Nahum 2 Devotional

When the Lion's Den Empties

“For the LORD will restore the splendor of Jacob like the splendor of Israel, though destroyers have laid them waste and ruined the branches of their vine.”Nahum 2:2 (BSB)

Nahum 2 reads like a battle seen up close: red shields, chariots racing through the streets like torches, river gates thrown open, and the palace collapsing (2:3-6). Nineveh, once like a full pool, drains away while voices cry for the fleeing to stop and no one turns back (2:8). Its treasure, piled up without end, is carried off (2:9).

At the center of the chapter is a question about lions. Where is their den now, the place where the lion tore prey for its cubs and filled its lairs with kill, with nothing to fear (2:11-12)? Nineveh had grown rich by feeding on others. Then the LORD of Hosts says plainly that he is against it (2:13). The fall is the LORD refusing to let a predator rule forever, and it comes alongside his promise to restore the splendor of his ruined people (2:2). Power that devours others is never permanent, and those it has crushed can hope in the God who sets himself against it.

To think about: Where do you see the strong feeding on the weak, and how does God's opposition to it shape the way you pray?