There was still Time to Change

I have decided to take a short break from “The Eight Things that I Believe” (or was it nine?).

A few weeks ago, I made an excursion through the Minor Prophets. These make up the last 12 books of the Old Testament, and have a motley collection of themes. Most people ignore them, because they are at the back of the Old Testament, and don’t seem so important.

(They are “Minor”, because they are shorter than the “Majors”. There is no musical differentiation on major and minor keys, intended here.)

Individually they have some good stories and interesting lessons. The most famous one is probably the Book of Jonah, who was “swallowed by a whale”. Actually it wasn’t a whale, but a large fish, but who cares.

I would have liked to say that, in reading the Minor Prophets, I was particularly struck by some or other point. However, on this occasion, this would not be true. It was only some days after I had completed my meanderings through these twelve books that it occurred to me that the prophecy of Nahum (7th of the 12) was unusually uncompromising in its telling, even by the bloodthirsty standards of the Old Testament.

Like the story of Jonah (the 5th minor prophet), it is about the forthcoming destruction of the city of Nineveh (in what is now Northern Iraq). In the book of Jonah, however, the forthcoming destruction did not happen. The Book of Jonah was set some time earlier than the Book of Nahum and the two books are completely contrasting.

The Book of Jonah has a number of themes. One of them concerns Jonah’s announcement to the people of Nineveh of their impending destruction because of their evil. The city’s response is immediate. The inhabitants are appalled by their own acts, and go out of their way to demonstrate this before God. Those of you who have read the Book will know that God himself changes his intentions and spares them (classically called “A Happy Ending”).

But my original purpose in starting this blog was not so much to talk about the book of Jonah (book 5), but to contrast this to the Book of Nahum (book 7).

The Book of Nahum, set some time later, prophecies the complete destruction of Nineveh, (which took place in 612 BC). The prophet recounts the evil carried out by this city during the course of its brief reign as the leading city of the region (which I do not intend to go into here) and announces its imminent destruction.

This prophecy was not a warning. It was a statement of God’s intent, of (future) fact. There was no opportunity now for the City to change its way and to turn to God. It was too late for that. The decision was made.

Embedded in the storyline of Nahum are words of comfort to the people of Israel. Israel had suffered at the hands of this empire, and now this was going to be over. God reminded Israel of his love for them, while at the same time, reminding them of their obligations to serve Him. (This also could the subject of another blog, but not this time, folks).

The message of Nahum was clearly not for the people of Nineveh. They were not listening. They had had their moment and now it was over. The message was for God’s people (as a sign of his love) and for those for whom there was (or is) still an opportunity to change.

There comes a moment for individuals, for organisations, countries, when the clock has stopped and judgement (in whatever form) comes. But until that moment comes, there is still time to change.

If we are asking the question “Is this God’s judgement on us?”, then the book of Nahum shows us that the answer is probably no. If God’s judgement had come, we would have known about it. It would all be over. If God is calling people to return to Him, then there is still time, but that period will, at some point, come to an end.