Nahum 3:8-13: a reflection

8Are you better than No-Amon, who was situated among the rivers, who had the waters around her, whose rampart was the sea, and her wall was of the sea? 9Cush and Egypt were her boundless strength. Put and Libya were her helpers. 10Yet was she carried away. She went into captivity. Her young children also were dashed in pieces at the head of all the streets, and they cast lots for her honorable men, and all her great men were bound in chains. 11You also will be drunken. You will be hidden. You also will seek a stronghold because of the enemy. 12All your fortresses will be like fig trees with the first-ripe figs. If they are shaken, they fall into the mouth of the eater. 13Behold, your troops among you are women. The gates of your land are set wide open to your enemies. The fire has devoured your bars.

The prophet Nahum warns Nineveh of coming judgment, and he does it by pointing to another great city that had fallen: Thebes, called No-Amon. Are you better than Thebes? he asks. Thebes had every advantage, waters around her for defense, allies, boundless resources; and yet she fell, was carried into captivity. If all her defenses could not save Thebes, Nahum warns, neither will Nineveh's defenses save her. No fortification makes a city immune to judgment.

Notice the argument Nahum makes: no defenses make one immune. Thebes had seemed impregnable, with her waters and allies and resources; yet she fell. And so Nineveh's confidence in her own defenses was misplaced; the fortifications that seemed to make her secure would not save her. The seemingly invincible fall; no wall, no resource, no defense makes a city, or a person, immune to the judgment that comes. Trusting in defenses and strength for ultimate security is vain.

That warning against trusting in our defenses for ultimate security is one we can need. We build our own defenses, our securities, the walls and resources we trust to keep us safe; and we can come to feel, like Nineveh, that these make us secure, immune to trouble. But Thebes fell despite all her defenses, and so may any who trust in their own fortifications. Do not put your ultimate trust in the defenses and securities you have built, as though they made you immune to trouble or to God's dealings. The seemingly invincible fall; no wall or resource makes anyone finally secure. Trust not in your own defenses, which can fail as Thebes' failed, but in God, who alone is a sure refuge. The fortifications we trust cannot make us immune; let your security rest not in them, but in the God who is a true and lasting refuge.

Lord, the prophet Nahum warned Nineveh by pointing to Thebes, which had every advantage, waters, allies, resources, yet fell; are you better than Thebes, he asked, warning that no defenses make one immune. Give me that warning against trusting in my defenses for ultimate security. I build my own defenses, my securities, the walls and resources I trust to keep me safe; and I can come to feel, like Nineveh, that these make me secure, immune to trouble. But Thebes fell despite all her defenses, and so may any who trust in their own fortifications. Keep me from putting my ultimate trust in the defenses and securities I have built, as though they made me immune to trouble or to your dealings. The seemingly invincible fall; no wall or resource makes anyone finally secure. Help me trust not in my own defenses, which can fail as Thebes' failed, but in you, who alone are a sure refuge. The fortifications I trust cannot make me immune; let my security rest not in them, but in you, Lord, who are a true and lasting refuge.