The Boomerang Effect
Opening Prayer
Holy Spirit of God, comfort me today by Your presence and guide me to follow Your purpose for me.
Read Nahum 2
[a]An attacker advances against you, Nineveh.
Guard the fortress,
watch the road,
brace yourselves,
marshal all your strength!
2 The Lord will restore the splendor of Jacob
like the splendor of Israel,
though destroyers have laid them waste
and have ruined their vines.
3 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.[b]
4 The chariots storm through the streets,
rushing back and forth through the squares.
They look like flaming torches;
they dart about like lightning.
5 Nineveh summons her picked troops,
yet they stumble on their way.
They dash to the city wall;
the protective shield is put in place.
6 The river gates are thrown open
and the palace collapses.
7 It is decreed[c] that Nineveh
be exiled and carried away.
Her female slaves moan like doves
and beat on their breasts.
8 Nineveh is like a pool
whose water is draining away.
“Stop! Stop!” they cry,
but no one turns back.
9 Plunder the silver!
Plunder the gold!
The supply is endless,
the wealth from all its treasures!
10 She is pillaged, plundered, stripped!
Hearts melt, knees give way,
bodies tremble, every face grows pale.
11 Where now is the lions’ den,
the place where they fed their young,
where the lion and lioness went,
and the cubs, with nothing to fear?
12 The lion killed enough for his cubs
and strangled the prey for his mate,
filling his lairs with the kill
and his dens with the prey.
13 “I am against you,”
declares the Lord Almighty.
“I will burn up your chariots in smoke,
and the sword will devour your young lions.
I will leave you no prey on the earth.
The voices of your messengers
will no longer be heard.”
Meditate
“Those who go out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with them” (Psa. 126:6).
Think Further
Nahum prophesies the overthrow of Nineveh and the fall of Assyria. He imagines a great devastation that will occur when an army with its chariots, spears and swords marches against the great city. Yet Nahum also sees this as the work of God, for God opposes Nineveh and will incite the human raiders to attack her. All this will happen because of the cruelty of the Ninevite regime. Like the prophet Isaiah and other biblical writers, Nahum thinks of Assyria as the most ruthless of nations. Nineveh is like a predatory lion, “filling his lairs with the kill and his dens with the prey” (12).
Nahum contends that Nineveh, renowned in the ancient world for carrying away its victims into exile, would soon be exiled itself. He seems to be saying that when people, regimes and nations live by violence, they unleash an energy that will eventually rebound. Boomerang-like, “the trouble he causes recoils on him; his violence comes down on his own head” (Psa. 7:16).
If Nahum believes that God will use human agents to punish guilty nations, he is just as sure that neither he nor his hearers are those agents. Prophet and hearer alike must leave retribution to God, knowing that God will judge with equity and justice. Drawing on Deuteronomy 32:35, the apostle Paul makes a similar point, “Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ says the Lord” (Rom. 12:19). Those who believe that God will punish the guilty may actually be less vindictive than those who suspect that God will do nothing. The latter may be tempted to take matters into their own hands.
Apply
How do you think a belief in God’s judgment can actually inspire patience and generosity in your dealings with others?
Closing prayer
Lord, when I am hurt, my default setting is often revenge. I want to turn that around, with Your help, so that I can trust You more in difficult times.
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