Victory Through Defeat

“Behold upon the mountains the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace! O Judah, keep thy solemn feasts, perform thy vows: for the wicked shall no more pass through thee; he is utterly cut off.” (Na 1:15 AV)

 Nahum’s prophecy was judgment upon Assyria for their invasion and captivity of the ten northern tribes of Israel.  God uses Assyria to chasten His people.  Or better yet, the LORD allowed Assyria the ability to overcome His people for the purpose of their correction.  He by no means endorsed Assyria’s treatment of Israel.  Nor did He directly cause the horrible conditions which His people suffered.  Israel had gone after idols.  They had followed the pagan religions of their neighbors.  When God allowed the split which separated the north and south, it was for the intention of both halves following the LORD.  From its inception, the north never did.  They went after strange gods.  For decades, the LORD warned them through His prophets to turn back to the one true God.  King after king failed to do so.  Assyria was allowed to enter into the land and completely conquer it.  They carried away the vast majority of Jewish people leaving behind a very small remnant.  They were carried away to Assyria (modern-day Iran) and forced to serve their king.  The terrible acts inflicted upon them are unspeakable.  Now, Nahum is used by the LORD to pronounce judgment upon Assyria for their cruelty towards His people.  What we want to consider is the context of the above verse.  That is, good tidings and peace only come when the enemies of God’s people are destroyed.

It is a fool’s errand to think he can make the flesh, the world, and the devil lives peaceably with God.  They cannot.  I was watching a miniseries on World War II which emphasized the war with Japan as much as the front with Italy and Germany.  When we learn of WWII, it is usually all about Hitler.  In this particular miniseries, it detailed the history of the war in the Pacific.  This was part of the war I had never really learned.  The battles of Guam, Midway, Pearl Harbor, and the Islands to the south and east of Japan were detailed in such a way that I found a new appreciation for what our men and women went through to gain victory.  The Philippines were a significant portion of this account.  This particular miniseries took pains to show had the Empire systematically lost its advantage in the air as well as the sea.  Then came the moment that struck me as really profound.  US intelligence learned Japan was training six million of its citizens to defend the homeland.  They were afraid of a US invasion so women, children, and any able-bodied male were recruited to form a civilian force trained to fight to the death.  Seeing to what length pilots were willing to go in flying their craft into US warships, our military knew that an invasion of Japan would cost us far more than the six million Japan was willing to lose.  So, the decision was made to drop two nuclear warheads on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.  The only way to bring peace was for the enemy to surrender.

The believer has three enemies.  We have the flesh, the world, and the devil.  Until these three are defeated, there will be no peace.  The flesh will be defeated at the time of death.  The world will be defeated when Christ comes back to reign.  The Devil will be defeated at the end of Christ’s reign.  Our message of peace must be framed in the understanding these things are certain.  Our understanding of peace must be with the truth of perpetual earthly battle as a reality of life.  Our peace with God comes by way of the blood of Christ.  He, and only He, is the answer that brings peace to our hearts.  He is our satisfaction for the wrath of the Father.  If we confess our sin and call out to Jesus, He will save us from our sins.  We will have peace with the Father and a guaranteed home in heaven.  However, the battle continues in our day to day lives.  These enemies are defeated enemies who are trying to hang on to any victory which they can muster.  Our call to battle is a life-long one.  One that cannot see the child of God surrender.  We have won.  Our enemies just don’t know it yet.