5 August 2022
Ah! City of bloodshed,
utterly deceitful, full of booty—
no end to the plunder!
…
I will throw filth at you
and treat you with contempt,
and make you a spectacle.
Then all who see you will shrink from you and say,
‘Nineveh is devastated; who will bemoan her?’
Where shall I seek comforters for you?
From Nahum 2: 1, 3, 3: 1-3, 6-7(NRSV)
Although God is a god of love, God is also concerned with justice. The city here is Nineveh, one of the mightiest in the ancient world. It was full of beauty and awe-inspiring works, but it was also the seat of the Babylonians who had over-run Israel and taken countless individuals into captivity and slavery. We can find the glorying in bloodshed and triumphalism in this reading very uncomfortable. But it can help us if we remember that these words were given to people whose lives had been torn apart by those whose seat of power was Nineveh. For the poor, the oppressed, the downtrodden, the exile, the prospect of those who had caused their suffering getting a taste of their own medicine was cause for celebration.
- When have you been glad (maybe secretly) that people have had a taste of their own medicine?
- Should passages like this be kept in the sciptures? Why? Or why not?
Pray today for those who suffer from cruelty and grave injustice and who are longing for their oppressors to receive justice.
