Desolation and Ruin

Order of Service

• Hymn — O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing
• Call to Worship — Luke 1:68-75
• Hymn — O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing
• Prayer of Invocation
• Confession of Sin
• Assurance of Pardon — 1 John 1:9
• Scripture Reading — Joshua 24:16-28
• Hymn — Not What My Hands Have Done
• Pastoral Prayer
• Offering
• Prayer of Dedication
• Hymn — All You That Fear Jehovah's Name
• Sermon
• Hymn — For the Beauty of the Earth
• Benediction

---

Sermon Title: Desolation and Ruin

Scripture: Nahum 2:3-13

I. The Desolation and Ruin from God Unleashes the Ruthlessness of Man

A. The Babylonians and Medes execute God's ordained judgment against Nineveh in 612 BC

1. Though human armies carry out the destruction, the Lord of Hosts stands behind their victory (Nahum 2:13)
2. The opposite principle applies to Israel: Joshua 1:9 — the Lord is with Israel, granting victory; here the Lord is against Nineveh
3. Numbers 14:42 — when the Lord is not among his people, they are routed before their enemies

B. The vivid imagery of the attack in Nahum 2:3-6 depicts the blood-hungry predatory pursuit of the invaders

1. Scarlet soldiers and red shields likely reflect blood from previous battles
2. Chariots racing madly, armies stumbling over one another in their haste to overrun the city
3. The river gates opened, flooding Nineveh — whether by natural flood or deliberate military tactic

C. Western comfort breeds the false doctrine that man is basically good

1. Those who live removed from war's brutality are prone to place confidence in human ingenuity rather than God
2. When a people abandon God, he removes his restraining grace and unleashes the full depravity of man upon them (2 Samuel 24:14)
3. Biblical history consistently shows that abandoning God leads to experiencing the true ruthlessness of man

II. The Desolation and Ruin from God Exposes the Cowardice of Man

A. Assyria, which exiled countless nations including the northern kingdom of Israel, is itself exiled (Nahum 2:7)

B. The citizens and soldiers flee the city despite their leaders' cries to halt (Nahum 2:8)

1. The proud empire scatters like the builders of Babel in Genesis 11
2. Nineveh, the pride and center of the ancient near eastern world, is abandoned

C. The terror that Assyria inflicted on others now falls upon them (Nahum 2:10)

1. Hearts melt, knees tremble, anguish fills their loins, faces grow pale
2. Their cowardice was always present — military conquest and slaughter of the innocent is not courage but cowardice; victory merely concealed it

D. True courage does not come from worldly success but from Calvary

1. Social media influencers and celebrity gurus tie courage to worldly success, leading the young to dejection when results do not follow
2. Matthew 23:12 — those who exalt themselves will be humbled; those who humble themselves will be exalted
3. Christ, who counted equality with God not a thing to be grasped but humbled himself to death on a cross, is the true model of courage
4. Crossbearing humility under Christ is where true courage rests; at his return, the veil hiding the cowardice of all who reject him will be torn away

III. The Desolation and Ruin from God Stops the Mouth of Man

A. The lion imagery in Nahum 2:11-13 reflects Assyrian royal and religious identity

1. Assyrian kings styled themselves as lions; King Ashurbanipal reportedly cried "I am lion" going into battle
2. The lioness represents Ishtar, the chief goddess of Assyria — rendered useless in Nineveh's hour of need
3. Temple servants of Ishtar mourn not financial loss but the failure of their god (Nahum 2:7)

B. The voice of the Assyrian messengers who mocked the Lord is permanently silenced (Nahum 2:13)

1. Parallel to 2 Kings 18 where the Rabshakeh mocked the Lord God of Israel before King Hezekiah
2. Parallel to Daniel 6:22 where the Lord stops the mouths of lions to protect his covenant servant
3. The Assyrian voice was inseparable from Assyrian power — lose the empire, lose the voice

C. There is only one Lion whose voice cannot be silenced — the Lion of Judah (Revelation 5:5-6)

1. The Lion of Judah is also the Lamb led to the slaughter — his voice endures precisely because it is grounded in the world's rejection of him, not the world's approval
2. The lion of Nineveh's roar depended on worldly power and status; the Lion of Judah's roar is dependent on the word of God and his self-giving sacrifice
3. All must bow to the Lion of Judah now — that his roar on the last day may be salvation and not desolation