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So, we're continuing our study through the book of Nahum, and so we're in Nahum chapter 2, and obviously there's three chapters, so after tonight we'll be more than halfway done. But Nahum, I just want to remind you what this book is about. So at the very beginning of the book, the very first verse, it says, the burden of Nineveh. So that's what this book is about, is about Nineveh. And actually in each chapter, Nineveh is brought up by name in each chapter. And so, but we're just going to go verse by verse through this chapter and I just want to explain it. So basically though, Nineveh is going to be judged, Nineveh is going to be completely decimated. That's what this whole book is about. And it's basically, the first chapter really was talking about, okay, here's who God is. Here's who he is, what he's capable of. And then in chapter 2, he's basically calling out Nineveh and talking about what's going to happen to them. And so chapter 2 and 3 are really where you're getting into what's going to happen to Nineveh, what's going to happen to that great city, that bloody city as it calls it in chapter 3. So in verse 1, it says, he that dasheth in pieces is come up before thy face. Now before we get into the rest of that part there, he that dasheth in pieces, I believe is talking about the Lord. So in chapter 1, we are talking about the Lord and the fact that he's furious, he revengeth and all these things about the Lord, that the earth is melted and the mountains are melted at him and basically the earth is set on fire, his indignation and all this stuff that it talks about the Lord. And so it's starting off this chapter basically saying, he that dasheth in pieces is come up before thy face. And so this is pretty scary if you think about it, especially since the Bible says that his eyes are over the righteous and his ears are open unto their prayers, but his face is against them that do evil. That's what the Bible says about the Lord. And so his face is against them that do evil and Nineveh obviously is a wicked city and chapter 3 really covers that and I'm not going to get into that tonight, we'll get into that next week as far as just the wickedness of Nineveh, but it's just interesting, he that dasheth in pieces is come up before thy face. So this is a scary thought. Remember it's a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God and they should be trembling at this. But notice what it says in Jeremiah chapter 4 and every time I read Nahum 2.1 I think of Jeremiah chapter 4 dealing with another place where we're talking about the Lord basically coming to destroy a nation. I bring this up because of what it's likening the Lord to and at the end of the chapter what it's likening Nineveh to as far as the animal itself. Because we know that Jesus is the lion out of the tribe of Judah. Well in Jeremiah chapter 4 and verse 7 it says the lion is come up from his thicket and the destroyer of the Gentiles is on his way. That's what I kind of think about when I think of this passage and as we read the rest of that verse there it says he has gone forth from his place to make thy land desolate and thy city shall be laid waste without an inhabitant. And so you think about the fact that he that dasheth in pieces is come up before thy face and the lion is come up from his thicket. And so obviously Satan's always trying to imitate the Lord and so we know that Satan which I'll get to later is likened unto a roaring lion but we know that the Lord Jesus is the lion out of the tribe of Judah. I just always think of that passage and I always just love that passage because you think of a wicked world, you think of a perilous world, you think of a world that hates God and as brother Charles was just kind of telling me about that article, I haven't read the article but he was kind of reading a little bit to me about the GQ magazine coming out with why the Bible is overrated and just people that hate the Bible, people that are propagating their filth but they hate the Bible, they hate God's word and I just think about in those times in the end times in this nation how the lion of the tribe of Judah is going to come up out of his thicket and the destroyer of the Gentiles is on his way. That's what I think about. And obviously this passage you know when we were talking about Nahum and how Nineveh obviously was a city of Assyria back then and it was completely destroyed but this is a lot, there's a lot of foreshadowings of Babylon that was going to happen way in the future. Obviously it foreshadowed the Babylon that was going to come right after them, the physical nation of Babylon but it also foreshadows the Babylon that we're talking about in Revelation chapter 18 and so that's what I want to, obviously I'm going to be teaching what it's talking about in that time but what's that to us, what happened back then is how does it apply to us now and so but I just want to give you hope on that when you think of a city, you think of being oppressed by this world and all these haters of God are out there trying to pass laws and trying to go against the Bible and trying to go against even just teaching your children at home that don't worry the lion of the tribe of Judah is going to come out of his thicket and he's on his way. He's on his way. You know they could say that the Lord Delaeth is coming all day long but they're just building up wrath to come and so Nineveh in this book of Nahum, one would read this and think man this is kind of depressing to think what God's going to do to this country of Nineveh and the city of Nineveh in Assyria but then you could also think about the aspect of what about the people that were persecuted by this nation. So there's always two sides to the coin and I always think about Taylor, I'm going to point her out tonight, I always think about how Revelation was like her favorite book and we were kind of making fun of her with that you know just giving her a hard time about that because Revelation has a lot of hard core like judgments of God in there. But it wasn't the judgments of God as much as the fact of the happy ending. You know the fact that hey you know yes all this is you know you got the tribulation and all this stuff but God's going to set it right and God's going to basically come in and in the end we're going to have the new heaven new earth we're going to dwell with the Lord forever and there's going to be a time when all this stuff's going to fade away we're probably going to forget about all the stuff that we had to go through. I mean think about eternity and just how much that's not going to matter. You kind of think about and obviously as a man I don't really realize this but when you have like women that have children and just the fact of obviously there's a lot of pain that's involved in bringing forth a child and you're thinking about it I guarantee it when you're giving birth to the child but after the child's born I'm sure the joy of the child being born greatly outweighs the travail of what happened before that. I mean you have to or you'd never want to have children again. I mean but the Bible talks about that. That's why I can say with authority that that's true because the Bible actually says that okay but all I'm saying with that is that that's what I see with this book you think about on our part the fact that hey the Lord's coming. He that dashes in pieces is come up before thy face and you know what we live in a wicked country but that's what's coming for him and so but what's interesting about this passage is it says that but then it says keep the munition watch the way make thy loins strong fortify thy power mightily. Now that's what's interesting about this because he's saying to the heathen he's saying to this nation get ready and so he may say that's weird wouldn't he say just lay down your arms now he's basically saying get your armies together get everything together I'm coming after you and so God's not blindsiding them he's just basically saying get your get everything do you have against me and it's almost like God's like saying what is what do you have that you think you could take me out and that's the way I look at it's like whatever you have fortify bring everything that you got against me and then come after me because he's going to completely annihilate him and obviously when we think about when you think about this think about our world and the people in it and all the armies and all the missiles and all the stuff we have and think about how God has to laugh he that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh and the Lord shall have them in derision because you think about it he created everything the earth is his footstool but yet the armies of this world think they're going to take out God but he's basically saying okay get your minute keep your minute you munition and you think of ammunition if you want to kind of think about what that means munition talking about the things of war you think of like bows and arrows and swords and like all your all your you know uh habergens and all this stuff that you're going to go to war with and he's basically saying get it all ready now this isn't unprecedented because in Joel chapter three it's kind of the same language that's being used and we talk about Joel chapter three dealing with the battle of Armageddon back when I was talking about that with our end time series but go to Joel chapter three and so I just want you know as you're reading through some of these minor problems sometimes it's hard to understand who's talking what what it's talking about who's talking and who's who's he talking to okay because sometimes when you're reading through here you're like what what does that mean like it's almost confusing because it's saying he that dashes in pieces has come up before thy face keep the munition and you're kind of like is he saying for Israel to keep the mission or is he talking about Nineveh and I believe he's talking about Nineveh because I believe he's basically coming up to take them out and he's saying get yourselves ready because I'm coming after you and so in Joel chapter three in verse nine there it says proclaim ye this among the Gentiles prepare war wake up the mighty men let all the men of war draw near let them come up beat your plow or your plowshares in the swords and your pruning hooks in the spears let the weak say I am strong assemble yourselves and come all ye heathen and gather yourselves together round about and I believe it switches who's talking I believe the heathen are saying thither cause thy mighty ones to come down o Lord so what these minor prophets sometimes it's a little tricky on how who's talking to who but I believe basically God's basically saying hey you need to get yourselves ready o heathen and the heathen saying bring your mighty ones down because obviously we're going to be coming down on white horses now that's a whole future aspect this is obviously something that happened in Joel's day but same aspect it says and as you read on verse 12 there it says let the heathen be awakened and come up to the valley Jehoshaphat for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about so he's saying hey get yourselves ready wake up the mighty men you know let all the men of war draw near beat your plowshares in the swords and your pruning hooks in the spears and so it's the same thing that's being talked about in Nahum and so he's basically just saying hey you need to get yourself ready because I'm coming after you and you're going to get destroyed so but in verse one there's just a lot of information with that but verse two in Nahum Nahum 2 and verse 2 then he kind of now he's he's kind of talking so you gotta imagine he's basically saying to Nineveh hey the Lord's coming he's coming after you he's against you and get yourselves ready for this battle and then he's making a point and you got to think about this in verse 2 it says for the Lord had turned away the excellency of Jacob as the excellency of Israel for the emptiers have emptied them out and marred their vine branches think about this God's coming after the heat and he says I even turned away the excellency of my own people think about how scary that would be it's like even my own people I let them get destroyed what do you think I'm going to do to you and so you gotta understand how the language of the Bible is working here because he's basically making a point he's saying hey listen the Lord had turned away the excellency of Jacob and he's just kind of making that point but on another level of that he turned away the excellency of Israel to Assyria and if you remember remember when both when Assyria took out Israel and when Babylon took out Israel or took out Judah remember he used them to take him out but then they kind of took it too far and so he was angry with him for taking it too far and did a lot of things that he didn't want them to do and so he like judged them for that and that's why Babylon when you look in Jeremiah you read about how Babylon's coming to judge Judah but then he says you know and I'm not going to go into all that stuff with Babylon but basically he's saying because you did all this stuff to Jacob and you went too far pretty much he's going to completely annihilate Babylon and it's pretty much the same thing that's going on here with Nineveh and so but I want to show you that and you know we were kind of talking about Obadiah and how it gets real deep with when you get into the first and second Kings but go to first or second Kings chapter 17 second Kings chapter 17 so just an overview of when you're reading first and second Samuel you're dealing with Saul or you're dealing with Samuel obviously the prophet and then Saul becomes king David's in there in first Samuel and David's anointed to be king instead of Saul in first Samuel well second Samuel is all about pretty much when David becomes king and all his reign and then in first Kings his son Solomon takes over and then for about the first 11 chapters you're dealing with Solomon's reign but after chapter 11 of first Kings you get into where the kingdom gets split and then you have the northern kingdom of Israel and then you have the southern kingdom of Judah you have Jeroboam son of Nebat that takes over that northern kingdom and and Rehoboam is Solomon's son and so that's where the line of David continues on in that southern kingdom so you go all the way up you know you're basically when you're reading first Kings from that point on till second Kings basically you're like the king of Judah is such and such the king of Israel is such and such and they're kind of like reigning it you know at the same time and so you're kind of constantly seeing who's reigning when who you know with who right so you have these two kings going on through down the line well once you get the second Kings chapter 17 it comes to the point where Israel is completely taken out and then after that it's just about Judah again and that's it that's all who's left because what I want you to see I want to prove to you that basically Assyria is the one that took out Israel and Assyria tried to take out Judah remember remember the story about Hezekiah and how Rabshakeh came up to the wall and he was like talking to them and you know he used some rough language about you know eating dung and drinking piss and all that stuff and and basically he was saying that that's an acrib has taken out all these nations he's gonna take you out too and God obviously saved him from that and second Kings chapter 17 notice in verse 6 I just want you to see this because it's really if you get anything know that you know at second Kings chapter 17 the northern kingdom of Israel is completely decimated it's gone and that's where this turns into Samaria because they're all intermingled with the the Assyrians at this point so in second Kings chapter 17 verse 6 it says in the ninth year of Hoshia the king of Assyria I'm sorry in the ninth year of Hoshia the king of Assyria took Samaria and carried away and carried carried Israel way into Assyria and placed them in Hala and in Habor by the river of Gozan and in the cities of the Medes so Hoshia was the last king of the northern kingdom of Israel and when he was taken out there was no more kings in Israel they were all completely decimated but it was the king of Assyria that took them out they took Samaria because Samaria was the capital city of Israel notice in verse 7 it says for so it was that the children of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God which had brought them up out of the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt and had feared other gods and walked in the statutes of the heathen whom the Lord cast out from before the children of Israel and of the kings of Israel which they had made and the children of Israel did secretly those things which were not right against the Lord their God and they built them high places in all their cities from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city and they set them up images and groves in every hit high hill and under every green tree and there they burnt incense and all the high places as did the heathen whom the Lord carried away before them and brought wicked things to provoke the Lord to anger but they served idols where of the Lord had said unto them you shall not do this thing yet the Lord testified against Israel and against Judah by all the prophets and by all the seers saying turn ye from your evil ways and keep my commandments and my statutes according to all the law which I commanded your fathers in which I sent to you by my servants the prophets notwithstanding they would not hear but harden their harden their necks like the neck of their fathers and did not believe in the Lord their God and they rejected his statutes in his covenant that he had made with their fathers and his testimonies which he testified against them and they followed vanity and became vain and went after the heathen that were round about them concerning whom the Lord had charged them that they should not do like them and they left all the commandments of the Lord their God and made them molten images even two calves and made a grove and worshipped all the host of heaven and served Baal and they caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire and use divination and enchantments and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the Lord to provoke him to anger therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel and removed them out of his sight there was none left but the tribe of Judah only also Judah kept not the commandments of the Lord their God but walked in the statutes of Israel which they made and the Lord rejected all the seed of Israel and afflicted them and delivered them into the hand of spoilers until he had cast them out of his sight for he rent Israel from the house of David and they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king and Jeroboam drove Israel from following the Lord and made them sin a great sin for the children of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam which he did they departed not from them until the Lord removed Israel out of his sight as he had said by all his servants the prophets so was Israel carried away out of their own land to Assyria unto this day now why did I read all that because it's the Bible and I like reading the Bible but besides that is the fact that this really just shows you what happened to the northern kingdom of Israel is there any doubt that they were completely taken out of his sight and so at this point when you start reading through the rest of the second Kings there's no more mention of the kingdom of Israel of the northern kingdom and so it's all about Judah after that and Judah started going into this because Manasseh caused his son to pass through the fire and that was the sin that brought them into captivity of Babylon and so God was making a point in Nahum basically saying hey I turned away the ecstasy of Israel and why did he do that though because of the same reasons that he's coming after Nineveh but he destroyed he allowed his own nation to be destroyed because of this and he's basically kind of putting it in their face like hey you know who are you though that if I did it to my own people and judge my own land because of these wicked things that they did with idols and all these gods that they worshipped and all this stuff you know do you think you're gonna be safe and so that's why I think he's bringing that up and also the fact that you know they did a lot of bad things to the children of Israel when they were taken away captive and so he's basically judging them for that. So back to Nahum chapter 2. Nahum chapter 2. Nahum chapter 2 and verse 3 it says the shield of his mighty men is made red the valium men are in scarlet the chariots shall be with flaming torches in the day of his preparation and the fir trees shall be terribly shaken the chariots shall rage in the streets they shall jostle one against another in the broad ways they shall seem like torches they shall run like the lightnings he shall recount his worthies they shall stumble in their walk they shall make haste to the wall thereof and the defense shall be prepared the gates of the river shall be opened and the palace shall be dissolved and Uzub shall be led away captive she shall be brought up and her maid shall lead her as with the voice of doves tapering upon their upon their breasts but Nineveh is of old like a pool of water yet they shall flee away stand stand shall they cry but none shall look back and so this is kind of really talking about how God's gonna take them out and just the rage of what's gonna happen here and about the chariots that are gonna come in and all this stuff and obviously he doesn't he does this with another nation so another nation takes out of Syria and so you know you think about how to how does that happen you know with with with Babylon Babylon was taken out how was it taken out after Daniel the Medes came in the rise the Mede came in and took out and then Cyrus the the great you know and so basically these kingdoms are being taken out by other kingdoms and God's using those other kingdoms remember he says Nebuchadnezzar my servant came in and took out Judah and so that's what's going on here well what I want you to see there is the fact that Nineveh is of old like a pool of water and so if you remember Nineveh goes way back Nineveh goes all the way back to the to right after the flood remember Nineveh was built and that was in Genesis chapter 10 it was talking about Nineveh that great city being built so it's basically just saying hey you're a really old country but you're gonna be completely taken out and so there's a lot of countries that are like that that think hey we've been around forever and so basically we're gonna be we're never gonna not be and so he's basically making that point like hey you're you're old like a pool of water basically it's kind of like if you saw a big giant lake and said this the lakes been here since the beginning and he's basically saying no you're gonna be completely taken out and so that's the point he's making here but also this is very similar with these these cherries that shall rage in the streets and basically all this this kind of language talking about this army coming in to what Joel has to say and Joel was very complimentary with with what's going on with Nahum but go to Joel chapter 2 Joel chapter 2 and there's just a couple things I want to point out with what's said here because it talks about how the chariots shall rage in the streets and they shall seem like torches they shall run like the lightnings it talks about the chariots shall be with flaming torches in the day of his preparation so keep that in mind about these cherries with flaming torches and and all this so and in Joel chapter 2 verse 1 it says blow you the trumpet in Zion and sound an alarm in my holy mountain let all the inhabitants of that the land tremble for the day of the Lord cometh for it is nigh at hand a day of darkness and of gloominess a day of clouds and thick darkness as a morning spread upon the mountains a great people and a strong there hath not been ever the like neither shall be any more after it even to the years of many generations a fire devoureth before them and before them and behind them a flame burneth the land is as the Garden of Eden before them and behind them a desolate wilderness yay and nothing shall escape them the appearance of them is as they parents of horses and as horsemen so shall they run like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leave like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble as the strong people set in battle array you notice in verse 6 there says before their face the people shall be much pain all faces shall gather blackness now this passage here actually if you look if you go down further in the chapter it talks about how he sent the caterpillar to locusts and all this stuff and it really is coupled up with that the first woe with the fifth trumpet where the locusts are coming up out of hell and how they look like horses and all these different things and so that's very likened unto that but that's a judgment of God that's coming after the people and tormenting them right and so this is very likened unto that but it talks about the the chariots and how they're like a flame of fire and torches and all this stuff so it's a very scary thought okay it's a very intimidating thought of as far as like what's gonna happen and how they're gonna be taken out and so it's not like they're gonna come up and then they're gonna put up the white flag no they're getting completely decimated and all these chariots are gonna run through the streets like lightning and it also says that the in Joel chapter 2 that they're the face of the people shall be much pain all faces shall gather blackness and that's what's said in Nahum chapter 2 go back to Nahum chapter 2 starting there in verse 9 in verse 9 it says take ye the spoil silver take the spoil of gold for there is none end of the store and glory out of all the pleasant furniture she is empty and void and waste and the heart melteth and the knees smite together and much pain is in all loins and the faces of them all gather blackness so it's very very similar to what's said in Joel and so they're gathering blackness now that could mean like that the sackcloth and ashes they're putting on their face because of what's happening to them you can think of that or just the pain in general is just you know basically their their face is probably in the dust it's probably what that's kind of implying kind of like Job when everything was taken away from him he you know basically just lay down his face in the dirt and you just you know had ash it just had the dust of the earth on his face and he says naked came on you know out of my mother's womb naked shall I return thither kind of thing because everything was taken away from him and so it's kind of resembling that but notice it says the knees smite together now this automatically makes me think of Belshazzar and Daniel and go to Daniel chapter 5 so the knees are smiting together and Daniel chapter 5 kind of gives a little more a little more you know the words to describe that so to speak if you remember Daniel chapter 5 is where the fingers were seen writing on the wall the so-called the writing is on the wall that's where that phrase comes from is Daniel chapter 5 Daniel chapter 5 verse 5 in the same hour came forth fingers of a man's hand and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaster of the wall of the king's palace and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote then the king's countenance was changed and his thoughts troubled him so that the joints of his loins were loosed and his knees smote one against another think about the terror now you ever see those cartoons where their knees are like bouncing off each other you know like they're so scared and they see a ghost you know you probably seen his old Looney Tunes where you know like someone sees a ghost and they literally like are terrified to the point where their knees are like hitting against each other that's what it's talking about like that takes some terror I don't know if I've ever been that terrified to where basically your joints and it talks about the joy what does it say that the joints of his loins were loosed and his knees smoke one against another it's basically like you don't have control over your legs they're just literally shaking uncontrollably to where they're smashing up against each other and so that's real that's something that can happen out of terror and so these people are terrified and you know the fact that they're there that their knees are smiting against each other and and their faces are gathering blackness it's really just talking about hey this is what's gonna happen to you and you think of Nineveh Nineveh was a very prosperous city okay this was like this was like America I mean you think about the the goods and everything that they had is a very prosperous city and basically all everything's taken away from them everything's just spoiled so they spoiled Israel when they took them out but God's coming back and completely decimating them and spoiling them so but God God is destroying the old line of Assyria now that's what I you know as you get down in verse 11 there and I told you we wouldn't take too long today but basically Nahum chapter 2 and verse 11 remember Jesus is the line out of the tribe of Judah but the devil is always trying to copy the Lord you know with the Antichrist with that false trinity of the the the dragon and the false prophet in the and the Antichrist but notice what it says here in verse 11 it says where is the dwelling of the lions in the feeding place of the young lions where the lion even the old lion walked and the lion's whelp and none made them afraid the lion did tear in pieces enough for his whelps and strangled for his lionesses and filled his holes with prey and his dens with raven now just off the cuff you know what this is talking about the fact that hey you guys were prosperous you never had in need of anything and now what happened to you yeah that's basically what he's saying right it's like you guys you know you always had enough you always had enough pray for your for your whelps for your lionesses and and I've never heard this before but I'm just waiting for the world to come out and say see the Bible's in error because it says that that the male lion is killing for his whelps and for his lionesses and don't you know that it's the lionesses that are hunters and not the male the male just sits there like a lump on a log I haven't heard this I'm just saying I'm just I when I read this I just imagine people saying some something like that so anyway I was looking this up because I was kind of interested in that and what's interesting about that is that there's actually studies saying that's not actually accurate okay that what it is is that lionesses hunt in packs and the way they hunt is basically they team up and they hunt to take out like one prey male lions they don't hunt in packs they hunt alone and they hide in the thickets and then they they wait and then they pounce okay and so the whole idea of the male lions not hunting is a bunch of garbage okay and so but there is also the article talks about too you know when when when like a lot of the grassland gets destroyed they don't have anywhere to hide so you know okay you know obviously if you change the environment of where they're at they're gonna have to change your tactics but all I'm saying with that is it's just not true that that only the lionesses hunt and so this whole picture of the lionesses bringing home the bacon to the husband lion it's just not it's not accurate and there's studies that show differently than that but but all that to say is that that study actually proves something is that the old lion and the male lion is not a pack hunter he's a loner and he waits and he waits for his prey to come to him and then he pounces now you know that what I believe is that he's taken out and the devil's liking them to a lion and so in first Peter chapter one and first Peter chapter one actually I was gonna yeah well I'm already on that point so I'm out of order here but first Peter chapter one in verse five very famous very famous verse right first Peter chapter five and verse eight it says be sober be vigilant because your adversary the devil as a roaring lion walketh about seeking whom he may devour whom resist steadfast in the faith knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world and so you think about this roaring lion that's just walking about seeking hearing whom he may desire to devour and you can imagine this lone wolf so to speak this lone lion the devil basically going around seeking whom he may devour so he's not coming at you like full force like in a rage you know kind of kind of act he's basically just seeing okay who can I take out and he's kind of just laying low like a snake and obviously he's he's liking them to a snake as well and so it's interesting that it talks about this the Assyria being kind of like an old lion you know a lion that that strangled for his lionesses and all this stuff but but I know we've gone to this psalm but I want to go to it go to psalm 58 I run to this psalm like every sermon since since I preach that imprecatory prayer sermon I just feel it just keeps coming up I'm sorry it just there's always up applications but psalm 58 is very applicable to the Bible apparently or just on my mind but psalm 58 this may make a little more sense though when you think about why is it bring up lions in this psalm because when you think of a series like in the Assyrians the lions and two lions that devoured and got their prey and all this stuff and basically you know you can see you can see how this psalm would even apply to Nahum and apply to God taking out the Assyrians when it says in verse 6 break their teeth Oh God in their mouth break out the great teeth of the young lions Oh Lord and so you can kind of see that where it's talking about breaking out the teeth the young lions he's not talking about physical lions okay he's not saying go find some lions and bust their teeth out okay it's not what he's saying but the lions are likened unto the enemies that are against David that are against God's people that God that he wants to take out and that's you know and obviously we talked about this before that we're talking about thorns and verse 9 we're talking about people that God has rejected and has given up to the point where he's going to completely take him out and so at the end there the very the end of the psalm 58 it says the righteous shall rejoice when he see it the vengeance he shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked so that a man shall say verily there is a reward for the righteous verily he is a God that judges in the earth so when you were looking at Nahum chapter 1 it says the Lord revengeth the Lord is furious God is jealous you know and it keeps going on about the Lord revengeth and he and he and he revengeth against his adversaries that makes sense because that's what it's talking about on psalm 58 and he says to break out the teeth of the young lions and so I just wanted to show you that you know because there's no coincidence in the Bible why he brings up certain types of animals and that stuff does link you know and so you can always kind of find that stuff out but you know when it talks about how he's taking out the old lion he's taking out the lions you know the devil's liking them to a lion but he's also liking them to a dragon and we know from Revelation chapter 17 and Revelation 13 so Revelation 13 17 and even Revelation 12 where the dragon is has seven heads and ten horns and and Revelation 17 really spells out that those seven heads represent seven kingdoms that have been from the you know time passed up to that point and we already kind of discussed how Nineveh was one of those heads that was taken out and so remember five are fallen one is and one is yet to come and so those are like the five heads of Babylon so to speak and so that's why when you especially in chapter three you're gonna be like man it's like reading Revelation chapter 18 you're gonna be like man this is like just reading the exact same thing that happened to Babylon even in the physical Babylon and Jeremiah 50 and 51 but also with the Babylon that's going to come in the future because all those kingdoms of those heads are pretty much as seven different Babylon's that are come down through the line and Nineveh was one of those and so just like he's taking out the lines he's gonna break the head of the dragon and this is where it happens so you think about those five heads error to the seven heads five are fallen this is where one of them falls and so go to Psalm 74 Psalm 74 I don't know if I've ever brought this up before but Leviathan is the serpent of the sea and you know I haven't done a whole study or like a sermon on this but the Leviathan is you know obviously talked about in Job it's talking about in other places but in Psalm 74 here it talks about it but if you think about where the dragon that had seven heads and ten horns come from where did he come out of in Revelation 13 the sea if you read Revelation chapter 13 he comes out of the sea it's not Godzilla but it's kind of the same thing you know when you think of the fact he's coming out of the sea now Leviathan is mentioned here in Psalm 74 notice what it says in verse 12 for God is my king of old working salvation in the midst of the earth thou didst divide the sea by that by strength thou breakest the heads of the dragons in the waters notice what it says thou breakest the heads of Leviathan in pieces and gave us to him to be meet to the people and having the wilderness what's interesting about this is Leviathan is singular heads is plural in that verse so if you think about the fact that Leviathan you ran Joe it says that Leviathan is the king of all the children of pride isn't the devil you know the king of all the children of the devil you know of a pride what's the main attribute of a reprobate pride and so Leviathan obviously is a picture of Satan so there's literally a Leviathan I believe there's literally a dragon of the sea you know the serpent of the sea right but it pictures Satan and it says that his head is gonna be broke his heads plural of Leviathan are gonna be broken pieces and so and then in Nahum here he's basically talking about how one of those heads is being broken and throughout history each head is gonna be broken so after this Babylon that head is gonna be broken after that the the Medo-Persians that heads gonna be broken then the Grecians that heads gonna be broken then the Romans that heads gonna be broken and then there's gonna be one more it's gonna come out and that's where the ten horns come into play and guess what that heads gonna be broken so that's the the end of it but where we're at Nahum we're up to the second head because Egypt was broken and now Assyria is being broken and so and then in the last verse there we're gonna finish this up right here so I don't know if you ever saw that or ever kind of put that together with Leviathan but he's the the king of the children of pride it talks about in Job and I believe Leviathan is pretty much just a representation of the devil and it's just kind of like an animal that really represents him and obviously he's the serpent of the sea and he's the old serpent he's the dragon so all this stuff fits together but he's also has a roaring line walking about seeking him he may devour so you can see how Nahum here is kind of picturing how he's taking out the devil he's taking out one of his heads and so but in verse 13 the last verse there notice what it says behold I'm against thee set the Lord of hosts and I will burn her chariots in the smoke and the sword shall devour thy young lions and I will cut off thy prey from the earth notice this last portion and the voice of thy messenger shall no more be heard that's how this chapter ends so the messengers of Nineveh shall no more be heard you know that sounds familiar to something when you're reading Revelation chapter 18 go to Revelation chapter 18 remember shall be heard no more at all in thee shall be shy no more at all in thee and it's like it's so like it's so repetitive about all this stuff there be no more at all in thee that that really rings out to me well what's interesting about this is it says messengers in Revelation 18 it mentions a lot of different things and so we're gonna read that but man this this really rings true think of the messengers of our wicked nation the ambassador so to speak they go around the celebrities of our country that speak on our behalf and may have the message of what America is the tolerance of America and all the the wickedness that's being promoted around the world and you wonder why the world thinks that it's a joke when we say we're a Christian nation when everything that's being purported out into the world is is just wickedness and and lewd stuff and so their messengers are gonna be heard no more no more at all and that's gonna eventually happen with America but in Revelation chapter 18 early in chapter 18 we'll start down verse 20 and so this guy just kind of reminded me of that and when we get into when we get into the last chapter Nahum no doubt you're gonna be like man this is reading Revelation 17 18 this is like reading Babylon being destroyed because it's just the same type of language but in verse 20 there says rejoice over her thou heaven and ye holy apostles and prophets for God hath avenged you on her and and a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and cast it into the sea saying thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down and shall be found no more at all in the voice of harpers and you do musicians and of Pipers and trumpeters shall be heard no more at all Annie and no craftsmen of whatsoever crafty B shall be found any more in thee and the sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all Annie and the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee in the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all and e for the March for thy merchants who were the the great men of the earth, for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived, and he in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints and of all that were slain upon the earth." Sound familiar? But it's basically saying, hey, you know, in Nahum, with Nineveh, their messengers, the voice of their messengers are not going to be heard at all again. And so I just think about this, because when you think about who has control of the media, who has control of all the radio, the TV, everything that's being broadcasted, it's the wicked sodomites of our country, it's the wicked Jews that set up all the broadcasting and they own everything. They own everything, and even according to their own mouths, they said that the reason that they started the porn industry, the reason that they started Hollywood was to degrade Christianity and to destroy the patriarchy of the home. And that's what they're doing. That's their message. That's the message that's going across the seas about America, is basically all the wickedness that they're propagating and all the Hollywood, the TV, the movies, the music, the musicians shall be no more heard at all in thee. And all that stuff, if you go to these other countries, that's what they're listening to. They're listening to America's music. They're watching America's movies. They're watching America's TV. That's the messengers of Babylon today, and just like the messengers of Nineveh were doing the same things and by their sorceries, all the nations were deceived, they're going to be heard no more at all in thee. And they're going to be heard no more at all, they're going to be cut off. And that's what it says. They're going to be cut off. Their messengers, the voice of thy messengers shall no more be heard, and that is a blessing. So you think about all the stuff that's happening to them, and you're like, man, that seems a little rough, but you think about what have they been doing? How many lives have they destroyed? How many nations have they destroyed? All the nations that forget God shall be turned into hell. And that's exactly the agenda of Hellywood. That's the agenda of all the news stations. Think about Google and all that stuff, Alexa, is that the name of that thing? When you say, who is Jesus Christ, it says a fictional character. You got all these magazines, and just thinking about that stuff with the GQ magazine coming out about how the Bible is the most overrated book. It's pretty funny to me that it's the most overrated book, but all your Hollywood movies are all based off the greatest story ever told. All the best-selling movies that they've ever had out there were about a chosen one that died for the rest of the people. And isn't Jesus the elect that died for every sinner, and not just for the good people, or scarcely for a righteous man will one die, but God commended his love toward us, and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. You may say you hate the Bible, but you made a lot of money trying to duplicate the greatest story ever told in all these Christian movies, these biblical movies. And listen, if it comes out of Hellywood, it's as biblical as Hellywood itself. There's nothing biblical about these movies that come out. And their message, all it is, is to twist what God's Word says. Noah came out and it was all about saving the earth, and it had nothing to do with what the Bible actually teaches. And all these other movies, who knows what they're talking about and what they're trying to propagate, but it's always some agenda. It's always some homosexual agenda. It's always some pedophilia agenda. It's always some stupid agenda that they're trying to push to basically defile the minds of our children, defile our own minds so that we'll just basically forget God. But you know what? This nation's going to go into Hell because of that, because of their messengers, because of all the stuff that's being propagated out in the world, and all the science falsely so-called. Think about that. Think about all that garbage that's being propagated around the world about evolution, about global warming. We could use a little bit of that right now. It's finally starting to warm up here. But it's just a bunch of lies, a bunch of propaganda, and it's being propagated around the world. The war drums are drumming again, trying to get us into some world war, and you know what's going to happen? Because the Bible says it's going to happen. Peace is going to be taken from the earth. The Antichrist is going to come on a white horse with a bow in his hand, and he's going to take peace from the earth, and there's going to be a world war to try to unite everybody to one world leader. That's the end of the world, but guess what? The lion's coming out of the thicket, and he's on his way. He that dashes in pieces has come up against thy face. That's a lot of hope, right? The fact that you're seeing this, you're like, man, will they just stop? Will they just stop with all this garbage they're saying, and you're just basically you have to put on blinders when you're going down the road. Every billboard that's out there, all this stuff, and just all the society and how wicked it's become, it's going to end. It will end. Just as much as throughout history, those heads of Leviathan have been being broken down and broken off, that last one's going to be broken off. Be it sure, because it says Babylon is fallen, he's speaking of those things which be not as though they were. And Nahum's a great book to kind of foreshadow all this stuff, and it gives us a little more information because when you look at Revelation chapter 18, you see all this stuff about musicians, but this just straight out says they're messengers. They're prophets. Because you think of messengers and what that's talking about, the apostles. What's an apostle? It's a messenger. Think of a post as in that name. What's a post? A postman. A messenger. He brings a message, right? That's Nahum chapter 2. Chapter 3. It just keeps going. But hopefully all that makes sense. It's pretty straightforward on what's going on. It's basically just Nineveh is going to be taken out. But just seeing the parallels of that of what's going to happen in the future is always fun to see. So let's end with a word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for today, and thank you again for the soul winning efforts, and Lord thank you for this church, and just all those that make up Mountain Baptist, and Lord just pray to bless our church, and Lord just help us to do your will, help us to bring glory to your name. And Lord truly your word is magnificent. Your book is the greatest book that's ever been written, and Lord your word is forever settled in heaven. And Lord as much as this world tries to scoff at it, as much as this world hates it, it'll be there as they're burning in hell. And Lord we thank you for just salvation, thank you for eternal life, and Lord just pray that you be with us throughout this coming week. Give us safety in our travels, and Lord bring us back at the point in time in Jesus Christ's name. Amen.