Nahum 2:1-3

So if you would if you want to turn in your Bibles, we're going to be reading the last verse of chapter 1 and then the first verse of first several verses of chapter 2. So Nahum 1 15 through to 2 13. God's Word says behold on the mountains the feet of him who brings good news who announces peace.

Celebrate your feasts. Oh Judah pay your vows for never again. Will the wicked one pass through you? He's cut off completely. The one who scatters has come up against you man the fortress watch the road strengthen your back summon all your strength.

For the Lord will restore the splendor of Jacob like the splendor of Israel. Even though devastators have devastated them and destroyed their fine branches. The shields of his mighty men are colored red.

The warriors are dressed in scarlet the chariots are enveloped in flashing steel. When he is prepared to march and the cypress spears are brandished. The chariots race madly in the streets they rush wildly in the squares.

Their appearance is like torches. They dash to and fro like lightning flashes. He remembers his nobles. They stumble in their march. They hurry to her wall and the mantlet is set up. The gates of the rivers are opened and the palace is dissolved.

It is fixed. She is stripped. She is carried away and her handmaids are moaning like the sound of doves beating on their breasts. Though Nineveh was like a pool of water throughout her days now. They are fleeing.

Stop stop. But no one turns back. Plunder the silver plunder the gold for there is no limit to the treasure. Wealth from every kind of desirable object. She is emptied. Yes, she is a desolate waste. Hearts are melting and knees knocking.

Also anguish is in the whole body and all their faces are grown pale. Where is the den of lions and the feeding place of the young lions where the lion Lioness and Lions Club prowled with nothing to disturb them.

The lion tore enough for her cubs. Killed enough for her lionesses and filled his lairs with prey and his dead dens with torn flesh. Behold, I am against you declares the Lord of hosts. I will burn up her chariots and smoke a sword will devour your young lions.

I will cut off your prey from the land and no longer will the voice of your messengers be heard. That is those are scary words for those who would come against the Lord. So this morning I talked that the title was scatterers.

Salvation and God's sovereignty. So we're going to see all three of those themes throughout this chapter. Especially God's sovereignty. So a real quick recap. The introductory verse to Nahum chapter 1 the Oracle or the burden of Nineveh.

The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkishite and remember the word Nahum means comfort. Okay, and the book of Nahum is actually Jonah part two. So Jonah anyone remember what Jonah's name means? Dove.

Who's the dove in the scripture the Holy Spirit? What does Nahum's name mean? Comfort. All right, so we see the theme running through this is the Holy Spirit. There's the sovereignty of God who's going to comfort his people and destroy his enemies.

First half of chapter 1. Describes the severity and the goodness of God, right? God is good to those who trust in him, but to those who oppose him. He's going to be a fierce enemy to them. Nahum 1 to a jealous and avenging.

God is the Lord. The Lord is avenging and wrathful. The Lord takes vengeance on his adversaries and he reserves wrath for his enemies 1 7. The Lord is good though a stronghold in the day of trouble and he knows those who take refuge in him.

So he would see the severity of God towards his enemies yet the goodness of God towards those whose faith and trust is in him. Second half of chapter 1 Describes what that will look like for Nineveh and what that will look like for Judah 1 8.

But with an overflowing flood He will make a complete end of its sight and will pursue his enemies into darkness again. God when he judges, okay, it's always synonymous with a flood. When God flooded the entire earth, it was judgment upon the earth and its inhabitants and he saved but eight people verses 13 12 to 13.

Thus says the Lord though they are at full strength and likewise many even so they will be cut off and pass away. Though I have afflicted you. Okay, meaning Judah. I will afflict you no longer. See now, I will break his yoke bar from upon you and tear off your shackles so the yoke that The Assyrians had on Judah is going to be broken by God.

And we remember what Jesus says, you know, my yoke is easy. My burden is light. He's going to tear off their shackles. The shackles were internal the internal sinfulness of The Judeans and humanity in general we have an internal Compulsion against the things of the Lord.

We're dead to the things of the spirit spirit, but alive to the things of the flesh until God Circumcises us. He takes those shackles off and now we come to him. Verse 15. This was the good news. Behold on the mountains the feet of him who brings good news.

Who announces peace shalom. Celebrate your fee so Judah pay your vows for never again. Will the wicked one pass through you? He is cut off completely.

Okay.

So we see that the difference between how God is going to rescue his people and how he's going to destroy and scatter his enemies. So let's get into the first verse. It starts off the one who scatters has come up against you.

So now the you here the one who scatters has come up against you the you is not Judah. It's now Nineveh again the Assyrians. So the one who scatters has come against you. Meaning he's coming against Nineveh against the Assyrians.

From the land he Nimrod went into Assyria and built Nineveh where have both ear Kalha and resin between Nineveh and Kalha that is the great city. This is Nineveh who which was started created by Nimrod.

We can read considerable detail about Nineveh in the prophecy of Jonah. This is important because we're gonna we're going from Jonah to Nahum. Nahum again is Jonah part two right in Jonah 1 and 3 we are told about the importance and the size of the great city use that term great many times.

By the time Jonah was sent to Nineveh. It had been a center of wickedness for many years. We know the the reputation that the Ninevites had. However, however after Jonah had preached in the city the people had apparently changed their ways and repented of their sin.

Even the king takes off his robes. Right his kingly robes and puts on sackcloth and ashes. He calls for a fast for all the people in Nineveh, even all the animals the cows were called to fast. That's how serious he was about this.

However, this is not what Jonah wanted to happen at the end of his prophecy. We have a glimpse of the Lord speaking to Jonah and pointing out to him that it was God's prerogative to save a city or Destroy it and on this occasion God said should I not be concerned about that great city?

So God had mercy on Nineveh for a while and this would serve to help the Israelites. Who who Assyria was going to come in and take over? Sadly by the time we get to Nahum now It appears that the turning away or the repenting from sin on the part of the Ninevites was short-lived.

Otherwise, we would not read of Nahum telling the people of Israel that this great and powerful city would be utterly destroyed. This is the point of Nahum. So what happened? Why was it that Nineveh repented?

And now is turning back and coming against Judah again. So let's take a look. Explaining how Nineveh fell to the scatterer begins in ancient history even from Nahum's perspective Nahum chose the word scatterer.

Intentionally it links Nineveh's coming a coming judgment to the one of the distant past. He meant to take us back to Genesis chapter 10 and 11. After the flood Noah's descendants traveled east and settled in Mesopotamia and began to build cities.

Right, who knows what tower they tried to build? Babel right good. That was an easy one. Genesis chapter 10 verses 8 through 12. Cush fathered Nimrod. He was the first on earth to be a mighty man. He was a mighty hunter before the Lord.

Who else do we know who was a mighty hunter before the Lord? Who's a mighty hunter? Yes? He saw exactly you said that. You were thinking it. Okay good. He was a mighty. Nimrod was a mighty hunter before the Lord.

Therefore it is said like Nimrod a mighty hunter before the Lord the beginning of his kingdom was Babel. Eric Akkad Kalna in the land of Shinar from that land He went into Assyria and built Nineveh where her both ear Kalha and resin between Nineveh and Kalha.

That is the great city. All right, so We're getting a little history about how Nineveh came to be and why Nahum's choosing to use this word scatterer. Nineveh will be founded in a time characterized by United human rebellion.

They all gathered together, okay. Congregated together to build the Tower of Babel to what make a name for themselves. All right. This was not about God's name even though God said Fill the earth subdue it which we're going to get to in a second.

Okay.

Remember when the flood ended God commanded Noah to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. Basically, he's not he's saying look don't just stay here. Okay. I want you to completely Take Dominion over the entire earth and in direct rebellion to that command Noah's descendants decided to build a city and a tower with it with its top to reach the heavens.

This is in rebellion in disobedience to what God told them to do. They agreed together. Let us make a name for ourselves. Lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth. Maybe you could see where this is going.

Rather than trusting God and obeying his word these early people sought security in numbers and Buildings and the reputation that came from both. So rather than trusting in God and doing as he said, oh, let's get together.

There's safety in numbers. Why. Because the human heart wants to trust in itself doesn't want to trust God. Nineveh was always a city that lived to make a name for itself in defiance of God. In Genesis 11 5 the Lord came down and he will do so again in Nahum verses 2 through 8 in Genesis God dispersed them.

Many centuries later Nineveh would receive the same treatment the word dispersed in Genesis 11 4 and 8 and the name scatterer Used in Nahum 2 1 come from the same Hebrew verb. We are meant to read Nahum 2 through the lens of Babel.

Okay, so God is coming against Assyria. Okay coming against Nineveh and he's going to scatter them because they were the ones who says let's scatter. Let's be this lest God disperse us Throughout the land.

Let's gather together together to build the Tower of Babel. So God is telling Assyria through Nahum that he the God who scatters is Back and is once again against them to overthrow their plans. Make sense see the corollary between that word scatter.

So the next part of the verse man the fortress watch the road. Strengthen your back summon all your strength. He's addressing Assyria right now. With biting satire Nineveh is encouraged by the prophet to do everything she can to prepare for the coming conflict for she will need much preparation.

In sharp clip staccato commands like gasps from an exhausted but frightened leader come these pieces of advice. Man the fort watch the road. Strengthen your flanks for to fortify your power mightily. But the truth of the matter is that all of this would have been too late and in vain.

No amount of preparation could help Assyria because she was up against God. Doesn't matter what you man yourself with or what you try to amass if God is coming for you. You've you've got a big problem.

Your command at that point in time would be to repent and trust in him. Ask him for mercy. Ask him for forgiveness. What makes the urging for more preparation seem more all the more ridiculous is that Sinatra had already spent six years Building an armory that covered 40 acres in the city.

So he's armed himself to the hilt. Or Shaddam had enlarged it by adding more chariots wagons horses mules bows quivers arrows and similar equipment. Even the Royal Road inside the city had been enlarged to a width of 78 feet.

Facilitating troop movement. But when God is against the nation no amount of material resources will avail or ensure victory. Okay, you cannot come up with a material solution to solve an immaterial problem.

Fleshly solutions can solve fleshly problems. You need a supernatural a spiritual Weapon or a spiritual solution that's going to stop the spiritual problem. It reminded me of that verse in Romans 8 that we Didn't really get to when we went through well.

Actually, we might have gotten through when we went through the the book all things together for good. God says if God is for us who can be against us. But think of the contrary if God is against us who or what could be for us?

Right if God is against you. Okay, if you haven't repented and turned for your sin and trust in Jesus God's wrath abides on you either turn from that. Okay, this especially for these Syrians God said I'm coming for you, and he's taunting them by saying yeah.

Man the forts right watch the road summon up all your strength get ready. Let's see how you're gonna do.

Scary.

Remember God is a jealous and avenging God. He's not gonna let his bride Be beat up by a bully. He's gonna come in and he's gonna take control. He's going to fight against the Assyrians the Ninevites the next Sentences for the Lord will restore the splendor of Jacob like the splendor of Israel.

In the case of his own people the Lord does the impossible. The eminence that once belonged to Israel in the hour of highest glory shall now return in all its fullness. The contrast between the eminence or glory of Jacob and that of Israel is not a contrast between the relative majesty of the northern and southern kingdoms.

Instead the contrast is between the time of Israel's glory under the United Monarchy and the time of the nation's Humiliation as it passed through God's judgments leading leaving Judah alone intact. Nahum is envisioning a day in which the same kind of transformation worked in the patriarch Jacob shall characterize the nation as a whole.

The devious Jacobian side of the people led to their devastation. But they shall experience fullness of restoration and shall revel in the kingdoms being raised again to glory. Right. So Jacob was the one who tricked his dad into giving him the blessing.

In the same way the kings of Judah would make covenants with the surrounding nations. Right kind of trying to play both both sides, right? Well, we have the covenant with God, but you know what? We should have a covenant with these powerful nations around us to which doesn't work, right?

You want you want your covenant with God and God alone, right? We trust in the Lord. We do not trust in chariots or horses. The Lord made a comforting promise to the people of Judah in Stark contrast to the bleak future of Nineveh the prospects for Judah were bright.

God promised to restore the splendor of Jacob. That was good news because politically economically and militarily Judah could not even be considered a second-class nation during Nahum's day the glory days of David and Solomon were long gone yet with Nineveh's fall a Syrian domination would end and renewed Prosperity would ensue.

Okay. So again, God's going to come in. He's going to protect his people. He's gonna Destroy those who are against him. In fact, I want if you have your Bibles open I want you to look at Psalm 35 and I think this is something that we should probably Pray about on Wednesday nights.

We can pray God's Word. Even you know from the pulpit Psalm 35 verse 1 and 2. Contend Oh Lord with those who contend with me. Fight against those who fight against me. Take hold of buckler and shield and rise up for my help.

Draw also the spear and the battle axe to meet those who pursue me say to my soul. I am your salvation. Let those be ashamed and dishonored who seek my life. Let those be turned back and humiliated who devise evil against me.

Let them be like chaff before the wind with the angel of the Lord driving them on. Right Lord fight against those who fight against me. Contend Oh Lord with those who are contending with me. I think that should be one of our ongoing prayers.

Right. Do we see what's going on in the world? You see the the the flesh rising up against the spiritual. You know the the children of the flesh rising you up against the children of the spirit. This goes back to The garden right the seed of the serpent against the seed of the woman.

Right, so it's not a bad thing to pray. Lord contend with those people have mercy on them. But contend with them change them change their hearts or remove them. And watch what happens with this Hebrew word restore.

The Hebrew verb restore is a prophetic perfect a Grammatical form the prophets often used to show that the prophet felt so sure of the coming restoration. That he spoke of it as already having occurred.

The prophets knew that the Lord does his work among his people if God purposed to restore Israel. Then the people could count and count the act as an accomplished fact. Though the work of God might occur far in the future.

God would do this do his work of restoration as he determined to do. All right. So when the prophet spoke it and it came from God, it was a guarantee. It's going to happen very similar when we when we repent and trust in Jesus.

We're justified were made right in God's sight and the scripture talks about three different things. You have been saved are being saved and will be saved. But if you're justified truly made right declared innocent in God's sight the end is just as certain as the beginning.

So we have that promise from God. Everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved right if you believe in your heart. Okay, you will you will be saved confess with your mouth. The Holy Spirit is our guarantee.

He's the seal that seals us for the day of redemption and and for our inheritance. Thank goodness for that. So the same way God promises to save us. He promised to restore israel. It's a guarantee. It's also guaranteed that god's enemies will be destroyed and cut off forever.

So says name goes on to say even though Devastators have devastated them and destroyed their vine branches. Verse 2 is an aside directed to now the people in jerusalem and its countryside. Assyrian troops have had laid waste and ruined vines.

Literally the empty years emptied. The land and they're pruning disfigured the vines. Not only taking the produce of the land, but also destroying judah's vineyards and olive groves. Judah's potential for return to prosperity have been stripped.

Nonetheless yahweh promises to return their former splendor. He is the creator and the destroyer of his creation will be destroyed. The destroyers of his creation will be destroyed. So is this does this ring a bell for you?

Like how does god describe? How does god refer to israel in the old testament? Obviously i'm even aiming at something but he describes israel with a lot of different words. I know what we're going to say.

With regards to what we see there laid waste and ruined vines. Pruning disfigured the vines.

All right.

Israel is a luxuriant vine. Okay, god describes israel as that vine. And we'll go on to see what else that means. Jeremiah 2 yet. I planted you meaning israel a choice vine holy of pure seed. How then have you turned?

Denit. Degenerate and become a wild vine though. You wash yourself with lye and use much soap. The stain of your guilt is still before me declares the lord. Right. So god's the one who brought israel up like a vine.

He's pruning the vine. But obviously the human heart turns against god's at enmity with god. You need they tried to walk. He's saying use much. So you wash yourself with lye and use much soap. What's that cleaning outside.

Right the outside of the cup. His is is dirty. The outside of the cup is clean, but the inside needs to be clean. Thus says the lord of hosts behold the man whose name is the branch. For he shall branch out from his place.

He shall build the temple of the lord. It is he who shall build the temple of the lord and shall bear royal honor and shall sit and rule on his throne. This is the solution. Who's the branch? No, jesus is the branch.

Behold the man whose name is the branch right. Jesus is that branch. He's divine, right? He's the root in the stump. He's the whole. He's the whole enchilada. Jesus says I am the true vine, right? This is john chapter 15.

And what does he say? I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. So even though assyria is trying to cut down the vine. Right cut down the israelites. We know we have the promise from god that jesus is divine and he is going to build his church.

He is that righteous branch that will bring about the descendants of spiritual israel his people. Why is god attacking the city. Because the lord is about to restore israel the pride of jacob which has been ravaged by its plunderers.

Jacob's restoration can only occur upon the destruction of assyria much like the liberation of the hebrew slaves came about at the expense of egypt's might. Right when god delivered the israelites out of egypt.

He also destroyed the egyptian army that came after them. He destroyed pharaoh's house by killing his firstborn. He sent the plagues on all the egyptians. Nahum is a realist enough to know That we are caught up in a tangled web of sin.

It's the depravity of the human heart. However configured or disturbed distributed sinful power is invariably used to demoralize and abuse others. That is an inescapable fact of the sinful tragedy of the human condition.

The liberation of a people will always upset the balance of power, right? So this is a balance of power. You have the seat of the serpent raging against the seat of the woman. Who truly has the power?

The lord.

Who truly has the power? Hello? Thank you god's people right we have. We have god's spirit living inside of us. That's why I keep telling you over and over again. You need not be afraid of someone who doesn't know what a woman is.

Please don't be afraid of these people. They're afraid of us. That's why they're pushing so hard against the things that we stand for. That's why they're pushing for abortion. That's why they're trying to redefine humanity.

That's what they're trying to redefine marriage. They know who has the power. We just have to act in accordance with what we have inside of us.

Okay.

Fear of man is a snare. The righteous are bold as a lion. Right. We have to remind ourselves that every day we walk by faith not by sight. You keep looking outside watching the news reading the newspaper.

You're going to be demoralized. Open your bible and read it. Read what he said. What he's going to do to the assyrians. You think the judeans had the power? to overthrow the assyrians.

No.

No, this is going to be done by the power of god and he'll use another nation to do it. Right, so we have to stop being afraid of man. We have to boldly proclaim the gospel. We have to be faithful to what god told us to do.

Take dominion like I tell you every week long island is christ island. Whether you believe that or not. It's a different story. You need to believe that. You need to believe that he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.

Fear is not from god. Okay, it's only the power of god that can restore israel. So we get to verse three. We're chugging along. Wow. The shields of his mighty men are colored red. The warriors are dressed in scarlet.

Okay, so this is a description of the armies that will be attacking nineveh. After the section dealing with the comforting of judah as the promised comforting of israel. I'm, sorry. Yes, the prophet returned to the theme of the destruction of nineveh.

In graphic terms nahum described the swiftness of the attack and the decisive defeat of nineveh. The attackers display total utilization of the most modern most sophisticated strategies of warfare. Right the assyrians had the best that that could be offered at that point in time.

Just as the hebrew verb restore is a prophetic perfect guaranteeing israel's restoration. It's also guaranteeing nineveh's defeat. Nineveh is not going to win. Assyria is going to be destroyed. They're going to be completely cut off.

You know if you're looking like on a map judah's like the size of a quarter. And assyria is the size of the rest of this screen. It's inconceivable to think that judah is going to win. But for the power of god and what he said.

The men in the red shields and the scarlet uniforms are the color of the meads. And they were already at the gates. So certain is the prophet of the course of this battle that he describes it with vividness rare even for those who view actual battles.

Nahum writes all of this in the prophetic perfect tense. Which means that it had not yet happened as yet. But so sure is nahum of god's triumph that the following that that following the custom for old testament prophets.

He uses a verb tense that describes completed action. It's as if when he said this it's already done. You need not worry. It's done. God said he's going to do this. It's done already. The reference to the red shields may be interpreted in a variety of ways.

They could be reddened by the blood of victims of past conflicts. Or by the reflection of the sun on a copper shield or by the use of a decorative dye. But the context of determined assault by a most powerful adversary Suggests that this redness comes from the blood of the resistance offered by nineveh.

The fact that assault the assaulting army had not yet broken into the city proper would not preclude Preliminary skirmishes as the territory about the city came into dispute. In any case these reddened shields serve as an awesome foreboding of the sentence now to be executed on all and none of his inhabitants.

So they're seeing these red shields. Some of the redness on those shields is the blood of their brothers and sisters who died in in the initial skirmishes. As a serious coming in so they're seeing these red shields saying oh my goodness.

That's going to be our blood our people are being killed already. Details given by the prophet have led some commentators to deduce that Nahum's words Must have come from a time after the fall of Nineveh in 612 bc.

How could someone describe the battle in such a vivid and clear way. Very detailed he was. Why. Because this is what the lord showed him and the lord can't be wrong. That's how we know what a true prophet is when he when he says the words and then they come to pass.

In fact Nahum describes the battle scene in more graphic detail than even the actual account given by the Babylonians. So there was a historical record Taken by Babylon that described this battle. Nahum's prophecy before the battle happened was more detailed than what the Babylonians.

Wrote.

That's how Perfect god's prophecy is. That's how perfect his foreknowledge is. He's he perfect. He's omniscient. He knows everything. He decreed that Nineveh Assyria was going to be destroyed. And anything god decrees or says is going to come to pass.

Right. Do you believe that the mountain of the lord is going to? Cover the entire earth.

Do you believe?

That jesus is lord ruling and reigning right now until his enemies are made a footstool for his feet. You need to believe that it's one thing to say it. It's another thing to believe it. Belief action follows belief.

If you believe it you're going to act on it. Okay, we need to act on these things. Faith without works is dead. Do not be a hearer of the word only be doers of the word. The chariots are enveloped in flashing steel when he's prepared to march and the cypress spears are brandished.

The besiegers of Nineveh will muster their forces and array them for the attack upon the fortified city. Seemingly secure behind its moats and its high walls with their many towers. The shields of the Medo-Babylonians will be painted red and their valiant men will be dressed in scarlet.

Their chariots will be lined up for attack and will appear as flaming torches as the rays of the sun are reflected from their metal parts. To terrify the defenders the infantry of the attacking forces will brandish their fur their cypress spears made of wood.

The chariots flash like a flame. The word translated flash is a word which does not occur anywhere else in the Hebrew Bible and whose meaning is unknown. Do you know what it's called when a word appears only once in the Bible?

Anybody know what that term is? The only reason I know is because I hear dr. White say it all the time. Hapax legomena. All right, it's it's a word that only it's a word that only appears once in the entire Bible, right?

Some scholars think this word means steel. And speaks of the material from which the chariots were made. Others related to a word of similar spelling which means torches. Others see. See instead a word which means flash.

The tev which is today's english version translate their chariots flash like fire. This may again be a reference to the sun reflecting off the polished metal of the chariots. Chariots were light two-wheel carts pulled by horses used in battle.

So all this stuff with flashing and and lightning. Uh is is leading us towards something.

Yes.

It could it very well could. Mm-hmm. Well put this way, uh Elijah would be a Uh a minister of of god, which is what we're gonna see in a second. I think I gave it away again. Psalm 104 he lays the beam of his chambers on the waters.

He makes the cloud his chariot. He rides on the wings of the wind. He makes his messengers winds winds his ministers a flaming fire. So when we see flames fire flashing. Okay, this is how god describes his ministers.

Reminder assyria was god's chosen instrument to discipline israel. God is sovereignly working to redeem and restore his people. He will also be defeating and destroying his enemies. His ministers are as a flaming fire.

So god comes with fire again to judge. All right, when we talk about hell we hear any of the things about sheol hell hades it talks about flames, right? Burning the the the smoke of their torment went up forever and ever.

It uses these metaphors or imageries of fire isaiah 10. Woe to assyria the rod of mianga. So Assyria is basically in god's hand. He's the one who's bringing assyria against judah right and you're like Why would he do that?

Assyria is brutal. Yeah, assyria is brutal, but judah compromised itself. They hoard after other gods. They made treaties with other kings. Where they should have been faithful to their king their god they weren't so god's going to bring assyria in this is Highlights the sovereignty of god.

We have to recognize that god's in control of everything that's happening right now. Okay, so woe to assyria the rod of my anger the staff in their hands is my fury. Against the godless nation judah. I send him and against the people of my wrath I command him to take spoil and seize plunder and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.

But assyria went too far in his heart in assyria's heart to destroy and cut off nations. Not a few. God goes on to say when the lord isaiah god through isaiah when the lord has finished his work on mount zion and on Jerusalem, he will punish the speech of the arrogant heart of the king of assyria and the boastful look of in his eyes.

For he says by the strength of my hand. I have done it and by my wisdom. I have understanding. So isaiah this part was written before nahum. Okay, and he's he's saying That god is going to use assyria to come in and punish judah.

But at a later point in time, he's going to punish assyria because their hearts went too far. Isaiah 10 15 through 16 shall the axe boast over him who who's it use it. Will the sword magnify itself against him who wields it?

As if a rod should wield him who lifts it or as if a staff should lift him who is not wood. Therefore the lord god of hosts will send wasting sickness among his stout warriors and under his glory a burning will be kindled like the burning of fire.

Okay.

So again, these this imagery of fire and flashing and shields and red shields and blood, okay, and the and the. The the shield that glimmers as the sun hits it. This would be as if god's people god's ministers were a flame of fire.

So here assyria is boasting in its own power how it came it's going to destroy all the nations around it now. It's going to destroy judah yet God was the source of their power. He was the one Who had assyria in his hand like an axe?

Right. Could you imagine an axe? Talking and boasting look at the trees that I cut down not realizing it was the hand who held the axe. That's cutting down the trees. Isaiah 10 he goes on the light of israel will become a fire and his holy one a flame.

And it will burn and devour his thorns and briars in one day. The glory of his forest and of his fruitful land. The lord will destroy both soul and body and it will be as when a sick man wastes away The remnant of the trees of his forest will be so few that a child can write them down.

Any questions at this point? We're good. The sovereignty of god and the power of god are on full display Scattering his enemies and saving his people so This goes all the way back to genesis 10 when those people Gathered together.

Okay. They didn't they didn't heed god's command to be fruitful and multiplied to disperse Over the entire earth instead of scattering they congregated and god comes back and says now i'm going to scatter you.

For for your sin Nahum 1 6. Who can stand before his indignation who can endure the burning of his anger? Yet the lord is good a stronghold in the day of trouble. He knows those who trust in him. So as we see even today this battle raging on between the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman.

The question is what side are you on? Right when jesus was crucified there was two two two two criminals one on each side one looked and was mocking the people and uh Yelling at jesus. Come on. Get us down from here.