ALPHA MAAMA (A.M.)

 Tu‘apulelulu Tisema 21, 2023

Laid Waste

Fonua kuo Fakalala

NAHUM 3:7

AND ALL WHO LOOK AT YOU WILL SHRINK FROM YOU AND SAY, "WASTED IS NINEVEH; WHO WILL GRIEVE FOR HER?" WHERE SHALL I SEEK COMFORTERS FOR YOU?

NEHUMI 3:7

Pea ‘e faifai pea ‘ilonga ha taha ‘e sio kiate koe te ne hiki ke mama‘o meiate koe, pea te ne pehē: Kuo fakalala koā ‘a Ninive! Ko hai te ne maumau‘ia ai? Te u kumi mei fē ha ni‘ihi ke fakalelu?

Las Vegas. Rome. New York. Moscow. Each of these modern cities is bigger than their land mass. They stand for something. They are symbols of larger realities. In the Bible, two urban centers in particular became negative symbols: Babylon and Nineveh. They were emblems of evil. The book of Nahum, which is a prophecy of the destruction of Nineveh in 612 BC, should be read this way. It is about more than one city's demise; it's about the ultimate devastation of every anti-God worldly power. "Shadad is Nineveh," Nahum says. There is heavy irony here, for Nineveh was infamous for shadad, for destroying, despoiling, perpetrating violence. As they had done to others, so it would now be done to them. In a pun on his name, Nahum (Nachum ["comfort"]) asks, "Where shall I seek m'nachamim ['comforters'] for you?" Nineveh's historic destruction foreshadowed the world's final destruction.

What shall we do as we await that day? Pray for the worldwide Nineveh in which we sojourn. Bear witness of the God who wants none to perish but all to believe. And continue to hope in the Christ, the victorious Warrior who stands with his foot on the neck of sin and death.

Strengthen our hearts, ready our hands, and direct our feet, O Lord, to follow you.