DYNAMIS!
A publication of St. George Orthodox Christian Cathedral
Wichita, KS

Saturday, December 1, 2007                Fish, Wine, & Oil                  The Holy Prophet Nahum

Kellia: Nahum 1:1-14                Epistle: Galatians 5:22-6:2                Gospel: St. Luke 12:32-40

 

Norms & Destiny: Nahum 1:1-14 LXX, especially vss. 7, 8: “The Lord is good to them that wait on Him in the day of affliction; and He knows them that reverence Him.  But with an overrunning flood He will make an utter end: darkness shall pursue those that rise up against Him and His enemies.”  Terrorist attacks around the world are arousing nations and peoples to consider their destiny.  These unimaginable cruelties give the words of wise poets and illumined Prophets such as Nahum the Elkoshite and Sir William Watson a striking poignancy.  Consider Sir William’s poem,  “Lachrymae Musarum” in which he writes:

The seasons change, the winds they shift and veer;

The grass of yesteryear

Is dead; the birds depart, the groves decay:

Empires dissolve and peoples disappear:

Song passes not away.

The enduring “song” of Nahum, in three short chapters remains enshrined in Holy Scripture.  The Prophet’s vision abides as a living voice to God’s enemies and to His People.   The words of the Prophet have become the eternal prayer of the Church.  Also, the message that “Empires dissolve and peoples disappear,” begs reflection both by those who plot the demise of others as well by those they would destroy.  While the immediate historical conditions from which the Prophet of Elkosh spoke are largely forgotten, the truth of his words - of the word of the Lord - live on with fresh application for all who believe “things will always be as they are.”

Assyria, a fierce empire in upper Mesopotamia, rose to international prominence in the “Fertile Crescent” about 900 BC.  It proved invincible to neighboring and regional kingdoms and nations - Egypt, Elam, and Babylonia, as well as Lydia in Anatolia and the tiny kingdom of Judah in Palestine, the homeland of Nahum.

Assyria reached a zenith of power during the reign of its emperor Ashurbanipal (668-627 BC).  Then, suddenly, the nation declined and disappeared forever following the destruction of its capital, Nineveh, by the Babylonian army in 612 BC.  Illumined by God, Nahum foretold this ultimate defeat which makes his prophecies pertinent to peoples everywhere at all times.

This opening portion of Nahum’s prophecy divides into two parts: the first reveals God’s judgment toward His “adversaries” as well as His will for “them that reverence Him” (vss. 2,7).  The second portion describes how God acts toward those who “devise against the Lord” and toward His own who have been in “bonds” under them (vss. 9,12).

“The Lord avenges...and...cuts off His enemies” (vs. 2).  The Prophet frames this word of the Lord in images drawn from the destructive powers of nature (vss. 5,6).  But listen: His aim is “good to them that wait on Him in the day of affliction” (vs. 7).

Yes, Christian, you have deadly enemies, but affliction is the “norm” of the Faithful.  Our Lord Jesus Himself “was afflicted” (Is. 53:7).  Understand concerning terrorists, lobbyists against truth, and politicians who temporize with enemies bent on holocaust of families, cities, and churches.  Nahum declares God’s judgment on all who may inflict pain, afflict our nation, or rain death on us.  Your Master’s resurrection declares an eternal destiny: “neither death nor life...nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 8:38,39).

Holy art Thou, O Master Who lovest mankind, Who hast provided for us the salvation of regeneration, which is in Thy Christ Himself, Who brought us into a knowledge of Thee our God.

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