THIS is a picture of a desperate city doing all it can to avoid its destruction but to no avail. There is nothing anyone can do to avoid God’s judgment without total repentance. The fall of Nineveh is a warning to Church and State today. For example, the increase in violent crime is horrifying. People suggest either locking up wrongdoers for a longer time or giving them a better environment. They already have a better environment than people had during the depression of the thirties and prison doesn’t seem to work. We are seeing God’s judgment on our land because we have turned so thoroughly away from Him. Are we a modern Nineveh? Let us pray about this.

            Nineveh was destroyed as Nahum prophesied and has never been rebuilt even once after 2,500 years. Because the Bible is God’s Word, its prophecies are amazingly accurate. When the end approached, merchants and civil servants fled. All great empires have been trading nations. The stock exchange is a good place to see how a country is faring.

            This is a message for today’s Church - in our land at least. Her “shepherds slumber, (her) nobles lie down to rest.” The leaders of the Church today spend hours organising conferences, producing papers and streamlining committees. They talk a great deal about the Church’s mission but there is little call to prayer, or sign of a burden for lost sinners to find Christ and be saved. To all intents and purposes many, if not most of them, are fast asleep spiritually. However, rather than point fingers at others, let us ask ourselves if we have cried to the Lord to save lost sinners and make His people holy? Ask God to teach us how to avoid His judgment.