Tuesday 15th July
Read Nahum 3:2-4
“The crack of whips,
the clatter of wheels,
galloping horses
and jolting chariots!
3 Charging cavalry,
flashing swords
and glittering spears!
Many casualties,
piles of dead,
bodies without number,
people stumbling over the corpses –
4 all because of the wanton lust of a prostitute,
alluring, the mistress of sorceries,
who enslaved nations by her prostitution
and peoples by her witchcraft.” (NIVUK)
Even the English translation captures the noises and ruckus of military conflict. The Hebrew is littered with alliteration and rhythm. The subject matter however is gruesome, and the consequences of conflict piled high. The question is why such waste of life. Cycles of violence ending in death as civilisation after civilisation pursues purposes we often fail to comprehend.
Pursuit is an appropriate image to reflect on when trying to understand why Nineveh falls. The desire for more lies at the heart of its demise. It is a confusing image – for we often think of prostitution as a crime against those who ply the trade. The victim is the one who is paid for services rendered. Why then is the fall of Nineveh attributed to the ‘lust’, the desires, of a prostitute?
The answer may lie less in victimhood and more in the nature of the relationship. The relationship itself is entirely transactional. Many nations, including Israel and Judah, parlayed with Assyria in local squabbles – seeking to draw on its power to win security against smaller foes around them. But for Assyria, these alliances and treaties, were merely a way to ensnare those nations with false promises.
It is a situation even a moment’s reflection on the current political situation reveals as depressingly common. We face the same choices today. With potentially the same outcomes. Nahum tells us that eventually all these security pacts and alliances will come undone. No one will benefit. Security is found in only one place.
