The Arrogance of Invincibility Text: Nahum 3:8-10
Introduction: The Pride of Permanence
We live in an age that worships its own strength. Our civilization, much like the Nineveh of old, is drunk on its own technological prowess and military might. We have split the atom, mapped the genome, and built towers of glass and steel that scrape the heavens. We project our power across the globe with drones and satellites, and we tell ourselves that our position is secure, that our way of life is the fixed center of the world. We have, in short, come to believe in our own press clippings. We have mistaken a season of God's patient blessing for a permanent state of affairs, guaranteed by our own ingenuity.
But the Word of God comes to us as a bucket of cold water to the face. The prophet Nahum is tasked with delivering a message of utter devastation to Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian empire. This was no small task. Nineveh was not just a city; it was the symbol of global power, a bloody and brutal regime that had terrorized the ancient world for centuries. To the inhabitants of Judah, crushed under Assyria's heel, the idea of Nineveh's fall would have seemed like a fever dream. To the Ninevites themselves, it would have been laughable. They were the apex predator, the lion in its den, fat with the plunder of nations.
The Lord, through Nahum, has already detailed the coming siege, the shame, and the slaughter. But here, in our text, He anticipates their proud objection. He knows the heart of arrogant man. He can hear them thinking, "It cannot happen to us. We are different. We are stronger. We are impregnable." And so God employs a divine history lesson. He points to an object lesson that was, at that time, recent and shocking history. He asks a rhetorical question that is designed to shatter their self-confidence and expose the flimsy foundation of their pride. God's judgments are not random; they follow a pattern. And the pattern is this: pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. What God has done to one proud and rebellious city, He can and will do to another.
This is a word for us. When we trust in our armies, our economy, or our political cleverness, we are standing in precisely the same place as Nineveh. We are daring God to act. This passage is a warning that no nation, no matter how powerful, has a permanent lease on its place in the world. All nations are tenants on God's earth, and the landlord always comes to collect the rent.
The Text
Are you better than No-amon, Which sits along the waters of the Nile, With water surrounding her, Whose rampart was the sea, Whose wall consisted of the sea? Ethiopia was her might, And Egypt too, without end. Put and Lubim were among her helpers. Yet she became an exile; She went into captivity; Also her infants were dashed to pieces At the head of every street; They cast lots for her honorable men, And all her great men were bound with fetters.
(Nahum 3:8-10 LSB)
The Unsettling Comparison (v. 8)
God begins His argument by forcing Nineveh to look in the historical mirror.
"Are you better than No-amon, Which sits along the waters of the Nile, With water surrounding her, Whose rampart was the sea, Whose wall consisted of the sea?" (Nahum 3:8)
The question hangs in the air: "Are you better?" This is the fundamental question God puts to all human pride. Do you think you are an exception to the rule? Do you believe the laws of divine justice apply to everyone but you? Nineveh's pride was built on its military strength, its massive walls, and its strategic location on the Tigris river. They saw themselves as invincible.
So God points them to No-amon, better known to us by its Greek name, Thebes. This was the great capital of Upper Egypt, a city of immense wealth, power, and religious significance. It was the center of the cult of the god Amon. Nahum's prophecy was delivered around 650 B.C., and the event he is referencing was fresh in everyone's mind: the brutal sacking of Thebes by the Assyrians themselves, under Ashurbanipal, in 663 B.C. God is using their own greatest military victory as the prime exhibit in the case against them. "Remember what you did to Thebes? Do you think you are immune from the very thing you inflicted on others?"
Notice the description of Thebes' security. It "sits along the waters of the Nile." It was surrounded by water, a network of canals that made it a natural fortress. Its "rampart was the sea, whose wall consisted of the sea." The word "sea" here is used poetically to describe the vast, life-giving Nile. Thebes' defenses were not just man-made walls of brick and stone; its very geography seemed to declare it impregnable. The city was secure, confident, and utterly self-reliant. It was the Nineveh of the south. And God is saying, "Your confidence is a carbon copy of theirs. Your defenses are no better. You are not the exception."
The Impressive Alliances (v. 9)
If natural defenses were not enough, Thebes also had powerful allies. Nineveh trusted in its own might, but Thebes had an entire coalition.
"Ethiopia was her might, And Egypt too, without end. Put and Lubim were among her helpers." (Nahum 3:9 LSB)
Thebes was not isolated. Her strength was augmented by others. "Ethiopia was her might" refers to the Cushite dynasty that ruled Egypt at the time. They were renowned warriors. "And Egypt too, without end" speaks of the vast resources and manpower of the entire Egyptian civilization. Their strength seemed limitless. To this were added mercenaries and allies: "Put and Lubim," peoples from Libya and other parts of North Africa. This was a formidable military alliance, the ancient equivalent of a superpower with a deep bench of client states.
The point is devastatingly clear. Natural defenses are not enough. Military alliances are not enough. Boundless resources are not enough. When God determines to bring a nation to judgment, all of these earthly supports are like a spider's web against a hurricane. The Lord of Hosts does not check the geopolitical situation before He acts. He is not intimidated by treaties or troop numbers. He laughs at the kings of the earth who take counsel together against Him (Psalm 2:4). Nineveh, like Thebes before her, had placed her trust in the arm of flesh. And the arm of flesh will always, always fail.
The Inevitable Collapse (v. 10)
Having established the strength of Thebes, God now recounts her utter ruin. This is not prophecy; it is a recitation of recent, brutal history, a history the Assyrians knew well because they had authored it.
"Yet she became an exile; She went into captivity; Also her infants were dashed to pieces At the head of every street; They cast lots for her honorable men, And all her great men were bound with fetters." (Nahum 3:10 LSB)
Despite all her advantages, what was the outcome? "Yet she became an exile." The word "yet" is the pivot upon which all human pride is broken. All your strength, all your allies, all your confidence... yet. The judgment of God is the great "yet" that overturns all human calculations. The population was deported, sent into captivity, scattered among the nations. This was standard Assyrian policy, a cruel but effective way of breaking the spirit of a conquered people.
But the description gets more graphic and horrific. "Her infants were dashed to pieces at the head of every street." This is the brutal reality of ancient warfare, a horror that the Assyrians specialized in. It is a picture of total, merciless judgment. This is not just a political defeat; it is a demographic catastrophe. It is the fruit of sin. When a nation is given over to its rebellion, the consequences are visited even upon the most helpless.
The social order is completely inverted. "They cast lots for her honorable men." The nobles, the leaders, the men of high standing are treated like plunder, divided up like spoils of war. "And all her great men were bound with fetters." The powerful are enslaved, the mighty are humbled, the proud are chained. The very men who once gave orders are now led away in irons. This is what happened to Thebes. And God's message to Nineveh is simple: "This is your future. This is the cup of wrath you forced others to drink, and now you will drink it to the dregs."
Conclusion: The Only True Security
The lesson of No-amon is a lesson for every age and every empire. There is no such thing as secular security. There is no wall high enough, no army strong enough, no economy prosperous enough to protect a nation from the judgment of a holy God. To trust in these things is to build your house on the sand. The storm will come, and the fall will be great.
This is a hard word, but it is a profoundly gracious one. God warns before He strikes. He shows us the wreckage of past rebellions so that we might not share in their fate. The story of Thebes was a warning to Nineveh. The story of Nineveh is a warning to us. The ruins of great empires are God's sermons in stone, preaching the universal truth that "righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people" (Proverbs 14:34).
But the story does not end in ruins. For there is one city, one kingdom, that cannot be shaken. The writer to the Hebrews tells us that we have come "to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem" (Hebrews 12:22). This is the only city with a truly impregnable wall, for its wall is the salvation of God Himself. This is the only kingdom with an invincible king, the Lord Jesus Christ, who conquered sin, death, and hell.
The judgment that fell upon Thebes and Nineveh is a foreshadowing of the final judgment that will fall upon all who remain in their rebellion against God. The horror of infants dashed in the streets is a faint echo of the eternal horror of being cast away from the presence of God. But God, in His mercy, has provided a way of escape. He sent His own Son, the Lord Jesus, to bear the full force of that judgment on the cross. On that cross, Jesus was treated like a spoil of war. He was stripped, mocked, and His life was taken. He was bound for our sakes, so that we could be set free. He became an exile, cast out from the presence of the Father, so that we could be brought home.
The only true security is found not in walls of water or armies of men, but in taking refuge in the crucified and risen Christ. He is our rampart. He is our fortress. All other ground is sinking sand. Therefore, let us not be like Nineveh, deaf to the warnings of history. Let us hear the lesson of No-amon, repent of our proud self-reliance, and flee for refuge to the only King whose kingdom will have no end.