{"id":78593,"date":"2020-08-09T19:14:48","date_gmt":"2020-08-09T16:14:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=78593"},"modified":"2020-08-09T19:14:48","modified_gmt":"2020-08-09T16:14:48","slug":"message-to-judah-even-the-mighty-must-fall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/message-to-judah-even-the-mighty-must-fall\/","title":{"rendered":"Message To Judah: Even The Mighty Must Fall"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The character of Nahum was introduced to us in chapter One with two opposing forces. First, there is the prophet\u2019s name: Nahum, meaning \u2018comfort\u2019. Second, we are provided with Nahum\u2019s birthplace: he is an \u2018Elkoshi\u2019, a man from Elkosh. Since no such place is known to have existed, some scholars have suggested that it is a play on words, meaning \u2018God is harsh\u2019. This apparent theological juxtaposition behind the character of the prophet might help us to understand the significance of the fate of Nineveh.<\/span><\/p>\n

By this final chapter of the book, we see that Nineveh is doomed for destruction. As modern readers, Nineveh might only be familiar to us through the Book of Jonah. However, to the ancient eye, this was a grand city of the Assyrian Empire. In the time of Nahum, Assyria had been the superpower of the Ancient Near East for what must have felt like forever. Unbeknownst to Nahum\u2019s contemporaries, this power was not destined to last, and Assyria would soon crumble under its own weight and the growing power of its rivals. To Nahum\u2019s audience, this prophecy against Assyria\u2019s power must have felt absurd. However, Assyria did fall, and power exchanged hands as power is wont to do.<\/span><\/p>\n

To later readers, the pronouncement against Nineveh and Assyria might feel overly specific, but behind it is a message that can be universalised. Even Assyria can fall. There is no eternal empire, Nahum tells us; true power lies only with the God of the Universe. This may not read as an uplifting message on its surface, but it is an incredible message of hope if you are Judah. To the oppressed, this says that even your oppressors can fall, no matter how all-powerful they might seem. And to those oppressors, Nahum warns against assuming that power now means power forever.<\/span><\/p>\n

In this dual message to the oppressed and the oppressors, our book magnificently marries <\/span>Nahum <\/span><\/em>(\u2018comfort\u2019) and <\/span>elkosh<\/em> <\/span>(\u2018God is harsh\u2019). The harshness of the All-Powerful can be comforting if you are the downtrodden – but not so much if you are the one abusing your own strength.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","image":false,"embedded_video":"","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":""},"tile":{"top_caption":"Message To Judah: Even The Mighty Must Fall","main_caption":"The harshness of the All-Powerful can be comforting if you are the downtrodden (if you are the abuser - not so much\u2026)","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"","preview_embedded":"","preview_image":false,"preview_video":"","external_link":"","link_for_pay":false,"tile_gallery_items":false,"credits":""},"alternate_tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"","hide_media":false},"tile_group":{"preview_image_url":false,"main_caption":"","sub_caption":"","":null,"popup_package_extra_content":"","read_time":""},"home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo":{"seo_title":"","seo_description":"","seo_default_title":"","seo_default_description":""},"links":false},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78593"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78593"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78593\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":78594,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78593\/revisions\/78594"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78593"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78593"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78593"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}