You think of charms, you're like, is that like those little things that dangle off of a little girl's bracelet? Right, those are charms. Or maybe you think of the prince charming. It's the same word, prince charming, that he's...
• 14:46
  alluring and handsome and is a good dancer and whatever you like the prince charming but that's that's not what this word means in the hebrew it's actually the word sorcery witchcraft it's that kind of charm it's a curse it's a spell being cast a deadly spell being cast upon the nations that would lay with the prostitute nineveh like gomer
• 15:16
  who lusted after her unfaithful lovers you guys remember gomer when my boys were young and they were just starting to read their bibles by themselves right they had put away the children's bibles with the pictures and the summaries and they had graduated to actual bibles right inspired bibles and they began to read them i told they could read the whole bible but there are some books that are off limits right you can read all of proverbs but you may not read proverbs chapter five
• 15:44
  Proverbs 5, it's a young man rejoicing in the wife of his youth. And there are some very graphic descriptions of the wife of his youth. He is definitely enjoying her. And we would say, well, within the context of marriage, totally appropriate. Of course. But not for seven-year-olds. You may not read the Song of Solomon.
• 16:07
  Again, some very vivid descriptions, which within marriage, you're like, well, that is a gift. Yes, husbands and wives should enjoy one another. That is a gift from God. It's beautiful and rich and satisfying and all of those things, but not for seven-year-olds, right? The other book was Hosea. My boys weren't allowed to read Hosea until they were older. Hosea describes, although I don't think they probably would have understood it even if they did read it, but Hosea, the prophet of God, is commanded by God.
• 16:35
  To marry the town prostitute. Her name is Gomer, right? You know, the girl that everybody knows, God says. And Hosea's like, I'm not going to marry the town prostitute. What are you talking about? God says, no, I want to create a very tangible, very vivid picture of what it's like for me, the husband of my people, every time they chase after false gods. They are unfaithful to me, and yet I am faithful to them. And so I want you to go and marry Gomer. And so Hosea does. He goes and marries the town prostitute.
• 17:06
  thinking that he's going to redeem her, and yet she doesn't want the redemption that he offers. And she actually returns to a life of prostitution. She rejects her husband and returns to it. At one point in the book, Hosea actually has to go and buy his wife. She's being auctioned to the highest bidder, and Hosea, her husband, actually has to pay for her. One point in the book, she becomes pregnant, gives birth to a son. Hosea names the young man.
• 17:38
  Not my son. This is not my kid. Somebody else's kid. I don't know whose kid this is. You can imagine this woman continually returning to that life of prostitution. And here, the Lord says, you know, Nineveh, you're like that. You're like Gomer. At one point, you knew me. At one point, we were married. But now you've returned to the nations. You've returned to false gods.
• 18:05
  unfaithful lovers, and only 50 years after having committed her way to the one true God. And so this is why in verse 5 it makes perfect sense that the Lord would say, Behold, I am against you, Nineveh. I can't abide by this anymore. I can't support you in this. I can't stand with you in this. In fact, I am against you, declares the Lord of hosts. And the Lord being against Nineveh meant a couple of things. First, you'll notice he's actually going to uncover her shame.
• 18:35
  I'm against you, verse 5, and will lift up your skirts over your face, and I will make nations look at your nakedness and kingdoms at your shame. He's going to expose or reveal who they truly were. Other nations to that point had been attracted to Nineveh, but don't forget, only as a prostitute. They looked attractive if the lights were real low, right? If there was heavy makeup.
• 19:05
  Looked very pretty. But when the lights were turned on and the makeup was removed, do you see what God is saying? I'm going to show them who you truly are. And this is a good reminder for us that nothing is hidden from God. Everything will be revealed on the day of judgment. The scriptures teach that no veil is effective against the gaze of the Lord. Perhaps we're very good at hiding our sin and fooling others.
• 19:36
  But church, there is no fooling God. He sees even the darkest places in our hearts. He sees even the secret things, the things that nobody else knows. In fact, Ecclesiastes 12 and verse 14 says that he will bring to judgment every hidden thing. That every life, including mine, is an open book before the Almighty. He says, I am tossing your skirt up over your face. I'm exposing your nakedness, but it doesn't end there. He actually says in verse 6, I'm going to uncover you.
• 20:07
  But then in verse 6, I'm going to cover you again. Look what he says. I will throw filth at you. I'm going to cover you in filth, in refuse, in excrement, in manure. That's what he's saying. I'm going to expose your nakedness and then I'm going to cover you in shame and treat with contempt and make you a spectacle before the nations. You know, this thought leads us, I think, naturally to the gospel. Prior to the fall of man,
• 20:38
  adam and eve the bible says we're naked and we're unashamed you guys have all read that right naked and unashamed in fact one text even states that before sin they didn't even really know that they were naked like it wasn't even something that occurred to them before the curse their bodies radiated the glory of god
• 21:02
  They shone with the glory of God. Do you remember at one point Moses goes into the tabernacle and he is in the very presence of God. And when he came out, remember his face shone. It radiated with the glory of God to the point that he actually wore a veil in order to cover it up. Exposure to the presence of God actually causes us to glow?
• 21:29
  Like they were luminescent because there was no sin, because they were in perfect communion with God. And so when you imagine them, yes, they were naked. They were not wearing any clothes, but imagine them enveloped in this glorious light.
• 21:44
  So you couldn't even necessarily see their nakedness. If you were to imagine right now an angel from heaven here, kind of manifest in all of its glory, in all of its heavenly light, you imagine something big, formidable, a warrior class kind of angel with these massive wings and a massive flaming sword and all of that. You probably imagine something like a glow around this angel. Imagine that.
• 22:11
  Before the fall in Adam and Eve, they were radiating the glory of God. But when they fell, the glow left. And that's why Adam looks at his wife like, wait, we're naked. And that's when the shame came. They realized what they had done. They were no longer walking in the presence of God. And the first thing that the Lord did after the Son of Man was to cover them in the sacrifice of an animal. Still in Genesis 3, the Lord slays an animal and he takes that animal's skins.
• 22:43
  and makes clothes for them in order to cover their shame. And from that point forward, we have always been wearing clothes in order to cover our shame. Genesis 3 describes the very first animal sacrifice in order to cover the sin of man. And it is a beautiful picture of what Christ does for us when he covers our shame.
• 23:05
  In fact, Romans chapter 13 and verse 14, the Apostle Paul actually says, put on the Lord Jesus Christ like a garment. Put on the Lord Jesus. Cover yourselves in Christ. The truth is that we were all that sorcerous harlot. All of us. Shameful, vile, and immortal, but Christ covers our shame. That church is a good place for an amen.
• 23:33
  I'm going to say this. I had to remind 9.30 too. You know what's weird about our church? 8 a.m. is the most fired up. It's weird. It's kind of backward. I had to remind 9.30 that preaching is a team sport. All right? I'm going to be dropping truths. You guys, as Pastor Sam says, as it resonates with you, you feel free to give an amen. I'm going to give us another go at it. The truth is that we were all that sorcerous harlot, shameful, vile, and immoral, but Christ covers our shame. Amen? Amen.
• 24:04
  That is the gospel, but they would not be covered in Christ. Rather, he says in verse 6, they are going to be covered in filth. I'm going to treat you with contempt, he says, and make you a spectacle. You know, it's the first week of school for many. Our kids have gone to school in the last couple of weeks. I don't know if this ever happened to you. You know, coming into elementary school or junior high, especially junior high, you get...
• 24:28
  anxious about school starting. You begin to get nervous about school starting. You go clothes shopping with your parents because you want to buy the right clothes, right? You want to fit in. You want people to like you. You want to be accepted. You got to make sure you have the right pants and the right shoes and the right backpack even. There were even cool kid backpacks. And you know what's weird about this? Let me step away here. All of those styles have come back. It's the most bizarre thing. I just bought...
• 24:52
  The same exact backpack for my son that I bought my freshman year of high school. You guys remember that single zipper Jansport? You guys remember those? They're back. Peachy folders next. That's my guess. But you guys, I mean, you want to have the right stuff because you don't want to draw attention to yourself. And as the day of school gets, the first day of school gets closer, you begin to have those weird dreams. Like it's the first day of school and it's so vivid and real. And you walk into your first period class and you realize you showed up without pants.
• 25:21
  Do you guys ever have that dream? Like, what? How did I make it here without pants? Mom, why didn't you tell me? Like, somebody tell me. You begin to wonder, is there something worse? Is there anything worse than being naked? Yes. It's being naked and covered in filth. That's what the Lord says. I'm going to throw your skirt up and then I'm going to cover you in refuse. And if this is how God treats nations, according to their own evil, then we should probably stop for a moment and pray for our own.
• 25:54
  nation. We were, I believe, once the world's moral and religious beacon. We were a Christian nation. Not perfect, but we set an example for the rest of the world in standing for what is right and what is just, punishing those who would violate others, standing for human dignity and respect, but I don't know that we can boast those things any longer.
• 26:19
  Today we lead the world in some of the most vile atrocities that have ever befallen mankind. We lead the world in the highest divorce rates, in the highest abortion rates, encouraging, applauding, celebrating things like the transgender movement. We are literally the clay shaking our fist at the potter and saying, why did you make me this way? We've gone, I think, from being a beacon of light to a beacon of immorality.
• 26:51
  become like those of Romans chapter 1, where it says they invent ways of doing evil. They approve of those who do so. And so would you join me as we push pause for just a moment? Let's pray for our nation. Lord, we ask that you would have mercy on us, that you would forgive us for the evil that is being committed. And God, we ask for a spirit of repentance, of humility, that the people of our country would come to you.
• 27:29
  on bended knee, confessing sin and being offered forgiveness. And God, I pray that they would be transformed. I pray for a spirit of revival to sweep across the United States of America. And Lord, not just here, but across the world. Use your church to proclaim the good news. Save us, Lord, from the sin all around us. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. Verse 8.
• 28:03
  The author begins to describe the vulnerability of Nineveh, and he does it using a variety of analogies. First, he's going to say, remember Thebes. Don't forget Thebes, this once great city. If they fell, so can you. Then he's going to say, you fight like a bunch of drunks, verse 11. And then in verse 12, you're about as firm as overripe fruit. And then in verse 13, your soldiers fight like a bunch of women.
• 28:30
  Verse 14, you're nothing but a slimy insect that will eventually get stepped on. And so let's go through these one at a time. In verse 8, are you better than Thebes that sat by the Nile with water around her, her rampart a sea, and water her wall? Cush was her strength, Egypt too, and that without limit. Put and the Libyans were her helpers. Thebes was one of the greatest cities in Egypt in its day. And Thebes, seemingly invincible, was eventually destroyed by guess who?
• 29:00
  The Ninevites. The Ninevites showed up at Thebes and walloped them, scattered them, sent them into slavery and exile. At their height, the citizens of Thebes felt like they would never fall. They were protected on all sides by deserts and rivers and allies. They had powerful friends. They boasted an invincible military. And yet, where are they today? Verse 10 says where they are.
• 29:29
  They became in exile. They went into captivity. Their infants were dashed in pieces at the head of every street. Their honored men were cast lots for, and her great men were bound in chains. They were utterly destroyed. Exactly what Nineveh had done to Thebes is what Babylon would do to Nineveh, the Lord says. And again, a lesson for our own nation. We may feel at times quite invincible militarily. I am so thankful.
• 29:58
  For the country that we get to live in and the military that we have. And I read about these campaigns and other things and I enjoy even military history and other things. But man, modern, our technology is unbelievable. And we can take comfort and even confidence in the fact that who would invade us? You'd have to be a fool to come against us. You hear about some of the weapons that we have. You're like, we're invincible. But you know what? So thought Thebes. And then so thought Nineveh after them.
• 30:30
  and then Babylon after them, and then the Persians after them, and then the Greeks after them. You guys remember world history? And then the Romans after them, and the Byzantines after them, and then the French after them, but for a really short time, okay? It was real short. But then maybe the British after them, and then maybe the Germans for a little while, and then probably the Russians for a while, and now us. The Americans today, I would remind us.
• 31:02
  although I am grateful for our military, that our greatest defense as a nation is not in the building of military strength, but rather our faith in God. In order for us to become a great nation, we must recognize him. We must depend upon him. We must even bow the knee before him, not by might nor by strength, but by my spirit, says the Lord God. It is the God that we serve that gives us strength. Remember Thebes, but then he says, notice verse 11, you fight like a bunch of drunks. He says,
• 31:33
  You also will be drunken. You will go into hiding. You will seek a refuge from the enemy. Maybe they thought that drinking would somehow help their plight. Like a guy who's going to get into a fight, takes one last drink, maybe thinking it will give him courage, but this has the opposite effect. It rather strips their courage. They run into hiding. Verse 12, your fortress is like overripe fruit. Your fortresses, verse 12, are like fig trees with first ripe figs. In other words, those...
• 32:00
  Figs that got ripe very first, now that some time has gone by and it's time for harvest season, those figs are now overly ripe. We all bought our palisade peaches three weeks ago, right? They're one of the best things that comes out of Colorado. They're so good. You buy that flat of them, you eat the first 10 or so with enthusiasm, and then it jacks you up. You're like, I'm done.
• 32:27
  I'm done. I can't get another one down. It doesn't matter if you grill them. It doesn't matter if you put them in a pie or whatever we do to them. We start getting creative after that. The last three always end up in that flat uneaten. We feel bad throwing them away because we're like, I don't want to waste them. But then after another week, they're getting smaller and smaller and browner and browner and the fruit flies. And then we're like, forget it. I'm pitching them. I can't get another one down. And here the Lord says, you're like those. You're like those uneaten ones, the overly ripe ones. Squishy, rotten, and gross.
• 32:59
  Hallie's dad, my wife's dad, my father-in-law, used to live in a town called Shafter in California. Shafter's really only known for two things. Their state prison, where her dad actually worked for many years. He was a custody officer there. And then their almond groves. As far as the eye can see, they're right in the middle of California, San Joaquin Valley, where you're either a farmer or a rancher, and there are almond trees as far as the eye can see. And if you've never seen almonds being harvested, it's quite a sight.
• 33:29
  There are these huge machines, these big trucks that drive right down the center of the rows of these trees. And the trucks have these big mechanical arms that stretch out each side to these trees. And these arms grab onto the trunk of those almond trees. And their only job is to shake the bejesus out of those trees. I mean, you can feel the ground shake beneath your feet. The rumble is unbelievable. When it's harvest time, the...
• 33:57
  dust clouds and the pollen that these things kick up is incredible it is an asthmatics worst nightmare okay i mean just these almond husks and everything just flying all over the place it takes a tremendous effort to get those ripened almonds off of their trees but not so with figs when figs become ripe they want to fall off even the slightest breeze
• 34:27
  knocks them off of their branches. And that's what the Lord says. You're going to be like overly ripe figs. I'm just going to walk by and you're going to fall down. Notice verse 13. He says, Your troops are like women. Behold, your troops are women in your midst. The gates of your land are wide open to your enemies. Fire has devoured your bars. Here he equates the soldiers of Nineveh, the most powerful nation on earth, with peace-loving women. And this was not meant as a compliment.
• 34:58
  The women in combat is actually a relatively new phenomenon. And I'm not saying, and please make sure that you hear me, I'm not saying that women have never fought in wars or that women are wholly incapable of fighting in wars. In fact, if some of our young ladies here at Highland decide to enlist in the Army, the Air Force, I would encourage you to do so. Good for you. That's honorable. And I'm thankful for your service. But the reality is that the advent of modern warfare with its technological advances
• 35:26
  has made it possible for women to fight on the front lines. When warfare was mostly hand-to-hand combat and relied almost entirely upon the physical strength of the combatants, women in general didn't stand a chance. This is why the natural behavior of men should be to run toward the fight, to throw themselves across.
• 35:56
  A woman or a child in order to protect them. That is chivalry and may it never die. Right? I mean, that is our job as husbands. Imagine for a moment in your mind's eye, again, in your imagination, imagine for a moment a husband who would grab his wife knowing that a fight was coming and use her as a human shield. Like, how dare you coward? We have no respect for that man. Amen?
• 36:22
  That is not what men do. Men throw themselves in front of their wives saying, I will receive the blows. You be protected. That is the job of men. In fact, it's the job of these soldiers. And listen, just as an aside here, our culture can claim all at once that gender is nothing but a social construct, that it is meaningless. No, it's not. No, it's not.
• 36:49
  The word here points that out. The Lord is by no means trying to demean women. He's simply saying it is not the woman's job to defend the gates. It's the men's job. And your men are like women. The gates of your land, he says, are wide open, defenseless. He says, finally, you're like a bunch of grasshoppers, a bunch of bugs. I'm going to step on you. Look at verse 14. Draw water for the siege.
• 37:19
  strengthen your forts, go into the clay, tread the mortar, take hold of the brick mold. You can make your gates, your walls as big, as thick as you want. It won't matter. There will the fire devour you. The sword will cut you off. It will devour you like the locust. Multiply yourselves like the locust. Multiply like the grasshopper. You increase your merchants more than the stars of the heavens. The locust spreads its wings. It flies away. Your princes are like grasshoppers.
• 37:43
  Your scribes, like clouds of locusts, settling on the fences in a day of cold, but when the sun rises, they fly away. No one knows where they are. Your shepherds are asleep, O king of Assyria. Your nobles slumber. Your people are scattered on the mountains with none to gather them. You know, the only strength that locusts and grasshoppers have is what? Their numbers. Nobody's afraid of one.
• 38:10
  You're a farmer. You've got a whole crop. You see one grasshopper, a solitary grasshopper. You're like, what's the big deal? If you see a million grasshoppers, that's a problem. And the Lord here says, you know what? Multiply as much as you want. It's not going to matter. Become like locusts. Have entire clouds of you. Not going to matter. You're nothing but a bunch of bugs.
• 38:34
  The last verse, verse 19, with this we close. We actually find that the victims of Nineveh, the nations which had lived under the shadow of their cruelty for so long would actually rejoice at their final destruction. In verse 19, there is no easing your hurt. Your wound is grievous. All who hear the news about you clap their hands over you. There is applause at their death. Upon whom has not come your unceasing evil. I heard a joke recently that goes, there was a church.
• 39:02
  where the senior pastor and the worship leader weren't getting along, and their tiff actually spilled over into the services. One Sunday, the pastor preached about the importance of giving, and so the worship leader closed the service with, Jesus paid it all. The next Sunday, the pastor talked about gossip, about keeping a close watch on your tongue, and so the worship leader closed with, I love to tell the story. The next week, the pastor preached on being willing to change. The worship leader closed with, I shall not be moved.
• 39:34
  The pastor became so frustrated that he eventually resigned. He stood up one Sunday morning and he says, Jesus called me here and now he's calling me away. The worship leader led the congregation in singing, What a friend we have in Jesus.
• 39:53
  And mankind is constantly on the lookout for what might outlive them. In fact, I believe that every man and woman ultimately wants to be remembered. We want to have a legacy that will outlive us, that will continue after our own deaths, and consider the sad state for a moment of a deceased person who would have no mourners, and no one to remember them, and no one to honor them in their deaths, like a pastor who leaves the church and the church rejoices.
• 40:21
  So was Nineveh, when your doom is assured, the people of the world will rejoice. And church, a mere 10 years after Nahum's oracle, 10 years later, all of these promises came to pass. But church, not us. We will not be like the Ninevites. If we want our nation to endure, we must commit our way to the Lord. And in the same way, if we want our church to flourish,
• 40:50
  We must commit to pass on the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord to the coming generations. In fact, we must declare that it will not stop with us. And God, I pray that you would give us the courage and strength to stand as children of light in a crooked and perverse generation. God, may we learn the lesson of the Ninevites who at one point repented and were saved, but then eventually became complacent, content.
• 41:19
  And so turn their backs on you, Lord. May it never be so of us. May we faithfully pass on the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord to those who are younger. And may the younger generation of Highlanders pick up the wisdom that is being laid at their feet in Jesus' name. Amen.