Wednesday 16th July
Read Nahum 3:5-7
“‘I am against you,’ declares the Lord Almighty.
‘I will lift your skirts over your face.
I will show the nations your nakedness
and the kingdoms your shame.
6 I will pelt you with filth,
I will treat you with contempt
and make you a spectacle.
7 All who see you will flee from you and say,
‘‘Nineveh is in ruins – who will mourn for her?”
Where can I find anyone to comfort you?’” (NIVUK)
There is a sense in which Yahweh’s engagement with the gruesome combat and casualties of war is both one step removed (v2-3) and yet intimately engaged (v5-6). It is not enough for Assyria to simply be conquered and destroyed, there is an element of humiliation that is essential for justice to be served. If the heart of the accusation against her involves promises of security that Assyria rarely delivered on (v4) – it is important that her moral bankruptcy be equally displayed. Shame is part of her judgement.
It is interesting to note the further parallels in Luke. We have already observed how the inner immorality of the religious leaders called down woes from Jesus – a conscious echo of Nahum’s message. The very next passage in Luke reveals, like Nahum, both a crush of bodies and the truth that inner moral bankruptcy cannot, and must not, be hidden…
“Meanwhile, when a crowd of many thousands had gathered, so that they were trampling on one another, Jesus began to speak first to his disciples, saying: ‘Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. 2 There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. 3 What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs.” (Luke 12:1-3) (NIVUK).
It may simply be coincidence that Luke 11:37-12:3 mirrors the themes of Nahum 3:1-7. Or it could be that we too must heed the warning that nothing shameful we do in secret is without consequence.
