Saturday 12th July
Read Nahum 2:11-12
“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.” (NIVUK)
The royal lions of Assyria adorned temples, palaces and gates. Many ancient empires used lions to signify their greatness – the unrivalled king of the plains of the near East. Greatness was measured by besting lions, just consider Hercules, Samson and David!
‘Where now is the lion’s den’ writes Nahum. No longer does Assyria bestride the plains with impunity, taking what it wants, storing up wealth for its people (cubs) as well as its kings. All kingdoms eventually come to an end. All the wealth gathered at an empire’s height is eventually scattered amongst the conquerors.
One can’t help but contrast the fate of Nineveh, and all empires like it, with the kingdom that has no end. There is a city to which the kings of the earth with bring their wealth and splendour and glory as an adornment…
“I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. 23 The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. 24 The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendour into it. 25 On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. 26 The glory and honour of the nations will be brought into it. 27 Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.” (Revelation 21:22-27) (NIVUK)
